Good food/exercise/sleep log?

[bikerman]

Hello everyone,

I have recently learned of my E4E4 status and joined the site. It seems that with the emphasis on food, exercise, and sleep that I should keep a good journal/log of the three, both as a method to set goals and see how I have done - especially with the food which is complicated.

Can anyone share a good template for keeping track?

[woleile]

I'll be interested in the replies to this one...

One things that seems to be popular here in cronometer (phone app) to track food. You can tell it what percentages of carbs/protein/fat you want to eat and it will track them for you. Seems to have a large database of foods.

Would be nice if it also tracked time of eating.

[TheresaB]

There are a number of fitness trackers that record activity, sleep, even heart-rate. I have one made by Garmin. I've been pleased with it. It has a GPS which I thought would be wonderful, for such things as when I go on a hike and I could tell how long the hike was in addition to how many total steps I took for the whole day. That was until I went on a hike and we stopped for a while and my GPS said I was still walking, Plus the GPS drains the battery and ups the price, so if looking at fitness trackers, I wouldn't recommend that feature.

I don't like the idea of constantly wearing something that is communicating wirelessly, not sure that's very healthy, so I've been looking for something to replace it.

I've heard multiple folks say good things about the Oura Ring from health guru podcasters, etc. so I ordered one. It's supposed to be able to be put in airplane mode (no next to body wireless communications) and still record data. It tracks length and intensity of physical activity, but is not a good fitness tracker if you're a serious athlete. It's supposed to be (again, no first hand experience) the best tracker for sleep, not just how much (like my current fitness tracker) but type - deep, REM, and light, plus the app is advertised as having programs to help improve sleep. It's also supposed to track Heart Rate Variability, body temperature, and help with circadian rhythm alignment.

Now the bad news: it's not cheap, starting at $299. They also redesigned the first model, I don't think you can even buy the first generation ring any more and the release of this second generation ring is backlogged. I ordered my ring earlier this year and just received my sizing kit. But they are shipping rings now, so the backlog should be decreasing as production continues.

[Verax]

I use a bunch of apps but each stores data in its own proprietary database. So I copy the numbers onto a 3x5 card and later type the data into a Google Sheets spreadsheet, but the principle is the same for any spreadsheet, better on a bigger screen than on a cellphone. The variable goes in the left column, row by row, the date at the top for each column. You can then export the data to make graphs and analyze the data. You can make separate sheets for your concerns or just one big one. When you talk to your doc for the alloted 15min it works wonders to produce the data and graphs. Maybe sometime you can just text your online health coach.

Sometimes the numbers can stay on the cards if they are registered daily, as you can often easily see trends. If you gain weight, then eat less or exercise more. A graph can tell you the longer term trend and what the variability is, and maybe associate with another variable. If the frequency is less, as for example lab data every few months, the spreadsheet is more important. The Quantified Self idea is not just to record data but to do n=1 experiments, changing one variable at a time, and analyze results. The separate app databases and graphs don't let you do that so easily with their data. Many of the apps I use don't communicate with Google Fit to give a good dashboard view. I don't use Apple anymore, but I understand there is an Apple Health Watch just for research use that sends data to investigators but not users. I feel the gadgets should be standardized for consumers to equal the biosensors used in research and the data open to consumers as well. (Do you use the fourth or fifth Korotkoff sound when measuring blood pressure?) One reason I am interested in the AllOfUs program from NIH is that they intend to use not only genetic data but personal biosensors such as watches or activity trackers, so I hope that giant project will help standardize and validate them.

The Quantified Self project that Gordon Bell started years ago at Microsoft used a database instead of a spreadsheet. You could look into Microsoft's Health Vault https://www.healthvault.com/en-us/healt ... consumers/ and tell us if it would work for you. I prefer to keep my data as private as I can to myself and keep it in an open format rather than use these proprietary databases. We are still in an early stage of personal biosensors and ApoE4 n=1 experiments and could benefit from your own experience, so tell us how it is going. I've done some research on tracking my sleep and will post a note separately.

[bikerman]

Thanks everyone, for now all I am looking for is a simple template for me to log my daily food, exercise, and sleep, likely on excel spreadsheet. Does anyone have an excel template they use and can share.

[buck3Maureen]

Hi Bikerman,
My method is so simple -- I hesitate to even mention it. No template. Just a three ring binder with divider in areas that I want to follow. Nutrition, sleep and exercise are in there with a couple others and a final divider that I have as + and -. All I do is make an entry when something comes up or changes. For example I cut out coconut oil and entered it and the later when my cholesterol dropped I decided to keep doing that. For a while I cut out soy -- nothing good seemed to happen and being vegan I decided to add it back. I note when I am not doing enough exercise. Something I keep track of is if I can remember my dreams -- I have never heard anyone mention this but for me If I get a good night's sleep without waking up too much I have good recall. THe final section plus and minus is just a place where I note something good that is happening with the date and a plus sign - such as I seem to be able to recognize actors faces lately when they are in a new series -- something my husband is always able to do. Something negative is added with a minus If I have any word recall problems or miss an appointment I note it. This works for me. -- hope you find something that works for you.
Maureen

[Brainstorming]

Hi Bikerman,
My method is so simple -- I hesitate to even mention it. No template. Just a three ring binder with divider in areas that I want to follow. Nutrition, sleep and exercise are in there with a couple others and a final divider that I have as + and -. All I do is make an entry when something comes up or changes. For example I cut out coconut oil and entered it and the later when my cholesterol dropped I decided to keep doing that. For a while I cut out soy -- nothing good seemed to happen and being vegan I decided to add it back. I note when I am not doing enough exercise. Something I keep track of is if I can remember my dreams -- I have never heard anyone mention this but for me If I get a good night's sleep without waking up too much I have good recall. THe final section plus and minus is just a place where I note something good that is happening with the date and a plus sign - such as I seem to be able to recognize actors faces lately when they are in a new series -- something my husband is always able to do. Something negative is added with a minus If I have any word recall problems or miss an appointment I note it. This works for me. -- hope you find something that works for you.
Maureen

Th


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Brainstorming]

Hello everyone,

I have recently learned of my E4E4 status and joined the site. It seems that with the emphasis on food, exercise, and sleep that I should keep a good journal/log of the three, both as a method to set goals and see how I have done - especially with the food which is complicated.

Can anyone share a good template for keeping track?

Hi bikerman-the institute for Functional Medicine has a good/lifestyle journal you could try out if you’re into a paper and pencil approach. It provides a way for you to track a 360 degree view if your day - from nutrition (including food colors to help reinforce the importance of “eating the rainbow”) as well as sleep, emotional, physical and spiritual activities. I can send it if you’d like to try it out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GadgetGal]

I am a gadget gal (hence my user name) so I use CarbManager, an app for those on low carb and keto diets. https://www.carbmanager.com/ It tracks food, macros, glucose, ketones and many other measurements. I elected to pay for the premium edition ($39.99/yr) so that my Fitbit syncs with CarbManager. That way my exercise and sleep are automatically tracked in CM. I input weight into Fitbit and that syncs to CM.

I can scan bar codes on food using CM app on my phone to make things more efficient. Plenty of foods have been entered into CM database so you are likely to find what you are eating.

I like the daily pie chart graph of food macros as it shows my progress towards carb, fat and protein goals.

You can also see graphs of weight, exercise, ketones, glucose, etc.

The premium edition includes good low carb recipes.

[floramaria]

I've heard multiple folks say good things about the Oura Ring from health guru podcasters, etc. so I ordered one. It's supposed to be able to be put in airplane mode (no next to body wireless communications) and still record data. It tracks length and intensity of physical activity, but is not a good fitness tracker if you're a serious athlete. It's supposed to be (again, no first hand experience) the best tracker for sleep, not just how much (like my current fitness tracker) but type - deep, REM, and light, plus the app is advertised as having programs to help improve sleep. It's also supposed to track Heart Rate Variability, body temperature, and help with circadian rhythm alignment.

Hi Teresa . Once you have your Oura ring, I hope you’ll report back with your impression of it. Sounds like it tracks a lot of useful info.
Getting the sleep and heart rate variability info would be helpful. I like that it can track while in airplane mode, since like you, I don’t want to wear something that is continuously communicating wirelessly. (My acupuncturist thinks causes a lot of disruption ) My iPhone already tracks my steps and activity in airplane mode which is great.