It's Audit Season
The health Audit
Sleep|Caffeine|Calories
Protein|Alcohol
While this time of year brings welcomed changes like warmer weather and budding flowers, it also brings along the dreaded Tax Day, April 15th. While the chances are small, I believe the last stat I saw was that less than 1% of the population gets audited by the IRS, the thought of a possible audit motivates us to file. I admit, on the surface audits of any kind don’t seem very fun, however, they can be useful and insightful. So, this year I’m suggesting we all engage in a health audit.
I know it’s a big ask to have people track what they’re doing & eating, so I’m only going to recommend a small task. Track everything single thing you eat, drink and do, movement wise, for 24 hours. Then, multiply these things by 365. My only ask, please don’t deviate from what you’re already doing. This isn’t homework and no one will be checking your scores, so don’t try to make yourself seem like you’re doing something “better” than you currently are. I want this to be true to what is an average day for you. If you want even better (more revealing) results, do this experiment for a full week and then multiply by 52.
Here are the questions I want you to ask yourself for your audit:
1.) How much sleep did you get last night?
Assuming the average person needs 8 hours of shut eye each night, your total sleep goal for the year should be 2,920 hours. Now say you got only 6.5 hours of sleep last night, you can see how detrimental this is across a year. If this is true to your average, that’s about 2,372 hours of sleep per year. That’s a deficit of 548 hours! Almost an extra 23 days you spent awake when your body should have been resting and recovering.
2.) How much caffeine did you need to get through the day?
This is typically more of a lagging indicator for how much sleep you got last night. Caffeine is safe and effective for most people, but please don’t use it to prevent fixing your sleep hygiene. New parents, you get a pass on this one.
3.) How many calories did you consume today?
Let me start by saying that food is wonderful and it should be enjoyed. If you happened to splurge a bit today, not all is lost. However, if you notice your calories are elevated a bit due to something habitual, perhaps a snack before bed, multiplying this number across the year could be more revealing. For instance, say your 250-calorie snack before bed pushes you over your calorie budget, well, if done daily, this could lead to a calorie surplus of 91,250 calories over a year! This would be roughly equivalent to putting on 26 pounds a year.
4.) How many grams of protein did you have today?
We’ve discussed how important muscles are so many times before. But you can’t support muscle growth without adequate protein consumption. So, if your protein goal is 140g/day and you’re only getting 115 on a typical day. That’s a deficit of 9,125 grams of protein across a year. Forget about putting on muscle at this point, your body will be fighting just to maintain what you already have.
5.) Did you need alcohol to curb your stress or help you fall asleep? If so, how many drinks?
Perhaps another lagging indicator regarding stress management or sleep hygiene. We’ve been banging the no alcohol drum for a while now, hopefully we’re starting to convince some of you. Before you shrug it off, remember that 250 calorie surplus I mentioned with number three? Well, those calories could easily come from one drink. IPAs and mixed drinks often pack a lot of calories.
So, we’ve reached the end of the audit. If done over and over again, how does your average day stack up? Are your daily habits helping you, or preventing you from reaching your goals?