BodyMedia

BodyMedia is a basic armband that measures sleep habits, calories consumed, calories burned, and everything else that may affect weight loss. That’s great, it’s great if you are more self-aware. But BodyMedia specifically claims to help you to lose 3 time more weight. So how does it do this?

What BodyMedia Does Not Do

BodyMedia does not help you to burn calories. BodyMedia does not help you to get more nutrients, and it does not help to increase your metabolism or for that matter help you to build muscle or suppress appetite. It doesn’t make it easier to diet. And it doesn’t actually help you to sleep. But what does it do?

What BodyMedia Does

Some would say that BodyMedia keeps you accountable. You automatically report to this little machine on your left arm, and maybe it makes you feel better if your numbers are bigger or smaller at the end of the day. It’s like training with a good personal trainer. The personal trainer keeps you going, telling you to take one more step, put in a little extra effort, complete a few more reps, etc.

But the problem I see with that is that BodyMedia is not person. It’s not a personal trainer, and actually, it does not tell you to do one more rep. It does not tell you to stop eating those fries. All it does is tell you how many calories are in those fries, how many steps you actually took today, etc.

If this motivates you to eat less, exercise more, etc. then great. But let’s face facts. The machine is not yelling at you, and most people could get the same motivation from a piece of paper if you’re actually recording your activity, diet, etc.

How Much Does BodyMedia Cost?

This is the biggest thing to consider when it comes to BodyMedia. How much do you pay for a piece of paper or even a journal? You pay about $10-$15 for a journal and a few cents for a piece of paper. How much do you pay for a phone application? Technically most phone apps are free. But you probably pay $50-$100 a month for phone service. How much does BodyMedia cost? $250! 250 freaking dollars!

Conclusion

I don’t think that BodyMedia is a scam. I actually think it’s a pretty good idea, if you choose to be accountable for your actions and really pay attention to it. Most people won’t. But then again most people use diet pills without diet and exercise and still expect to see results. Go figure, right?

But I don’t see the sense in spending $250 on a computer that doesn’t make recommendations to help you to get more out of your diet and exercise. So you’ll probably have to pay for a gym pass or even a personal trainer after paying for this. It doesn’t tell you what to eat. So you might have to come up with your own diet or pay for another diet plan. It just reports the numbers, and I just happen to think that’s a rip-off.