Monday, February 3, 2014

Health Log


I’m tired of my pants not fitting. 

And I’m tired of conflicting advice about which of my favorite things to eat I shouldn’t or how impossibly long and hard I’m supposed to exercise. 

Plus the scale seems to jump upward when I have gluten. (No!  Say it isn't so! Please, please, please, can I be wrong about this?)

AND I've noticed that monitoring something can actually improve it. (It's one aspect of the Hawthorne effect. More on that later)

 So I'm just going track what I'm doing.  I had tried to say "No sweets until my weight drops below X," but before I do that, I want to see if sweets matter more than exercise than getting lots of sleep, etc.  It's me.  I gotta do an experiment!  (Yes, there are flaws in this one.  But I'm trying to keep it simple.)

 Here is my health log.  (NOT my diet long!)  This is the second one.  The first one I accidentally left off the sweets category...
FYI: The Hawthorne effect was named after an experiment in a factory in Hawthorne, IL.  The researchers wanted to see if productivity increased depending on lighting (and other changes).  They gradually increased the lighting and productivity did, in fact, increase.  Then they slowly decreased it—and productivity continued to go up!  They concluded that just knowing their work was being monitored increased the workers’ efficiency.  Their conclusion is disputed, but I have found that it has worked in getting my dissertation done and in tracking our budget.
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 4, 2014 at 3:56 PM

    You might consider adding more good fat into your diet(butter, animal protein) to replace the gluten and sugar. It sounds counter-intuitive but it's worked for me!

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  2. J. ParioFebruary 5, 2014 at 8:12 AM

    We do use real butter, and more meats sound like a good idea. I want to avoid feeling hungry all the time... especially on days like today when I bet the sisters have made fresh chocolate chip cookies!
    I knew some one in college who skipped sugar completely and consistently. She just didn't eat it.

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  3. Monica LynneFebruary 12, 2014 at 1:28 AM

    When you and Robert finally join the modern age and get a smart phone, MyFitnessPal is great. Helps you keep track of calories, exercise, water intake (not something you have a problem with . . . haha!) and weight. You can scan the food's barcode, so you don't even have to type anything! And it lets you enter in ingredients if you are making a homemade recipe. I've lost about ten pounds using it. I must admit, that I do it primarily on my workweek and don't worry so much about food when I have my Duane time. Also, as it keeps records of everything you are eating, if you think something like gluten is giving you probs, then you can scroll back and see when you last ate something with wheat. But, you will have to join the 2010s for such wonderful technology!

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