I love a KPI, if you don’t work in a performance environment this is a Key Performance Indicator.
If you do work in a performance role you will know that in this connected world we are not short of data metrics. The skill is understanding which data to pay attention to. Which is ‘Management Reporting’ that you need to know but isn’t a target. This is where you decide which metrics are key performance indicators and are the key measures of your goals. The other data is information that helps you achieve those goals.
You cannot nor should you attempt to hit every single measure. The important measures are the ones that achieve the KPIs.

In the fitness world we are not short of data. I have always been a fan of Apple products. Recently however I have moved to Garmin.
My mind is blown by how much data this device records and the conclusions and coaching tips its algorithm produces. It has taken me a month to decide which is useful management information and which data are actually KPIs and how to achieve them.

The number one KPI that fitness trackers measure is steps!
Steps are an important goal as they are a very simple to understand measure of movement. Anyone with a fat loss goal should be measuring steps. What get’s focus gets done! If you are not tracking how much you are moving how can you improve on it. Average step targets across a week are my number 1 KPI. All phones and fitness trackers do this.
Calories, protein and steps are your KPIs.
I also like to know my heart rate, resting heartrate and I like to track my running.

What has blown my mind on Garmin is sleep data, stress data and a measure they call ‘body battery’. I have spent the last month concentrating on sleep quality. I’ve never tracked sleep as Apple battery life was never good enough.
I often tell clients to prioritise sleep. I recommend limiting carbs/alcohol after 8pm if you can and sticking to a set bedtime. This stops blood sugar fluctuations wakening you in the middle of the night. I have always measured my sleep in continuous hours, until now.

For a month I have had this watch and coincidentally no alcohol. I increased my activity in the daytime and I prioritised sleep quality. I would often get what I considered to be good sleep, around 7hours and the watch would tell me it wasn’t good enough quality.
Each morning full of hope I would press the button. I was longing for a well done, good job go and nail the day. Each morning I would get a ‘not good enough’ today you will be irritable! Yeah if you keep talking me down I will be!
I started then paying attention to ‘body battery’ and stress measures on the phone. These are not KPIs they are information that will help achieve my goal KPI of good sleep.
I noted that if I had a day where I did too much and depleted my body battery then no amount of sleep would recharge it enough.
I learned to exercise early morning, get adequate rest, be lightly active later( walking) and take full rest days after very stressful days.
This is called sweating the detail and looking for marginal gains. I’ve had a 30 yr career achieving targets so utilising data to see where I could improve is second nature.
Feeling proud of myself and my sometimes morning battery of near 100 by 31st January I had sussed how best to get quality metrics and improve my KPIs. Well one KPI, sleep quality.
This KPI is important, it affects all other goals. It dictates your mood, energy levels to achieve your daily tasks and workouts, it affects how many calories you eat and how much muscle you build. It has a direct correlation with your health and your risk of numerous diseases. It also, as I found out dictates if you put your clothes on the right way around 😂 I nearly went to work today with my leggings on back to front!
This is because last night I had poor sleep 😫 complacency is how you erode your progress!


So what went wrong with my sleep focus plan? Booze 🍸 3 single measures of gin & slimline tonic, a small buffet plate and a slice of birthday cake. In calorie terms not massive but in timing and macro nutrient constitution it spelled disaster.
So today I am tired. I was up early for work and I did fix my leggings before leaving the house.
How to mitigate it. Today needs to be spot on with protein to reduce the carb cravings lack of sleep gives you. I need to rest to replenish my energy and I still need to get activity in later. No carbs after 8pm and standard bedtime.
The moral of the story.
What gets focus gets done, complacency will ruin progress and you can’t outrun a bad diet!!!!
Another day, a new week, a new month… we go again! I am determined to make my watch proud of me 😆