BodyMedia Syncs with MyFitnessPal for Super-Charged Food & Fitness Tracking

PITTSBURGH, Pa., Oct. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Living healthier by watching your calories as well as your calorie burn just got easier, thanks to new connectivity between the BodyMedia FIT armband-based body monitoring system and MyFitnessPal, the leading free resource helping people improve their health. Users of both systems can now link their accounts to consolidate key information from both sources, including MyFitnessPal's widely adopted food diary, providing one-stop online or mobile access to relevant data from either the BodyMedia or the MyFitnessPal interface.

With the integration, consumers can take full advantage of the strengths of both platforms in improving health, wellness and fitness. Users can:

• Automatically transfer the calorie burn data gathered by the BodyMedia FIT system to their MyFitnessPal account, based on all-day physiological measurements taken by BodyMedia armbands that track calorie burn for every step taken and every kind of activity ranging from sitting, walking and household cleaning to running, tennis and kickboxing. BodyMedia's calorie burn measurements have been clinically validated for accuracy, providing a key benefit over generic exercise calculators as well as other monitors.
• Automatically transfer their food diary totals from MyFitnessPal to their BodyMedia account, harnessing the power of MyFitnessPal's world's-largest nutrition and calorie database of more than 2 million listings including the most popular restaurants and food brands. That super-sized database, ease of use, free food logging and community features have grown the MyFitnessPal community to more than 30 million members.
• View the shared data in either application, depending on their needs at the moment. Users logging their food intake in MyFitnessPal can simultaneously check their BodyMedia-measured calorie burn for the day.  Users consulting their BodyMedia Activity Manager for information on their calorie expenditure, calorie deficit or overage for the day, activity levels, steps taken, sleep duration, personalized feedback and/or overall weight loss progress can simultaneously see their MyFitnessPal calorie count as well as BodyMedia's nutritional analysis of their food intake.

The integration also connects two of the market's most effective tools for supporting weight loss initiatives. BodyMedia technology has been clinically proven to increase weight loss up to three times compared to behavioral support alone. MyFitnessPal takes its cue from medical studies showing that keeping a food journal doubles weight loss, providing a searchable food database of over 2 million items that simplifies the process of documenting calorie intake.

"The #1 request we have received from BodyMedia users who track their food consumption with MyFitnessPal is to sync the food diary. As soon as MyFitnessPal released their application programming interface, we put that project on the top of our list," said Christine Robins, BodyMedia CEO. "Linking the two systems gives users new options for quickly zeroing in on the data they need to make decisions about their everyday eating and exercise behaviors."

"BodyMedia's ability to automatically and accurately measure calorie burn is a benefit to MyFitnessPal users because overestimating calorie expenditure by even a small amount can mean the difference between weight loss and weight gain," said Mike Lee, co-founder of MyFitnessPal. "This integration gives members of our community easy access to vital information to further support their weight control efforts."

Users of both systems can link their accounts by visiting http://www.bodymedia.com/Support-Help/MFP.

About BodyMedia, Inc.
BodyMedia pioneered the development of wearable body monitors that collect physiological data for use in improving health, wellness and fitness. Founded in 1999, the company today provides a variety of around-the-clock on-body monitors utilizing proprietary technology that has been clinically validated for accuracy. Data captured by BodyMedia devices is used by consumers as well as health and wellness professionals to guide behavioral changes to control weight and promote an active lifestyle – two factors that are routinely cited as keys to combat and manage serious medical conditions.  BodyMedia has amassed one of the largest databases of information about the human body and the technology has been used in hundreds of clinical research studies covering health issues such as obesity, COPD, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, cancer, bariatrics, sleep and intensive care. BodyMedia is privately held and based in Pittsburgh, PA. For more information, visit www.bodymedia.com.

About MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal makes good health attainable for all. Powered by more than 30 million people, MyFitnessPal is the leading free resource to take charge of daily health. Partnering with top brands—including BodyMedia, runtastic and Endomondo —and featuring a database over 2 million foods, MyFitnessPal provides real-time nutrition and fitness tracking, insights and community support. MyFitnessPal's free and easy to use technology works seamlessly across Android, iOS, Blackberry, Kindle and Windows apps, in addition to the web. MyFitnessPal is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. For more information, visit http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.

SOURCE BodyMedia, Inc.