If you want to lead a healthier life, you have to know what areas you need to improve, right? Are you getting enough sleep? Eating enough of the right foods? Drinking enough water? Engaging in enough physical activity? These are all things that have a HUGE impact on our overall health and well-being!

It’s not enough to say “I’m going to be healthier,” you need a plan! You need to identify your strengths and weaknesses, right? Good news, my friends: that’s not as hard as you might think! I partnered with HealBe to tell you how to use the GoBe2 Fitness Tracker Band to help you take control of your health!  Don’t miss the 10% off coupon code at the bottom of this post!

How to Use the GoBe2 Fitness Band to Take Control of Your Health

*I received a complementary GoBe2 in exchange for sharing this review. All opinions are my own.

1. Track the Calories You Digest

The GoBe2 SmartLife Band has a really unique feature that I’ve never seen on any other fitness bands: it can track your calorie intake…sort of. It’s really important to understand how this feature works, so I’m going to give you the explanation that I was given straight from the company. I don’t want to try to rewrite this in my own words because it’s super technical and I don’t want to mess it up or give you any false impressions.

“Long story short, when human body digest the food glucose concentrations rise. To absorb glucose cells need to release the water. The GoBe 2 uses patented FLOW Technology to analyze fluid moving in and out of body cells. FLOW Technology then applies this information to an advanced algorithm to analyze this data and calculate calorie intake. “

It’s a bit more involved, but that’s the basic gist. Basically, it’s tracking the calories that are digested, not the calories as they go into your mouth. Since your digestive system can take up to 72 hours to completely get through your meal, you may see a spike on day 3 even though you ate less that day. Does that make sense?

At the end of each day, you’ll be able to see your intake vs. output balance. Basically, how many calories you burned versus how many you digested. You’ll also see how many of those digested calories came from carbs, fat, and protein.

2. Track activity and your heart rate

These are actually two separate functions on the GoBe2 Fitness band, but they kind of go hand in hand. Most people who track their heart rate do so when they’re working out. We all have that perfect target heart rate during exercise (I can’t tell you what yours is, as it depends on so many factors). The GoBe2 gives you constant access to your HR number. At any time, I can click the button 3 times and see exactly how fast my heart is beating.

Five clicks gives me instant access to how many steps I’ve taken throughout the day! If you have a goal of, say, 10,000 steps, you know how much further you have to go. In the app, you’ll get more detailed information, like how many flights of stairs you’ve climbed and your peak hours for activity.

I definitely need to be more active! I work at a desk all day, and my chronic pain makes it hard for me to get moving as much as I should be. It doesn’t help that sitting all day actually makes that pain worse! Seeing my progress on both the fitness band and the app makes me feel a bit more motivated. It’s like having a non-judgmental friend cheering me on.

FYI, I find the GoBe2 heart rate tracker to be highly accurate. I measured my heart rate manually (something I remember how to do very well from my nursing school days) and with a portable blood pressure monitor. The GoBe2 was either spot-on or within a few beats difference (which is totally normal, given the three different calculating methods).

3. Take charge of your emotions

As you might recall from previous posts, I have anxiety and panic disorder. I spend most of my life in some state of emotional distress. I was kind of curious to see how the GoBe2 rated my stress level, and was surprised to see that it rated it as “low” most of the day.

I looked into how the stress calculations work and found that it uses a combination of several factors, including your heart rate, sleep quality, and physical characteristics. I think that the GoBe2 calculates a baseline, then measures spikes to that base. So for someone like me who is literally stressed out all day every day, it would register my “resting stress level” as “no stress,” then go from there.

I do feel like it’s accurate, if I am assuming that it starts with a baseline, because it spiked when my mood changed from just my normal level of stress to “through the roof” anxiety. I like that when it senses you getting super stressed, it vibrates at you with the word “emotions.” It’s a reminder to breathe, and enough of a distraction to help me stop myself from spiraling into a full-blown panic attack. I’m not saying it lowers my anxiety level or completely eliminates panic, but it does help me get a better grasp on what’s causing my stress level to go up.

4. Make sure you’re hydrated enough

I’m sure by now you know how important hydration is to your overall health, so I’m not going to repeat it. If you need a refresher (ha!) course, I suggest checking out this article from KidsHealth.org. Yeah, I know it was written for kids, but I kind of like the “layman’s terms” of it all.

Something you may not know: the old “drink 8 cups a day” adage isn’t really all that accurate! Some of us need more, some need a little less. There’s also an adage that says “if you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.” So how do you know if you’re really getting enough? Use the H2O tracker on your GoBe2! It automatically calculates your required hydration level by using input from you about your height, weight, etc as well as your activity and diet.

On average, I am surprisingly hydrated for someone who drinks coffee for the first 8 hours of the day! However, I was extremely sick all last week. Like, “I’m seriously considering giving myself a tonsillectomy” sick. I rarely get a sore throat, but when I do it holds on for dear life and makes me miserable. I also had a stomach bug…or the pain was just making me sick.

On those days, my GoBe2 vibrated at me frequently and told me to “drink.” I knew that I had to get my H2O levels up or risk ending up in the ER for a banana bag. Being able to track it easily helped me get enough fluids back into my body to avoid that catastrophe.

5. Learn more about your sleep quality

I feel like I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in years, but I was curious about just how bad it really was. I wore the GoBe2 to bed a couple of nights out of the first week, because I alternated charging it during the night and day to get a full picture of my health. I was surprised that it wasn’t uncomfortable to sleep with! I’m SUPER picky about what touches my skin at night. Seriously, I’m probably the weirdest person you’ll ever meet when it comes to sleep habits.

Anyway, according to the GoBe2, those little “wake up and go to the bathroom” sessions kept me awake a lot longer than I thought! The first night that I wore it, I went to bed early and “slept” for a full 8 hours, but according to GoBe2, I really only slept for a little over 6 of those hours. I also didn’t get quite as much REM sleep as I probably should have.

The second night was a little better. My sleep quality was at 80%, and I slept for 7 hours and 10 mins. I was awake three times, but only for a total of 44 minutes throughout the night. I also noticed longer REM stages. Interestingly, my anxiety levels were all over the place while I was sleeping. I’ve woken up feeling like I fainted a few times recently, so I’m wondering if it’s actually a panic attack in my sleep. I’ll follow up with my doctor to be sure.

Tips for using the GoBe2 successfully

A few tips for getting the most out of your GoBe2.

1. Remember, while it can help you take control of your health, it is NOT a replacement for your doctor. If you are feeling sick or “off,” don’t just rely on data from the GoBe2. Make an appt with your doc.
2. Your GoBe2 needs contact with your skin to do its job. Don’t put it on too tight or too loose. I put it on the loosest setting that doesn’t make it buzz at me because it lost contact.
3. The battery can last up to 48 hours, but that depends on how often you sync it to the app. I kind of obsessively checked the app over the first few days, so I had to charge it more often. It charges pretty fast, though, so you can either alternate like I did, or pick a “down time” to do it.
4. Occasionally, you might notice that the app is having a hard time syncing your GoBe2. When that happens, I cancel, then click “find GoBe” again, then click on my device when it comes up. This seems to fix the issue.
5. The GoBe2 relies on input from you regarding your age, weight, etc. BE HONEST. No one sees it but you, so don’t try to shave off a few pounds or years. Doing so can throw things off.

Learn more about the GoBe2, including the patented FLOW technology, on the HealBe website! Connect with HealBe on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for news and inspiration.

Save 10% off your GoBe2 Purchase!

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