Boredom, Fitbits, and Social Support

Posted on June 7, 2014

Boredom is a choice. Excitement is a choice. These emotions stem from your self-perception of a circumstance.

For example, I hear this a lot: “I could never eat that every day.” And this: “I need constant variety in my workouts.”

In these cases, the individual’s lens of perception is focused squarely on the food and the movement. Nothing else. All he or she sees is broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, instant death. Deadlift, deadlift, deadlift, eyes glaze over.

What if you expand your lens? What if you focus on more than just the food or the movement?

What if the food itself is regenerating your body, providing energy and sustenance, and making you feel powerful on a daily basis? What if the movement is a chance to improve technique, master a functional skill, and craft a sculpture that represents you on a daily basis?

You’ve now upped the ante. You’ve now upped the excitement.

Some variety is, of course, important. Too much variety is the death of forward progress and actual improvement.

Today take an honest look at your fitness routine. Could it be more exciting than you think?

Day 11 Recap

The exercise world contained a critical day of recovery, sandwiched between two lift days. Nothing exciting to report.

Steps checked in at 11,562 and mileage at 5.55. Ok, the Fitbit is officially a problem. It’s getting worse and tracking less of my steps. Is this affecting me negatively? Other than hurting my feelings and wrecking my informal step competition with friends, no, not really. I don’t need the step counts. However, the downward spiral of a new product is generally disappointing, especially since I’m using data from it for these posts. I’ll keep tracking sleep with the Fitbit, but let’s consciously discard step data for the time being.

Sleep checked in at 8 hours and 41 minutes (7 minutes restless). This night was particularly important after going two straight under 8.

Onward to the nutrition…

Breakfast: Grass-fed greek yogurt, cacao nibs, chia seeds, coconut flakes, organic blueberries, banana, cinnamon. Black gold.

Lunch: It was a full workday, and I didn’t have leftovers to leverage. I popped out to Grocery (13th & Chestnut Streets), one of my favorite fresh food takeout spots in Philadelphia. Clockwise from the top-left – shredded beet/carrot slaw, lemon/ginger steamed broccoli, Indian spiced mango glazed sweet potato, orange glazed grilled salmon.

Afternoon Snack: Rise Bar.

Dinner: Grass-fed delmonico steak (after the other night, needed a round 2!), organic roasted red potato, steamed asparagus. An important note here – when you’re not going out for dinner/drinks in the city on a weekly basis, it’s amazing how much quality food you can make at home for less cost. Obviously balance is important and there will be a time and place to go out socially and have a blast, but taking a few weeks to stay at home and exclusively cook is an eye opener.

Post-Dinner: 1/2-cup of cherries.

Week 3 Precap

Remember my bulking weakness: eating enough. Yup, it’s rearing its head. I’m officially not eating enough.

Remedying this begins with breakfast, and I’m committed to introducing whey protein to the equation. Stay tuned.

One of the best ways to stay accountable is publicizing your intentions in some fashion. By telling you, I’m helping me. While you don’t have to blog about or tell the world of your own intentions, consider confiding in a few members of your inner circle. That act alone will keep you on the straight and narrow.

Daily Fuel

Music is a big deal. I write with it, I walk the streets with it, and I most definitely work out with it. Nothing changes an emotional state quite like it.

My range of musical likes include hard rock, alternative, rap, punk rock (tribute to my teenage years) – it’s a strange blend. One thing I usually can’t stand is house music. That said, this song fires me up every single time I hear it. I can’t fight the feeling…