It is true that modern technology has made humans lazy, which has contributed to a lot of decline in their health and wellness. But it is also true that the same technology can help you in many aspects of your life, it all depends on how you use it. In today’s world, wearable health data is one of the easiest and most common ways to monitor and track your health metrics. You can check your heart rate, daily steps, skin temperature, stress levels, etc. Modern technology like smartwatches is extremely convenient to gain wearable health data.
You can wear them all the time and track your body’s metrics at any time of the day. But many people are unaware of how to utilize the wearable health data for their own good. In this blog, you will know how you can use the wearable health data for your own betterment.
What does wearable health data provide?
It is important to know that if you wear a fitness band, smartwatch, or a smart ring, then you are recording your daily health data without even realizing it. These fitness bands and smartwatches are mostly connected to your phone via an app that saves all of your health data for you to view. This health data includes various metrics that will help you develop healthy lifestyle habits. The data includes:
Heart Rate
It monitors and tracks your heart rate in various situations, such as your heart rate at rest, your active heart rate during a workout session, or sometimes a variable heart rate in daily life. It helps to track your recovery, your stress load, and cardiovascular effort.
Daily Steps
This is the most basic yet very useful metric. Daily steps usually monitor and track your daily movements to determine how much physical activity you engage in a day. It also helps to avoid sitting or lying down for longer sessions.
Sleep Cycle
Wearable health data also provides you with help for sleep tracking. It tells you your sleep cycle stages wise and also determines the efficiency of your sleep, which basically means telling you how long it takes you to fall asleep.
Burned Calories
Wearable health data also helps to monitor and track the amount of calories burned in a day based on the data provided by your heart rate, daily movements, and overall body data. It is not accurate most of the time, but it can help you determine which part to focus on more.
Overall Body Data
You can also monitor your blood oxygen through light sensors alongside your stress levels based on your heart metrics and daily movements. It also helps you record those times that you use in a physical activity, which basically helps you to improve your fitness and exercise.
Effective way to track these metrics
Many people make the common mistake of relying on daily metrics. Although the daily metrics do add up, it is important to realize that tracking your metrics like a pattern over time is very useful. It helps you to realize the increase and decline in the metrics. This way, it is much easier to understand where you still have room for improvement. The human body is really dynamic and reactive. One day of consuming alcohol, traveling, illness, or poor sleep can mess up your metrics.
A weekly pattern will give you much better insight about your physical and mental health. It is also important to note that wearable health data does not help you to identify diseases or replace lab tests. It provides you with your daily-life metrics that can be used to improve your health effectively.
Starting with a general baseline
Wearable health data can only be used effectively if you track your data in the form of patterns for the long-term. To generate a large sample size, it is important to start somewhere before making changes to your lifestyle. Initially, your focus should be on monitoring and tracking for the first 1-2 weeks to determine your current lifestyle. After tracking for 2 weeks, monitor your averages in all departments. Monitor your average heart rate at all stages, your natural sleep cycle, and your usual steps in daily life.
This way, it is easier to plan and improve in those areas that require attention. For example, if your natural steps are 5,000, you can change this to 10,000 for a much healthier lifestyle.
Plan according to your body
A common mistake people make is that they start following other people’s routines to make their lifestyle healthier. You can take inspiration from others. But it is important to note that lifestyle changes will only be most effective when you plan them according to your body. It is also important to know that you don’t have to be perfect in your lifestyle changes, you just have to be consistent to determine good health.
Using Wearable Health Data the smart way
The best way to use wearable health data is to focus on weekly averages and ensure smooth progress. This means if you are achieving good metrics on the weekly averages, then keep going. If your weekly averages are not rising, then you may have to make some changes to your approach.
Hitting maximum steps count
Steps are the gateway to tracking wearable health data. Many believe that you have to walk 12,000 to 15,000 steps every day for a healthy lifestyle, which makes it harder for beginners. Instead, try to walk steps as much as you can. This way, even if you achieve 8,000 steps on average, it will be a good start for you. Keep this average going upward to ensure good progress.
Sleep metrics to actually improve sleep cycle
It is important to realize that your focus must be on the sleep quality instead of the sleep duration. This gives you a much better overview of your sleep cycle stage-wise. It tells you about your time expenditure in light sleep, deep sleep, and REM. It also tells you the time it took to completely fall asleep alongside the quality of rest taken.
This allows you to identify habits that damage your sleep cycle, such as caffeine or alcohol. It also helps to identify those habits that help you to have a good sleep. Follow those habits and if your weekly sleep cycle improves, make them a part of your lifestyle.
Noting down your everyday chores
It is crucial to understand that if your fitness gear provides you with some statistics today that don’t match your expectations, it doesn’t mean it is because of poor sleep or one bad habit. It means that your previous day as a whole wasn’t the best, which led to this decline. It is important to recognize the triggers. The best way is to note down your daily habits on your phone, such as caffeine intake, alcohol intake, exercise, stress level, and bedtime.
This gives you a better analysis of your metrics the next day. It also provides you with areas having room for improvement. Changing these small habits is much easier and has a bigger impact than sudden lifestyle changes over time.
Realistic expectations with wearable health data
Although these wearable devices provide you with great metrics like stress levels, sleep, mood, calories, and daily movements. It still does not replace a medical lab test. It also cannot diagnose a disease in your body. These can actually help you to identify a decline in certain areas. For instance, if you are experiencing an unstable heart rate for a couple of weeks, this can lead you to consult a doctor.
This way, it helps you to identify your health issues and get them solved. It is better to use them as tools to improve your daily life habits, that can help you to determine better physical activity, nutrition & diet in your lifestyle.
Closing thoughts
It is important to use wearable health data for your own good. Fitness wearable devices are not meant to be worn just as a fashion piece, they are meant to be worn to identify unhealthy triggers in your life. It is not advised to get obsessed with your daily metrics, instead use them to determine your progress in a long-term pattern. This pattern will gradually make it easier to progress and make habitual changes to your lifestyle.
The goal is simple, build a sustainable pattern with the help of wearable health data to ensure good health. If you also want to build a sustainable roadmap that ensures proper nutrition and physical activity, then feel free to contact Xendo Health to start your journey today. I hope this blog helped you with a clear understanding of how to use wearable health data for your own good.
Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) about Wearable Health Data
Do wearable health devices track accurately burned calories?
No, they are not completely accurate. Burned calories are usually estimated based on your heart rate, daily movements, and body info. These estimations can be 10%-30% inaccurate. It is better to focus on weekly averages of your physical activities to determine energy expenditure.
Can you monitor and track your hydration?
You can track your hydration indirectly by manually logging in your fluid intake. You can later compare these metrics with your temperature and sleep cycle. It also allows you to set reminders to ensure proper hydration every day.
Is wearable health data beneficial for doctor consultation?
Please note that wearable health data does not replace a doctor’s consultation, or a lab test. However, it still provides you with metrics to identify unhealthy triggers. These triggers can help you to consult a doctor for further diagnosis.
Does it help you with mental health tracking?
You can regulate your mental health indirectly with some metrics provided by these wearable health devices. These metrics include stress, mood, recovery, and sleep. Wearable health data provides you with proper sleep metrics and activity levels that can help you to make lifestyle changes for the betterment of your mental health.
What is the lifespan of wearable health devices?
Wearable health devices usually last up to 3-5 years depending upon the usage and the battery’s wear and tear. It is recommended to upgrade wearable health devices after a couple of years to ensure usage of updated hardware and metrics for better results.
