Sleep/health tracking?

[Narz]

Anyone else got one of those health trackers? I was curious so I splurged on one of those rings.

Trying to get my sleep scores up to the 90s, my deep sleep usually pretty low. Usually score in the 70s with about 6-6.5 hours sleep, lowest was 47 when I was traveling, slept in a horribly bright and hot room. Best was 92 a few days later when I stayed @ another friend's house who was out of town in deliciously dark and cool room. That's only time I broke 90.

Usually got 10,000 to 25,000 steps a day. Don't really understand how non disabled people can get less than 5000 but I pace constantly so that's at least half and if I don't take at least a couple walks a day I feel unbearably antsy.

 

[Gorbles]

Usually got 10,000 to 25,000 steps a day. Don't really understand how non disabled people can get less than 5000

Having a job usually does it. How much free time do you have for walking?

I used to struggle to hit 10k when I was walking to and from work, before they laid off most of the team and closed the physical office. I have little chance of hitting that nowadays (what used to be commute time is invested back into getting the kids ready - takes longer than when they were babies!).

I try and make up for the exercise in other ways, but doesn't always pan out. On the other hand, my sleep is generally okay (outside of the kids waking up). I've never had much trouble with it.

 

[bernie14]

In general, I think those devices are positive, in the sense that they can help you find patterns that are good for you. As to their accuracy....don't obsess on the numbers. And don't obsess if you don't hit your marks....it will affect your sleep...

 

[Narz]

Lol yeah it's interesting the sleep #'s definitely don't always correlate w subjective well being. It does seem higher deep sleep minutes so much more than the overall metric they give and more than REM or total duration (altho getting over 8 hours is pretty nice, pulled that off about twice in last couple of months)

 

[Plains-Cow]

I feel like a sleep tracker would make me feel too anxious to sleep well. I also don't know how it would work unless it was strapped around my body or something. The rings seem uncomfortable in general and don't measure calories lost very well because they aren't a metabolic tracker.

Honestly your OP makes it sound like you have a slight underlying anxiety in general that would contribute to poorer sleep outcomes.

I've also heard stories of people who have good results from sleep trackers but feel tired and vice-versa, so it leads me to be more skeptical about their accuracy.

 

[Narz]

Honestly your OP makes it sound like you have a slight underlying anxiety in general that would contribute to poorer sleep outcomes

Anxiety, curiosity, desire to solve things

I've also heard stories of people who have good results from sleep trackers but feel tired and vice-versa, so it leads me to be more skeptical about their accuracy

I'm sure they are far from perfect but it's good to have information even if not 100%.

Too often health is some nebulous concept that people "want to" fix but without any data they're floundering in the dark.

I figured this forum is full of nerds and nerds like numbers and graphs and tracking metrics

 

[Plains-Cow]

Anxiety, curiosity, desire to solve things


I'm sure they are far from perfect but it's good to have information even if not 100%.

Too often health is some nebulous concept that people "want to" fix but without any data they're floundering in the dark.

I figured this forum is full of nerds and nerds like numbers and graphs and tracking metrics

I hate the spy specialist auto-assign mechanic so much that I don't build courthouses if I feel like I can get away with it and make it to state property.

 

[Narz]

I hate the spy specialist auto-assign mechanic so much that I don't build courthouses if I feel like I can get away with it and make it to state property.

If that's a Civ reference past Civ 2 I'm afraid it's over my head

 

[Plains-Cow]

If that's a Civ reference past Civ 2 I'm afraid it's over my head

You NEVER played CIV IV? What about watching it on YouTube?

 

[Narz]

I never even played Civ 3

 

[Quintillus]

I'm with Plains-Cow on the sleep trackers; it's a case where I think, for me, less information is better. I know when I stayed up too late playing Civ, I know when I woke up more often than usual, I know when it took a long time to fall asleep. I don't need some application telling me that even though I thought I got a decent night's sleep, it only rated 81, and then worrying about what I did wrong. It would be different if I suspected there were a problem, then more information could indeed be useful, but as it is, ignorance is bliss and bliss leads to better sleep for me.

Last night I got over 11 hours of sleep, and I'm going to assume that's at least a 90/100. Hard to replicate that every night though, so I won't aim for quite as many hours tonight.

Not that I think there's no value in health metrics tracking. I don't pay much attention to how many steps I get (and it's highly variable day-by-day), but I do track my more intensive outdoor activities. Half of the fun for me is having a map of all the places I've been to, and looking at that map helps me discover new areas to explore ("there's a nature preserve five miles away from where I was?"). I've always liked geography.

But it's also interesting seeing the monthly/yearly trends in terms of distance, elevation, and time spent exercising. So far I'm off to an unusually good January/February start, only partly due to having an extra day in February. My informal goal, which I've met three years in a row (despite injuries last year) is a thousand miles of vigorous exercise - hiking, bicycling, skiing, or kayaking. It averages out to 30-60 minutes per day, but only on 20-25% of the calendar days per year. The rest of the days are a combination of being busy with real life, playing Civ, bad weather, and, like today, an intentional rest day after a couple of days of being highly active.

All in all it has been a positive for me. Though perhaps what motivates me the most is filling in new areas on the map of places I've been, and seeing different sights along different routes, many of which I didn't know about until I started looking at the maps more. I rode a few hundred miles per year for quite a few years, informally and inconsistently tracked in a spreadsheet, but the map-centric approach has multiplied that.

 

[Plains-Cow]

There's more value in using apps to track macros (like Macrofactor) than sleep, imo.

 

[Narz]

To each their own but I disagree. Sleep is non negotiable whereas who cares about macros? Eating whole foods more important than counting carbs or proteins.

Good sleep is such a benefit to my quality of life, macros not at all.

I guess if you're on a low carb or low protein diet due to a seizure condition or kidney issues it could be critical

 

[Plains-Cow]

To each their own but I disagree. Sleep is non negotiable whereas who cares about macros? Eating whole foods more important than counting carbs or proteins.

Good sleep is such a benefit to my quality of life, macros not at all.

I guess if you're on a low carb or low protein diet due to a seizure condition or kidney issues it could be critical

Macro tracking is essential for fitness enthusiasts. You don't need a sleep tracker to track sleep, and like Quint said, it doesn't make sense numbers-wise. What's the point of an 83 score? What is the effective sleep difference between an 83 and an 85? How can you change it without doing all of the obvious things that everyone knows to do to improve sleep hygiene? I guess I just don't need an app to tell me if I'm getting a good night's sleep or not.

 

[Narz]

Macro tracking is essential for fitness enthusiasts

It's not, I'm a fitness enthusiast and I don't track them. It's just a fad

What's the point of an 83 score? What is the effective sleep difference between an 83 and an 85? How can you change it without doing all of the obvious things that everyone knows to do to improve sleep hygiene? I guess I just don't need an app to tell me if I'm getting a good night's sleep or not.

I'm figuring out what the #s means. I agree the overall # not so important.

I think deep sleep more important than overall sleep or that #

One thing I found interesting is lot of people noted that eating heavily meals for dinner resulted in worse sleep and higher resting heart rate (the heart working harder to digest) and worse sleep.

Or course I could take people's word for it who've studied this stuf but it's more immediate to see for yourself

 

[Plains-Cow]

It's not, I'm a fitness enthusiast and I don't track them. It's just a fad


I'm figuring out what the #s means. I agree the overall # not so important.

I think deep sleep more important than overall sleep or that #

One thing I found interesting is lot of people noted that eating heavily meals for dinner resulted in worse sleep and higher resting heart rate (the heart working harder to digest) and worse sleep.

Or course I could take people's word for it who've studied this stuf but it's more immediate to see for yourself

How do you optimize bulks and cuts without macro tracking? I don't think that tracking macros is a fad. Do you practice intuitive eating?

I agree with your sleep take. People who try that "lucid dreaming" stuff for months end up developing a terrible sleeping pattern where they rarely enter deep sleep and have a challenging time getting out of it.

 

[Narz]

Bulks and cuts have more to do with calories than w particular ratio of macros

 

[Plains-Cow]

Bulks and cuts have more to do with calories than w particular ratio of macros

If you try cutting without knowing your proteins and fats ratios, you're going to cannibalize your muscles at an increased rate. Furthermore, you'll have a shorter cut without enough fats because of how your hormones will be impacted. Some people don't track macros, but that's usually because they've been tracking them for years and are familiar with what's in what intuitively.

So you track calories but no macros? Do you practice intuitive eating?

 

[Narz]

I just try to get a caloric surplus but its hard because I have a very fast metabolism.

I think worrying about protein is overrated.

I try to practice intuitive eating as in eating when I'm hungry til full altho I certainly eat somewhat emotionally (too much when overwhelmed/stressed and find it hard to eat at all when acutely stressed)

I'm still trying to bulk but I'm not super motivated rn. I'm about 175 (approx 80kg), would like to get up to 195 ideally (approx 90kg) and see how I feel there & then maybe drop to 190, dunno. But forcing weight gain never feels right to me so if it happens it happens. I'm gaining strength @ maintenance (granted very slowly but whatever I'm 44 so I try to be happy w it)

Calorie tracking just stresses me out and it's tedious

 

[Quintillus]

Question: What are "macros" in this context? I can tell they are not Excel macros, which are the only type I occasionally track.

My observation at this point is that the amount of tracking of health/metrics/food consumption that is useful also depends on your desired outcome. If you are a high-level professional or near-professional athlete, then yeah, the more info the better. If you are just trying to be a healthy, more-fit-than-average person, you don't need lots of science for that.

I also tend to favor the "less is more, lower the barrier to entry, you can always get more into it later" school of thought. So many things are unnecessary if you are just starting something:

- Fitness tracker devices? Just start with running/biking/etc. a set amount of time or set number of laps/distance, if you keep it up, you can buy one later.
- Fancy equipment? I'd ridden thousands of miles on a bike that I bought for $300. It still gets me from A to B, just not as quick as it would if it were fancier, and I can still expend the same amount of energy making it move.
- Athletic clothing? I'm not saying there are no advantages, but humans were exercising long before there was a substantial athletic clothing industry.

Fads? I believe they exist in fitness, and perhaps the desire to find an edge encourages latching on to new ideas, thus encouraging the creation of fads. Discerning what's a fad and what's not... eh, that can be tougher.

As for food... I eat more protein when I'm heavily active, and generally favor healthier options, non-scientifically defined. What was the fat/protein ratio on that grilled pork chop I enjoyed in Williamsport after a long day of bicycling? I have no idea, but it was delicious, as were the carbs-in-the-form-of-pineapple that adorned it and the broccoli on the side, so I went back two nights later. Maybe I could've found a more optimal dinner, but it was healthy enough, filling, and delicious.

I also agree with Narz, for what I am aiming for, calorie tracking is too tedious. If that were a requirement for getting more fit, I probably wouldn't bother getting more fit.