This is the Part 2 continuation from last Fridays Health Fix discussing Health Journey Metrics to Track and How Often to Review Them

Today we’re going to take the same examples given, and suggest the kind of questions you may ask at each review to in order to decide which tweaks to make to your program or lifestyle habits. 

Note – the suggestions below are just to give you an idea of how to approach the process, but are by no means exhaustive. Use these examples as inspiration to build your own review questions in order to make the adjustments that are appropriate for you.

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

🤔 – Is every metric static? Is my fat % changing but my limb measurements aren’t? Is my weight static but my fat % is declining? – If there’s a change with one of them do I need to alter my actions at all?

🤔 – There’s no progress – what has changed in your daily routine? Are you being honest or accurate with your food choices and amounts? If yes, then do they need adjusting further? If no, go back to plan A.

🤔 – Talking of Plan A, what are you finding hard to stick to? And how can that element be tweaked to make it more attainable. Is it a planning issue? Is it an enjoyment problem? Is it external interference like travel or social plans? In those circumstances what can you do to be active in your options rather than passive?

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

🤔 – How often am I skipping? Am I succeeding more often than I’m not? Is this habit something that needs 100% adherence or is 80% enough?

🤔 – Is my non compliance due to procrastination or forgetfulness? If procrastination, what are the friction points? How can I eliminate them? If forgetfulness, what framework can I use to trigger action.

🤔 – Am I struggling for time? If so, can I combine this activity with another? What bad habits can I cut out to allow for time?

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

🤔 – If wearing a CGM (continuous glucose monitor), has what I’ve just eaten had a serious impact on my blood sugar, and how long was that spike for before returning to baseline? If the spike was excessive, or the duration was long, make a mental not about what I’ve eaten that’s caused that spike, and be conscientious to consume it less frequently.

🤔 – Is my baseline and/or average blood glucose chronically high? If so, review nutrition. If no, is my fasting insulin level (also tested periodically), chronically high? If yes, also review nutrition.

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

🤔 – Are my levels where they need to be (based on biology not government guidelines)? If no, have the results got better or worse since last time?, If worse, what has changed in my life that might be contributing to that? (Worsened diet quality, reduced physical activity, life stress, environmental toxins exposure, less sleep, lack of outdoor time and sunlight?)

🤔 – If blood markers are ok right now, are there things that I could be doing better to keep them ok for the long term? What are they? How do I implement them?

✍🏼 Metric: Blood Pressure

🤔 – Is my average BP within a sensible range? If yes, am I doing everything possible to keep it that way? If there’s a rising trend, has something changed in my life that might be affecting that (poorer diet quality, reduced physical activity, increased body fat or reduced muscle mass)? If there’s a downward trend beyond a healthy range, do I need to consider my electrolytes and trace minerals in my diet? Is there another health condition that may be affecting that?

🤔 – If i’m on blood pressure medication but my blood pressure is stable, do I need to continue the medication? If I come off the drugs, does it stay stable? If not, refer to question 1.

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

🤔 – Is there progress? If yes do I need to alter my program at all just yet? If no, is it the program or am I being inconsistent with my training.

🤔 – If I’m being inconsistent, what are the friction points? How can I remove the fiction points? If I cant, can I change the program or alter the goal for my current level of availability?

🤔 – If there’s progress, but now it’s stalled, do I need to increase the weight I’m lifting? Do I need to add in complementary exercises? Do I need to add repetitions or work faster or slower? Can I add 1minute more or 100meters more to every week’s run? Can I do the same distance but increase the pace of the last mile?

🤔 – I keep hitting a wall – is the program too hard? Am I just bored? If bored, what can I do to make it more stimulating? If too hard, do I need to alter the program and come back to this one in a few weeks?

No-one would argue with the cliche ‘what gets measured gets improved‘, but it’s important to manage your expectations for how quick your progress should be, what metrics are going to help motivate you, choosing the actions that are going to be effective whilst keeping you safe, and also making sure you understand the journey and are able to enjoy it.

As explained in part 1, approach any changes that you decide on as new habits themselves, focussing on the most urgent and important ones first, and ideally only attempting to work on 1-3 new (or altered) habits at any time. This will prevent overwhelm and confusion, and will maximise the likelihood of adherence and success.