As the health director of Womens Health, you can probably guess that Im all for tech that empowers you to be your own wellness advocate and lets you gather useful health metrics in a safe and responsible way (I mean, just look at what they did with the irregular heart rate detection and ECG tech -pretty cool). The Apple watch has so far armed me with more info about my health and overall well-being than I'm used to, and right on my wrist.

Thats why I was psyched to learn at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week that the company has even *more* health and fitness updates in store for the watch and the iPhone. Here are the three biggies you should know about, plus how I anticipate each new feature playing a role in my healthy lifestyle when they become available.

Ill be able to track my period (and any PMS-related symptoms) right on the watch.

The new Cycle Tracking app for the watch will give you the ability to log key info related to your menstrual cycle, including flow level , symptoms like mood changes and cramps , and your basal body temp if you're looking to get pregnant. You can opt in to get notifications on the watch screen to alert you when your next predicted period is approaching, as well as when youre in your fertile window. (Cycle Tracking will also be available on your iPhone.)

While this might be TMI, my period usually doesnt come with too many surprises. But tracking is a way for me to spot any thats-not-normal menstrual moments: For people who have very regular cycles, when something happens or is off, tracking helps you gather more insight about those changes youre experiencing, Sumbul Desai, MD, Apples vice president of health and clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford School of Medicine, tells Womens Health. If you are diligent about logging these details, your watch and phone can keep tabs on any variation in things like cycle length, period length, or period heaviness. Then, you have all of this info to show your gyno if your period seems off and you need an expert opinion.

But its not just tracking the timing and length of your cycle thats valuable: A lot of the time you can also do symptom control, because you have a better idea of the patterns that are associated with your period, Dr. Desai adds.

Let's say you experience migraines a few days before your period : Being able to track your period symptoms (including migraines) using your watch provides you with info your doctor will definitely want to know in order to properly diagnose you with menstrual migraines. You may even be able to take preventive measures and, say, take migraine medication if your doctor prescribes it in the days leading up to your period, now that you understand your symptom patterns better.

I also dig the idea of having super-discreet notifications show up directly on my watch face, as well as not having to manually type any information out, since you can record all of your info simply by tapping buttons. Whats more: I just dont always have my phone directly on me, so the native watch cycle tracker adds convenience.

This is certainly not the first-and-only period-tracking application out there. Ive played around with Glow, and I'm familiar with Period Tracker and Clue. If you have another third-party app you love, you can check to see if it's Apple watch-friendly.

Another new feature will help remind me *not* to neglect my hearing.

I have never ever worn the earplugs that most gyms and boutique fitness studios offer at the front desk. Yet, Im pretty confident that spending an hour every day in loooooud group fitness classes (and living in an obnoxious, noise-polluted city like New York) isnt doing anything good for my ears. Cue the Noise app, which is designed to help you understand the sound levels in your external environment that could be contributing to hearing damage.

The goal here is to focus on prevention, Dr. Desai explains. Hearing loss is really gradual. So if you pick it up sooner, you have time to actually do something proactive about it. She also points out that hearing is your connection to the world. Hearing loss has been connected to increased social isolation, and theres also association between it and cognitive decline, she says, and we want to help people prevent hearing loss and the consequences of it before they actually happen.

How does the Noise app work? As the sound in your surrounding space changes, a decibel meter in the app will move in real-time, according to Apple. Then, the watch will send a notification (if you turn them on) whenever the noise level reaches 90 decibels. (Fun fact: Expose yourself to sound at 90 decibels or higher for four hours per week, and it begins to harm your hearing, the World Health Organization says.) The watch is also the perfect messenger, considering I often leave my phone tucked away in my bag when Im at a restaurant or out with friends.

Youll also be able to look up in the decibel level of the media coming through your headphones, Apple says, whether theyre Bluetooth or ones you plug into the headphone jack. This way, you can turn down your tunes. Remember, though, that while the watch can give a heads up about your external sound exposure, it cant put those earplugs in for you-so you will still have to be diligent about traveling with earplugs or finding a quieter space when necessary.

Ill be able to monitor my fitness goal progress in much more detail.

Obsessed with closing your activity rings every day? Same. But as Ive been getting accustomed to activity tracking on the Apple watch, Ive noticed that I tend to approach each day of activity rings as a brand-new challenge, without really comparing what Im doing to what I did yesterdayor the day before thator the day before that. But currently, there isnt really a clear way to see whether Im making progress on any specific physical activity markers over the long term. (Trying to get that pace per mile up over here!)

That is, until the Trends feature. This upcoming capability will live as a tab in the Activity app on the iPhone. The goal with this new feature is to allow you to compare how youve been doing and how much progress youre making using nine different health and fitness metrics-stand minutes, exercise, cardio level, VO2 Max, and more-over the last 90 days or the last 365 days, Apple says.

I'm generally super active and at least decent at closing my rings (or coming close!) day to day. But I've been through hectic periods or injuries that have set me back and thrown me off my game, and I don't always get right back into my routine. With Activity Trends, I'll be able to get that information and receive that little nudge reminding me that my level hasn't returned to what it was before life got in the way.

Heres where the watch comes into play: If, say, my movement level is on the decline over the last few months, my watch will notify me about my downward trend and then offer coaching with specific recommended tweaks to your routine to help me get back on track for that particular metric (think: Walk 10 minutes more per day to get your movement trending upward).

If youve been using your Apple watch for over a year now, youre all set and will be able to see your Trend data once the software update is available in the fall. For any new watch wearers like me, keep wearing it, because you need to clock 365 days worth of data before youll be able to get your Trend info.

There are plenty of other updates to look forward to in addition to these ones.

For one thing, Apple is making it so that you can access the App Store on your wrist. The Voice memos app is also being added to the watch, which is perfect for when I have a lightbulb moment during a run or workout and I need to record it before it slips my mind. (Anyone else have their best brainstorming and problem-solving sessions mid-workout?)

If you like to listen to audio books while you run or work out, you will also now be able to listen directly from the new Audiobooks app on the watch. And lastly, the updated watch will have a calculator feature with a restaurant tipping and bill-splitting function (yes please!)-not to mention a ton of new colorful wristbands and faces to freshen up your look.

The Apple watchOS 6 software with all of these features will be available in the fall.