Hello! My name is Dima.
Just a week ago I discovered the definition of quantified self. Although I have been taking measurements for the last three years every day. Itās so nice to know youāre not the only one doing your body research
With your excuse, Iāll tell you about my stack (tools) and ask you a few questions.
Stack
It all started with the Misfit Shine pedometer. When I lost it, I switched to sleep-tracking with Sleep As Android. For the last three months Iāve been tracking the activity in Google Fit (smartphone sensor). Taking medication is logged by MyTherapy. With the help of Memento Database service I track custom events: pictures of food, pain, blood glucose level, body temperature, toilet business, etc. Maybe I will replace Memento Database with Nomie 4 because it is free. I log the stress level with the Welltory (HRV) application for 7 days. Just yesterday, I started using MyNetDiary to track what I eat more accurately to keep up with my therapeutic diet (I have gastritis). I plan to try Medicus AI to get insight from the accumulated database of biochemical blood tests. I plan to buy Oura Ring and a fitness tracker and then connect them with Gyroscope or Exist.
Questions
Is there a product that combines the functions of all the above-mentioned applications? Itās very tedious to switch from one application to another all day long.
Is there a better alternative to MyTherapy for an android device? I would like to have the same functionality but with the ability to export data or at least with API.
How do you solve a problem of reminding yourself to get measurements? Iāve tried setting many alarms, but it doesnāt work, because after the reminder you have to open another application to do the recording and usually in a hurry I postpone it and then forget.
What sources do you use to get the latest information about new devices and applications to help explore more about yourself (except QS community)? Is there some sort of mailing list or catalogue website or private chat? I know about Product Hunt and awesome-quantified-self, but I believe there should be more actual and specific sources.
Thank you for your attention.
Looking forward to getting new acquaintances
Wellcome! I donāt have all the answers to your questions but will try a few:
Is there a product that combines the functions of all the above-mentioned applications? Itās very tedious to switch from one application to another all day long.
I can confidently say that the answer to this is āno.ā It seems like you are very much in an exploratory mode, trying a lot of different things, and my general advice is to be encouraged: Trying different tools and thinking about how they are or arenāt what you need is a good way to refine your questions. As you develop more specific questions youāll find some tools more serviceable than others. In general, almost everybody who is doing a longer term tracking project logs some things in a privately controlled personal database - not just in the cloud service of a specific instrument (hardware device or app). Many, probably most, QS projects have some custom / actively collected tracking data, like the custom events you are tracking in Memento. So the āprivate data store/spreadsheet/custom event trackerā domain is probably going to stay at the center of your project. The highly specific instrumentation, such as HRV application, will come and go depending on what you learn and what you want to focus on.
I didnāt realize that MyTherapy doesnāt have export! Thatās a fatal flaw in the long term. Iām curious about what others are using for this and Iāll post it if I find a good tip.
Iāve failed with reminders, too. I find it easiest to build a measurement period into common transition points in the day: Waking up, before/after eating (usually after), leaving work, going to bed. Of course your schedule will have its own transitions, but this has worked best for me over the years.
I think even the existence of this category is still pretty new to many people, so there arenāt large scale advice platforms or databases (yet).
Why not hexoskin instead of Oura? Similar price but better afair. If I remember correctly MFP and bitesnap have timestamps while my net diary does not. Or was did it work offline? Anyway I use bitesnap. ah, here Recommended food tracking apps?
@Agaricus thank you for answers, especially for the very detailed recommendation about my 1st question.
Hmmm I think Iāll contribute to the development of such a database.
Itās nice to hear your thoughts Hexoskin looks up-and-coming but current reviews leave much to be desired. Thanks for the reference![quote=ārain8dome9, post:3, topic:7323ā]
If I remember correctly MFP and bitesnap have timestamps while my net diary does not.
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MyNetDiary allows to record timestamps only with premium plan. I really want to try Bitesnap but this application is incompatible with my Samsung Galaxy S8+
MFP seemed very simple to me at first, so I removed it right after I got acquainted with it. Now, after two days of using a jammed MyNetDiary, I will give another chance to MFP. Thanks!
Hexoskin is great for collecting data during a workout, but I wouldnāt want to wear it 24x7 (itās very tight-fitting, and the ECG sensor requires sweating or electrode gel to work). On the other hand, I wouldnāt wear an Oura while exercising (likely inaccurate, risk of injury).
Stack
Questions
I think Iāll contribute to the development of such a database.
Hexoskin looks up-and-coming but current reviews leave much to be desired. Thanks for the reference![quote=ārain8dome9, post:3, topic:7323ā]