What's the best metric for tracking fitness?

[IrishFire]

Hello there! I've become a reluctant fitness buff. I was hit by a car, and if I don't work out I'm kind of in pain all the time. Working out so that things stay flexible and unhappy bones are surrounded by stronger muscle helps a ton, so there's my silver lining: I'll be fitter than ever!



I'm a huge nerd, so graphs and measured things really help me reach otherwise arbitrary goals, like "work out all the time so I'm not overly tired or in pain." Question is, what are some good fitness metrics? Time is kind of a loopy one: thirty minutes of yoga is great and necessary, but certainly not the same as thirty minutes of walking or strength training. I've been tracking calories because they're a closer metric to how "hard" I've been working (with a little grace here and there, because yoga and strength training are necessary even though they're lower in calorie output), but even that isn't a great metric of "fitness," or the amount of good I've done my body. Plus, the calorie data out there is kind of crazy! Very little of it seems grounded in reliable studies.



Any tips from other nerdy fitness pros out there, reluctant or no? Wii Fit was the first graph I got hooked on, and worked like a charm until I was sufficiently rehabbed to move beyond the simple leg-lifts and stretches. Now I'm using a phone application that graphs the time and calorie data I feed it, but I wonder if I could do better.



Your input is much appreciated, thank you. :)

Thanks green! I use "lose it" to look up calorie data from time to time, but I use "AerobicView" to track my calories, time, and distance over time. I love looking back over weeks and months to see what I've done. 16 hours and 2660 calories since April 14th, when I installed the app. Woo hoo!

[greenrx78901]

That post about the acai berry is such a scam! It's on every weight loss question. I was going to recommend that thing that the contestants on the Biggest Loser wear. I think it's called the bodybugg, I know you wear it on your arm and it monitors how many calories you burn exercising. I think you can also input what you eat and then see a graph that shows your calorie balance.

I have an iPhone, and I use the Lose It app, you can put in what you eat everyday and also input exercises into it. It's not as accurate as the bodybugg, but a heck of a lot cheaper.