Data-Driven Wellness: When the Numbers Matter — And When They Don’t

High performers use data to make sharper decisions, focus effort, and avoid wasted time.

But over-reliance on numbers without real-world feedback leads to poor choices.

The best results come from blending data with experience, intuition, and honest reflection.

In the world we live in now, everyone has a definition of what "Data" is, so let's start with how I look at "Data" - any piece of information that can be used to make a decision. When we dive a little deeper data typically falls into 2 categories, quantitative and qualitative, and lately in the Health and Wellness space many are leaning entirely on the quantitative side. These are all useful pieces of information, things like Heart Rate Variability (HRV), sleep duration, resting heart rate, calories and macro distribution, body weight, and I could go on but you get the point. The boom of wearables and the continued prevalence of phones has made gathering this information easier than ever and it can be very comforting to look at a single number or metric and make a decision. However the key piece that is missing from all these numbers is CONTEXT which allows you to better understand if that value is in a positive space or towards a more negative direction. Context allows you to better evaluate how your body and mind are responding to the pieces of quantitative data and how they impact you specifically. For example, knowing that you were asleep for 8 hours last night is helpful, but without the feedback of how you felt this morning mentally and physically, it is hard to know if more sleep is needed or if maybe you're a member of the group that doesn't always need 8 hours, if you should push a hard workout or aim to recover.

Let's take a look at another common example of when numbers alone can foster incorrect next steps, tracking calories and macros. For many of my clients (I also do this from time to time) tracking can be a very powerful tool as it helps bring awareness to what exactly and how much food you're consuming. But, when you look to take only this information and make weight management decisions (either losing weight or building muscle) you'll most likely struggle as this problem is way more complex then just a couple of numbers. Our body continues to adapt and without paying attention to the qualitative pieces, consistent progress will be almost impossible to maintain. The great part is that when you become more attuned to the qualitative metrics you can loosen up on your strict adherence to the numbers, which again promotes a more sustainable path. In practice, this looks like keeping track of the following:

• how did you feel, including any stomach issues

• how was your energy

• how was your QUALITY of sleep

• how hungry did you feel

• what was your activity level

• you can add more if you want, but this will be a good start.

As you can imagine, the answers to these questions combined with the calorie and macro numbers allows for a better understanding of not only how well did you fuel your body, but how much fuel your body likely needs.

Now that you're on board with both numbers and context, where do you start? As I've mentioned in other posts the goal is to start small and build momentum. Track a couple metrics of each type for a period, and then look for trends. For example, let's say you want to work on feeling more rested in the morning and believe getting better quality sleep is the place to start. Pick whatever logging tool makes the most sense for you short term (if you like this process you can always change) and pick a couple of each kind of data to start with, something like this:

• (Quantitative) Hours of sleep (either from a wearable or an estimation based on when you went to bed and woke up)

• (Quantitative) heart rate shortly after you wake up, your resting heart rate is a good data proxy for overall stress levels

• (Qualitative) how you feel in the morning

• (Qualitative) level of stress (mentally and physically) from your previous day

Starting with these 4 pieces you'll have a great starting point to understand how much sleep you're getting and how much your body needs. Keep this log for a week or two and you'll start to be able to observe some trends and begin to plan better for those days when you're going to NEED more sleep. With a data set small like this, it becomes easier to not only keep track of things but run your own tests to better understand the connections. You can apply a similar methodology across the board to different challenges, but I suggest keeping the amount of things you're varying to a small number such that you can better understand which changes are correlated to which result.

The best decisions come from blending numbers with awareness.

Track what matters. Listen to your body.

Let data inform — not dictate.

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You Don’t Need Another Fitness Plan — You Need a Coach

I'm sure you've been under a barrage of emails, ads, reels, threads, and videos all telling you what is lacking in your diet, what you're eating too much of, what one time hack will change your life, how to get that elusive 8 hours of sleep a night, or how this exercise plan is guaranteed to drop 10 pounds in a week. All of that information has value, but it way is too much to handle and the majority of it doesn't apply to your exact lifestyle and situation.

That is why a Health Coach could be the solution to the goal that has been eluding you for longer than you want to admit. A coach will act as a guide, empowering you to change your life not only in an effective way, but in a sustainable way such that it becomes your new normal. Probably the most important benefit is filtering the noise down to what matters and a sounding board for those items that sound interesting.

A few other way a health coach will help you hit new levels:

• The accountability of someone else (outside of your family and friends) who can not only keep track of your wins, but also help you gain insight from your struggles.

• Your coach will tailor everything based on your unique situation to find not only the productive steps, but the steps you are willing AND able to take.

• The ability to combine raw data (calories, heart rate metrics, food intake, etc) with logistical factors (travel, commute, working hours, etc) as well as all the emotional aspects (relationships, passions, goals, etc.) to form a more complete and flexible strategy for success.

• A good health coach will look at multiple aspects of your life, and not just focus on a specific thing. How do you need to modify your fueling based on your strength training, how should both of those be shifted during higher stress loads at work or while travelling, or how (and when) to double down on a sleep routine to maximize performance?

• Because of the above (and others) working with a health coach will result in consistent success and not the massive fluctuations so many struggle with. Sure there will be ups and downs, but honest communication with your coach will level those out such that they're smaller in magnitude and less frequent.

If this all sounds like something you might be missing, the next question is what to look for in a health coach?

• By far the most important aspect is a personality that you feel comfortable with and meshes well with your own. Coaching is only as successful as the communication between the coach and the client. If you don't feel comfortable sharing your struggles, that's not the right coach for you.

• That coach needs to meet you where you are:

• Technology for communication

• in person

• some form of video conference

• phone calls

• text

• Meeting frequency and availability

• Expectations on you

• logging or tracking

• communication

• commitment

• Price

• You also will want to understand the experience and credentials of the coach, and you'll want a mix of both. I'm sure you know the booksmart but not street savy people, and the opposite as well - you'll want something in the middle. Someone who understands the details, but has enough experience to be able to tailor it for you specifically.

At the end of the day, lasting change doesn’t come from hacks or quick fixes — it comes from having the right structure, support, and accountability. If you’re ready to build momentum and start feeling your best, working with a coach might be the step that makes it stick.

If you like what I have to say, follow here, my email newsletter, or reach out and we can chat in more detail.