Writing is like being able to put life into a snow globe. It takes the things that are too big and scary and reduces them into a form that I can put away when I want and look at from a distance. It also takes all that’s good in life and captures it into something I can take out when I want and look at close up and keep forever. It makes the bad things into something I can hold…and the good things into something I can hold onto. Both help so much that I need that little souvenir of life.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Foolbit

Some time ago, I purchased a Fitbit. In my case it was an Un-Fitbit, but that’s okay. It does what I want it to do. It encourages me a little. If I’m reasonably close to the daily 10,000-step goal, for example, I walk around a little more in order for my activity-tracking wristband to give me the little vibration and flashing lights that mean “Yay! You met your goal!”

It’s also been an eye-opener when it comes to shut-eye. Because it tracks sleep/wake cycles, it showed me why I often feel so tired even though I thought I was getting huge amounts of sleep. Turns out I really just function much better than I’d realized on very little. Now it's giving me clues to improve the quality.

Problem is, at some point my priorities shifted. It's all subconscious, of course, but these days I find myself exercising only to get that reinforcing little “yay.” And I know I'm not alone. I once waited for an exercise friend to go back and get her wristband so that she got “credit” for walking. I understood completely. I sometimes catch myself thinking that if I don’t see that number, the exercise was wasted. It almost feels as if it didn’t take place at all if I can’t later check my stats.

It reminds me a little of a story one of my college psychology professors told about missionaries trying to explain the rhythm method of birth control to women in a third world country. The missionaries used an abacus because they thought it would be straightforward. Slide a bead over for each day, they explained. If it’s a green bead, you are good to go. If a red bead, abstain. The rate of unwanted pregnancies remained unchanged, however, and everyone was flummoxed…until they realized if the women wanted to have sex on a red-bead day, they were just sliding back to a green bead. The green bead, after all, meant they wouldn’t get pregnant.

A friend sent me a cartoon about making grandchildren wear the Fitbit to fulfill exercise quotas, but since neither of us is a grandmother yet, we wondered if pets would work. Those little wristbands might double as collars for cats or small dogs, after all.

Sometimes when I walk through my house, I swing my arms just a little too much. Am I fooling myself?

You betcha. Call it the Green Bead Effect.



Progress, not perfection. ~Loketo Soukous

11 comments:

  1. LOL I don't know which is funnier, the women sliding the red/green beads or the pets wearing the Fit Bit device. Oh my, you made me laugh. I have been munching most of the say, so no amount of walking would cancel those calories.

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    1. There's a Fitbit program that keeps track of your calories, but in order to do it you have to enter everything you ate. And be honest about it. Like that's going to happen!

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  2. And a blog post is wasted if it gets no comments!

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    1. Very philosophical! Like does a tree make a noise if no one hears it....

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  3. Tammy--I think you could wrrite a whole "fitness" article, but one with a definite humorous vein...

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    1. I think it's wonderful, Sioux, how you can put a positive spin on everything. Maybe I could write an UNfitness article for UNfit magazine!

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  4. That was a twofer today -- two great stories in one blog visit! I understand how you feel about the way the device validates your exercise. I'm that way on the treadmill with the "calories burned" display.

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  5. I totally identify. I wear a Vivofit and have become somewhat obsessed, checking it constantly. I'm not sure these devices are 100% step count accurate, but they certainly make us much more aware of how much (or how little) we're moving. That's a good thing.

    BTW, love your stories! My fav is #1.

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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  6. I totally identify. I wear a Vivofit and have become somewhat obsessed, checking it constantly. I'm not sure these devices are 100% step count accurate, but they certainly make us much more aware of how much (or how little) we're moving. That's a good thing.

    BTW, love your stories! My fav is #1.

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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  7. Very thought provoking, Tammy. I can so understand the friend who had to go back for her Fitbit so she'd get credit for the walk. I would do that! It's a little like not being able to check things off on a To Do list. Does that mean the task didn't get done? Thanks for the smiles :)

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  8. Yes! It's very much like checking off the To Do list. In fact, I confess I've written items on the To Do list after the fact - just for the satisfaction of checking them off!

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