My Body as a Research Project

Feb 5

Five Metrics That Helped Me Take Control of My Health

I’ve always had a fascination with tracking things. Metrics, miles, data points that tell some kind of story. For years, though, I never actually did anything with that information. It was more like passive observation — I’d glance at my watch in the morning and think, “Huh, I slept like shit last night,” and then move on with my day.

Last year, though, the wheels came off with my health. I’m sure that I’m being a bit dramatic, but the facts are telling: two ER visits, two CT scans, an MRI, a colonoscopy, and a parade of other medical visits and procedures that made the previous decade look uneventful. It was a struggle. Demoralizing. And at some point during those months of uncertainty and doctors’ offices, I made a decision: I wasn’t going to go through that again.

So, I started taking my health seriously. And a part of that involved starting to look at my metrics more consciously — through the lens of self-improvement, not just self-observation.

From Observer to Participant

There’s a big difference between collecting data and actually using it. I realized I’d been treating my body like a spectator sport, watching the numbers go up and down without any real investment in the outcome. And a lot of it was obvious — of course I’m going to fade in the afternoons when I have three McDonald’s cheeseburgers for lunch — but I wasn’t willing to really see my behavior for what it was. And for better or worse, when your health becomes impossible to ignore, that detachment doesn’t work anymore.

So, I started to focus on the metrics and tried to ask different questions. Not just, “What does this number say?” but “What is this number telling me about how I’m living?” The shift was subtle, but significant. It helped me move from passive observation to active participation. To start treating my body less like a mystery and more like a research project I could actually learn from.

Here are five of my favorite metrics that I track now, and more importantly, what I’ve learned from paying attention to them.

1. Sleep

I spend a lot of time reading and watching videos about health and exercise, and sleep always seems to come up as non-negotiable for a healthier life. And honestly? It’s true. I struggle with it more than I’d like to admit, but now I actually look at my sleep score in the mornings with intention — thinking about what I did the night before that might have contributed to a good or bad result.

Sometimes it’s in my control and other times it’s not. Did I have caffeine too late? Was I scrolling on my phone right before bed? Did I eat a heavy meal at 9 PM? Or did my dog wake me up at 1 AM to go potty? The data doesn’t just tell me I slept poorly — it helps me connect the dots between my choices and my rest.

And good sleep isn’t just about feeling rested in the morning. I’d argue that it’s the foundation everything else is built on. When I sleep well, everything else — my mood, my energy, my decision-making — falls into place more easily. When I don’t, I can feel it in every part of my day.

2. Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

I had no idea HRV even existed until recently, and now it’s one of the metrics I check most consistently. For those unfamiliar, HRV measures the variation in time between heartbeats, and it’s essentially an indicator of how well your body is recovering from stress.

Generally speaking, higher HRV means your nervous system is balanced and you’re handling stress well. Lower HRV can signal that your body is under strain — whether from overtraining, poor sleep, illness, or life just being overwhelming.

What I love about tracking HRV is that it gives me permission to adjust. If my HRV is low, I know it’s not the day to push hard in a workout or pile on more stress. It’s a signal to slow down, recover, and take care of myself.

That said, HRV really is a trend metric. One low day doesn’t mean much, but when I look at it over the course of a week or two, patterns emerge that tell me how my body is actually handling stress and recovery. The day-to-day scores help me adjust in the moment, but the trend shows me the bigger picture.

3. Resting Heart Rate

This one usually goes hand-in-hand with sleep and HRV. Good sleep and low stress typically mean a lower resting heart rate. When all three of these metrics are aligned, I can literally rest assured that I’m in a pretty decent place physically and mentally.

Resting heart rate is one of those metrics that feels almost too simple to matter, but it’s a surprisingly good barometer for overall health. When mine creeps up, it’s usually a sign that something is off — maybe I’m getting sick, maybe I’m not recovering well, or maybe I’m just burning the candle at both ends.

It’s a gentle reminder that my body is always communicating with me. I just have to pay attention.

4. Steps

I wasn’t one of those people who hopped on the Fitbit train, pacing around my kitchen late at night trying to hit 10,000 steps before bed. And I’m still not obsessed with hitting a specific number every single day. But I do place value on moving my body, and step count has become a simple indicator of whether or not I’ve had an active day.

I have my watch set to 12,000 steps. On running days, I usually hit it without trying. On non-running days, it can definitely be more of a challenge — and honestly, that’s when the metric is most useful. It tells me whether I moved my body enough throughout the day, or if I spent too much time sitting at my desk.

It’s not about perfection. It’s about awareness.

5. Diet (Macros & Micros)

This is the newest addition to my tracking routine, and it’s been the most eye-opening. I recently started using an app called Cronometer to track my macros and micros, largely because of the gut health issues I dealt with last year.

I’ve always been wary of diet tracking. The risk of falling into obsessive calorie counting or losing touch with what your body is actually telling you feels very real to me. But with where I’m currently at in my life, it’s been informative rather than restrictive.

What surprised me most was realizing how little I actually knew about what my body needed. I thought I was eating well (for the most part), but tracking showed me gaps I didn’t know existed — way too much oil and not enough fiber, too little magnesium or B vitamins, more protein needed to support recovery. It’s a balance I’m slowly learning: trying to listen to my body while also understanding what it needs both calorically and nutritionally.

The key, I think, is staying flexible and not letting the data override your gut (pun intended). The tracking is a tool, not a rulebook.

The Importance of Trends

Here’s the thing I’ve learned about all of these metrics: individual days don’t matter nearly as much as trends over time.

One bad night of sleep doesn’t mean I’m falling apart. A low HRV on a stressful day doesn’t mean I’m failing. Missing my step goal because I was focused on other things doesn’t undo all my progress.

But when I zoom out and look at weeks or months of data, patterns emerge. I can see how my choices compound over time. I can identify what actually moves the needle versus what just feels productive. I can stop guessing and start knowing.

Are these metrics perfect? No. My watch isn’t a medical device, and Cronometer only knows what I tell it. But they’re consistent enough that the shifts in the data give me a pretty good understanding of what’s going on. And that’s been enough.

And that knowledge translates directly into how I live. When I see my metrics trending in the right direction, I feel more in control. When they dip, I have the information I need to change things up before things spiral.

An Action Plan

For me, the real shift happened when I stopped passively observing these metrics and started letting them guide my decisions. They’re not there to judge me. They’re there to inform me. And after everything I went through last year, I needed that information. I needed to understand what my body was trying to tell me before things got bad again.

Some days, the data tells me that I can push harder. Other days, it tells me to rest. Some weeks, it shows me I’m thriving. Other weeks, it reveals that something needs attention before it becomes a bigger problem.

Slowly, I’m becoming more aware of my body. It isn’t a mystery anymore. It’s a research project I’m actively participating in, and the more I learn, the better I am at taking care of it.

I don’t know if I’ll track these metrics forever. But right now, they’re helping me build something that feels sustainable. Something intentional. And after last year, that feels like progress worth measuring.

Michael Palzkill