Hack Your Metabolism With Lumen

Have you ever wanted to track your metabolism on the go? Well, now you can!

I was sent this amazing little device called Lumen which measures your metabolism in real time with a single breath and in under a minute at that. While I am just at the beginning of my intermittent fasting journey, I have been able to honestly say that Lumen has worked wonders for me with tracking my fasting state because you NEED to know if and when your body is burning fat in order to find out if your fasting is effective. It is so good, in fact, that it has become a gold standard for metabolism measurement according to one study. But its not just for fasting-it is for everyone.

Before Lumen, the only way to measure your metabolism was in a hospital or clinic with a costly and time-consuming test known as RER (through the breath) so this is a breakthrough. The amount of oxygen you breathe in, and CO2 you exhale, can contain a lot of information about how you process food. A high co2 means you are burning more carbs while a low co2 level means you are burning primarily fats which is how Lumen is able to measure.

The breathalyzer which looks like a little vape pen was easy to charge and set up-thanks to the handy dandy Lumen app. Everything was super easy to set up as it asked me personal questions about myself and what my wellness goals were. I first used Lumen before I had eaten anything all day and my results were just as I thought: I was burning more fats than carbs. I was amazed that this little thing could tell that information! Then one evening I used it after eating a big baked potato, and it told me I was burning mostly carbs-imagine that!

Here’s how it works. It measures your body’s carbon dioxide concentration by breathing into a handheld Lumen device. These levels indicate the type of fuel your body is using to produce energy – a mix of fat or carbs. The CO2 concentration is measured using a unique breath maneuver, which is performed by inhaling a fixed volume of air through the Lumen device (dynamic to each individual), holding it for 10 seconds, and exhaling fully. The Lumen app will actually guide you through this process telling you when to inhale, hold, and exhale.

Each time you breathe into it, the device analyzes your breath, giving you a score on a scale of 1 to 5 to tell you whether your body is running on energy from your fat stores (the ideal “fat burning” 1 or 2 state), the carbohydrates you’ve consumed (a 4 or 5), or a combination of both (a 3). It follows with a recommended meal plan of approximately how many carb, fat, and protein servings you should be eating, with the ultimate goal of making your metabolism more efficient. Upon waking up, your body should typically be at a 1 or 2. But if you wake up at a 4 or a 5 score, it might mean your body is having issues trying to digest food from the night before.

It is almost like having a nutritionist in the back of your pocket because Lumen provides you with personalized suggestions on when and what to eat to fuel your workout, based on your metabolism. Lumen supports fat burn and improves your metabolic flexibility, which is your body’s ability to efficiently switch between using carbs and fats as a fuel source.

Some benefits of the Lumen device are:

• Natural weightloss – Lumen helps improve your metabolic flexibility which allows you to lose weight in a sustainable way.
• Less snacking – Lumen helps you improve your body’s ability to burn fat which decreases your hunger levels and makes your body less dependent on snacking.
• Energy and mood boost – Increase your energy levels by developing a high functioning metabolism.
• Improved overall health – Improving metabolic flexibility has a preventive effect against obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic diseases.
• Enhanced weight maintenance – Developing a flexible metabolism allows your body to maintain a healthy weight by optimizing the body’s ability to burn fat.
• Consistent blood sugar levels – Optimize your body’s ability to burn carbs and avoid blood sugar spikes by improving your metabolic flexibility.

Lumen has honestly become a part of my daily routine as I measure in the morning, after eating, after working out, and before bedtime. I love learning more and more about my body and how it processes food so I must admit that this thing is addictive-in a good way! I love knowing how and what I should be eating day to day and this helps with that. But it does not tell you what to eat exactly because they want to offer their users freedom to choose. THAT is amazing. Instead, each day it recommends whether or not you eat low, medium, or high carb based off of your results.

There are 7 times when you will actually measure using Lumen:

• When you wakeup/before breakfast. The Morning Fasted measurement is taken by tapping the ‘Take a breath’ button in the morning.
• Before and after eating. The Meal measurements which can be accessed from the purple floating button as the “before and after eating” option are useful to understand how your food is impacting your body. See what works for your metabolism or what foods to avoid.
• Before and after a workout. Workout measurements which can be taken via the floating button menu and after adding a workout . Take your breath before a workout to understand if you need to fuel up or not. Measure afterwards to see if you shifted back to fat burn with our new post-workout insights.
• Post fasting. Post-fasting measurements which are available through the floating button menu. Take a measurement when your fasting window is over to measure the impact on your metabolism.
• Before bedtime. Before sleeping measurements which you take using the floating button menu before you go to bed. This is a good indicator of what your results will be like in the morning.
• Random check ins. Check-in measurements which you can use to check your metabolism anytime throughout the day and tag your measurement afterwards to keep track of special events or personal goals you might have.
• Boost measurements. Boost measurements which are available on Boost days that occur after completing a 4-day streak of waking up in fat burn. These measurements show how well your body shifts into carb-burn on high carb days.

Some time (about 2 weeks) after using the Lumen app, you will get your personal Lumen flex score. This number represents how flexible your metabolism is and will update each week based on your progress. Lumen’s goal is metabolic flexibility-how capable a person’s body is at switching between fuel sources at appropriate times. This is important because most people do not use fat properly because of the comsumption of too many carbs leading to the inability to lose the weight you are wanting to. Essentially, Lumen hacks our metabolism to enable use to better use fats and carbs in our diets for metabolic efficiency.

The Lumen app offers some great insights for nutrition such as personalized meal recommendations, real-time metabolic insights, and sustainable tailored eating plans which is why it feels as if you have a nutritionist wherever you go! I was able to learn what goes into a properly balanced meal. I absolutely adore all of the education within the app.

Not only that, you can actually see if you have enough energy before a workout or if you need to fuel up. Then you can breathe afterward to see the impact of the workout on your body since it allows you to measure multiple times per day. The Lumen app truly hits on every aspect of fitness to give you the best results possible. I honestly think it is a great form of motivation in my own life-I love knowing how my metabolism is working at all times!

I feel that Lumen is perfect for anyone who is on a fitness mission. Whether you are on a special diet or want to keep track of what you are burning, this small device is certainly a huge motivator.

The Lumen device is available at Lumen.me, currently priced at $199 with a subscription renewal of $19 after 3 months. BUT if you use code fitmommy, you will get 10% off your order!

The device comes equipped with a travel case, charging dock, USB-C Cable, and Premium Customer Support. Users can download the app for free on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

Your trainer and friend,