I talk often about the importance of tracking habits and using measurable metrics to guide your health journey. And whilst it’s all well and good to collect that data, knowing what to review, how often to review it and what changes you should make may be a little more confusing.

Here’s some examples of some data that it can be useful to collect, and how often you should record it, and how often you should review it. Next week we’ll discuss tweaks you might make in order to stay on track, and efficiently achieve your health and fitness goals.

✍🏼 Metric: Body stats (weight, fat%, waist & limb circumference)

🕣 Track it: Weekly

📆 Review it: Monthly

✍🏼 Metric: Daily habits (e.g morning sunlight exposure, walk after every meal, toe exercises etc)

🕣 Track it: Daily (or multiple times per day)

📆 Review it: Weekly

✍🏼 Metric: Workout consistency

🕣 Track it: Every time

📆 Review it: Weekly until it becomes habit, monthly after that

✍🏼 Metric: Blood Sugar (if you’re not yet in shape)

🕣 Track it: Daily (via Continuous Glucose monitor), 3 Monthly (HbA1c Blood test)

📆 Review it: Daily, initially. Every 6 months or annually (HbA1c)

✍🏼 Metric: Full blood tests (Lipids, Electrolytes, Sex Hormones, Liver & Kidney Function, Vitamin Levels, Inflammatory and Immune Markers, Fasting Insulin).

🕣 Track it: 6 to 12 months

📆 Review it: Annually

✍🏼 Metric: Blood Pressure

🕣 Track it: Twice Daily for 2 weeks, then an average of 5 readings on one day once per month

📆 Review it: 3 months

✍🏼 Metric: Exercise specific target (weight to lift, number of repetitions, duration of session, distance run etc)

🕣 Track it: Every session

📆 Review it: Monthly

✍🏼 Metric: Nutrition specific target (minimum grams of protein per day, maximum grams of carbs per day, total estimated caloric consumption)

🕣 Track it: Every meal

📆 Review it: Weekly

Some of these examples are easy enough to check off as you simply make a note of them when they happen, or they are periodic (like the blood tests).

When it comes to adopting new daily habits, it’s best to focus on between one to three new habits at a time to prevent overwhelm, maintain focus, and maximise the chance of success. Once they become routine (anywhere between 18 to 254 days), then you can stop tracking it and tackle the next habit you wish to solidify.

Be sure to look out for next Friday’s continuation with top tips on how to tweak your process based on the metrics you are tracking. In the meantime check out my previous Daily Health Fixes on habit building, self motivation and tricks for maintaining discipline.