MY OURA RING Review
Feel like I should start by explaining WHY I wanted an Oura ring. I’m a very competitive person; mostly within myself. I need to win in every game I play, I need to have above average “scores” when it comes to anything I participate in, and I like all of my test results to be in the “normal” or better range. I feel like mentally it keeps me challenged and motivated to strive for more and to always improve myself.
When I got my new iPhone the Health notifications kept telling me I needed to move my body more or, my least favorite notification, “there’s still time to reach your goals!” Meanwhile, I don’t always have my phone on me so how the f*ck does it know how much I’ve actually moved?? For someone like me who is goal-oriented, this was slowly killing my inner peace. This is when the Oura ring popped into my head – and after seeing it all over Instagram, consider me influenced!
I immediately loved the ring because it was capturing my actual movement each day, so not only was I able to mentally check that box, but I was also no longer getting those annoying notifications from my phone telling me I’m sedentary. Phew. In all seriousness though, I love tracking different stats about my health overall. Knowing that I entered deep sleep after a long workday is important. Giving yourself enough recovery time after a rigorous workout is important. And just knowing that you’re staying active and well-rested is all part of taking care of yourself.
A lot of people have expressed they feel they “already know” this type of info about themselves without an app telling them, but for me personally, I’m a very visual person who needs everything written down (otherwise I forget). The ring is essentially monitoring and documenting all of these things for me in a nice organized little map that allows me to browse at any moment. It helps me plan my weeks better based on how much activity I got in the previous week, AND it also tracks your period so once I know that is approaching (the app tells you), I know I’m probably going to be more sleepy, hungry, and low energy. Knowing this I might schedule a slower-paced workout class versus the high-intensity ones I typically do each week.
Now, onto the feature I didn’t actually know about that I love: The Readiness score. Each day you receive a score that is based on your previous day’s activity, combined with your sleep quality, how well you’ve recovered from the last day, your heart rate during sleep, as well as your body temperature. It’s a little too scientific for me to fully speak on, BUT all I can say is that when I woke up in Canada not feeling well my ring knew. I had the lowest Readiness score (49/100) I had ever had and it alerted me about my body temperature, heart rate, and recovery index. It just confirmed that I needed to take it easy and rest, which is what I did that day in order to feel better for the rest of the trip.
The scores (Sleep, Readiness & Activity) are where I start getting competitive with myself. I strive for all crowns, which is just a little icon next to your score when it’s above average. Obviously I like this, but it also helps keep me accountable for the choices I’m making and my lifestyle. It seems simple (because it is), but little things like getting into bed an hour earlier than you normally would can make a big difference in your energy [Readiness] the following day. I already struggle with low energy thanks to my thyroid condition so anything I can do to ensure I’m properly resting my body and optimizing my energy is something I’m willing to do.
So in a nutshell, I love my Oura ring. I thought I lost it for 24 hours and was absolutely devastated. Luckily it’s Bluetooth activated so when it was detected in my car I knew it wasn’t lost and found it under my seat! Highly recommend to anyone who is looking to take their health seriously or just step up their self-care routine even more.