I mentioned this previously on Instagram and a previous blog post. I purchased a Whoop strap and a year membership during the Black Friday sale that they had in November. (Use the link and get a free strap and a free month for yourself. Sadly, not a sponsored post.)
Whoop is kind of confusing. What is it? What does it do? Well, it measures strain, recovery and sleep. Strain is workouts and any other stress that causes your heart rate to go up. Recovery is just that. Recovery from the strain. There is a better description on their website.
I did not use it right away as I was dealing with MIL BS until Christmas Eve. But I did start wearing it on Sunday December 15th. I was in the final processes of separating myself from the MIL home and I wanted to calibrate a new normal baseline. I also wanted to watch and log the changes happening in myself as I detoxed myself from physical and mental poisons and reduced my stress. I feel the high stress would be a good starting point to see where I will be December of 2020. My goal is to have a lower heart rate, increased fitness and a few pounds lost. Mostly the weight loss.
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This is what sold me on the strap and the year membership.
THIS is what I have been dealing with for the past 6 years. My body has been “distracted” with so many demands, that I could not function in any part of my life.
I really do not have too much of a problem sleeping. I love my sleep and used to regularly get 9 hours a night. The last 6 years, the MIL always made sure she woke up the household at least once in the middle of the night so we would all be exhausted and tired from poor sleep. Every single night unless I used ear plugs and a sleep mask. This only worked if I did not pull out the ear plugs in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. I really love getting back into a healthy sleep schedule, sleeping all night long without interruptions and feeling good when I wake up in the morning. Sleep is one of the main factors of recovery according to Whoop. My current sleep performance is usually good.
My heart rate is pretty high. Partially it is because I am overweight. It is uncomfortable to admit but its not something I can hide from. It is also because I am not drinking enough water. Being chronically dehydrated from the previous heavy alcohol use, made it impossible to be hydrated while drinking. With not working out and the weather being cool this winter, its very difficult for me to drink enough. I am making a dedicated effort on this. Herbal teas, zero calorie water flavorings, and a daily Nuun are not as good as plain water, but I am making an attempt to hydrate.
Being able to see how hard you push yourself and how much more you really can and should has been helpful in my workouts. Since I took off most of 2019 from workouts, I am basically starting over from the beginning. I am a newbie and overweight runner with no base of speed or distance. I have had an issue the last 6 years with being able to push myself physically as my mental was maxing out all the strain that I had to give. Excluding the fact that I had a nervous breakdown in 2015 during my weight loss challenge that I never really recovered from.
Can you not recover from something after 4-5 years? A daily wave of stressors on top of stress on top of stress. I believe that is what has happened.
This Whoop is really helpful in checking in with myself mentally and physically. Being mindful and conscience of how I am and what I need. I love this aspect of where am I at, what did I do, what can I do? I am really enjoying it so far and looking forward to this year I will be wearing it.
Do you have a fitness watch that you can analyze your health and fitness? I was considering an Apple watch but I did not want another Apple gadget tracking me and notifying me of emails and texts.