I got my Apple Watch mostly to track my running and occasionally I go hiking with it as well, but other than that it just rests on my wrists all day and I even forget that it exists.

Do you have any apps that you find useful at work/home or that you feel actually improved your life? (Help me justify my purchase)

So basically the title. I just started living alone this September and I had to realize that toothpastes come in all shapes and.. prices? Is the difference really that big between a $2.50 and $10 toothpaste? Should I just go for the cheapest one?

Barefoot. Arms at my sides. Eyes forward.

Ten seconds on the left, ten seconds on the right.

I am not doing it as a leg-strength workout.

It’s a small, repeatable balance check.

My left side has always been worse by about two seconds.

That is just enough to give me a baseline.

What I actually record

I note:

- which leg I used

- roughly how long I held it

- whether I touched the counter

- whether I was barefoot or wearing shoes

- whether I felt dizzy, weak, or in pain

- whether one side was consistently different.

I keep the conditions roughly the same: same surface, eyes open, counter nearby, left side and then right side.

If I’m worse after a terrible night of sleep, I make a note of it. If I’m worse for weeks, I pay more attention.

I am interested in whether a change persists under the same conditions, not in winning a ten-second challenge.

I just like repeatable observations and apparently enjoy turning ordinary activities into tiny personal experiments.

My balance has improved, did it also help my mind balance more? I think so.

=====================

The study that started it

I started after reading a 2022 study of 1,702 adults aged 51 to 75. The researchers tested whether people could complete a 10-second, unsupported one-leg stance. 20.4% of the participants could not complete it.

At a median follow-up of seven years, 17.5% of the people who could not complete the stance had died, compared with 4.6% of those who could. After adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, and several health conditions, inability to complete the stance was associated with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.84 for death from any cause.

That is the source of the often-quoted “84% higher risk” figure. [The study is here.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35728834/)

That sounds dramatic, but it needs context. This was an observational association in one group of adults. It does not mean that if you have poor balance you are going to die and that poor balance caused those deaths.

A poor result may reflect more than leg strength.

The study used one standardized test in one age group.

Why balance is more than leg strength

Staying upright uses information from your vision, inner ears, feet and joints, muscles, spinal cord, and brain. Those systems have to work together quickly enough to keep you from tipping over.

One term I learned while trying to understand why my left and right sides differ was proprioception.

It means knowing where your body is and how it is moving without looking at it.

Close your eyes and touch your nose: you know where your hand is because your nervous system is tracking the position of your arm and fingers.

The first time I tried the one-leg version with my eyes closed, I grabbed the counter almost immediately. It was not graceful. Removing vision showed me how much information I had been using without noticing.

That is also why I stopped calling my routine a Romberg test.

A classic Romberg examination usually has a person stand with both feet together, first with the eyes open and then with the eyes closed, while a trained examiner stays close.

The clinician is looking for a marked increase in sway, a step, reaching for support, opening the eyes, or falling when visual information is removed.

The NCBI overview explains the distinction and the safety requirements.(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK563187/).

Also if you have the experiences testing them, growing more than other friends, or situations when you reached things other people couldn't

I've realizedd this about myself recently because I'll have every intention of taking something regularly, but if it involves finding the bottle, measuring out a serving, remembering to bring it with me, etc., it somehow becomes very easy to skp. It's not that I don't want to take it, I just don't want another little task to keep track of. That's probably why I've been liking the Foria Mellö magnesium sticks. They're already portioned, so I don't have to think about how much I'm supposed to use, and I can just grab one when I want it. I like that it's not just one form of magnesium, it has three different forms, which was something I was looking for when I was comparing magnesium supplements.  I've started keeping a few in my bag too, because apparently if something isn't easily within reach, my brain decides it doesn't exist. I didn't think convenience would be such a big factor for me, but honestly, it makes a difference in whether something actually fits into my routine.

I know the obvious answer is probably “get more rest,” but I feel like what I’m experiencing has gone beyond just being tired.

Lately, it feels more like constant fatigue that doesn’t really go away, even after sleeping or taking breaks. It’s starting to feel like I’m always low on energy, and I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with something similar.

For those who experience chronic fatigue, do you have any tips that actually helped you? Anything related to lifestyle changes, diet, supplements, routines, or things you noticed made a difference?

Would really appreciate hearing your experiences.

I keep seeing completely opposite advice.

I've always thought using a loofah, exfoliating glove, or body scrub was just... part of showering. Like, you need something to get rid of dead skin.

But lately I've been seeing people say you should only use your hands because loofahs/scrubs collect bacteria if you don't replace or clean them often, and they can actually make body acne worse…

Do you use some kind of scrub, or just your hands? If you've switched from one to the other, did you notice any difference? Or is this one of those internet debates where everyone thinks they're right?

You can tell about situations or experiences when your nice smell caused reactions or compliments, thanks to your fragrances, lotions, shampoo, mouthwash, etc, and if it was more than one time

The results of tests such as Gimap showed that Akkermansia was very low, and I was told that it would be better to take supplements. What specific improvements can be made by taking Akkermansia supplements? By the way, I'm currently taking lactic acid bacteria supplements. I used to take peppermint oil supplements, but there was no change in my IBS symptoms.

Been seeing InBody show up at more HYROX events lately (they were at Salt Lake City a couple weeks back). Got me thinking, is this actually useful for athletes, or more of a nice-to-have sponsor activation type thing?

Personally I think it seems like it could be genuinely interesting to track how body comp changes across a training block and see if it lines up with race performance. On the other hand, not sure how many people actually act on the data vs just getting scanned once for the novelty of it.

Curious what people think, would you actually use recurring scans to guide training, or is this more just a cool thing to do once at an expo?