Jul 19, 2018
In this episode you’ll learn how to… Track EVERYTHING, plus…
- How tracking is your first step to success.
- Where to find the best tracking tools.
- What you should be tracking no matter what.
- The things you need to consider when tracking everything.
- And much, much more.
This episode was inspired by my good friend David Rief (see how to be super strong with David Rief).
How my mind works
My mind works in strange ways. Meaning it’s always thinking about
the impact that one thing will have on another.
For example, if I eat this food, at this time, what will it do to my body (muscles, fat stores, energy levels, etc.)
I feel like people these days don’t think about what they are doing at all.
McDonalds example
If you were to drive by a McDonalds fast food restaurant, how many
of the people in the drive-through line are thinking about what the
Quarter pound cheese burger they are about to eat will do to their
bodies? My guess is… very few.
How I’ve become able to make good decisions
When you track and think about what you’re doing, and the results
that you are getting… you can start to make predictions about what
will happen when you eat that Quarter Pounder.
Informed Decisions
Part of the reason that I believe people make bad decisions is that
they are uninformed, and don’t make an effort to inform themselves
to betterment.
If I don’t know what the Quarter Pounder will do to me than it’s pretty easy to just eat it because it tastes good. So, I do know that it tastes good, and things that taste good make me feel good temporarily.
How Can We Become More Informed?
That is the question that we are answering in this podcast
today.
By tracking more of what we are doing we can decide if it is getting us closer to our goals (or further away). If you need to get your goals in order… checkout my recent podcast on Goal Setting (https://allaroundjoe.com/117).
If you don’t have your goals defined than you will never know if you’re accomplishing anything.
This podcast is all about actionable advice, so let’s get into things that you can use to start tracking your progress right now.
Note Taking Is Essential
The first, and most basic tracker that I’m going to talk about is a simple note taking app. In fact, I’m using the Evernote app right now to write the show notes for this podcast!
You can use any note taking app that you like (I just like Evernote), but OneNote, or Apple Notes will work just fine.
You would approach Evernote like you would a daily journal. You write down what you did that day, and how you were feeling, then repeat the next day. Over time you’re hoping to find trends in the journaling.
For example, I use Evernote to keep track of all of my workouts and lifts. So, if I’m doing a workout that I’ve done before I can tell how I did, and if I’ve improved from the last time I did it.
Number 1 Weight Loss Tracking Tool
If you’ve listened to this podcast at all… you’ve probably heard me talk about an app called MyFitnessPal. Now, MyFitnessPal is not the best looking, or easiest to use tracking app out there, BUT what it does really well is, it has almost every food imaginable in it’s database.
There are WAY better looking, and easier to use food tracking apps out there, but if you can’t find the foods you are eating… they are useless. At some point I believe another app will surpass MyFitnessPal, but for now, this is the best of the best for weight loss.
What you’re eating plays an enormous role in how you look, how you feel, and how your body functions. It’s pretty much everything.
Just for those of you looking for loopholes, this includes… how much body fat you have, how much muscle you have, how much energy you have, how your brain functions, and on and on.
ALL I RECOMMEND YOU DO IS TRACK WHAT YOU’RE EATING WITH MyFitnessPal. Get into that routine.
Once you’ve tracked everything you’ve eaten for 1-4 weeks, and are looking for more… listen to my podcast on How to Setup Your Diet for Success at https://allaroundjoe.com/88.
Water will change your life
I’m going to keep this one short because I’ve beaten it down in the past. You need to drink a good amount of water for your body and brain to function at a high level.
I would recommend using the app Waterlogged.
Waterlogged is only a couple bucks (yes pay for the upgraded version), and it will integrate with MyFitnessPal. The reason you need it in conjunction with MyFitnessPal is it will give you reminders, and goals to hit for the day.
Activity Trackers
So, I started this off by saying that I use Evernote to write down all of my workouts and weights lifted. But here I’m talking about what’s happening inside my body while it’s moving around.
What the WHOOP Tracks
The activity tracker that I’m using right now to track my heart
rate, heart rate variability, calories burned, and sleep is called
WHOOP.
WHOOP is a simple strap that you wear on your wrist all the time. It’s an “always on” activity tracker that syncs up with your phone.
The cool thing about the WHOOP strap is that it does all of the work for you. Once it has a good amount of data from you, it will start giving you a recovery score each morning. The recovery score is based on the data that it collected during your last deep sleep cycle, and then compares that data with all of the data that it’s already collected on you. Machine learning stuff!
You can get a month free of WHOOP with the code: ALLAROUNDJOE
The Downside to the WHOOP
The only downside that I see to a device like the WHOOP is that
they don’t correlate the data they are collecting with other data.
For example, data from MyFitnesPal. Which is a HUGE drawback!!!
Now, it’s pretty easy to say… well, I ate 4 donuts yesterday and my recovery score today is in the dumps. But, it’s really hard to know if the donuts you ate 3 days ago could have contributed to todays recovery score.
So, overall the WHOOP strap is great at helping you track your data!
Blood Testing Is A MUST
If you’ve done blood testing in the past, it was probably from your general doctor, and was super basic. Well, what I’m talking about is WAY more interesting and useful!
For the last 2 years I’ve been using a company called InsideTracker every 3-6 months to run a full blood panel. The great thing about InsideTracker is they have correlative food and lifestyle data on why certain blood markers are (potentially) where they are, AND what you can do to get your blood markers to where you want them to be.
Here’s how it works…
* Sign up for your test and schedule a date/location for blood
draw
* Get blood drawn at a local place (it usually takes about 15 mins
in and out)
* 3-5 days later, you get all of your results on the
InsideTracker.com site
* Adjust what you’re eating, supplementing with, and lifestyle
choices
It’s super easy!
Why your doctor can’t do this
The reason this doesn’t work with most doctors is that doctors
aren’t trained in nutrition, and a HUGE amount of what you can
change in your body is manipulated by your nutritional choices. For
some reason doctors are training in drugs instead of nutrition.
It’s sad because food and drugs do the same thing in our bodies.
The body doesn’t know the difference.
Putting It All Together
Unfortunately, there isn’t one app (or program) that puts all of this data together, and because all of the apps want to keep their data to themselves, they don’t work together to give us the best data possible. It’s really a huge clusterfuck!
Right now, we use all of the tracking apps and devices that we can, get the best data that we can, and make the best decisions that we can. And for the most part that will be enough.
You will definitely be able to get ripped six pack abs doing this, and improve your chances of living a longer life, and even get closer to making it to the CrossFit Games.
The thing that I can definitely tell you is… that tracking as much as you can will only give you more information to make better decisions, and that’s an absolutely great place to be!
Thanks for reading (and hopefully listening)!
Resources and links mentioned in this podcast
MyFitnessPal – iOS download | Android download
Waterlogged – iOS download | Android download
WHOOP – Website
InsideTracker – Wedsite – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE to get a month
FREE
Partners mentioned in this podcast
– InsideTracker – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE
for a discount.
– Recovr
Mattress – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for a 50%
discount.
*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure
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