Thank you to Healbe for providing me with a product to facilitate my blog review.
All opinions are my own.

As anyone who’s tried to lose weight or is health conscious will tell you, a bit part of reaching or maintaining your weight goal is to control what you eat. Simply put, if you’re healthy, weight loss is all about eating fewer calories than you burn. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to know exactly how many calories there are in what you eat. Many people end up having to weigh every food to track them which can be a tedious process and it’s not always feasible (for example, when you’re out with friends).

Surely, in our day and age, there has to be a better way!

Actually, there is now! Healbe has designed a very unique product in the world of smart life bands: a device that not only tracks the calories that you burn but also the calories that you consume!  You read that correctly, this device, called GoBe 2, knows the nutrients that your body digests without you tracking anything. Seriously, how awesome is that!

I’ll go into more details about the calorie tracker shortly and will list the pros and cons below but first, let me tell you what else the GoBe 2 does.  Just like most other bands, you wear it at the wrist and can get information about the following: steps, heart rate, activity level, sleep cycle, stress level as well as hydration level.

All this information is synced with your smart phone Healbe app where it’s all displayed in graphs for easy analysis. You can also see directly this information on the GoBe 2 band itself in real time and get reminders.  Contrary to other bands, I like that the reminders are specific to my body. For example, I don’t get a scheduled reminder every hour to drink water. I get a reminder only when the band detects that my hydration level is low.

As for the seemingly magical calculations of the calories consumed, I asked the Healbe team a few questions because it seemed too good to be true. Here’s how it works in layman’s terms:

Our cells burn glucose to function and Healbe can actually track, through skin, the level of glucose in them. This information, coupled with other metabolic and personal information (gender, age, weight, height) can provide very accurate measurements of your nutrient intake.  Healbe technology is unique in that it is able to measure the dynamics of your metabolism by looking at the water space in and around your cells and track glucose.  Basically, when you digest foods, your glucose concentration increases. The way cells work is they need to release some water in order to absorb it. The GoBe 2 used a patented technology to analyse this water movement in and out of body cells and make calculations as to what nutrients are consumed and burned.  Not only does it know how many calories your body utilizes, it is also able to determine what percentage of it what from carbs, fat and protein.

Even after this explanation, I decided it was worth putting it to the test by actually comparing traditional tracking of my calorie intake with what the GoBe 2 tracks.  What I noticed were some discrepancies (maybe around 200-300 calories per day), with the GoBe 2 seemingly underestimating one day, then overestimating the next day.  When I questioned the Healbe team, their answer was quite simple and logical:  sure, you ate that bowl of chips Friday night so you tracked it in your Friday intake BUT what the GoBe 2 tells you is that you actually DIGESTED most of those calories Saturday. Considering that digestion is continuous process rather than a one-time deal, it makes perfect sense!

Independent studies show that Healbe technology is actually 80-85% accurate in its measurements which is actually very neat since it is totally automatic and requires no time and effort on our part other than the initial setting up (age, weight, height, etc.).

I think the GoBe 2 is a great device but it also has a couple downsides. Here’s a quick run-down of my thoughts on this device:

PROS:

  • Automatically tracks various health indicators (activity, stress, sleep, hydration, etc.).
  • Not only can it accurately calculate the calories you burn, it also tracks the calories that you CONSUME absolutely automatically.  This is the best feature of this band and it makes is so much easier to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight without the hassle of manually tracking/weighing everything you eat.
  • The information syncs with the Healbe app for quick analysis of the data.
  • You get personalized reminders/alarms for when to drink water or to wake you up at the perfect time.
  • Great customer support!  Whenever I had questions, there was someone from the Healbe team to help me and explain everything in terms that I could understand.

CONS:

  • For now, the device is a bit bulky and there is only one model for the strap. I’m sure as the technology evolves, new designs will be offered to address this. Obviously, the strap model is not a deal-breaker given all the ‘pros’ but I’m hoping new designs will be available in the future.
  • The device is waterproof up to 3 meters BUT it shoudn’t be used in seawater because it can damage the sensor.  Depending on your water activities, this may or may not be an issue.
  • I wish the app kept the information for more than 7 consecutive days (you then get a weekly report by email with the information but it disappears from the app).
  • It would be nice to develop more community features that can keep people motivated to be active and healthy and/or lose weight: challenges, acknowledgments when milestones are reached, possibility to connect with friends, etc.

Overall, I think the GoBe 2 is an amazing device!  The fact that its unique technology makes calories tracking completely automatic is the best as can anyone who had to manually count calories will tell you. It is definitely worth it if you’re health conscious or try to lose weight.

Find Out More: Head over to the Healbe website for more information about these great calorie tracking bands. 

Promo Code: Emily Readers get a special 10% discount when they purchase a Healbe band!  Use the code EMILYREVIEW (no ‘s’ at the end) during checkout for this great discount (valid until the end of 2018)

Connect: Don’t forget to like Healbe on Facebook and follow them on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter for all the latest news and promotions.

 

 

 

 

This post currently has 10 responses.

  • ellen beck

    I am constantly amazed by what can be tracked. Goodness gracious that thing is showing 85K steps is that right? That is a huge amount of steps! Youre right about it being waterproof but I bet that is coming soon. I do wish that more had an online version rather than smartphone, but so many do it that way. I do like the looks of it, and with so many features, the pros win.

  • Rachel

    I want one of these, they are very nice

  • gloria patterson

    WOW this sounds like something I really need and want. A little high for my budget but when they come down I will get

  • gloria patterson

    I like all the things that it does but I don’t like the size. A smaller band in colors that you can add a decoration to.

  • Rachel

    Looks great would like to have one

  • Jill

    Thanks for this review but the code EMILYREVIEWS at checkout does not work. Got error that said: Unable to find a valid discount matching the code entered. I went to order it when i saw the discount but apparently no discount!

    • Rachel

      Hi Jill, you are right, there is an error with the promo code. They created a new one for now: EMILYREVIEW (no ‘s’ at the end). I tried it and it works for me. Let me know if it doesn’t work for you. 🙂

    • Rachel

      Hi Jill, you are right, there is an error with the promo code. They created a new one for now: EMILYREVIEW (no ‘s’ at the end). I tried it and it works for me. Let me know if it doesn’t work for you. 🙂

  • Darcy Koch

    Wearing one of these would be about the only way for me to know exactly how many calories I am eating as well as burning. It is a nice looking band. Perhaps it could be a tad smaller as I have tiny w

  • Julie Waldron

    This sounds great and does so much! I like that it can detect when your hydration is low.

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