I Built an App to Hack My Health Using Data from My Garmin, and It Changed Everything

Like most people in tech, I love my gadgets. Over the years, I’ve had a Whoop, an Oura Ring, an Apple watch and a Garmin. But while I was drowning in data, I was starving for meaning.

I was tracking everything: steps, HRV, sleep, readiness scores, resting heart rate, calories, workouts. You name it. But despite all this data, I wasn’t seeing results.

I wasn’t getting leaner. I wasn’t feeling more energized. I wasn’t making better choices.

Instead, I was caught in what I now call the quantified self trap: drowning in data, but starving for meaning.

Wearables Are Data-Rich, Insight-Poor

Every app had its own dashboard, scores, colors, and buzzwords. I had streaks to maintain, rings to close, recovery zones to monitor, but nothing was translating into real behavior change. Most days I’d open three different apps and still not know what to do next.

What’s worse: I felt guilty. Like I was the problem.

But I wasn’t the problem. The tools were.

All this data was reactive. It told me what already happened. None of it helped me anticipate or design a better tomorrow.

The Breakthrough: From Lagging Indicators to Leading Behaviors

Eventually, I realized I was measuring the wrong things. Weight is a lagging indicator. HRV, too. Even readiness scores. What I needed were actionable, trackable, daily leading indicators—behaviors I could control.

So I created a framework:

• North Star Goal: e.g., Improve my HRV, Lose 20 pounds, sleep better, have more energy
• Lagging Indicators: weight, HRV, body fat percentage
• Leading Behaviors: workouts, walking, sleep time, hydration, macros, etc.
• Contextual Activities: travel, alcohol, screen time, sauna, meditation

I wanted to see how my inputs (behaviors) were actually impacting my outputs (results).

Building Echo: The MVP

I didn’t wait for funding or a cofounder. I used no-code tools to build Echo as an MVP for myself:

• Tally to create a simple daily journal where I log my behaviors.
• Airtable to store my journal entries and wearable data.
• Zapier to automate reminders and data updates.
• Google Docs and Slides to generate monthly reports with charts showing correlations between behaviors and results.

Designing Experiments and Running Correlation Analysis

What really brought Echo to life was treating my body like a sandbox for experimentation. I began running structured, self-directed experiments:

• What happens to my HRV if I take magnesium at night?
• Does walking 8,000+ steps daily improve my fat loss more than just hitting workouts?
• How does alcohol affect my sleep and my next-day energy?

Using multivariable correlation analysis within Airtable and Google Sheets, I was able to examine patterns across weeks. Not just one-to-one relationships, but compounded ones—e.g., how sleep and protein intake influenced fat loss. Or how travel and poor hydration and late-night eating created weight spikes.

These weren’t random guesses anymore. They were real, personal insights backed by data.

What I Learned (and am learning)

Within two months of using Echo, I had insights I’d never gotten from any app:

• I always gained weight the week after a trip, even if I ate "okay"
• Alcohol impacted my HRV more than sleep
• My weight loss stalled every time I skipped morning walks, even with workouts
• Travel + bad sleep + no walks = guaranteed fat gain

Most importantly, I started making better choices—not because I was being forced to, but because I understood myself.

I had designed a feedback loop that worked for me.

The Unexpected Ripple Effects

When friends saw my monthly report, they asked me how I made it. Some started tracking the same way. A few asked if they could pay me to set it up for them.

That’s when I realized: maybe Echo isn’t just for me.

What’s Next for Echo

I’m now working on turning Echo into a more complete product. A real app with:

• Direct integrations into wearables (Garmin, Apple, Fitbit, Whoop)

• A smart journal that asks you the right questions based on your goals

• A coaching layer that suggests weekly focus areas

• A monthly report that turns data into insight—and insight into action

  
  

No social feeds. No gamification. No vanity scores. Just real behavior change.

Why I’m Building This

Because I think a lot of people are like me.

They’re not lazy. They’re not unmotivated. They’re just overwhelmed.

They want to change. They want to feel better. But the data isn’t helping them decide what to do.

Echo is my attempt to fix that.

Not with gimmicks. But with clarity, simplicity, and reflection.

Because the truth is: your body is already talking to you.

You just need a system that knows how to listen.

Want to try Echo?

I'm looking for early testers who want to join the next round of experimentation. If you're using a wearable, have a goal you're trying to reach, and want to actually learn from your data, let’s connect.

Sign up on my tally form https://tally.so/r/mZeNZV or visit www.logwithecho.com and I’ll set you up with a personalized journal and monthly insight report.

Let’s turn your data into direction.