Sign #2: Tracking is helping you make informed decisions.
When Maria started tracking her food intake, she was shocked to see how many calories she was consuming in a day. This new knowledge allowed her to make informed decisions about her diet and adjust her portions accordingly.
Tracking her food intake also helped Maria identify patterns in her eating habits, such as late-night snacking or emotional eating. Armed with this information, she was able to make changes to her routine and improve her overall health.
By using a tracking device to gather data on her eating habits, Maria was able to make better decisions about her nutrition and ultimately lead a healthier lifestyle.
If you find that tracking is helping you make informed decisions about your health and wellness, then it is likely a valuable tool for you.
Sign #3: Tracking is motivating and inspiring you to reach your goals.
For Tom, seeing his step count increase each day on his fitness tracker was incredibly motivating. It gave him a sense of accomplishment and inspired him to keep pushing himself to reach his daily goals.
Tracking his progress also allowed Tom to set new goals for himself and track his improvement over time. This constant feedback loop kept him motivated and engaged in his fitness journey.
If tracking is motivating you to stay active, reach your goals, and improve your overall health, then it is serving a positive purpose in your life.
The Bottom Line
While our ancestors relied on their senses to assess how they were doing, we now have the luxury of using technology to track and measure our health and wellness. Whether it’s tracking our heart rate, step count, or food intake, these devices offer valuable insights that can help us make better decisions about our health.
Ultimately, the key is to find a balance between tracking and trusting our own instincts. By using tracking devices wisely and interpreting the data effectively, we can enhance our wellbeing and performance. So, next time you strap on your fitness tracker, remember to pay attention to the data, but also listen to what your body is telling you.
Here are three ways to use fitness trackers to help you make more accurate self-assessments:
- Use data as a tool, not a crutch: Remember that data is just one piece of the puzzle. Listen to your body and pay attention to how you feel during workouts. Use data to complement your own self-assessment, not replace it.
- Focus on trends, not individual data points: Don’t get caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations in your data. Look for trends over time to see how your performance is improving or where you may need to make adjustments.
- Seek guidance from a coach or mentor: A knowledgeable coach or mentor can help you interpret your data and make informed decisions about your training. They can provide valuable insight and help you avoid common pitfalls of over-reliance on data.
By using fitness trackers in a thoughtful and balanced way, you can harness the power of data to improve your performance and reach your goals while staying connected to your own intuition and sense of self. Remember, the goal is not just to collect data, but to use it in a way that enhances your understanding of yourself and empowers you to make positive changes. Read more: Should people without diabetes use CGMs?
Enhancing Your Fitness Experience: Balancing Data and Sensory Perception
When it comes to fitness, many people rely heavily on objective data from fitness trackers to measure their progress. While this data can be valuable, it’s essential not to lose touch with your own sensory experiences during exercise. Research shows that individuals who stay connected to their felt experiences not only enjoy the process more but also achieve better results.
They also enjoy the process more, whether that’s the process of running, lifting, winding down for a good night’s sleep, or just enjoying a meal.
So, although objective data can provide essential feedback and guidance, you’ll only reap the full benefits of your practice—that is, enjoyment and results—if you maintain connection with your felt experience.
And good news: You can actually use fitness trackers to calibrate and even improve your ability to accurately sense what’s happening in your body.
1. Check in with yourself before you check the data.
Can you imagine asking someone how their vacation was and then waiting for them to look at their photos to be able to answer? That’s what it’s like when you rely purely on external data about your own experience.
Whatever the metric—how far you biked, how many calories you consumed, or how fast your heart was beating—the simplest way to work mindfully with tracker data is to pause, breathe, and then tune into the powerful (if not always accurate) prediction-making powers of your brain.
Once you’ve checked in with yourself, you can calibrate your self-assessment by comparing the detailed (if not always accurate) outputs of your fitness tracker.
Over time, you may be able to narrow the gap between the two.
(Note: Don’t forget to regularly update your app. Algorithms and data sets are regularly adjusted for better predictive accuracy.)
2. Develop mental shortcuts that can occasionally stand in for objective measures.
The coaches I work with regularly ask people to estimate the boundaries of their strength (such as how many reps they can do at a given weight until failure).
Novices are often terrible at estimating this—and regularly off the mark by five or more reps. However, the use of objective trackers can help calibrate their understanding, and most people can reduce their margin of error dramatically.
In theory, you might use fancy tools like accelerometers or blood lactate measurements, but our coaches just ask, “For a million dollars a rep, how many more reps do you think you could do?”
Though there’s nothing objective about this question, most clients are able to use the prompt as a kind of shortcut to understand maximal effort. (After all, that last rep may be worth seven figures!)
The question also leverages the rate of perceived exertion (RPE)—your perception of how hard you’re working—which is one of the most validated sensory-driven approaches.
Not everyone is automatically good at estimating RPE, but most people can improve their skills by mapping their felt experience with occasional calibration with objective data.
3. Keep developing your ability to dial into your senses.
Trackers have components like accelerometers, GPS, and gyroscopes to sense data about speed, distance, and more.
But humans are no slouches either.
We have…
- Mechanoreceptors that respond to pressure, vibration, and joint angles change
- A vestibular system that monitors balance and angle changes
- Proprioceptors that clock the speed and rate of length-change of muscle spindles
- Thermoreceptors that register warming or cooling
- Chemoreceptors that detect chemical changes, such as scent or taste, as well as changes in the bloodstream
- Nociceptors—part of the body’s alarm system—that sense threat and send signals of potential harm or distress
And that’s only a partial list.
You have access to an incredibly rich network of sensory information—something that technology cannot begin to touch.
All of this information is fed into the powerful pattern-recognition machine of your nervous system.
To continue honing your ability to use this rich network of sensory information, regularly check in with what and how you’re feeling.
When you learn to calibrate your own senses with objective data, you can leverage all the cool advances in wearable tech—while still keeping your own experience front and center.
References
Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.
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the title: “The Power of Persistence: How to Achieve Your Goals”
Achieving our goals and dreams is something that many of us strive for, but often fall short of. We set out with the best intentions, only to be met with obstacles and setbacks that make us want to give up. However, one of the key ingredients to success is persistence.
Persistence is the ability to keep going, even when things get tough. It is the determination to push through challenges and setbacks, and to keep working towards your goals no matter what. Without persistence, it is easy to become discouraged and give up when faced with difficulties.
One of the ways to cultivate persistence is to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. Setting specific and achievable goals can help you stay focused and motivated, even when things get tough. By breaking down your goals into smaller, manageable tasks, you can track your progress and celebrate each small victory along the way.
Another important aspect of persistence is resilience. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from failures and setbacks, and to learn from them. Instead of seeing failure as a roadblock, see it as an opportunity to learn and grow. By viewing setbacks as temporary challenges, rather than insurmountable obstacles, you can develop the resilience needed to keep moving forward.
It is also important to surround yourself with a supportive network of friends, family, and mentors who can help you stay motivated and accountable. Having a strong support system can provide encouragement and guidance when you need it most.
In conclusion, achieving your goals requires persistence, resilience, and a clear vision of what you want to achieve. By staying focused, bouncing back from setbacks, and surrounding yourself with a supportive network, you can overcome obstacles and achieve success. Remember, success is not always easy, but with persistence, anything is possible. So keep pushing forward, even when things get tough, and never give up on your dreams.