As an investigative journalist, I'm paid to be curious.

Listen to this article

My days are spent chasing information, spotting patterns and trying to answer questions that other people either can't or won't. I genuinely love data. Give me a spreadsheet, a timeline or a graph and I'm happy.

So when I bought a Whoop activity tracker a few months ago, it felt like the perfect gadget for someone like me. I wasn't interested in becoming an elite athlete. I just wanted to know whether I was sleeping well, how active I was and whether there were small changes I could make to be a bit healthier.

For the first few weeks, that's exactly what it was. I'd glance at the app over my morning coffee, look at how much sleep I'd had, see how many steps I'd done the day before and think no more about it. It was interesting without being intrusive.

Then, almost without noticing, the whole thing changed.

I remember waking up one morning feeling alright. Usual routine, coffee, shower, ready for work. Then I checked the app. Recovery in the red. Within five minutes I'd convinced myself I actually was tired.

Within minutes I found myself wondering if I actually was tired........

© LBC