Before You Buy That Whoop for the New Year
What Biologic Age Really Means — and Why It Isn’t Your Destiny
What Your Wearable Gets Wrong About Aging
My Whoop just said I was eight years older than I am? It is called a biologic age, and whoop measures it .
January is coming.
That means resolutions.
New shoes.
New habits.
And for many people, a new device that promises to measure, score, and judge their health.
If you’re thinking about buying a wearable this New Year—especially one that gives you a biologic age—pause for a moment.
Not because these devices are useless.
But because misunderstanding them can do more harm than good.
Let’s talk about what these numbers actually mean.
The Numbers, the Dash, and the Anxiety
Every tombstone has two numbers.
The year you were born.
The year you died.
Yet the most important part isn’t either number.
It’s the dash between them.
That dash represents your life—your health, mobility, independence, and curiosity.
Longevity isn’t about extending the second number at all costs.
Instead, it’s about protecting the dash.
That’s healthspan.
So when a wearable tells you your biologic age is older than your real age, it can feel like someone just etched a new date in stone.
Fortunately, that’s not what’s happening.
What Biologic Age Really Is
Biologic age is not a prediction.
It’s not destiny.
And it is absolutely not a death clock.
Instead, biologic age is a model—an estimate based on recent physiology and behavior.
George Box said,
“All models are wrong, but some are useful.”
Most wearables calculate it using combinations of:
heart rate and heart-rate variability
sleep duration and consistency
activity and recovery
stress and strain
Sometimes weight or blood pressure
Each company chooses different inputs.
Each company weighs them differently.
That’s why two devices can give you two very different answers.
In short, biologic age reflects how your body has been doing lately, not how long you’ll live.
Why Your Wearable Isn’t Measuring “Aging”
True aging happens at the cellular level.
Telomeres shorten slowly over decades.
DNA methylation patterns shift over years.
Your wearable isn’t measuring any of that.
Instead, it measures load.
Sleep debt.
Stress.
Travel.
Alcohol.
Overtraining.
Have a rough week?
Your biologic age goes up.
Have a calm, consistent week?
It comes back down.
That’s not aging.
That’s physiology responding to behavior.
A Simple Experiment That Explains Everything
Here’s a revealing experiment.
Tell your wearable you’re younger than you are.
Suddenly, your biologic age might drop below your calendar age.
Nothing about your body changed.
Only the comparison point did.
That tells you everything you need to know.
Your device isn’t telling you where you’re going.
It’s telling you how you compare to the age you entered.
That’s feedback—not fate.
Why I Prefer Withings
I use multiple devices because I like data.
However, I prefer Withings for one key reason.
They don’t try to scare you.
Instead of handing you a single ominous number, Withings focuses on trends that actually matter:
blood pressure over time
weight and body composition
heart rhythm
sleep duration
long-term consistency
They ask practical questions:
Are you sleeping better?
Is your blood pressure improving?
Are your habits trending in the right direction?
That’s how medicine works.
Not by predicting gravestones—but by improving today.
And no, Withings didn’t pay me to say that.
The Real Goal for the New Year
If you care about longevity, focus on what actually improves healthspan:
Sleep better and more consistently.
Build and maintain muscle.
Move daily.
Eat better food—Mediterranean-style.
Lower stress where possible.
Spend time with people you enjoy.
Do those things, and most biologic-age metrics improve on their own.
Your watch is a tool.
Not a verdict.
One Important Safety Note
If your device is pushing anxiety, obsession, or fear, step back.
Health tracking should empower you—not haunt you.
The goal isn’t to beat time.
It’s to live well while time keeps moving.
🎧 This Week on FORK U
This week’s episode of my podcast FORK U — Fork University dives deep into biologic age, wearables, Whoop vs Withings, and how to use data without letting it use you.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
🔒 PAID SECTION — What Biologic Age Is Actually Good For
(Paid subscribers only)
