My Lumen Review and Experience

A couple of months ago, I decided to try out the Lumen device to lose weight. I still have a few pounds of baby weight left to lose from my last pregnancy, so I thought this might be a good way to help me out.

I’m also really interested in changing my diet and lifestyle, so I figured this could give me some good insights and help me start eating a healthy diet.

I had seen a lot of ads on Instagram for the Lumen device and was curious to see if it worked as well as they said it did.

Here’s my Lumen review and what I thought after using it for a few weeks.

What is Lumen?

First off – what exactly is Lumen Metabolism Tracker?

Lumen is a small, handheld device that analyzes your breath and gives you a personalized meal plan for the day that will help you achieve what they call “metabolic flexibility” – a fancy way of saying that you’ll be able to burn fat for energy more efficiently.

How Does Lumen Work?

The Lumen device works by analyzing the levels of carbon dioxide in your breath and determining whether your body is burning carbs or fat for fuel.

If you’re mostly burning carbs, it’ll give you a meal plan that’s higher in fat and lower in carbs to help you shift into burning more fat for energy.

And vice versa if you’re already mostly burning fat.

After using Lumen for two weeks, Lumen will start to give you “Flex Scores” which will show you how flexible your metabolism is.

I’ll get into that a little more in my full Lumen review below.

Using the Lumen Device

Using the Lumen device is really easy. First, download the Lumen app on your phone.

Once it’s downloaded, you can sync your Lumen device through Bluetooth – this only took a second or two to do.

Once it’s synced, you can go into the Lumen app and click on “Take Measurement” and Lumen will prompt you through taking a measurement.

The first time you take a measurement, it’ll take a little longer because they teach you how to properly breathe into it so the sensor can analyze your breath properly.

What is Metabolic Flexibility?

As I mentioned earlier, Lumen talks about “metabolic flexibility” a lot.

But what exactly is metabolic flexibility?

Basically, it’s the ability of your body to efficiently switch between burning carbs and fat for energy.

Some people are more carb-adapted, meaning their bodies burn carbs for fuel more efficiently.

Others are more fat-adapted, meaning their bodies burn fat for fuel more efficiently.

Lumen aims is to help you become more flexible with your metabolism so that you can burn whatever fuel (carbs or fat) is available to you more efficiently.

This is important because it can help you lose weight, feel more energetic, and improve your overall health.

The Lumen founders have a lot of really good articles and research on their website about metabolic flexibility and how it can help you lose weight, so I recommend checking that out if you’re interested in learning more.

A Quick Look at Lumen’s Features

In the app, you can see all your measurements and your “Flex Score.”

You can also see what your “metabolic fuel” was for the day – meaning whether you were burning mostly carbs or fat.

And finally, you can see the “Optimal Meal Plan” that Lumen gives you for the day.

The app also has a “Learn” section where you can read articles about different topics related to weight loss and metabolism.

I personally found the articles in the “Learn” section really interesting and helpful in understanding how my body works and how I can optimize my metabolism for weight loss.

What Comes in the Box

When you first open the box, you’ll find the Lumen device, a charging cord and stand, a travel case, and a quick start guide.

The quick start guide walks you through how to get started with the app and take your first measurement.

My Lumen didn’t have much battery when it arrived, so I immediately plugged it in so I’d be able to use it later on that day.

It took maybe 20 minutes to fully charge and I was ready to take my first measurement!

My Lumen Experience

I started using Lumen right away and at first there was a bit of a learning curve. After I set it up, I was prompted to do my first measurement, which involved taking a big inhale, holding it for a few seconds, then a slow exhale.

Easier said than done!

After a few practices, I finally got it down and got an accurate reading (the Lumen app will tell you if your reading is accurate or if you need to take a break and try again in a few minutes).

The screen on the Lumen app shows a breath flow meter so you know exactly how hard to blow into the Lumen device, and for how long.

The app shows a big green screen and ball, and depending on how much force your breath has will move the ball. Too much force will make the ball go outside of the circle, and not enough will make the ball drop.

The screen disappears once the breathing is over and then you’re given your score.

Lumen doesn’t show you what your carbon dioxide levels but isntead gives you your Lumen levels.

There might be a way to hack into this to figure it out, but I haven’t really tried to.

Related Post: Healthi Vs. WW – Which One is For You?

Starting with Lumen

After my first reading, to my surprise, Lumen told me I was mostly burning fat. It recommended to me that for that day I eat a balanced diet of carbs, fat and protein.

After the first reading, Lumen encourages you to take readings before and after meals and exercises to keep a track on how your metabolism is doing.

I started taking readings 4 times a day – once in the morning, once after I worked out, once before dinner, and once at night.

I found that it was really easy to get into the habit of taking measurements and it only took a few seconds to do.

I started to notice that after I would have a high carb meal at night, my readings in the morning would show that I was burning mostly carbs. If I didn’t have a high carb meal, my readings the next day would be more fat burning.

It was interesting to me to see how my body was burning fat or carbs and it was really motivating to see that I could change it depending on what I ate.

Lumen also gives you an “optimal meal plan” for the day, based on your readings. The nutrition plan is pretty basic – it just tells you how many grams of carbs, fat and protein to eat for the day.

Based on your Lumen readings and Lumen Score, your nutrition plan will change.

If my Lumen score indicated my body was burning carbs, Lumen would recommend I do a low carb day. If my Lumen score said I was burning fats, then it’d recommend a medium or high carb day.

Lumen Flex Score

After two weeks of tracking and taking my Lumen measurements, Lumen began to give me a score called a Flex Score.

The Flex Score is a measure of how flexible your metabolism is – meaning how easily it can shift from burning carbs to burning fat.

The app uses a Lumen scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest. If you get a 1 that means that your body is burning mostly fat, and if you get a higher score that means it’s burning carbohydrates.

After your first reading each morning, Lumen will then recommend a diet for the day – either a low carb, medium carb, or high carb diet.

They give you the macronutrient goal for each day based on your readings.

Good Lumen Flex Score

The goal with Lumen is to have metabolic flexibility, which means that your body can burn both carbs and fat depending on what you’re doing.

For example, if you have a high carb meal at night, in the morning Lumen will recommend a low carb diet for the day to help you burn off those carbs.

On days where I was mostly burning fat, Lumen would recommend a medium to high carb day. If I was moslty burning carbs, Lumen would recommend a low carb day.

I’m in the habit of tracking my food with Cronometer, so I did find the Lumen accurate because I could see exactly what I had eaten the day before.

It was nice to have Lumen recommend a personalized nutrition plan for me based on my Lumen levels.

My Lumen Review

I used Lumen for about 4 months and overall I liked it! I had never used a device like this so it was interesting to me to learn more about metabolic health and metabolic flexibility.

Once I got the breathing my down, readings became easy to do and something I looked forward to every morning.

I became really curious as I kept using it about my scores.

I also really liked to be able to see the almost instant reaction that food had on my body. If I had a high carb meal, I could see that my body was burning carbs the next day.

Lumen and Weight Loss

When I started using the Lumen my goal was weight loss, but while using it I ended up changing my goals to focus on marathon training.

I decided to put weight loss on the back burner so I could focus on fueling my body.

I’m happy to say I did maintain my weight while using the Lumen so it did help me keep on track!

Normally during marathon cycles I’ll gain weight so it was nice to see that I maintained instead.

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Lumen Pros

If you’re looking to learn more about your metabolic efficiency and achieve metabolic flexibility, the Lumen can be a great tool to help do that. Here’s a few of the Pros of getting a Lumen:

Easy to use – both the actual device and the Lumen app

I found the device and the Lumen app extremely user friendly and easy to use. I was able to easily understand the goals of Lumen, and what Lumen measures, as well as learn how to properly breathe into the device.

Lumen also does a great job with education and has videos

Personalized Nutrition

I liked that Lumen provided me with my own personalized nutrition plan based on my weight loss goals.

I also felt like Lumen focuses on healthy weight loss and the plan they would give me were very well balanced.

I never was told not to eat a certain type of food group, just some days I would limit some. I never felt deprived and felt like I had balanced energy levels every day.

Lumen does mention the benefits of doing intermittent fasting while using the Lumen, but I never ended up doing it (unless you count overnight).

It was more that I could never find time in my schedule to do intermittent fasting.

Lumen Community

There are a ton of Lumen users and they have a very active Facebook. It was really nice to be able to connect with other people who were on the same journey as me.

I had a lot of questions when I first started, and it was helpful to be able to get answers from both Lumen employees and other users in the community.

I also liked reading their stories about how Lumen works for them and the tips and tricks they’ve learned along the way to hack your metabolism.

Lumen App

I thought the Lumen app was put together really well. I usually have an issue with food tracking apps because they can be clunky or not have enough foods in their database.

This wasn’t the case at all with Lumen!

Tracking my food was really easy to do and I never ran into any issues of not being able to track something.

The app was also able to integrate with Apple Health so my workouts and steps would sync.

Flexible Diet

I found that the Lumen nutriton plan was flexible with different diets, like the Keto diet, Vegan, Vegetarian, etc.

Because the plan focuses on macros, it was pretty easy to figure out how to make it work with different types of diets.

Lumen also had a lot of other members on these diets sharing their tips in the Facebook group.

Lumen Cons

It wouldn’t be a full Lumen review without a few cons. Here are a few of the downsides I found.

Price

The Lumen is expensive. The Lumen cost can range from $249 to $349, which is a little higher end for weight loss tools.

However, the Lumen is completely personalized and does give you metabolic health measurements on demand, something that other weight loss tools don’t do.

It’s been really nice to be able to stay in tune with my body and learn the differences when my body is in fat burning mode vs. carb burning mode.

However, you can save $50 off your device by using the code COFFEE at checkout!

Changing Macros

I love meal planning and that was one thing I did struggle with on Lumen. Because the plan is so customized, I wouldn’t know until the day of if I was in a fat burn mode or not.

This would then efficiently shift my daily macros to either being a low or high carb day, which made it hard to plan for in advance.

I did learn some quick things to have on hand – like always keeping extra salad kits in the fridge for last minute low carb days, but family dinners were a little more of a struggle.

Exercise

Similar to the changing macro issue, I also ran into a few times were I had trouble with the plan and my planned physical exercise for the day.

I was marathon training during part of using the Lumen, and some days it would recommend me to go low carb on days where I’d have a long run or long strength training session.

In the past, if I had tried to do low carb on these days, my energy levels would suffer so I had to skip some of the low carb days.

Multiple Readings a Day

To get the most accurate readings, you need to use the device multiple times a day – like before and after eating, after working out, etc.

When I first began using the device I was on top of doing this, but as life happened I started to slip and missed readings.

Where to Buy and Price

The Lumen device can be purchased directly through their website here. There are a few different plans they offer:

Metabolism Booster – $249

This plan is a 6 month plan where you get the device and 6 months of metabolism tracker. They recommend this plan for anyone who wants to learn about their metabolism, lose weight and shift to fat burn.

After 6 months, the plan will continue on for $25 a month.

Advanced Fat Burn – $299

The Advanced Fat Burn plan is a 12 month plan. You get the device for free during the membership. After a year, the plan renews until you cancel.

Lumen recommends this plan for people who want to enhance their metabolism, lose weight and keep it off.

Optimal Health – $399

Optimal Health is the highest plan offered by Lumen. It’s an 18 month track, which renews annually. Lumen recommends this plan to anyone who is on a weight loss journey to improve overall health.

While you’re on this plan, Lumen provides a free tracker.

You can save $50 by using the code COFFEE at checkout!

The Verdict – Is Lumen Worth It?

I really enjoyed using the Lumen for the past few months! It was great to be able to see my body’s response to different foods in real-time and get actionable insights on how to optimize my nutrition.

Overall I do think the Lumen was worth it and I feel like it gave me some great insights into my metabolism.

I didn’t get to my ultimate weight loss goal, but I think this was more because I was in the middle of marathon training so couldn’t commit to the low carb days.

I did learn that my body tends to be in carb burning mode more often than fat burning, so I’m hoping that with this information I can work on my body’s ability to burn fat more efficiently.

I would recommend Lumen to anyone who is looking for a way to optimize their nutrition and learn more about their metabolism!

Ready to try Lumen? Click here to order! Use the code COFFEE at checkout for $50 off.