Apple Watch, Journal app, and my sweet Pop-Tart – 9to5Mac

At the end of February, I was feeling down. Suffice to say it’s been a long year (well, ten years, really). I’m sure everyone can agree, at one point or another.

The arrival of spring helped. So have an Apple Watch and Journal app, recently.

I know that February 28th was a difficult morning for me because of my Journal app login from that morning.

“7:11 am, I wake up around 6:40.

I also know that it was the beginning of the change-in-season for me, weeks before the year would take the place of winter on the calendar, because of this entry.

“12:33 pm, Rory walked me and Nova to the beach and back, 2 miles, 1 hour, thank you very much. He also gave me a delicious pop-tart, fudge sundae flavor, next to my cookies ‘n’ cream. Sweet baby. Love him more than he will ever know.”

I know it was two miles, and that we had walked for one hour, because my Apple Watch recorded the event.

As for what prompted me to invite my eight-year-old son and matching dog on a trip to the beach, well, my brain felt like the new Fight Cloud emoji:

Walking helped a lot. The movement, the change of scenery, the effects of sunlight, and the senses all radiate from the experience. Everything helped. The movement also made my son more chatty than usual, which I appreciated.

It was a beautiful day. The next morning, March 1, it was resumed. Back to the Emoji War on the brain.

“7:27 am, awake for an hour. Uncomfortable, but not as violently as yesterday morning I think. Charging Rory’s iPad from zero. 52º, some windows but not all open. I can hear the birds singing.”

An hour later, it turns the wrong way.

“8:40 am, I’m starting to feel a ‘noise’ in my head and chest and throat. I hope we can go again soon. Rory up and look at the iPad after we check the lyrics. 62º now, close to 70º in an hour.”

Fortunately, my son joined me in my attempt to break my brain and walk, this time in a different way.

“1:23 pm, we walked Rory and Nova to the National Seashore park, including a small path behind the trees, picking up trash along the way.”

It helped, too.

“2:01 pm, feel calm for now. I’ll always hang out with her Pop-Tart like she reminds me to.”

The cold weather at the beginning of last week reminded me, in part, why I gave up on the movement in the first place.

It’s easier to pack in than pack and go out when you don’t really have to have to leave the house for any reason.

But thinking in the Journal app and saying “yeah, I’m going for a walk” when my watch prompts me, tickled me again.

Apple’s Health app is also connected to a few specific points that I could use the old fashioned way.

The Trends section has given inspiration now in the ways that Event calls did for me in the first place.

After two or three weeks of being on this routine of just trying to get the weakness out of my head and see more clearly, one notification particularly encouraged me: “Your average resting heart rate has decreased in the last 5 weeks.”

The graph shows the 5-week average of 46 compared to the 21-week average of 63 before that. I’ll take it.

Trending is the right way for me to think a lot right now.

Years ago, I ran every day. I loved it. Running was the best medicine. But like I said at the beginning, it’s been a long decade. At one point, running became difficult to make happen and ultimately difficult to enjoy.

I have no doubt that I will run again. I’m still proud of completing seven different half marathons with an Apple Watch. I just started running in the first place as a way to test the watch.

But it’s a different season in my life now. Now, going outside and just walking the dog around the block at least once or twice a day is a victory. On days when I have energy and opportunity, staying longer and moving forward is even more rewarding.

Unlike before, I am not motivated by a daily routine or the goal of closing my rings. Just the thought of maintaining speed and trying not to break makes me angry.

This thing about traveling, I try to stay in motion feel better. The data collected by my Apple Watch and the insights compiled in the Journal app let me know it’s working.

Motion keeps me moving in the right direction, and this mode is the speed I ride.

As usual, the Apple Watch isn’t the only thing that makes the difference, at least not by itself. Instead, it’s a very useful tool for finding ways to generate the right insight when you’re ready.

Taking a fancy Pop-Tart in my pocket and squeezing it every now and then never hurts.