Thank you to all your sweet and amazing comments on yesterday’s post. We are so excited to see where this crazy life takes us! The planning is just beginning and all seems overwhelming right now, but I know we will get there.
I think if the temperatures keep staying below 0 we may have to speed up this moving process. This has been the coldest and most bitter winter we’ve ever had. I don’t even care about the snow, I’m just ready for it to warm up!
A few weeks ago I received something pretty awesome in the mail.
MisFit Wearables sent me one of their Shine units for me to try. I have been looking around for an activity tracker for the past several months. I never seriously considered getting one because it just isn’t in the budget, but when this opportunity came about I was so excited.
I had never heard of Shine when I was first introduced so I did a little bit of research myself to see.
How does it work?
Shine is activity tracker that is made to wear in a variety of ways. It will track everything from walking, cycling, swimming, and even tracks your sleep. As of right now those are the main four types of activity that Shine tracks.
When you first get the shine your first step is to download the app for your iPhone or Android.
Once you get the app downloaded you simply sync your Shine device to your iPhone. This whole process took a total of about 2-3 minutes. The only thing you have to make sure you have turned on is your bluetooth. This is how it is able to link the two together. You simply sign up and then tap your device to the phone and it does the rest of the linking for you.
Once your device is linked up you set goals for yourself based on your activity level. It will then develop a certain points goal to obtain each day. It tracks both the calories burned and the points earned for each day.
This was my activity for four days while using shine.
How do you wear it?
Shine can be worn in many places.
If you are running, walking or swimming they suggest wearing the device around your wrist.
When you get your Shine it comes with a wrist band that the actual tracking mechanism fits in very easily.
If you are biking it is suggested for best results to wear it around your ankle. This will allow it to track it best due to the fact that you aren’t moving your arms most of the time when biking.
I wore this primarily during biking and had no issues with it. It stays in place and I didn’t even notice it was there a majority of the time.
The one draw back in my opinion to Shine’s ability is weight lifting. While it will try to give you credit when weight lifting, it is not giving you fully what you deserve.
Shine does mention on their website:
“So far, we have focused on tracking walking, running, swimming and cycling. But if you do other kinds of activities, the Shine will automatically do its best to give you credit towards your goal. This means that we will automatically give you credit when you play soccer, but if you lift weights we may not give you all the credit you deserve. We’ll be expanding on the set of activities we’ll be able to track on an on-going basis, allowing you to customize your app based on your own activities.”
It looks likes they are already working to improve this function!
How does it track your calories?
I actually asked my husband this as soon as I got it. I have always been interested in just how these activity trackers work.
I looked up on MisFit Wearables website and it stated:
“Shine estimates your total calories burned each day, which includes: (1) calories related to physical activities like walking, running, swimming, etc; and (2) the basal metabolic rate of energy needed to keep your body alive.
The calories consumed by your physical activities are based on their duration and intensity, which are measured by Shine’s three-dimensional accelerometry system. BMR is estimated from your height, weight, age, and sex. Since BMR usually accounts for the vast majority (at least 2/3) of calories we consume daily, one can typically expect the majority of calories on the app to be a reflection of BMR, with a more modest contribution from physical activity.”
You can read the full explanation here.
When you first set up your Shine it will ask you the information needed to calculate your caloric burn: height, weight, age and sex. That is how it knows what to base the calories it reports you burn off of.
Overall Reaction
I was really impressed by Shine. It was so much fun to track my workouts, especially while I am incorporating more cross training. I loved being able to go back and check what it recorded after I was done biking or swimming.
Overall, I loved it. I’m sure it is not 100% exact on the calorie burn, but for me it really isn’t about the calories. It is about the total activity I do throughout the day. As I have started working part time I walk a lot more because both of my jobs involve a lot of movement. I have enjoyed tracking just how much I walk throughout a day or evening at work along with my normal workouts.
Try Shine for Yourself!
MisFit Wearables has been gracious enough to offer (1) Shine unit to one of my readers!
Simply enter via the rafflecopter giveaway below and I will select a winner on Wednesday, February 19th at 11:59 PM EST.
Good luck!
Cool! I used to have a fitbit and this seems like a similar tracker!
I’ve always wanted something like this. I’d say 90% of my workouts are running so that’s where I’d use it. I would actually love it for walking, too.
I would love to know the stats during my weight listing sessions!
This is a great new option rather than using an app on my phone! It would be awesome to try it out!
I have started using a HRM as part of my running and it is interesting how that changes things up … wonder how this compares to Polar Loop, Fitbit, etc …
I would love this for steps and calorie tracking!
i’d like to try this for my strength/ weight training… and running too!
I have been considering getting a Fitbit so I would LOVE to try the Shine!
I’ve been wanting to get a Fitbit Force, so I’d love to try the Shine I’m sure!
I just read another review about the Shine and it sounds like a really interesting product. Seems really similar to a Fitbit, but I love that it will track your actual activity level through a bunch of different activities instead of just estimating it from a log where you type in what you did.
This sounds really cool. I’ve been a Weight Watchers member since 2013 (I’ve lost 27lbs and been maintaining since April 2013). I took up running in March 2013 to log more miles in a Walk Kansas Challenge and know I run all the time. I love it! I hope to run my first Half this year. I use the Activity Link Weight Watchers promotes and I really enjoy it, but I want something that counts my steps, calories, etc. I haven’t seen this device before.
I’d love to try this, but unfortunately it isn’t in tw budget for me, so hopefully I win! 🙂
I have been looking for an activity tracker but I had never heard of Shine! With all this snow, I have been doing a lot of cross country skiing. I would love to see how it would work while I am skiing!
I would love to use this while running & walking!
I have been really wanting an activity tracker, but have a hard time justifying the cost….even though I workout most days, I’d be more interested in seeing my activity level in everyday life!
Sounds like a neat product! I would love to use it throughout my entire day! 🙂
I would love this! I use my Garmin to track my running outside but it would be nice to have something that can be attached to your wrist or ankle when you are running on the treadmill. I also love that you can use it for spinning! The bikes at my gym don’t have any monitors on them at all it is just the bike!
I would to use this for all my workouts. I am trying to increase my activity and looking for anything that will help me stay active. Did you know that shoveling snow is great extra exercise and we have had plenty to shovel this year 🙂
I have never heard of this brand and have been looking for something like this to help track things I do OUTSIDE of working out.
I would love to wear this all day to see what my true activity levels are. I would also like to wear it on days with no official work out….it may help me feel like I did do a little something 🙂
I think it would be helpful with the everyday activity, keep me from sitting too long.
This would be awesome in my fitness lifestyle!
I’ve been looking for a fitness tracker, but like you it’s just not in the budget. I’d love to use this daily just to track my overall activity throughout the day.
I would love to use this to track my activity throughout the day! It’s hard to know if I’m fueling enough.
I could enjoy and use this throughout the day. 🙂
This looks so cool!! I wanna try it to track my activity through the day!
Definitely would love to wear this at work so I would be more aware of my activity level!
I would use this for running and cycling!
I just started a new job where I’m traveling. Would love a fitness tracker to monitor activity while I adjust to the new schedule and routine.
I would use this walking/running. I would love to know how many steps I take every day!
The misfit shine is the only one currently on the market to be waterproof. What a huge advantage for anyone cross-training! Thanks Misfit to you and the future winner.
I would love to wear this throughout the day to gauge my overall activity level!
I would most enjoy using this for running. Thanks for the giveaway!
– Nikki
Forget about using it for skiing, weight lifting, yoga, or just about anything other than walking, running, biking, or swimming. (For biking you need to wear it on your foot). I’ve had one since the kickstarter campaign and it just doesn’t recognize those activities. For example, it puts 6 hours of downhill skiing (17 rides up the lift) at the same point value as 40 minutes of walking. Look up the calories burned for those activities and you will see they are very different than what it tallies. For weightlifting or yoga its even worse because you aren’t moving your body much, but it’s the weight that’s doing the work.
Yes, I had to wear it around my ankle for cycling. I have never had any luck with a fitness tracker when it comes to weight lifting. That’s why I mentioned it in my post. “The one draw back in my opinion to Shine’s ability is weight lifting. While it will try to give you credit when weight lifting, it is not giving you fully what you deserve.”
I’d love to see a fitness tracker find a way to track weight lifting, but that’s pretty difficult!