L O S A N G E L E S Q S M E E T U P

M Y D ATA D I S C O V E RY

J U N 2 1 S T , 2 0 1 2

Eric BlueBlog: http://eric-blue.comTwitter: @ericblue

MY QS DATA DISCOVERYLESSONS LEARNED SO FAR

Started self-tracking in early 2010 Lots of gadgets and software

Off the shelf and home-brewed Lots of data collected Now moving from massive collection to discovery

My motivation for tracking? Recurring lower-back injury was majorly impacting my activity Get back to higher level of activity and fitness Curiosity – no immediate questions – see patterns over long periods of time

What have I learned? Some meta-data about my tracking – Meta Quantified Self Interesting discoveries Practical advice for people getting started

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CORE GADGETS + APPS

My gadgets Activity: FitBit Weight + Blood Pressure: Withings

(scale + HRM) Sleep: Zeo Heart Rate: Garmin FR60 heart rate monitor Location: GPS (Qstarz) Mental Focus: NeuroSky

Applications iFitness - iPhone TRAQS.me

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META QUANTIFIED SELF – DATA ABOUT DATA

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Stat Fact

Total hours spent tracking 20,606.40 hours (since 2/13/2010)

Total steps recorded 231,616 steps

Total GPS points (lat/long) 1.94 million points

Heart beats recorded 109,230 beats

Total burned calories recorded

248,385 records

Total sleep recorded 414,641 sleep points

Total data saved 218.89 MB

Frequency of QS gadget purchase

.5 gadgets / month

MY ORIGINAL IDEA ABOUT SELF-TRACKING

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= …

+

AND (POOF) MAGIC HAPPENS

MY ORIGINAL IDEA ABOUT SELF-TRACKING(FANTASY)

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MY ORIGINAL IDEA ABOUT SELF-TRACKING(REALITY)

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NO SPARTAN YET, BUT A WORK IN PROGRESS

SELF-TRACKING STATUS UPDATE – 6/21/2012

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Stat Start Current

Delta

Total weight (lbs)

205.3 190.2 -15.1lbs (since 2/13/2010)

Body fat % 23% 17.2% - 5.8%

Muscle (lbs) 158.08 157.73 - 0.35 lbs

Fat (lbs) 47.22 32.77 - 14.45 lbs

Strength (max bench)

205lbs 267lbs 30.24% increase

Total back injury flair ups

0 5 5 setbacks

Days since last major flair up

- - 292 days

LESSONS LEARNED

Lesson 1 – Progress is NOT linear There will be set backs Injury can happen, there will be lack of motivation but keep at it Push yourself, but also be kind to yourself

Lesson 2 – Set realistic goals Rome (or better yet, a Spartan) wasn’t built in a day Don’t go overboard on tracking – start small, be pragmatic

Lesson 3 – Visualizing data in different ways can bring insight Spreadsheets and charts are effective but can be boring Experiment with different ways to visualize data and find patterns

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [1]This is what enduring back pain and a major spasm looks like

at night (9/24/2010)

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [2]Friday is my most active day of the week; Monday I’m lazy

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [3]Set a goal everyday and exceed it; skipping a day means you

may have to make it up!

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [4]Adding some color shows patterns on larger volumes of data

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [5]My hourly activity as a heatmap

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [6]

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [7]

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [8]My morning walks

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [9]My morning walks – frequency & intensity

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [10]Cities I’ve visited order by date; My home-brewed Google

Latitude

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INTERESTING STATS & VISUALIZATIONS – [11]Remember, graphs aren’t (always) reality. Focus on feeling

good/fit and being happy. Have a slice of pie once in a while!

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WHERE TO FIND MORE?

The Quantified Self Site http://quantifiedself.com/

QS Los Angeles Meetup http://www.meetup.com/QuantifiedSelfLA/

QS Los Angeles Wiki http://quantifiedselfla.wikispaces.com/

My Blog – Quantified Self Category http://eric-blue.com/category/quantified-self/

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