Which health metrics do you track and how do you track them?

[Chaotic42]

I was recently in the hospital with the flu/ketosis and the endocrinologist believes I may in fact have Type 1 diabetes instead of the Type 2 I was diagnosed with years ago. This whole thing has encouraged me to focus on my health. I was doing some unpacking and I found my old health notebook from several years ago. I was tracking various metrics and I seemed to be losing weight at the time.

So my question to you is, which health metrics do you track and how do you track them? I was thinking about doing the following:

• Blood sugar
• Weight
• Body Fat % (from the scale)
• Carbs / Protein / Fat
• Calories (this might be too much)
• Weekly blood pressure

My goal is to lose weight, sustaining the muscle I have, and I don't really have time for a lot of weight lifting anyway. I bought a scale to measure out my meals along with some meal containers so I can exercise portion control.

I'd appreciate any feedback you folks have.

Edit: The doctor wants me to get on a 2,000 calorie diet to lose weight and cut my carbs back to 150 grams. What do you think about this breakdown?:

• Carbohydrates: 150g - 600 calories
• Fat: 66g - 600 calories
• Protein: 200g - 800 calories

I'm not sure how to hit 200g of protein per day, but I guess I can try.

 

[deadlyapp]

If you track your macro nutrients daily (protein/fats/carbs) and take your weight once a week, you've got basically all you need. Recording the rest doesn't really do much, other than body fat. Getting your blood work done once a year will give you some metrics on cholesterol, diabetes tracers, etc.

I'd heavily recommend sticking to some weight lifting, otherwise your weight loss will drastically reduce your lean mass.

 

[mike8675309]

Tracking Macros are not worth it unless you weight everything since it has been proven over and over again that people really are unable to guess correctly.
I track every metric I get in doctor visits from blood tests. I stick it in healthvault.
Weight is tracked whenever I feel like it, maybe once a month using an Aria scale so it ends up in the fitbit world. All my fitbit data is also linked to Runkeeper and Cronometer.
I will track my macros about once a quarter (includes calorie tracking) to help me reset my "eyeball" when I otherwise eat.

 

[Chaotic42]

Tracking Macros are not worth it unless you weight everything since it has been proven over and over again that people really are unable to guess correctly.

That's exactly the plan. It's going to be a boring, horrible diet. I'm quickly coming to terms with the fact that food is devil.

 

[skyking]

If youir BP is in question, the local Fire Station will do a routine BP check for you.
I use a fitbit and keep track of my sleep and resting HR, for health metrics.

 

[deadlyapp]

That's exactly the plan. It's going to be a boring, horrible diet. I'm quickly coming to terms with the fact that food is devil.

Food is not the devil. You can certainly still eat and enjoy your food, even when restricting calories.

Considering your breakdown - what is your current weight? If you aren't weightlifting, or lifting regularly at high volume, then I would shift more of your protein to healthy fats and complex carbs. For those lifting regularly and to build strength, you'd normally go around 1g protein per pound of bodyweight. For people sticking to mostly just cardio or non-anaerobic activity, I'd go somewhere between .6 to .75 g per pound.

 

[Chaotic42]

Food is not the devil. You can certainly still eat and enjoy your food, even when restricting calories.

Considering your breakdown - what is your current weight? If you aren't weightlifting, or lifting regularly at high volume, then I would shift more of your protein to healthy fats and complex carbs. For those lifting regularly and to build strength, you'd normally go around 1g protein per pound of bodyweight. For people sticking to mostly just cardio or non-anaerobic activity, I'd go somewhere between .6 to .75 g per pound.

I'm 6'1" or 6'2" and around 220lbs. My doctor wants me at 150g of carbohydrates per day (not counting fiber), which is 600 calories. I've been doing some reading and a little research, and I just don't think it's reasonable for me to consume 200g of protein per day. If I bump my fats up to 100g of vegetable fats, that puts me at 900 calories of fat, so I can make up the remaining 500 calories with 125g of protein, which seems more reasonable.

I suppose I could also just shoot for something like 1500 calories per day, but I'm not sure if that would destroy my energy levels. I work full time and am going to grad school full time, so I need to be reasonably sharp throughout my waking hours.

 

[deadlyapp]

I'm 6'1" or 6'2" and around 220lbs. My doctor wants me at 150g of carbohydrates per day (not counting fiber), which is 600 calories. I've been doing some reading and a little research, and I just don't think it's reasonable for me to consume 200g of protein per day. If I bump my fats up to 100g of vegetable fats, that puts me at 900 calories of fat, so I can make up the remaining 500 calories with 125g of protein, which seems more reasonable.

I suppose I could also just shoot for something like 1500 calories per day, but I'm not sure if that would destroy my energy levels. I work full time and am going to grad school full time, so I need to be reasonably sharp throughout my waking hours.

Did you talk to your doctor at all about Keto? I'm not a proponent of it as a long term solution (although a number of people have maintained ketosis for many years with no ill effects) but it may be a good solution for you (and it's had quite a bit of success at minimizing diabetes). You'd probably find yourself lacking in energy for a little while until your body kicked over to using ketones efficiently, but after that you should feel pretty good energy levels, even with minimal carbohydrates (and not much weightlifting).

You'd be surprised by how easy it is to put in that much protein, but you do need to break it up into more often, smaller meals. Don't feel bad about supplementation with whey, casein, and other protein supplements, it's easy to mix those in.

I take in about 190g of protein a day - here is my split
Morning - 37g protein / 20g fat / <15g carbs - Usually do a mix of egg whites, whole eggs, avocado, and a vegetable (brussel sprouts, peppers, etc). Supplement with fish oil.
Lunch - 37g protein / 20g fat / <15g carbs - Usually use a lean meat, a vegetable, and a handful of nuts or oil. (eg spaghetti squash with ground beef in a red sauce with high olive oil content)
Pre-workout - 37g protein / <3g fat / ~40g carbs - Usually a lean meat, a vegetable, and brown or white rice
Post-workout - 37g protein / 0 fat / 80-100g carbs - Protein shake with whey, collagen, and maltodextrin carb supplement
Post-Post workout - 37g protein / 5g fat / 60-80g carbs - Some type of protein source (meat, greek yogurt, etc), a vegetable, and carbs (rice, sourdough bread, sweet potatoes, beans, etc)

 

[Chaotic42]

I think I'll have to get bean heavy with my diet. I'm allergic to chicken and eggs and I am lactose intolerant. I'm going to check out avocados to see if I like them. I've got to be careful about ketosis, that's what almost killed me last month. I've been eating a lot of pumpkin seeds, which I suppose would be my substitute for eggs. The foods will also have to keep well, because I alternate getting home at 7pm and 9pm during the week because of school.

 

[mike8675309]

To hit that protein will be tough with your caloric restriction. You are going to need to go for protein powders or other protein heavy processed foods. Check out the plant protein section in stores and look for high protein but low carb options. For instance Field Roast plant bases sausage has 25g of protein per sausage and 13g of carbs.

 

[deadlyapp]

I think I'll have to get bean heavy with my diet. I'm allergic to chicken and eggs and I am lactose intolerant. I'm going to check out avocados to see if I like them. I've got to be careful about ketosis, that's what almost killed me last month. I've been eating a lot of pumpkin seeds, which I suppose would be my substitute for eggs. The foods will also have to keep well, because I alternate getting home at 7pm and 9pm during the week because of school.

Oof - you'll have a hard time then with those food restrictions.

You may be able to get by with the yogurt - greek yogurt has very little lactose in it, so if you're not especially sensitive, you may find a brand that gives you no trouble.

Lean pork and turkey would be good substitutes for chicken.

How did ketosis almost kill you if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Chaotic42]

Oof - you'll have a hard time then with those food restrictions.

You may be able to get by with the yogurt - greek yogurt has very little lactose in it, so if you're not especially sensitive, you may find a brand that gives you no trouble.

Lean pork and turkey would be good substitutes for chicken.

How did ketosis almost kill you if you don't mind me asking?

I had the flu and didn't eat for a few days. That combined with a drug that I was taking called Jardiance made my blood super acidic. I was in the ICU for three days and the regular hospital for one. They think I might actually be Type 1 diabetic now, so they put me on insulin and a heavily carb-restricted diet.

No turkey either.

 

[mike8675309]

Type 1 diabetic is due to your immune system attacking cells in your pancreas. Type 2 diabetic is due to those cells in your pancreas wearing down from overuse or damaged by disease so that they do not generate enough insulin or none at all.

It's possible that your immune system would start attacking cells, but it's much more likely you have type 2 diabetes.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

1. Do I hurt more or less than yesterday?
2. Do I have the energy to do my job?
3. Is my mental acuity good enough to do my job?

 

[Dmadman79au]

I think that you should probably consult some kind of nutritional specialist about what to eat, id love to make suggestions but to be honest ive been focused on low carb high protein lately and eating heaps of chicken, which goes against everything your body wants.

In terms of what to measure, go with pant and shirt size, the are indicators of your body and how its changing.

At 6'1" or 6'2" 220 is fairly reasonable unless you have very low muscle mass, and if its a case of you having low muscle mass you need to focus on building muscle, which you can do with bodyweight exercise or lifting weights. for ideas check out T-Nation, its a bit bro at times but there is heaps of good information. if you are interested in just doing bodyweight stuff guys like Al Kavadlo or even Mark Sisson are good and if its weight training a copy of starting strength and a couple of sessions with a PT to make sure you are doing the movements correctly is a great starting point.

If you mix weight training with some intense calisthenics style training you should start to notice a healthy difference fairly quickly.

 

[KIAman]

Easiest metric to track is my max lifts!!!!

 

[Chaotic42]

Easiest metric to track is my max lifts!!!!

That one's easy for me: