14 Health Metrics I Track in Excel Every Day (and the Reason for Each One)

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I micromanage my health like a psycho. Why? Because I don’t want to leave the most important thing in life to chance. Here are 14 health metrics I track in an Excel spreadsheet (every single day): 1. Weight Not as important when the other 13 are dialed in, but nice to know.

2. Body fat percentage Better than weight because it actually tells you about your body composition. If you get to a lean body fat (10-12% for men, 16-20% for women), and put on enough muscle, you'll never need to worry about your scale weight because you'll look great. twitter.com/trynotsuck/status/1599210030372249601?s=20

3. Steps For most people, step count is the best way to measure your overall activity level, which is one of the most important components of your lifestyle. The average American gets around 6k steps per day. Aim for 10-15k to drive down your risk of all-cause mortality. twitter.com/trynotsuck/status/1549396994430468102?s=20

4. Exercise minutes In addition to low-level activity like walking, you'll also benefit from getting your heart rate up several times per week. I aim for a minimum of 2 hours of moderate to high-intensity exercise per week through a combination of strength training and cardio.

5. Fruit/veggie servings It’s not perfect, but for me, this is the simplest way to gauge the nutritional quality of my diet. When I'm getting 4-7 servings per day, on average, I feel great. Any less and I start to experience issues with my energy, mood, and digestive system. twitter.com/trynotsuck/status/1621312576914337792?s=20

6. Protein The most important macronutrient for muscle growth and cellular repair (and most people aren't getting enough). I aim for 120g or more per day and I typically need to go out of my way to get it, so I find it helpful to track.

7. Fat Some people feel great on a high-fat diet. Others do better on a low-fat diet. I'm in the latter camp. My sweet spot is under 50g per day. This is easy to overshoot, so I track it closely and try to emphasize healthy sources like eggs, wild salmon, avocado, and EVOO.

8. Carbs I don't worry much about my carb intake these days as long as I'm getting most of it from whole foods without added sugar. I just like to track it alongside protein and fat to calculate total calories: Calories = Protein (g) x 4 + Carbs (g) x 4 + Fat (g) x 9

9. Alcohol Ok, so I lied about the equation above. It’s actually Calories = Protein (g) x 4 + Carbs (g) x 4 + Fat (g) x 9 + Alcohol (g) x 7 One drink contains ~14g alcohol, so frequent consumption adds up not just in terms of calories, but toxins your body has to deal with.

10. Calories in Calories = Protein (g) x 4 + Carbs (g) x 4 + Fat (g) x 9 + Alcohol (g) x 7 I use the equation above to estimate my daily calorie intake, so I can compare it against…

11. Calories out Calorie expenditure is tough to estimate accurately, but I’ve been doing it for years and tracking this number alongside calories in and my change in weight, so I have a good handle on it.

12. Sleep The most underrated component of a healthy lifestyle. Most people think if they go to bed at 10 and wake up at 6, they get 8 hours of sleep. Wrong. To measure actual sleep time, you need a sleep-tracking device. I use @ouraring and aim for >=50 hours per week. twitter.com/trynotsuck/status/1652436352007548928?s=20

13. Hydration Hydration has a profound impact on your overall energy level. Not to mention everything just functions better when you’re well-hydrated. I aim for a minimum of 4L mineral water per day and track this in my Notes app before copying it to my spreadsheet.

14. Breathwork Another important habit that’s easy to lose sight of unless you are tracking it. I do 3-5 minutes of slow, deep nasal breathing 3-5 times per day and track my total minutes each day. My current goal is 90 minutes per week. trynotsuck.link/breathwork

That's a wrap. You obviously don't need to track all of these things to the extent I do (I actually enjoy doing it). But I highly recommend it for the areas where you are struggling. Remember: What gets measured gets managed.