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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Emma Beddington

The health tracker backlash is here – so ditch the data and set yourself free

Man in shorts and vest with towel round his neck sits on ground holding bottle of water and looking at his smart watch.
Watching over us … wearable technology is quantifying our lives. Photograph: Posed by model; Guido Mieth/Getty Images

Has the optimisation rebellion begun? Something seemed to shift in the collective psyche recently when the world discovered the entrepreneur and podcaster Steven Bartlett’s reaction to having had “a couple of glasses of wine” on a school night.

Speaking with Chris Williamson (the Love Island alumnus turned “wisdom” podcaster, God help us), Bartlett had explained what happened when he decided to test the effects of drinking after a year of sobriety – a sombre catalogue of catastrophes recorded by his Whoop tracker (“#ad, #sponsor”). He slept less, ate poorly, skipped the gym and – prepare yourself – “podcasted worse”. “It ruined three days of my life,” he said, seemingly in earnest.

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