Ambassador of Wellness

Last month, Gary & I went on a short road-trip vacation. Because there wasn't a lot to do in the town (and I wasn't currently reading a book), I decided to buy a magazine - I think it was Redbook. It was a guilty pleasure because I used to read a LOT of magazines, but over the years have slowly weaned myself off of them.

Yes, I used to read a lot of magazines! It all started with Seventeen, and then I moved on to Glamour & Cosmopolitan. Then, when I started taking better care of myself,  losing weight, and started bodybuilding, I couldn't get enough: Fitness, Health, Self, Oxygen, Women's Health, Fitness Rx. OMG! I think the list goes on & on. I was always looking for that little nugget of information that was going to flip the switch; make my life different, make me lose the weight I so desperately wanted to lose. I would devour every magazine from cover to cover & keep the precious magazines as a library: regarding the information as all so important & necessary that I couldn't possibly throw it away - almost as a bible.

I needed that information in order to be successful! The headlines told me I did:

• Lose 10 lbs in 7 days!
• Belly Flattening Foods
• Jennifer Lopez Gushes About her Fulfilling Life as Wife/Mother!
• Get the Body You'll Love

I need to know this stuff! I need to be better! I wasn't whole without it.

Eventually, I realized that there was no nugget of information that was going to jumpstart anything. I stopped buying magazines.

So last month, after I read my magazine on my vacation, I realized that magazines make me feel bad about myself: I'm not enough as I am; I need to be better. But wait. This isn't just about me. Magazines feed on every woman's insecurity about herself (and men too!). Those little things that we say to ourselves:

• If I buy that lipstick, I'll be beautiful.
• If I do the exercises that Jennifer Anniston does, I'll look like her, or have her life.
• If I do those exercises, I'll be thin.
• If I do what this article says, my family will love me & give me the respect I think I deserve.
• If I buy this magazine, I'll be enough."

I already know that a lifestyle of eating healthy foods, limiting portion sizes, exercising daily, and all else in moderation is the key. I didn't need that pretty blue eye shadow because I already owned 3. And, why on Earth do I need to know what Jennifer Lopez does on a daily basis (and that's of course edited: only the good stuff, and none of the bad)?

The truth is that those little "informational" snippets that we read, (aka: magazine product reviews) are paid advertisements & that as far as weight loss goes, there really isn't a lot of new information out there. There might be a few articles of interest written by experts in their field. So, you're buying a magazine that is bombarding you with ads and information that you already know: Eat less than you burn. Eat whole foods; avoid processed foods & sugars. Exercise most days of the week.

If there's nothing new, then how do magazines keep us buying them? (BTW, if you think that you keep seeing the same headlines in magazines, Men's Health admits that they do rotate covers.) Well, we WANT the quick fix. We don't want to hear about eating vegetables and lean proteins. It's just not sexy. We want to believe the myth. They get us to buy magazine over & over & over again by feeding on our insecurities & providing misinformation. They print what we want to see:

• It's easy to lose weight.
• Buy these products and your mate will find you more attractive. (Or buy these products & you'll find a mate)
• By doing what celebrities do, you can have the glamorous life of a celebrity.
• You will have it all.

One of the biggest questions I get from clients is "What exercise should I do to work on my abs?" (Clients always want to work on their abs! FWIW, I rarely do direct abdominal work in my own strength training program.) I thought that it was clearly established that spot reduction is a myth. Why does this question keep coming up? A few days ago I was flipping through a magazine in a waiting area & saw "Whittle your Middle with these 4 Moves". GAAaah! Freakin' magazines perpetuate this misinformation to get readership! A-Ha! And people buy into it - they believe the myth!

In the time that I've stopped reading magazines, I realize that I've been much happier as a person. I'm not buying make-up that I don't need. Soaps, lotions & other commercial/chemical laden products have disappeared from my bathroom, AND my body image and self-esteem are much higher; I no longer compare my body to the air-brushed models and celebrities in the pages of the magazine. I don't care much about what celebrities do because it has no impact on my life. And I'm happier for it.

Next time you read a magazine, just notice how it makes you feel. Hopefully, you'll put it down & realize that you are enough just the way you are.

It's not a question we really think about. What does my diet say about me? When I go to the grocery store, what are my priorities? When I counsel my clients in their nutritional choices though, it's something that I need to know in order to help them in making the right choice.

Example: My client asks me "Should I be eating soy?"

Well, the answer to that is much more complicated than a straight yes or no. What are the reasons behind you asking this question? Some questions that would determine the answer are:

• Are you trying to reduce your carbon footprint?
• Are you concerned about the amount of protein you're getting in your diet?
• Are you vegetarian or vegan?
• Are you trying to reduce the amount of animal products in your diet?
• Do you like soy?
• What are your thoughts on processed foods?

Yeah - I know. That last one doesn't seem to belong to the rest of the questions. But the truth is that the manufacturers of many foods would have us believe that their foods are better for us because the original ingredient is touted as being healthier.

Another example of this would be the debate between bacon & turkey bacon. Bacon is clearly not a health food. It's a cured meat & the real danger there are the nitrites are a preservative used in processed food to help maintain its color.

Nitrates can be found in bacon, hot dogs, sausages, and cold cuts. The reason they are so bad for us is that when we cook them at high temps, they form Nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic. In the news, nitrite-based preservatives were found to be linked to pancreatic cancer.

So then, turkey is better for me right? I can eat turkey bacon without the health risks. Right? Well, maybe. But maybe not. Again, I ask, what is your goal when choosing foods:

• Low Calorie?
• Minimally processed food?
• Low sodium?
• Cost?
• Flavor?
• Natural?

Turkey bacon might be slightly lower in calories (20 calories per strip, which really isn't a lot), but it's certainly not less processed than natural bacon.

Ingredients: (White Turkey, Mechanically Separated Turkey, Dark Turkey), Water, Sugar, Salt, contains 2% or less of Canola Oil, Sun Flower Oil, Natural Flavor, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Nitrite.

Okay - I don't know what the heck "Mechanically Separated Turkey" is. As far as the flavor goes, all the flavor is chemically added to the product because turkey doesn't naturally taste like bacon.

I don't mean to pass judgement on turkey bacon or soy. There isn't any judgement on food. We all are on our individual journeys & have to make decisions based on our priorities. I find it interesting when someone says that they eat clean, only natural and organic foods, but then adds Spelnda to her coffee. Perhaps Natural, Organic, and Minimally Processed foods aren't the number one top priority as stated, and rather, low calorie is.

There are lots of debates going on & eating has never been so confusing! Sugar vs. sugar substitute. Cows milk vs. Soy milk. Organic vs. Conventional. And food manufacturers thrive on adding to the confusion! Examples are: Healthy Choice frozen dinners, "Baked" chips & "Natural" Cheetos, and products "made with Organic Ingredients" (which isn't organic!)

So, again I ask, What are your priorities when making food choices? And the answer to that question will help answer the question of which product to purchase when making those decisions.

It's true. The bodybugg is a pricey piece of equipment, and ultimately, only you can decide how much money you would be willing to pay to lose the weight you desire. I get asked this question A LOT. Is it worth it?

When I started with the bodybugg, I only had 15 lbs to lose & was convinced that I had a slow metabolism. I knew that my workouts were good: I'm a personal trainer & nutritionist, so I knew WHAT I was eating was good too. What the bodybugg immediately exposed was that I was sedentary the 23 hours in the day I WASN'T exercising. We all know that moving burns more calories than not moving. The bodybugg illustrates that fact very clearly.

Here's my activity graph from one day. You can clearly see where I was moving & where I wasn't. I apparently went for a run & about an hour into it, started walking. I was obviously sitting down for the most part from 10:00 to 1:00, and I'm always surprised how many calories I'll burn when I'm preparing dinner (especially if I'm grilling since I go in and out of the house).

I think that one of the funnest times using the bodybugg is in the initial period where you're looking at your activity graph & reflecting on what activities burned the most calories: "That's where I was grocery shopping!", "Oh! & I was doing laundry there..." and "That's where I was sitting, watching TV!" My house was spotless for the first several months that I had my bodybugg! I didn't want to see those short little lines on my activity graph.

I lost the weight in about 12 weeks.

Although I initially wanted to lose weight with the bodybugg, my focus has changed to fitness improvement & increasing activity level. I've been wearing it for over 2 years & became a retailer because I believe it is a fantastic tool.

As a nation we don't have a problem LOSING weight. LOTS of people have lost weight. Lots of people are successful LOSING weight. We have a problem with maintaining that lost weight. Of all the folks that lose weight, a staggering 95% regain it.

The bodybugg also teaches us what we need to do to maintain our weight loss - in a balanced and healthy way. No parent wants to say to their child: "I can't have ice cream." or "Ice cream will make Mommy fat." We don't want to imprint negative eating habits and beliefs on our children. With the bodybugg, you can have those treats occasionally, and know how hard you need to exercise in order to have occasional treats with your child or significant other.

But the bodybugg IS just a tool. It doesn't do the work for you. YOU do all the work. The bodybugg only exposes what you're doing to your body as far as calories in versus calories out.

Yes, the bodybugg is pricey, but when you consider the amount of money that folks spend on exercise gadgets, diet books, supplementation, personal trainers, weight loss clinics & gym memberships, this is one tool that actually works.

I just posted a new newsletter to my website! If you're not on my newsletter list, please feel free to sign up here. I try to send out newsletters once a month. I'm not really sure what happened, but apparently I took a 9 month hiatus! Initially I think I can blame it on my bodybugg. I've been trying to add more activity in my life, and sitting, doing computer work does not accomplish that goal. Eventually, it became a daunting task, my self talk being something like: "Well, now it needs to be an AWESOME newsletter because you've been saving all of this information up. It needs to be rockin'!"

That type of self talk reminds me of what we do to ourselves all the time when it comes to LOTS of areas in our life; whether it's eating "I can't start eating better until I've gotten all of this junk out of the house."; or exercise "I want to start exercising, but I just don't have the time."; or even if it's tackling the overabundance of stuff/possessions in your life "I can't clean out the garage until [insert excuse here]."

What I'm often amazed at is how easy it is once I get started. The mountain of obstacles that my brain has me convinced that this task will take forever, or be really difficult, often doesn't take nearly the amount of effort that I had anticipated.

It makes me remember that just the act of starting takes so much more mental effort than the act of doing.

So, whether your obstacle is eating better, exercising or de-junking your house, start small. Add a serving of fruit or vegetables in place of something boxed. No time for exercise? Start with a 10 minute walk. And as far as that closet or garage goes, start with just one aspect: shoes or the stuff in your car.

It doesn't have to be a monumental effort. Start somewhere & eventually, you'll be able to see all you've accomplished.

<< Previous Round bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 3 - Sleep Tracking

So the reason I was initially drawn to the bodybugg was that it allowed me to see how many calories I was burning in a day. I knew how many calories I was eating. What I didn't know, was how many I was burning; but why is that even important?

Weight loss is a simple equation of consuming fewer calories than your body burns. There are TONS of food logging websites & tools, and as I mentioned, I knew what I was eating, because I was logging my food for years prior to knowing about the bodybugg. But eating is only half of the equation in weight loss and weight management. I can tell you that if you eat 500 fewer Calories per day than your body needs, you will lose 1 pound per week; I already knew that. But how do you know how many calories your body needs?

What often happens with folks is that when they decide to lose a few unwanted pounds, they deprive themselves of foods with substance & eat "diet food" or "rabbit food" & at the same time, they might even start to exercise. What inevitably happens, is that they create too much of a calorie deficit. One of the symptoms of having too great of a deficit are feeling sluggish because there's not enough energy to fuel workouts, and daily activity. And that doesn't make a person feel good, or motivated to continue. After repeated large deficits, other things that may occur could be either a binge or a plateau; and those two events surely will lead to a relapse & old eating and lifestyle behaviors.

By knowing how many calories your body burns on a daily basis, you can reduce the number of calories consumed just enough so that you have a deficit & will lose weight, but not so many that you're hungry or not able to perform daily activities.

What's interesting is that when you read the value proposition statements from each company, fitbit doesn't answer the "why?" Why do I want to use this product?

Fitbit

The Fitbit accurately tracks your calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled and sleep quality. The Fitbit contains a 3D motion sensor like the one found in the Nintendo Wii. The Fitbit tracks your motion in three dimensions and converts this into useful information about your daily activities.

Bodybugg

Find out how many calories you burn with the revolutionary new bodybugg armband. Use the web-based program to track calories in and calories out so that you can stay in control of your weight. Get the coaching and support you need to be successful from a fitness professional or personal trainer.

Maybe that's not important to you. You've already connected the dots. But it will all come together when you look at how each of the parts interact with one another in my last blog post in this series. How the company views itself and how it differentiates itself from the myraid of weight loss aids on the market is the path in which the product is based.

Activity Display

So, here are two graphs of my activity for the same day. You can see that they mirror each other pretty well. Each bar on the fitbit's activity graph represents 5 minutes of activity where the bodybugg represents 6 minutes. What doesn't really make a lot of sense though is the fitbit's vertical axis. The numbers represent the total for every 5 minutes & this makes me do math. So where the fitbit shows that I burned 35 calories in 5 minutes, I need to figure out that it boils down to 7 calories per minute. No big deal, but slightly annoying.

Activity Breakdown

What I really do like though is the way that the fitbit has broken my activity down into 4 categories of effort: Sedentary, lightly active, fairly active & very active. Not only is it represented in the activity graph above, but then they also put it into a pie chart (and who doesn't like a pie chart?) so that I can see where I need to add more activity.

The bodybugg simply measures activity, which ends up being any movement or effort that registers more than 4.5 METs (read about METs). Registering activity is good, but breaking it down into vigorous versus moderate would be better. It allows users to better self-monitor.

If I have 2 clients & they're both exercising for 45 minutes per day, but one is running & the other is walking, they can clearly see how their effort is going to impact their results. Just a little more effort can make huge gains in progress when it comes to weight.

Accuracy

It's human nature to lie to ourselves. How many times have you heard yourself say "oh - it was just a little bite ..." or "I must have burned a million calories!" We consistently overestimate the number of calories we eat, and underestimate the number of calories we burn. We think: "I just worked out, so I deserve to eat that cupcake." which is the whole premise of the TIME Magazine article titled: Why Exercise Won't Make you Thin.

So, it's crucial that the tool we use to tell us how many calories we're burning is accurate. In my experience, the bodybugg is mostly accurate. I've been successful with it & many MANY of my clients have been truly successful too. No tool is 100% accurate at this point. What matters is that it's close enough that it produces results. So what about the fitbit? The short answer is that it depends on what you're doing in order to say whether the fitbit is accurate or not.

How It Works

The fitbit uses the same technology found in the Nintendo Wii. So basically, it's a motion sensor. It's pretty impressive that it's as accurate as it is considering it's based only on motion.

The bodybugg has 4 sensors: motion, skin temperature, skin perspiration, and air temperature. Between these four sensors, the bodybugg creates some sort of algorithm (magic & mirrors to me!) and is able to determine calorie burn.

Neither device is water submersible nor does each one work well with exercises that compromise the motion sensor (stationary biking, road biking, or roller-skating/blading to name a few examples). So, neither device is perfect.

Logging Activity

So, what do you do if you're doing one of those activities or swimming?

The bodybugg allows you to add activities if it has detected off body time (off body time will be editable if the device is off for 30 minutes or more during user-defined waking hours).

The fitbit allows you to log activity any time during the day. Actually, I found this part a little weird. Although I really like the idea of being able to 'correct' inaccurate readings - like when I'm biking or skating, I also had to log my runs - even though it knew that I was performing vigorous activity. So, when I log my run, instead of burning 35 calories every 5 minutes, it jumped to 54 calories per minute. Additionally, I needed to know my running pace (which I don't). When I guessed, it estimated that I burned an incredibly high number of calories! So, I had to futz with it.

Now, here's where the fitbit really breaks down for me: Me futzing with it, is one thing, but a user who isn't as aware of his/her level of effort, might really overestimate the number of calories that the activity truly burned. Because the bodybugg has 4 sensors & the fitbit only has one, in my opinion, it is a really smart pedometer.

One other piece that breaks down for me with the fitbit (and this goes for heart rate monitors too) is that neither consider body composition. Two women weighing 150 lbs can burn very different numbers based on body fat levels (30% versus 17%: the woman with lower bodyfat will burn more calories at rest and during exercise because she has a higher body composition of muscle). With the bodybugg, a user doesn't have to know his/her bodyfat percent, but because the bodybugg has a body temperature sensor (muscle has a higher temperature than fat) it is accurate in spite of the user's entered bodyfat percent.

Round 4 Winner

While the CDC estimates that 67% of Americans are either overweight or obese & 56% want to lose weight, I'm focusing on weight loss with the review of these tools, because in my experience, that's what most people are looking to these tools to help them accomplish.

Accuracy is crucial when it comes to the success of these tools; Lots of folks are successful with losing weight, but not many have figured out how to maintain that weight loss. Accuracy is important because the tool shows exactly the number of calories a person needs to eat in order to maintain their weight loss and activity level. Because 95% of folks who lose weight, regain that lost weight, it shows us that as a nation, we're alright on the losing part - where we need help is on the maintaining side. If I don't know how many calories I'm burning, I don't know how many calories I can eat in order to maintain my weight loss.

Although the fitbit activity graphing display is a little nicer, In my opinion, the bodybugg is the clear winner in this round.

Hey there, I just had a few questions that aren't derby related. I am getting married in April and have been working out 4-5 times a week on top of derby now. I am concerned about toning my arms (among other things) because my dress is strapless. I have some okay biceps going due to my job but my triceps are pretty squishy. Do you have any tips on focusing on lengthening and toning arm muscles? I have a few small weights and treadmill, as well as doing push ups and working with a resistance band. Any advice to add to my routine would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Chelsea Handle Her

This is such a great question that I decided to answer it in a blog post because I think it's a topic that many folks want the answer to: whether getting married, or preparing for a school reunion, getting in shape for bathing suit season, or just wanting to look our best for ourselves!

First, let me dispel a myth that some folks in the fitness community would have us believing.

• Genetics determines the shape of our bodies & although we can increase & decrease the amount of fat & muscle we have on our bodies, we can't change the length or shape of our muscles.
• Genetics also determines where we store fat on our bodies. Therefore, we can't choose where we store or reduce fat on our bodies.

So, getting beautifully sculpted arms & upper body require a three pronged approach: Proper diet, cardiovascular exercise & strength training.

Proper Diet

Exercise is important, but eating properly is probably 75% of the battle. You can workout really hard & have gorgeous muscles, but if you can't see them, what's the point? Therefore, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. This will allow you to show off your beautifully sculpted arms & back!

Here are some Nutritional Guidelines that I adhere to. As far as calorie needs go, start by multiplying your weight by 11. As you lose weight, keep multiplying your weight by 11 to reduce your calorie budget. Log your food to make sure that you're staying within that calorie budget.  There are lots of online tools that you can use to log your food:

• fitday
• The Daily Plate
• Spark People
• Calorie King

If you want a tool that you can use on your smartphone, checkout:

• livestrong
• My Fitness Pal

Cardio

You want to break a sweat for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. The more intense the exercise, the more calories it will burn. Although cardiovascular health is important, the reason it's key here, is simply to burn calories. The more movement you can add to your day, the more calories you'll burn & therefore creating more of a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit will result in fat loss & you'll be able to show off those beautiful muscles you're working so hard to sculpt through your strength training.

Strength Training

Strength training is important because if you only focus on losing weight, you'll just become a smaller version of your bigger self. Strength training allows you to provide some structure to your body. Even if you still have a layer of body fat over your muscles, you'll still look better because there's something there to support it. Liken this to wearing a bustier without boning versus one with; the boning provides support so that the bustier sits up & doesn't sag.

When strength training, I like to focus on major muscle groups: Chest, Back & Legs. I do this because your major muscle groups have more muscle mass than the smaller muscle groups (arms, abs, calves) & therefore will have a larger impact in boosting metabolism. Strength train 2-3 times a week.

• Push-ups are a FANTASTIC exercise! They're hard because they work so many muscles in your body. Pushups are mainly a chest exercise. I also really like Chest Flys.
• Back exercises that you can do with resistance bands & hand weights include Rows & Pull-Downs. Straight Arm Press Downs & Dumbell Pull Overs are also great for the Lats (aka: bra-fat muscle)
• Finally, I'd also suggest that working shoulders with shoulder presses & lateral raises are super important.

I also like this post from Mark's Daily Apple which outlines a really good total body bodyweight routine.

Finally, Congratulations on your marriage! You'll look gorgeous no matter what!

<< Previous Round bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 2 - Food Logging

According to the National Institutes of Health, 50 to 70 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep disorders, and I am very fortunate that I am not one of them. I didn't realize this until just a few years back. I have no problems sleeping. Sure, occasionally I'll have a night where I randomly wake up in the middle of the night, or have trouble falling asleep, but it typically doesn't last more than one night & the visualization techniques I use will usually work to get me to sleep.

The bodybugg armband has the ability to show sleep efficiency, but the web application doesn't expose it. Sure, you can wear it to bed & you can see in the activity graph if you got up, but overall it doesn't display anything different if you're just lying there, awake & still.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that the fitbit does much better. 

Okay - so I wore the fitbit to bed. When synchronized, I entered when I went to bed & when I woke up. The graph that you see here was a bad night's sleep (for me).

It highlights when I was turning over in my sleep & when I got up to go to the bathroom & when my dog woke me up to be let out at 5:15 am. But the thing is, I already knew that. I was there - awake.

So, it brings up the question: How useful is this feature? Do people NOT know that they're not sleeping? How is having this information going to help me sleep better?

I don't know. Sure, it's cool. But, how is it useful? The site doesn't provide any resources on how to improve sleep. There are a million different resources out there for improving sleep & they range from changing behaviors to cleaning up our environment.

Cleaning up your nutrition, daily exercise, and weight los are certainly going to help with the quality of your sleep. Are the site developers assuming that a user will compare how they are sleeping from when they initially started using the fitbit to when they became more active, or lost weight & their sleep efficiency will improve?

Round 3 Winner

Out of default this round winner is the fitbit - because the bodybugg doesn't have this feature. But, I don't necessarily think that they need it.

Next Round bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 4 - Activity & Accuracy >>

<< Previous Round bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 1 - Getting Going

Logging your food is THE most powerful thing you can do to improve your diet & eating habits. Logging your food prevents you from mindless munching. It creates this awareness of everything that you put in your mouth - even if you're journaling your food with a pen & paper. I don't exactly know why it's so powerful - there are a lot of reasons: you become aware of everything that you're eating. Suddenly, you change your eating habits because you don't want to write it down (those 4 hershey's kisses that you scarfed off of your co-worker's desk. Additionally, you gain this awareness of how many calories are in the foods you eat. Whatever reason resonates with you, if you want to drop a few pounds, start journaling your food.

Food journals have been around for ages! I have logged my food on & off (mostly on) for the past 9 years. If I've noticed that a few unwanted pounds have crept on, I just need to start logging my food & pay better attention to my food portions & hunger cues, and I can get rid of them.

Over the years my eating habits have certainly changed, however it all comes down to eating fewer calories than you burn. The only way to do that is to log your food & know how many calories you're burning. If it's not easy to log your food, you're not going to do it, and therefore you're not going to be successful in your health goals. So, it's imperative that these companies make it easy for you to log your food.

So how do the bodybugg and fitbit software applications stack up when it comes to food journaling?

Ease of Use

The interface for food logging in the fitbit is really easy. As you enter your food, a list of matches pops down. Select the desired food, type how much, specify which meal, and click the log food button.

All of your meals appear on the same page, so it's easy to look over your day & add foods on the fly.

Both tools make it easy to add foods to your log, delete foods, and change the quantity of the food. The bodybugg application isolates each meal, so that it's not easy to move & change foods between meals.

Moving/Reusing Common Foods

What I really like about the fitbit food logging tool is that you can mark foods as favorites. Once you indicate that a specific food is a favorite food, it permanently resides in a holding place on the right side of the screen for you to use again in the future.

As your tastes change, you can un-mark a food as a favorite, & it will no longer reside there. I like this because if you've ever tried to log a pork tenderloin or a cut of beef (in any food database), you'll know that you get many more list items than you expected. (Lean, trim, separable fat, etc. Yikes!) Once I've found the one I want to use, I don't want to have to try to find it again.

Another feature that I really like about the fitbit application is that I can move foods from one meal to another very easily (click & drag) in case I accidentally log a food to the wrong meal.

What I don't like about the fitbit food logging tool is that I can't copy from one day into another. I can't do that with the bodybugg either, but at least the bodybugg allows me to say "I ate the same thing I ate yesterday" or the day before, or the day before that...

Food Database Completeness

I'm really not the one to determine the completeness of any food database. I typically prepare all of my meals at home, and don't eat processed foods or foods that have more than a few ingredients. My recipes ingredients are whole foods: fruits, vegetables & lean meats. I don't do semi-homemade.

It's my experience that we all eat about the same 100 foods on a regular basis, and no food database is going to be 100% complete. None have all of your foods in it from the start. You need to add some of your special foods as custom foods to any database. Once you've added your custom foods, then most food logging tools are good until you discover a new lovely food that hasn't made it into the database yet.

I can tell you though that I'm not sure that the fitbit database is correct. There were a number of foods that seemed much higher than what I recalled they should be (1/4 cup of corn logged at 151 Calories!) - and when I checked, in fact they were incorrect.

Custom Foods

Adding custom foods to the fitbit application is really easy. You click a link to add your custom food & you just name the food. The process is very similar within the bodybugg application. Easy. IMHO, the fitbit has a narrow margin of advantage here, and it's due to the bodybugg software architecture (a new window pop up takes longer), but also, the fitbit doesn't require that all of the macronutrients (Protein, Fat and Carbohydrates) add up to the total calories of the custom food.

Recipes & Menus

This point is definitely going to have to go to the bodybugg. Although the fitbit allows you to create menus, they aren't the same as recipes. Recipes can be used as menus, but menus can't be used as recipes.

As I mentioned above, I prepare 95% of my own meals. I cook a lot. I use the recipes in the bodybugg frequently for a few different concepts:

• Used as recipes for meals that result in multiple servings: Soups, Stews, & Casseroles.
• Used as foods that I eat in combination of one another - for instance, if I eat a certain salad frequently, instead of logging each of those items in the salad over & over & over again, I create a recipe of the salad & just add the salad to my food log.

The fitbit software only allows me to create menus - which don't have a number of servings. So, if within the fitbit food logging tool, I want to make soup, baked goods, or stuffed chicken breasts, well, I don't know how I would be able to log that.

Planning

This point also goes to the bodybugg. Although the bodybugg planning tool is clunky, it's there. With the bodybugg application, I can plan my food for the week, and as the meals go by, I can click the button that says "I ate my plan". It takes a lot of work to set up, but it's there. The fitbit doesn't allow you to log food in the future, or plan meals past today..

Reports

Again, this point goes to the bodybugg. The bodybugg allows a user to print out a report of the last 1-4 weeks of food logs. This is useful for the user who need to report to his/her nutritionist. The fitbit doesn't allow that other than printing each individual day.

Round 2 Winner

This round doesn't have a clear winner. The fitbit is quick & easy, but the database isn't completely accurate. Additionally, there are some features in the bodybugg that I really like & use (like recipes, reports & planning) that the fitbit doesn't have available. Neither application allows a user to copy a meal from a previous day & paste it into another meal (I often eat the previous night's leftovers for lunch the next day.)

I'm declaring this round a tie.

Next Round bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 3 - Sleep Tracking >>

Hello, My name is Elizabeth & I'm a data geek. That's why I love my bodybugg. I've loved my bodybugg pretty much since the day I got it. The bodybugg is the first tool available that allows you to really see how many calories you're burning in a day. This is a fantastic insight for folks who are trying to lose weight, or maintain their weight loss because how do you know how many calories to eat if you don't know how many calories you burn?

Since I'm a nutritionist, wellness coach and personal trainer, I instantly recognized how powerful of a tool this was & became a licensed reseller, which affords me the opportunity to distribute them to my clientele. Initially, the bodybugg didn't have any competition. The first competitor was the GoWear Fit, which is the same product distributed by the company that actually makes the bodybugg armband; the only difference is the software that allows you to see your data.

In December of 2008, a new tool was announced, called the fitbit. It's selling price is half of the bodybugg, and a fraction of it's size, and claiming the same accuracy levels of the bodybugg. But until December of 2009, was only a promise. It is now being distributed & I've been trying it out. There's a lot to compare, so I plan on posting a series of blog posts exploring & comparing the different components of the two devices.

Let me tell you that on first impression, the bodybugg needs to step it up.

I received my fitbit & just put it on my desk. Surprisingly, I didn't get it out set it up & start wearing it. The next morning, when I was headed out the door for my run, I decided to see if I could get it going to start testing it. There wasn't a thick instruction manual in the packaging - Just one sentence: "To start using your Fitbit, go to www.fitbit.com/start". I did that & in 5 minutes I was out the door headed out on my run.

Hardware Installation

I had no problems with installing the hardware. I plugged the included fitbit base into my computer through the USB port. It immediately installed the hardware in the background & I continued with the software. The only thing I had to do was press the fitbit button to display a number in order to 'marry' my fitbit to my web login.

I installed my bodybugg almost 2 years ago & don't recall having any issues, however I get customer calls all too frequently because of the hardware and software compatibility issues.

Software Installation

There is no software installation. The web application runs in my web browser. It's not java enabled & so far, (I'm running Google Chrome) it doesn't appear to have browser issues. Additionally, I can access my data on my blackberry; which is awesome!

The bodybugg web application is a java app. It's not smartphone compatible, and occasionally when there's an update to the software, the application requires a re-installation before moving forward. Additionally, when Apex performs maintenance on the site, users are blocked access. This happens at least monthly.

Synchronization

Synchronizing is so easy peasy! I just need to be near the fitbit base & be logged into my fitbit application. It automatically updates with my recorded steps and activity.

Synchronization with the bodybugg is not difficult, but it is a conscious choice. I have the wireless transceiver, which makes synchronization easier.

1. Once in the bodybugg application, I click the [Calories Burned] button.
2. A pop-up window appears asking if I'm going to synchronize the bodybugg with the USB cable, or through the wireless transceiver. (If I choose the tethered USB cable, I have to take the bodybugg off my arm & attach it to the USB, which can be a pain if I'm wearing long sleeves. Otherwise, I can keep the bodybugg on & press the transmitter button through my clothing to start the synchronization.)
3. Once I select my method, synchronization takes about 30 seconds.

Price

The fitbit is currently retailing for $99.

The bodybugg sells for $195 - but that's just the armband. If you want to see your data without uploading, you'll pay an additional $75 & if you want to upload your data without taking the bodybugg off your arm, you'll pay an additional $50. Total Cost? Over $300.

Included Hardware/Information Display

One thing that I really like about the fitbit is that it is so unassuming. It clips to your waistband, and there's just less stuff! In the summer, everyone knows that I'm wearing my bodybugg. Even when I'm not wearing it, you can still see it.

Although the fitbit is so tiny, it has a built in display. I press a button & it cycles through today's data: steps, activity, calories burned, and miles walked. It's very similar data to that of the bodybugg display. It doesn't display information from yesterday, like the bodybugg does, but I think that's okay because the data is in the web application if I choose to look at it.

One feature that I really like on the bodybugg display is the trip-meter. When I run, I like to burn a certain amount of calories, so I set the trip-meter on my display & don't go home until that goal is met. It wasn't obvious at first, but the fitbit also has a trip-meter & I think I might like it better! WHere the bodybugg's trip-meter allows me to set it to zero(0), it keeps collecting data until I re-set it to zero again. The fitbit allows me to isolate an activity: so, I start the trip-meter when I go out for my run, and then when I return, I stop it. When my data uploads to the website, I can analyze it. I like that!

The fitbit's battery arrived half-way charged & just over a week later has no indication of running out. The bodybugg's battery arrives fully depleted & takes 3 hours to charge initially. That charge will last about 2 weeks, depending on how many hours a day I'm wearing it.

Round 1 Winner

The winner of this first round is clearly the fitbit. But don't go out & buy it just yet based on this review. There are still many factors to take into account, which I am still comparing; such as, food logging, data analysis, support & motivation, and most important: accuracy.

Subject: ? For your trainer

Hey - I was wondering about those tennis shoes with the funky bottoms...skeechers and reebok make them (maybe also earth).  Anyway, can you ask your trainer if she has an opinion about them. Wouldn't want to miss a buying opportunity if it's healthy!

Thx!

I think that's funny.

You know - I AM interested in them though. Let's see - what are their claims?
From Reebok: (OMG! is their advertising selling sex!)

78% of men are speechless.
81% of women jealous.
EasyTone helps you get better legs
and a better butt with every single step.

From Sketchers:

1. Tone your muscles
2. Promote healthy weight loss
3. Make it easy to get in shape!

Okay - so at least they're not trying to claim that you'll burn more calories in them. What I think they're doing is providing an unstable surface, so that you have to engage your muscles more to walk in them & your core muscles to stand in them. (similar to using a BoSU).

I have a client who recently purchased them & they look interesting. I would like to try them, and I get it: no one wants to work out. "If I can get the same benefits of doing squats as walking around the mall, hell yeah - I'm gonna buy the shoes & do some shopping!"

Now, that being said, any improvement that they make is going to be minimal. They may recruit additional muscles, therefore minimally raising your metabolic rate for the duration of your activity, but the only real way to make your legs look better is if you reduce the layer of fat on top of the muscles. And that means reducing body fat; and the only way to reduce body fat is to create a calorie deficit.

It all freakin comes down to diet & exercise (DAMMIT!).

So, in summary, I think they're fine as a "BONUS!" or "Yippee!" - but they're not going to do it on their own. Squats, Squats, Squats! ... and lots of cardio.

Today's Question is from Sarah:

"I would also like to get your opinion on protein drinks.  What do you think of them?  Do you recommend them or suggest staying away from them?  I have heard lots of people talking about them, and one even came with my workout program (which I have been taking), but I'm not sure if it's the best thing to do.  Any suggestions?"

Oy! Protein Drinks! Let's start with some definitions. Supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry. There are lots of "fitness" foods out there: Protein Drinks, Energy Drinks, Meal Replacement Powders (MRPs), Meal Replacement Drinks (MRDs), Protein Bars, Energy Bars, and Meal Replacement Bars.

• Meal replacements are designed to replace a complete meal, and therefore have a nutrient formula similar to what that manufacturer believes should be the nutrient breakdown of a meal. It will have an adequate supply of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. These are usually mid range in the calorie arena, around 250 to 300 calories.
• Energy bars & drinks are designed to boost energy after consumption. These may have stimulants, such as caffeine, or other supportive nutrients, such as ginseng and white tea. They may pack an initial punch with just sugar, or they may go for sustained energy through an array of carbohydrates.
• Protein bars & drinks is a supplement for adding extra protein to the diet. These are great for a quick protein fix.

Okay - so, I'm a nutritionist. I would like to believe that everyone can get the nutrients that they need from the foods that they eat & that no one needs supplementation. That said, I would be a hypocrite if I said that I had never ate or drank one of the ready made supplements. I used to, but I typically don't anymore. Here's why:

1. They're processed foods disguised as Health supplements: Look at the ingredient list on a bar or drink - there's a lot of sugar & other chemicals listed there. It's amazing! And it kills me that people who spend so much time at the gym & buying organic foods would look the other way when it comes to slurping down a bunch of chemicals just because it's marketed as being "good for you". In fact, many energy and protein bars are glorified candy bars. Read the labels - just like you would with products at the grocery store.
2. They don't really taste good to me: If I eat a bar, then that means that I have fewer calories to eat something that I really enjoy. Some bars and drinks are tastier than others (BE AWARE that the better they taste, more than likely, the more sugar and chemicals they contain), but why waste time, money and calories on something that I don't love?
3. I like to eat my calories: I really like to eat. I plan my meals & get excited to eat the foods that I've prepared. Eating isn't a chore for me; it's a luxury. For that reason, I don't have problems with getting enough calories into my diet. I have problems limiting the number of calories that I consume. Bars and drinks can contain quite a few calories. If I'm using up calories on that bar or drink, then I have to cut something else from my diet later in the day (that I probably would enjoy more).
4. They're not sustainable: When I reflect on my health habits, whether it's something that I eat, drink, or do, I ask myself "Is this habit sustainable?" Meaning, do I see myself doing this habit when I'm 60? Granted, there may be some things that we do to get ourselves to a certain goal (like working out 2x a day or limiting sweets, alcohol or calories), but being aware that this is just a temporary situation & not a long term solution needs to be acknowledged.

Bars and drinks are fine in a pinch - if you don't have time to eat, or if you're hungry & the choice is a Cliff Bar or a Snickers bar - but I don't plan them into my diet. If you want more protein in your diet, plan your meals around lean protein sources (chicken and turkey breast, pork loin, lean red meat, soy, egg whites, and reduced fat dairy).

Other articles I've written on supplementation

I have two V2 bodybuggs that I am selling:

The V2 is the grey bodybugg that was discontinued in December 2008.

• bodybugg® armband
• Online food logging with custom meal plans
• 6-month subscription to the web-based program
• 1 phone session with a bodybugg® coach
• No Warranty

• bodybugg® armband
• Online food logging with custom meal plans
• 6-month subscription to the web-based program
• 1 phone session with a bodybugg® coach
• 1 year warranty

See this link for the differences between the V2 & V3

Contact me through email or phone 512.789.0094 if you're interested.

Ever since I've read the Omnivore's Dilemma & saw the movie Food Inc., I've been more aware of the quality of my food, where it's coming from & also the environmental impact of my diet. With all of that, I went online searching for veggie burger recipes & found a Houston's copycat version.

Houston's Restaurant has the best veggie burger EVER! It looks like a burger should (not like those lame frozen soy patties that you get in the grocery store), it has a ton of flavor & is just to die for. If you've never had a veggie burger, never had a veggie burger that you've liked, or haven't tried Houston's veggie burger, you need to go there & try it. (Gary even liked it & ordered one!)

Anyway, I'm playing around with the recipe. I think the flavor is there, but they're pretty loose - so I need to work on that.

In the meantime, I just posted my recipes for

• Houston's Copycat Veggie Burgers
• Sweet Potato Fries

The picture really looks like they're too good to be good for you - but they are! They can even be vegan if you want. Please Enjoy them!

Dieter's Tip

Oh - and in case you're wondering, a tip for reducing wasted calories is to scoop out the top part of the bun. I find that I want the concept of a bun, but I don't need all of that bread. By scooping out the top part (and sometimes the bottom - depending on how much is there), I reduce my bun calories by about 25% - Not bad!

Another Frequently asked question about the bodybugg application is:

"Why do I have two different Calories Burned Numbers? I just got my Bodybugg last night. It seems to be working and when I uploaded data from the armband to computer, at the bottom it said I had burned 31 calories-had only been wearing it for a few minutes. The top display for the overall day is completely out of whack says 381 calories burned so far which can't be done in wearing it a whole ten minutes?"

The Red arrows in this screen shot point out the conflicting data. Clearly the numbers are different, but why?

The top number shows the total number of calories burned during the entire day. The bottom number shows the number of calories burned during a specific time of day, typically your waking hours, which is illustrated by the darker gray area that the blue arrow is pointing towards.

This darker gray area is called the Time Selector. When you created your bodybugg profile, the questionnaire asked you about your sleep patterns. These are the hours that you said you normally go to bed & wake.

Although it defaults to your waking hours, the darker gray area is area is adjustable. Placing your mouse in the middle of the waking hours, you can click & drag to the left or right to span a different time frame.

Additionally, if you want to see how many calories were burned during a specific time (a workout or other event), you can make the area larger or smaller by dragging the small boxes at the top of the Time Selector to the left and right. Notice that when you do this that the From: time & To: time change to reflect the time of day that you are viewing.

So, why are the two numbers different to start?

Great Question! Bottom line is, your body burns calories 24 hours a day. Even when you're sleeping! It's typically referred to metabolism, but other terms are BMR or RMR. Your body needs calories in order to breathe, pump blood, digest food, breathe. All of those things that you do automatically without having to think about it.

How many calories your body burns at rest is a little trickier. I've written two blog posts you can find here:

• But ... how do you know? Part 1
• But ... how do you know? Part 2

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

The most common first question I get with the bodybugg application is, "I've entered my food, now I want to go back & change it & I cant." As far as editing the food log, yes you can do it & it's easy; it just happens in a different place  than where you initially log your food. I agree that it's a little confusing. You click the “Calories Consumed” button when you’re entering in new meals, but not when you're modifying previously entered meals.

Editing Food

Step 1: Using the Date selector, select the date for the food you want to modify.

Step 2: Select the “Nutrition” sub-tab just below the “Calories Burned”, “Calories Consumed” buttons & just to the left of the Calories Burned graph.

Once you’re on that sub-tab, you can edit any meal by clicking the “EDIT” button associated with the meal you’d like to change.

Clicking the Edit button will produce a small window similar to the one where you entered your food:

That being said, I understand that it's a pain to start a new food logging tool; If you already have been using another tool like The Daily Plate or SparkPeople, you probably have most of the foods that you eat on a regular basis in that other food logging application, & you don't want to have to find them in a new database or enter them again into the bodybugg system. On average, we all eat the same 100 foods, so if you're willing to put up with the inconvenience for a bit, it will get easier. Otherwise, I have a possible workaround.

What I suggest as a workaround is to keep logging your food in  your other food logging application & then just reporting the calories in bodybugg. I wrote a blog post about this technique.

Create a custom food in bb called "calories" which is 100 calories & a unit of measure of 1.

Once you know what your total is for the day, (given that you're not overly concerned about macronutrient breakdowns) just enter one food called "calories" & have it total the amount of that day from your other food logging application.

So let's say that you logged 2453 calories in My Food Pantry for Monday. When you get to enter your food in for Monday, instead of duplicating your food log, enter one food for one of your meals (calories) and the unit is 24.53 which would total 2453 calories for the day.

Note:

I don't suggest that your "calories" custom food =1 calorie because there's a 3 digit limit to your number of servings in the bodybugg application. What this means is that if you have a meal or day greater than 999 calories, you have to add it to multiple meals since you can't add the same food to the same meal twice.

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.