Sometimes I read my post titles back to myself and think, who is this person? What have I become? Over the years my content seems to have gravitated away from sexed-up smokey eye looks and finding the best strapless backless frontless bra to reports on teeth-straightening procedures, eye-correcting surgeries and home devices that will help with emerging jowls. It’s only got worse since moving my blog over to Substack – since moving to Substack, I’ve written about Kombucha twice. Kombucha! And we can compare and contrast this new, unrecognisable Ruth Crilly with the Ruth Crilly of 2010, the one who first started writing this blog? Let’s take a look at a snippet from one of my first ever posts, about the Dermalogica Power Recovery Masque: And here I am, in 2025, trying to kick my worst habit, which is – shock horror – ice-cold cans of full sugar Coke. Here I am, in 2025, about to write a piece about wearable tech, because I’m interested in tracking things like my heart rate and sleep quality and basal temperature. What has happened? Is it me getting older or the world around me changing? (Sidenote, to those who are utterly disgusted and horrified by my post excerpt above, who perhaps belong to a younger generation, one that wasn’t raised on Benson & Hedges fumes and drinking Kiwi 20/20 on the school bus: things were different then. Even in 2010.)Anyway, yes. Wearable tech. Fitbits and Garmins and step-counters and all of that jazz. I have spent the past three weeks heavily researching them – reading about exercise trackers and sleep-monitoring rings and health wristbands and watches that can give you an electrocardiogram – and I thought that I’d tell you about the two tech options I was most intrigued by. A ring, called the Oura, that monitors sleep and general wellness and a little-known watch made by a very small company that is basically a teeny little computer that you wear on your wrist. I’ll do another post outlining the pros and cons of both bits of wearable tech – the Apple Watch (lol, got you there!) and the Oura Ring – in an easy to understand way. I reckon I’ve done well over fifty hours of research and I need to pass this knowledge along somehow, if only to make myself feel less ridiculous. So expect a few updates as I get to grips with my new gadgetry and work out whether it’s a helpful addition to my life or just an absolute royal pain in the arse – I’ll be looking at ease of use and convenience as well as the quality of the data I get and whether I actually needed to know any of it to start off with. Let’s get going then, with the reasons I didn’t buy an Oura ring after my fifty-something hours of heavy research. But first, some context: why an earth have I suddenly become so interested in tracking my vital signs, my health, my sleep and my fitness? Well.
