Data Hygiene for Your Log: Units, Dates and Backups

A log is only as useful as it is trustworthy. If your numbers are a mix of kilos and pounds, your lab results are half-typed and your dates are guesses, you have a pile of entries rather than a record you can look back on with confidence. Data hygiene for your personal log is not glamorous, but it is the difference between a file you trust and one you quietly stop opening.

You do not need a system. You need four habits: consistent units, lab results copied exactly as printed, dates entered properly, and a backup you have actually tested.

Pick one unit and stay with it

The single most common mess in a personal log is a weight column that changes its mind. You weigh in kilos for a month, someone mentions pounds, and now your chart looks like a ski slope that never happened.

Pick one unit for bodyweight, one for measurements, and write it down somewhere you will see it. Then stick to it. If you do switch, switch once, note the date, and convert your old entries so the whole column reads the same way. A chart with consistent units tells you something at a glance. A mixed one tells you nothing.

The same goes for measurements. Decide whether you are logging centimetres or inches for chest, waist and arms, and keep it consistent across every check-in. It sounds fussy until the day you want to compare this month with last year.

A few habits that help:

• Put the unit in the column or field name, not in your head.
• Log in the same conditions each time, such as first thing in the morning, and note it once in your log rather than every entry.
• If you are importing from CSV or Excel, check the units in the file before you bring it in.

Copy lab results exactly as printed

When your bloods come back, the temptation is to type in the numbers that caught your eye and skip the rest. That is how a record becomes a summary of what you were worried about on one particular afternoon.

Copy the results exactly as the lab printed them, including the units the lab used and the test date on the report. If the lab reports in different units from the ones you use for your own measurements, leave them as printed and note the unit alongside. Do not convert, round or tidy anything up. The point of keeping your own bloodwork history is that it matches the paperwork in your hand.

The app stores exactly what you type and shows it back to you. It never says what a result means, and neither will this article. What it does let you do is log results from different test dates and compare your own results side by side over time. That comparison is only worth anything if the entries are faithful copies.

A simple routine on test day:

• Save or photograph the report before you file it away.
• Enter the test date first, then the results.
• Check each number against the printout once, line by line.
• Keep the original report somewhere you can find it later.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your own records, that is a conversation for your own doctor or clinic.

Date entries properly, every single time

An undated entry is nearly worthless six months later. Dates are what turn a list of numbers into a history you can line up against phases, check-ins and test dates.

Use the full date, not "Tuesday" or "last week". If you are logging after the fact, check a calendar rather than guessing. A log with a few guessed dates is fine. A log where half the dates are approximate is a log you cannot compare anything against.

This matters most when you are running phases. If you want to look back at a blast or a cruise and see what you were recording at the time, the phase boundaries need real dates on them. The same applies to check-ins and test dates. The app's calendar gives you reminders and a calendar feed for the things you log, which takes some of the memory work out of it, but the date you enter still has to be right.

One habit worth building: whenever you log something, ask yourself whether future you could tell which day it was from without guessing. If not, fix the date before you save.

Keep a backup you have actually tested

A record you cannot get out is not really your record. Backups are boring right up until the day you need one.

The app lets you export all your data whenever you want, and it also supports CSV export and printable summary reports. Use that. Set yourself a rough rhythm, such as exporting after each round of bloods or at the end of each phase, and keep the file somewhere you will find it again.

A backup you have never opened is a hope, not a backup. Every so often, open the export and check it looks like your log. If you keep a printed summary, check the dates and units on it too.

A short checklist:

• Export on a rhythm that matches how often you log.
• Name the file with the date so you can tell versions apart.
• Store it somewhere separate from the device you log on.
• Open it occasionally and confirm it is readable.

And if you ever decide to walk away, you can delete your account at any time. Export first if you want to keep the history.

Small habits, a log you trust

None of this takes long. One unit per column, lab results copied exactly as printed, real dates on every entry, and an export you have opened at least once. Do those four things and your personal log stays something you can rely on rather than something you have to make excuses for.

Registration takes an email address and a password, an anonymous username is assigned automatically, and entries are encrypted at rest. It is free during early access, so if you want one tidy, private place for your weight, measurements, bloodwork results, phases and dates, create a free account and start with one clean entry.