The Weird Thing That Happened When I Started Tracking My Sleep
Bought a cheap fitness tracker on Amazon. $35. Tracks steps, heart rate, sleep.
Wanted it for steps. Sleep data was the surprise.
Averaging 5.5 hours. Not because I'm productive. Because I scroll Reddit until 1 AM and wake at 6:30 for work.
Didn't feel tired. Or thought I didn't. But weight data told a different story.
Correlation? Maybe. Causation? Who knows. Pattern was clear enough.
Set bedtime alarm: 11 PM. Phone grayscale. Charger in living room. Book by pillow.
Week 1: Terrible. Asleep 11:30. Woke 3 AM. Couldn't fall back.
Week 2: Better. Asleep 11:15. Woke once. Back to sleep.
Week 3: Asleep 11. Solid 7 hours. Woke before alarm. Felt... rested?
Weight that week: 173.8. New low.
Sleep doesn't CAUSE weight loss. But affects everything that does: hunger hormones, willpower, exercise energy, cooking vs takeout desire.
Theory: sleep is foundation. Exercise and diet are walls. Can't build walls on shaky foundation.
$35 tracker worth it for that insight alone.
— Alex
P.S. Still scroll Reddit. Less. Earlier. Baby steps.
P.P.S. Want to track sleep? Don't need fancy device. Write down bed time and wake time. Two weeks, patterns emerge.
— Alex
Software Engineer, Denver. Just sharing what works for me.