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Buddy band 2

Buddy Band 2 – Activ8rlives – Review

Buddy Band 2

 

I reviewed the Activ8rlives app recently and loved the food diary features.  The people at Activ8rlives got in touch and asked if I’d like to review a Buddy Band 2. Of course, I said yes.

The Buddy Band tracks your steps, quality of sleep, calories used, daily distance and active minutes. I haven’t managed to hit my daily target of 10,000 steps yet but I will get there!

It comes with 3 different coloured straps, a USB magnetised charger and a belt clip. I chose the pink wristband 🙂

Charger

I love the charger. The wire is a great size for me as it sits next to my laptop on my laptop table and doesn’t get in the way.

Buddy Band 2

It connects to the Activ8rlives app on your smartphone and transfers the data via Bluetooth.

Tracking Sleep

At the moment, I’m most interested in the sleep data because I’ve been waking with a headache most mornings. I put it down to poor sleep but it seems my sleep quality is quite high.
You can set the band to go into sleep mode and come out of sleep mode at set times. I didn’t set mine because I don’t go to bed at the same time every night.

To set it to sleep mode manually, you just have to hold your finger on the button on the front for 5 seconds. You do the same to take it out of sleep mode in the morning. I just need to remember to do it when I wake up!

Buddy Band 2

The dashboard shows you all the data at a glance

Buddy Band 2

Tracking Steps

I like that it compares your steps to the previous day and tells you whether you’ve done more or less.  I can’t wait to hit 10,000 steps for the first time. The band buzzed at me the other day so I checked it to find out why and it turns out I’d hit the halfway mark for the first time. It spurred me on to do more steps!

Buddy Band 2

Downsides

There are a couple of downsides to mention. I had a cheap band before (cost less than £20) and it connected easily to my phone and showed text messages when they came in. It also buzzed when my phone rang.

I tried to set it up on the Buddy Band but it hasn’t worked (I’ve got a Samsung Galaxy S6) which is a bit disappointing. I often miss calls, especially when I’m in the supermarket. The phone is in my bag and I’m so busy concentrating on shopping (!) that I don’t hear it. It was great to be buzzed on the wrist when it rang!

The other thing is the sensitive button on the front. My other band worked by tapping the screen and wasn’t as sensitive as this button.
I keep catching it on other parts of my body. The other morning, at just gone 6 am, it was set to sleep mode and while I was asleep, I put my head on my arm. It woke me up because it buzzed and was taken out of sleep mode!

Apart from that, I do prefer it to my old band (which now belongs to Kaycee!).

Please Note: I was sent the product in return for an honest for review.

Activ8rlives Wellness and Food Diary App Review

Activ8rlives App

You probably know all about my weight loss efforts over the past 5 years. If not, here’s a quick recap:

I joined Slimming World in August 2012 weighing in at 31 stones 1 pound. On my one year anniversary of joining, I got my 7 stone award.

I went on to get my 8 and a half stone award but it took a lot longer to get there than the previous 7 stones had done.
Since then, I’ve struggled. I put a stone back on and I’ve spent the last 4 years going up and down the same stone.

Recently it’s been even worse because I’ve gained another stone back and I’m finding it really difficult to get it off again.

Food Diaries

When you first join Slimming World you’re given some food diaries to fill in for the first 4 weeks. I carried on filling in food diaries for the next couple of years. I actually started another blog to document my food diaries.
Taking photos of all my meals became a habit. I wrote a blog post every day using the photos to help me remember what I’d eaten.

Things got busier and the busier I got, the harder it was for me to find time to keep up the blog. I stopped updating it.
Looking back, it really wasn’t the best move for me to make. I think I started struggling with the weight loss because I stopped holding myself accountable by taking the photos and blogging.

I’ve tried a few times to start blogging again but I’m even busier now than I was back then so it hasn’t happened.

Activ8rlives

When I was asked to review the Activ8rlives wellness and food diary app, I was delighted. Here’s an app where I can take photos of all meals and not have to worry about transferring them to my laptop. They’re stored on the Activ8rlives cloud account.

You start off by entering your personal details like height and weight and your target weight. The app suggests a healthy weight so you get a healthy BMI. You don’t have to use the suggestion, you can set your own target weight.

Activ8rlives app

Food Intake

When you’ve taken your photo you can then add a description of your meal. Everything can be listed, including healthy extras and syns if you’re doing Slimming World. The option to choose whether you’re having a good choice or a bad choice makes you think before you eat.

It’s great for anyone who is calorie counting. You can see how the calories are adding up throughout the day.
I was expecting the app to have lists of different foods to choose from with all the nutrition info like other apps I’ve used but you put the info in yourself if you want to.
This is a great feature because while I’m on Slimming World, I don’t have to worry about calorie counting and frankly, I don’t want to know how many calories I’m having each day. The eating plan doesn’t work on calories and if I keep seeing them adding up each day, it could mess with my head!

Activ8rlives app

When you’ve logged your meals, snacks and drinks for the day, you can go to your food diary and see your daily intake in pictures as well as text.

Activ8rlives app

Measurements

On your dashboard, you can quickly see your numbers for the day. You can buy a Buddy Band 2 that syncs with the app to measure your steps. I really need to get more exercise so this would be great for me.
There’s also a set of Smart Scales and Pulse Oximeter available to buy.

This is a screenshot of my starting weight. I weighed myself on May 9th.

Activ8rlives app

And this is my progress so far. I weighed myself this morning, May 17th

Activ8rlives app

I’ve lost 12lb since I downloaded the app :o) I’m really pleased with my result. This is the best weight loss I’ve had for quite a while and I know the app has helped get this result.

Customisable

If there are things the app measures that you’re not interested in having measured, you can delete the widgets. It’s totally customisable to your needs.

Activ8rlives app

This app is going to be a huge help in my Slimming World journey. I lost 6lb from the first weigh in I did for the app, to my second. I still have another stone and a half to go to get back to my ‘regular’ weight which is 23 and a half stone but I know this app will make it easier for me to get there 🙂

Activ8rlives QR code

There are lots of apps out there to help you with your goals; this weight tracker app calculates your BMI, BMR and body fat.

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