I’ve worn an Apple Watch since it first arrived in Korea in June 2015. You would think I’d have years of records by now, but none of that early data remains. I’ve never even seen my Trends in Apple Fitness, which needs 180 days of activity data to get started. I have, however, earned the “First Walk” badge more times than I can count.
I’m something of a perfectionist when it comes to my digital records. If I failed to close all three Activity rings for even one day, the unfinished rings would keep bothering me. Because of that one day, I would reset my Apple Watch to wipe out all the data I’d accumulated. At its worst, I was doing this almost every day. After each reset, I’d go outside for a walk, and the watch would give me another First Walk badge. On October 28, after this year’s health checkup, I resolved to take better care of myself. That evening, I walked 2.06 km and earned yet another one.
This time, with ChatGPT’s help, I’ve changed how I work toward my daily goals. Whether I was caught up in work or simply being lazy, I would always end up checking my watch late at night and scrambling to close my rings. So I took my weekday commute into account and used 8 a.m. as my starting point, dividing my goals of 600 Move calories and 30 Exercise minutes into five equal parts. By 11 a.m., I aim for 120 calories and six minutes. By 2 p.m., 240 calories and 12 minutes. The idea is to reach the next milestone every three hours and reach the full target by 11 p.m. ChatGPT also turns the previous day’s activity data into a visual summary card, and I’m collecting these cards one day at a time.
I wear my Apple Watch at night to track my sleep. In the morning, I step onto my InBody scale and check my blood pressure with an Omron monitor. I leave the watch charging while I shower, then put it back on. These are the records from the last four days of October.
On Friday, an urgent report kept me at the office until 11 p.m. By 8 p.m., my watch had recorded just five minutes of exercise. I still wanted to reach my goal, so at around 9:30, I got up and took a walk around the company grounds. Even as I walked those 1.64 km, I was still writing the report in my head. I finished the day with 31 Exercise minutes.
On Saturday, I went to a neighborhood festival with my family. Without starting a separate workout, I walked 10,902 steps as we wandered around together. It was my highest step count of the four days, and I closed my rings easily. On paper, Friday and Saturday differ by just one Exercise minute. To me, Friday was the day I walked around work with a report still running through my head. Saturday was the day I went to a festival with my family. Writing this down gives me a way to remember both.
I want to keep closing my rings through November. I hope to lose a lot of weight and become healthier. And if I fall asleep one night with a ring unfinished, I want to get up the next morning, check my weight and blood pressure as usual, and put my watch on. Even with an unfinished ring, it was still a day of my life, and I want to keep a record of it. This time, I hope I’ll finally have enough data to see my activity trends.
Writing this post is also a promise to myself. The next time I feel like resetting everything, I plan to read it again. This time, I’ll keep the records I’ve built up and carry on adding to them.
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