How I Learned to Use Technology to Take Care of My Body (Without Letting It Take Over)

For years, I was obsessed with tracking everything. Steps, heart rate, sleep, workout intensity. If there was a device that promised data, I had it. 

Then I lost my Apple Watch in the ocean in Costa Rica while surfing, and I took it as a sign from the universe to stop. 

What followed was a long stretch of deliberately avoiding tech altogether. Now, I’m finding a middle ground, and it’s made all the difference.

Biohacking Burnout

I got into fitness trackers early, back when the Fitbit first came out, before any of this was mainstream. I was using heart rate monitors to play squash. I had meditation headsets, sleep headsets, the works. I was deep into biohacking before most people knew what the word meant.

But I burned out on it. I got tired of being tethered to data. I wanted to just live, move, and not have to check a screen to know how I felt.

The breaking point came when I was surfing in Costa Rica in 2020 and my Apple Watch slipped off my wrist into the ocean. I could have been upset. Instead, I felt relieved. Why was I wearing a smartwatch in the ocean just to monitor my workout? That was the moment I said enough.

A Clean Break

After that, I went as low-tech as possible. I stopped wearing devices. I stopped tracking. I tried to keep my phone out of reach as much as I could, and I focused on just being present in my body.

For a while, that worked. But I started noticing something was off. I was getting indigestion before workouts, something I’d never really dealt with before. My steps on my iPhone were wildly inaccurate because I rarely had my phone on me. I knew I was active, but I had no real sense of what my body was actually doing.

I started to think: what if there’s a way to get the data I actually need, without all the noise?

Finding the Right Tool

I didn’t want a ring with sensors in it. I didn’t want a subscription service. I didn’t want notifications, screens, or anything that would pull my attention. I just wanted to know my steps, my heart rate, my heart rate variability, and my sleep quality.

I used AI to help me figure out what to look for, and it pointed me toward the Polar Loop. I already trusted Polar from years back, when I used their heart rate monitors for squash. The Loop is about as simple as a tracker can get: no screen, no buttons, just the band. It connects to a free app when your phone is nearby. That’s it.

At around $200, it was a fraction of what the Whoop costs, and there’s no subscription fee. I’m tired of everything being subscription-based. For what I need, the Polar Loop is exactly right.

AI as a Wellness Partner

The other piece that’s changed things is how I’m using AI, specifically Gemini, which is connected to my Google Calendar.

I was having indigestion before workouts and couldn’t figure out why. I started asking Gemini to help me think through my meals and my schedule together. I’d tell it what food I had in the house, share my workout plan, and it would map out when I should eat, what to eat before exercise, and what to avoid. Turns out eating broccoli and certain vegetables right before a workout wasn’t helping. Eating fish and sweet potatoes before activity works a lot better for me.

Now in the mornings I wake up, check my calendar, and have a clear plan: when to eat, what to eat, when to work out, all built around my actual schedule. Gemini can even put the meal plan directly into my calendar. It sounds simple, but it’s been a real shift.

I also realized I was protein-deficient. I don’t eat much meat, mostly fish, and I wasn’t eating enough overall. Having the data from the Polar Loop alongside conversations with AI has helped me actually address that, instead of just guessing.

Building Around the Body

A lot of my daily activity was invisible before. I don’t bring my phone on hikes. I take my morning team calls while hiking. I’m always moving, but my iPhone step count would show 6,000 or 8,000 steps because the phone was sitting at home. With the Polar Loop, I’m seeing 17,000 to 20,000 steps on those days. That was a revelation.

Now I’m building my schedule around my body, not the other way around. Morning Kundalini and breathwork. Workouts scheduled around meals. Pickleball, soccer, golf, yoga, hiking all tracked so I actually know what my body is doing.

I’ve been doing a 40-day prosperity challenge with daily Kundalini and meditation since the start of the year. I’m on day 63. I do breathwork with my son, and we’re on day 18 of that together. These aren’t new habits for me, I’ve always done morning practices, but having the consistency and the data to back it up has helped me commit in a different way.

Coming Full Circle

I started using fitness trackers to gather data about cityHUNT experiences years ago. I wanted to show people how many steps they were getting, how many calories they were burning, just by playing the game. And then I went overboard, tracked everything, and had to walk away entirely.

Coming back to this now, I’m in a different place. The technology is less obtrusive. The AI tools are genuinely useful. And I’m clear on what I actually need the data for: to take care of my body so I can take care of everything else.

That’s the real shift. Body first. Everything else follows.

Conclusion

Here’s what I’ve learned from going all the way into biohacking, walking away from it completely, and finding my way back to something sustainable:

• You don’t need the most expensive device. You need the right one for you.
• AI can be a genuinely useful wellness partner if you give it the right context.
• Tracking is only valuable when it’s in service of how you live, not the other way around.
• Building your day around your body, starting with movement and food, changes everything.

Taking care of yourself isn’t a luxury. It’s the foundation. I spent a lot of years taking care of other people first. Now I know that if I want to keep doing that, I have to start with myself.

If any of this resonates, I’d love to hear how you’re thinking about your own wellness routine. Feel free to reach out or explore what we’re building at cityHUNT.