Not the diagram, this is my acronym for Vitals, Exercise, and Nutrition.
As I’ve mentioned multiple times, I started doing daily tracking. So here it is and why:
Vitals
Sleep is body recovery and mental reorganization time. The research is all over the place for how much is enough and the most definitive answer I’ve read is that if you wake up and feel fully refreshed you have had enough sleep. Eight hours is given because the typical adult is between seven and nine. I function best in the neighborhood of 6 hours give or take 30 minutes. How do I know this? I tracked it and journaled and compared the two. And for no other reason than it is a round number, I like to get 1 hour of deep sleep.
Body Composition includes height, weight, and BMI on a daily basis. I don’t really like BMI because it doesn’t take into consideration carrying fat or muscle. For $15 I bought a digital skin caliper and I take a measurement periodically, maybe two or three times a month. I do Suprialliac (hip), Abdomen (belly), Quadricep (thigh), Tricep (arm) and Pectoral (chest) with these measurements you can go to a site like Calculator Academy and select Body Fat Caliper Calculator. Simple to use and results in an instant. My body fat was 6.44%. Granted this assumes I’m using the caliper correctly, but if it is consistent then I know if my weight is going up and my body fat percent is consistent, then I am adding muscle and burning fat.
The other three I track are Heart Rate (BPM), Blood Pressure, and Oxygen. Again I target consistency. I also look at my rates compared to what is deemed to be healthy. Any online search can give you general numbers for your age and gender.
Exercise
I was unaware of the fact that there is a resource available: The Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. You can access it here: https://pacompendium.com/
There is also a PDF you can download. In short this list includes every variation of every activity imaginable and proves a MET Value and Activity Description. The MET Value is the working metabolic rate vs. resting rate. The higher the rate the more intense the activity. Per the site “One MET is defined as 1 kcal/kg/hour and is roughly equivalent to the energy cost of sitting quietly.”
This is the data used in software telling you how many calories you burned for a given activity, but not to the detail this list goes into.
I use a basic step count total for the day and my two other tracked activities are stationary bike where I record time per instance and “Other” which is a general time and instance basis and includes any activity that is more than normal, such as racquetball, hiking, cutting the grass, doing more strenuous yard work.
In this way I can estimate how many calories I have burned in any given day and compare this to what I took in.
Nutrition
My calorie count is in my nutrition tracking, as is liquid ounces, protein, and iron. I track macros (Carbs, Fat, and Protein) using data from my app. And then as noted in prior posts I track Electrolytes, Antioxidants, and B-Complex.
Electrolytes include Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Chloride, Magnesium, Phosphorus.
Antioxidants include Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Copper, Selenium, Zinc,
B-Complex include Biotin, Calcium, Folic Acid, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin C.
For each nutrient I have a daily recommended amount or my doctor’s recommendation.
I hope this is helpful.
Question for You
Do you group items in your tracking? Do you follow a macro approach?
Lessons Learned
Being able to see nutrients and exercise trends and the changes in vitals has been very positive for me.
Resilient Seeker Coaching | Ross Raymond Nunamaker 