Ring About a Month

The singer Cliff Richard, who was once billed as “The English Elvis”, recorded a song in the 1980s titled Wired for Sound. Well I am now wired for data!

I started with the Health app on my iPhone recording workouts — actually my daily walks — and regular medication. Other features of the app became useful especially after joining this forum as my awareness of QS was raised. Then I purchased an Apple Watch 9 as soon as it was released together with a Withings Blood Pressure monitor. I had made too many transcription errors when using my analogue BPM. Been collecting lots of data since then. At the end of each month I export the data from the Health app; last month the XML file was over 425 megabytes.

A month ago I added an UltraHuman Ring Air primarily because the Apple Watch did not capture my VO2max data when I was taking that daily walk using my Nordic Walking Poles. However, I find the Ring more useful now for recording my sleep behaviour. It appears to identify my night-time wake up periods. Cannot say how accurate it is for REM, Core, or Deep sleep. The sleep data, even if not 100% accurate, is helping by alerting me to changes in my routine that should be addressed.

Last week I added RenPHO BlueTooth enabled scales as my surgeon has told me to lose at least 15kgs (approx 33lbs) before he will consider performing surgery. Since the first meeting with him my weight has dropped 6kg (~12lbs) in the intervening six weeks. (A rate of loss generally considered safe and sustainable in the long term.) Still have a ways to go and probably will not reach the target until sometime in the New Year.

All this data is useful. Individual points at least. Although some analylitic tools are needed to see correlations between different points.

My collection of data-recording device will likely expand next year because my electric toothbrush is loosing battery charge quicker than before. It will be replaced with a newer version and those all have BlueTooth features.

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