GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
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Customer Reviews of GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
Customer Review: Great device
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been wearing my Go Wear Fit armband for about 10 days now. It works perfectly and I am learning a lot about how many calories my body burns in motion and at rest. I am very knowledgeable about diet and fitness but being in my 40s the old diet tricks aren't working anymore and now I am learning precisely how many calories a particular kind of workout burns and seeing whether I am working hard enough (the "mets" feature).
The armband is comfortable even for sleeping and isn't really visible through clothes and definitely keeps me motivated - I don't like to see those fever charts flatlining where I burn one calorie per minute sitting at my desk. I also like that you don't have to "do" anything to get it to work (ie lots of typing in your food, etc.) -- it just goes along and records what you are doing. You can get the calories you are eating from the software -- it holds three days worth -- but I just look at what I am expending and keep track of food elsewhere. In fact Amazon has a really nice spiral bound food tracker journal that I bought -- I love that too and it was only $10.
The only thing I have struggled with was getting the device off the armband to plug it into the computer for my first use (it's not hard but the instructions are a bit lacking), and I also discovered the wireless feature for communicating with the computer doesn't exist yet. However, customer service wrote back the same day (a Sunday) when I emailed asking why I couldn't figure how to do it. (This feature is coming at some point.)
Finally - I just received the watchband display today (order them together here - you get the display for just $30)and it is simple to use and will allow me to see my calorie burn as the day goes on and also number of steps taken. It was ok plugging the device into the computer at night and waiting to see how I did for the day, but the deal was too good to pass up to get the display (it looks like a watch and also has a time setting so you can use it as one) and it might motivate me to walk more during the day.
Anyway - I really recommend this. This isn't the cheapest way to go but it was the right choice for me, and at the end of the day it costs the same as just a couple personal training sessions. I hope some day they add a heart monitor to it as well. But in the meantime I am very pleased and motivated to follow a fitness/nutrition program for the first time in a long while!
Customer Review: Losing Weight
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had the GoWear fit for five weeks now and I've lost eleven pounds. Now, that may not sound like much but
according to my plan I want to lose 1/2 to 2 pounds per week. So after five weeks I've been tracking my food and the GoWear Fit
device tracks my calories and when I look at the data I should have lost eleven pounds and I have.
THIS ISN'T one of those lose weight fast so you can gain it back fast type of diets. Those type of diets
are scams. This system helps you realize that you eat a lot more than you think you're eating. It helps
you change bad eating habits. You may think it is expensive but compare it to other diets. By the time
you cut the bad expensive food out of your diet and eat good food you save money.
For me it is motivational. I want to meet the goals I've made for myself each day so I'm motivated on eating
good food. One of the biggest things I've noticed is my energy level has increased. Good foods give
your body vitamins and minerals that you need and your energy will increase. It is working for me.
Some say it doesn't work on a Mac. IT DOES. I use it on three different Macs (laptop, home, work)
using Leopard and Snow Leopard. It work very well and fast on a Mac. See my comments
on others who said it doesn't work. There is a simple setting to change and it works great.
UPDATED: 12/11/2009
I've been on this program now for 11 weeks and I've lost 20 pounds. My wife has lost 25 pounds. I'v
tried a few weight loss programs in the past but this one has worked the best for me. I'm finding
that I'm eating much better foods. The reason is I can eat more when eating better foods and
I fill fuller with better foods.
I'm finding this motivates me to exercise. I'm exercising 6 days
a week now because I want to see my chart at the end of the day and meet my goals. You may
feel the cost is high but think of what other diets cost over time. They cost too, especially after doing them
for months at a time. My wife and I have found our food budget has decreased because
of the type of foods we are eating. After using this for almost three months we have saved
in the cost of food for what the two devices cost us.
It is well worth the price.
Customer Review: Highly Recommended
Summary: 5 Stars
I am very pleased with this product, which I have been using constantly for 5 months.
The battery life is incredible - I wear the product nearly 24 hours, with the exception of showering. I rarely blug it in soley to charge. The battery appears to survive based on the short time it takes to upload your information to the site. Furthermore, when the battery is getting low, it will emit an unhappy beep and let you know. Also, BodyMedia recently made changes to their site, which allows you to see exactly how much battery life is remaining.
I really enjoy getting the feedback about my calorie burn throughout the day. I know which activities burn more or less calories, and can adjust my activity level accordingly in order to reach my burn level goal.
The description clearly states that you need to pay for the subscription to the software. However, the fee is low, and I believe well worth it. I enjoy uploading and looking at my calorie burn graphs. The food logging is also convenient and figures your daily calorie deficit out for you. The previous version of the software has some limitations, but they just released a new version (today actually) that has some promise.
They are receptive to customer feedback and I have only had positive experiences. I had trouble with the software because of my version of Java. Customer service was instantly available on the phone. He was very nice and walked me through the fix.
One thing that I STRONGLY RECOMMEND is that you buy the optional watch. I really find this helpful because it means that I don't have to always upload the armband to see my information. I often go days without uploading my band because I can get instant feedback on calories burned from the watch. It is a nice supplement to the system.
Overall, I would highly recommend this product for anyone who wants to be more active. Setting daily calorie burn goals will encourage you to be more active - take the stairs, park further, etc. All of these things add up - you will see this when using GoWear.
Is it a miracle product? No. You still need to eat healthy and exercise. But, it's very motivating and can be a great tool for increasing exercise, losing weight, and living a healthy life. I, personally, have found it very helpful in first weight loss, and now weight maintenance.
Customer Review: If you have to work hard to keep your weight down GET THIS!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Today is the 4th day I've been wearing this device and I think it is great! I have always been chunky throughout grade school and college (around 150) which is overweight for my height. Even when I did get down to 130 lbs I had a hard time keeping the weight off. It is so hard to calculate how many calories you burn throughout the day to be able to go on a "calorie counting" diet. Even using a calorie counter provided on a website can still be questionable because everyone is different in the rate at which the body burns calories. This little device takes the guess work out of figuring out how many calories you burn. It's fairly easy to use once you get started. This thing knows when you're sleeping, calculates how long your workout is and the intensity, counts steps walked throughout the day, and much more. The activity manager online is a great tool to show you your daily activity. I do not have a problem wearing it to sleep either - feels weird at first but you get use to it on your arm 24/7. Be sure not to put it on too tight!
On the downside, you have to have an internet connection to upload the data from the device and a subscription to the website. If you buy this item from amazon you should get a promo code for 3 months free.
Last thought - You have to commit yourself to keeping track of everything you eat otherwise this will not work for you. You have to hold yourself accountable and be truthful about what you eat for this to work. There are a great deal of foods stored in the activity manager's database, so you are not limited when it comes to eating out. Just be honest and fairly estimate portion sizes - such as measuring a cup of cereal. Individually packaged items are great if you don't want to do the measuring, but I would recommend putting the item in as a measure of grams, because the database may not have the correct portion size for one package (especially true for individual cereals).
I've also had time to double check calorie count on packages and have found a lot of the things I eat on a regular basis are more calories than what's on the package (4 cals. per 1 carb. & protein and 9 cals per 1 fat).
This is not a miracle working weightloss device. If you really want results you need to do the math yourself, so that you know you're not eating more calories than you think.
Customer Review: This Has Made Me More Active!
Summary: 5 Stars
I ran across this while browsing popular items on Amazon (one of my new favorite guilty pleasures). I am always looking for a way to motivate myself to get more active. I seem to have a short attention span so I need something that grabs me and keeps me interested.
I am happy to say - this has done the trick. I really enjoy tracking all the info and it has helped me lose 6# in the past four weeks. I have been reading a lot of the reviews and I would just like to offer my perspective on some of the issues.
The description on Amazon clearly states that the monitoring is web-based and that it has a monthly fee. It goes over the different costs and committments so I am not sure why that would be perceived as deceptive.
It also goes over in detail what the monitor is going to measure for you. I can't find any reference to tracking your vitamins or water intake and I wasn't looking for that anyway.
Yes the directions in the box are brief and could have been more user friendly.
The food log definitely needs to be improved, but I like to eat the same thing so I have been loading my favorites in myself and then I am good to go. That is not a big issue for me, but I have seen better.
I have not had any problems loading the program onto my computer or its on-going use. I have never had it freeze up or the armband not download.
The amount of sleep reporting has been an eye opener for me and is one of my favorite things - I was assuming I was getting a lot more sleep than I was.
I haven't had any issues wearing the armband. I move it around my arm during the day if I feel I need to. I wear it pretty much all the time and I haven't noticed it cutting off my circulation or hampering my arm while I exercise. I do a lot of walking, some running and resistance band exercising and it hasn't bothered me.
I am reviewing an item not telling you how to exercise, but in my mind I get a lot of great information and motivation to stick to my exercising that no gym membership ever gave me. I think that exercising is a personal thing and that you need to find what works for you.
I feel that this is the definition of "knowledge is power". I am so much more aware of the ins and outs of my calories each day and it has changed my eating and exercise routine.