So I'll admit it. I'm addicted to this little watch that tracks my every movement in my heartbeat. It's Jerry and Summer on WGTS ninety one point nine. Time for the Health Minute.
They say that means you're of a certain age if you're addicted to your fitness tracker. But, you know, health data is more accessible than ever. We don't really have excuses for not exercising, for not knowing our numbers. It's insight into our well-being.
But for others, constant tracking, it creates some anxiety, step counts, patterns that can overwhelm some people.
And so we have doctor Lindsey Prescher. She is a cardiac surgeon with Adventist HealthCare. She's here with us today to share how we can use the data to feel empowered and not anxious.
Okay. So so what is the key to this doctor Prescher? How do we make that balance?
Oh, this is a great one. I am guilty of this one hundred percent. I'm currently wearing a ring. I'm currently wearing a watch.
You know, I've done the glucose monitoring. You know? I think the most important thing is what are you trying to get out of it? So what's the end result?
Are you trying to change certain aspects of things? Are you trying to get a global picture of your health? I think if you hone it down into that and keep it realistic. So, hey, maybe I didn't sleep well last night.
I'm not feeling rested. Let's go back and check. What did my ring or what did my, you know, data tracker app show about last night that was different, and then use that to help make little adjustments. It's not something that you should be checking every hour or every minute.
It is something to help you, not to, kind of lead you. You know? You you wanna be going to it. It should not be leading you down a path of, you know, anxiety and, overthinking, so to speak.
So how can I tell if it's time to take a break from my fitness tracker?
I think you should just always take a break from your fitness tracker. So have, one day a week where you're just not wearing it, not not looking at it, start there, and then you're gonna see just kind of it's like turning your phone off. So as a physician, I don't ever get to turn my phone off except for when I'm on vacations or out of the country. And, man, what a difference does that make?
Not setting alarm. It's the same thing. Right? You know, just knowing that you don't have to get up in the morning.
So I would suggest to everybody that they they turn it off, put it away, you know, at least one day a week. Have that be your day of rest, so to speak.
There are so many metrics this thing really drags. So what would you recommend we actually pay attention to?
Oh, this is a great question. So I think there's a couple metrics that are important. So number one, deep sleep. If you're gonna track your sleep, really, the deep sleep is the most important.
We really should be trying to shoot for two hours deep sleep a day. That's the reset, reorganize, brain re reset button. And then heart rate variability. Heart rate variability shows us our metric of fitness overall.
How how can our heart compensate when we need it to, and then how well does it calm down when we need it to? So those two are are my big trackers.
That's some great advice, and maybe it'll help me end my addiction. If you want more on this Health Minute or others, find them on our website at wgts91.9.com.
And as always, a big thanks to Adventist HealthCare for sponsoring today's Health
