Woods World (Sept. 17 to 23)

Love actionable health data? This smart ring gathers information to help you make actionable changes for your health. While I'm a huge fan of my Apple Watch and all of its health insights, the Oura ring provides a more personalized approach. Each day, you receive three scores: sleep, readiness and activity. Depending on factors such as how well you sleep, what your resting heart is and how much exercise you've recently had, your goals will change from day to day. It's an entirely different approach from Apple Fitness, which doesn't provide dynamic goal setting. (However, it does sync data cleanly between Apple Health and Fitness, which is a win-win.)

Looking for a more compassionate approach to exercise? As mentioned, I'm a big Apple fan and I regularly use my Oura ring and Apple Watch to track my steps and fitness. And for anyone who has ever had a good streak on Apple Fitness, you know there is nothing worse than the first day you get sick or injured. Let's be honest, even when you're not sick or injured, some days you just aren't going to close all of your rings. Enter my favorite app of the year, Gentler Streak. Each day it considers your health data and suggests a workout that will either maintain or gradually improve your fitness. And on the days your health metrics don't look so strong (you're not well-rested, for example), it'll suggest a gentler workout or a much-needed rest day. Need a week off? No problem. Put to rest the idea that every day needs to look the same for your workouts and watch your approach to fitness change for the best. (PS. I took his advice today and took it easy.)

What happens when you don't plan your meals in advance? If you're anything like me, all semblance of a balanced meal goes out the window. The worst part is that I am an absolute cookbook fanatic. I love to buy them and imagine these delicious meals ... but that doesn't always seem as enticing after a full day of work. Enter another great app, Intent. This app allows you to enter your health goals and preferences (what foods you like and which you can't eat) and suggests a complete meal plan for your week. It'll even make a grocery list for you that you can send directly to a grocery store or Instacart. It's the perfect solution to decision fatigue ("What do I want to eat tonight?) while preserving your health goals.

Need a solution for sore legs and inflammation? The Normatec Go by Hyperice provides an on-the-go calf massage to increase circulation and reduce pain and tension in your legs. After a long day or a particularly good workout, almost nothing feels better than a targeted compression massage. You can customize the pressure intensity and time of your session - and they can be packed in a suitcase and brought along on planes. (TSA approved!) One final tip: if you have FSA dollars, you can use them for these.

Last but not least, looking for a good read? Check out Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully. This book approaches wellness from a different than usual approach - it focuses primarily on developing skills in areas, like mobility, that will keep you healthy and pain-free in the long run. It offers 10 specific areas of focus including: ways to test your current ability, how to improve and what benefits you can expect to see from this improvement. One that I am continually working on (inspired by this book) is the ability to get on and off the floor cross-legged without using my hands, knees or anything else for support. (If you haven't tried it, it's not easy!)

Hope you enjoyed this week's roundup of health and wellness items. Please let me know if you have any of these or try them out.