One of the most destructive ideologies to touch this earth, health-maxxing, is the antithesis of what real health actually is. Tracking sleep time, macros, sugar intake, and so forth is not something you should ever be doing unless you have a medical issue, of course. Our perception creates reality, and this will resonate with anyone who knows of or has experienced the placebo effect. There are tons of studies that show that you can pretty much psyop yourself into thinking you slept more than you did. However, this becomes impossible if you are tracking your sleep time and quality; putting a score and/or number on anything limits your ability to reconstruct reality.
You've probably noticed that drinking rates amongst younger age cohorts are dramatically lower than those of previous generations. And while, theoretically, this sounds “healthy,” it is the exact opposite. Humans are social beings. Our mood rises when we're around others and lowers when we're stuck in isolation. This brings us back to the drinking point, when we drink less, we tend not to go out as much, which in turn leads to us being less social. You can see how time spent at home has risen massively over the past ~20 years. Of course, this is not purely attributable to drinking less or health-maxxing, but these do play a role. Everyone is stuck inside, watching TV, saving money, and tracking their macros. They think that spending the night at home, sober, rather than going out to the local pub and crushing a few with the boys, is going to increase life expectancy. Spoiler alert: it will not. In fact, it will do the opposite. There are numerous studies showing this: “In a randomized experiment involving 720 social drinkers placed into groups of three strangers, moderate alcohol consumption increased positive emotional expressions, decreased negative expressions, and increased self-reported social bonding compared with placebo/control drink” (source). So stop looking at your fucking sleep score or trying to make the “healthy choice” by sitting at home in front of a TV like a loser instead of going out to a bar, and you may just end up living longer.
