If you’ve been following the blog recently you’ll know I’ve been trying to get healthy. I have been using my Jawbone Up for almost a year now and have recently started trying to do more walking around the neighborhood, starting small but hopefully working my way up to longer distances and without the assistance of my leg brace.
I had heard that the best way to track how many calories you are burning is by measuring your heart rate, as all the other apps just estimates. Beets Blu has a heartrate monitor that you can use through an app on your phone and bluetooth, as long as your phone is compatible. (iPhone 4S and later, iPad 3 and later and Android 4.3 and later are all compatible)
At first I had some trouble trying to get the app to see my monitor. Don’t pair the monitor with your phone like you do other devices, just “search” for it in the app and let it connect. I also found I needed to be wearing it in order for the app to see it. (And if that didn’t work, try wetting the connectors)
The strap of the device is adjustable, like a belt. I wrapped it just under my bra and it snaps together. Then I told the app to start monitoring and went on my walk. After the walk, it gave he the details of what I did – my walk was at 1:33pm for 12 minutes and I burned 94 calories. (Runkeeper said I burned 44 calories) My average heart rate was 132, 137 5 minutes after the start and 127 5 minutes before I finished. There’s also a graph displayed to show the bpm. (And I did go a bit faster than usual to try and get my heart rate up)
I did find after my first use I needed to adjust the strap a little bit more as it did get a bit uncomfortable to wear, but once I did that I hardly even noticed that I was wearing it. It is super easy to use now that the app can see it and I am looking forward to tracking my activity a lot better with it.
I received a free product in exchange for this honest review.