Nudging: No Facebook or online news for 1 week

You know when you get so overloaded with things that you enter in the wrong date on something important? Yeah. So I just noticed this didn’t post as planned yesterday morning. In case you were wondering if I was a robot, or if this was a perfectly orchestrated project, now you know the truth. 🙂  Onward!

Backstory: I signed up to work with a nutritionist last year, to fine-tune what foods (vs. fads) work best for my system for losing weight and maintaining good health. I figured I’d be told to count calories, make adjustments to intake of carbs/fats/proteins, and amp up and create more variety in my exercise routines. So I was surprised to see “limit social media” on her list of recommendations. “It’s a source of stress,” she explained (Duh, I thought at the time), “and that contributes to how our bodies function,” including how we process calories and hang on to excess weight.

I’ve since talked with a number of friends who have received similar advice when seeking to develop healthier lifestyles, including one friend who was assigned “zero social media” for a three-month period while working through some challenges with a therapist.

There’s something to this, so I thought I’d try it out.

P.S. I recently was asked why I draw a new nudge every Sunday. “Why not just make yourself a big list and check things off?” Great question. The real answer is that the actual drawing of the nudge – the anticipation (“What will I be doing this week?”) and the delight (or groan) of the reveal of the week’s challenge – is fun. I get so few surprises at this point in life, and I love surprises. Plus, the ritual gives me a little burst of energy, which leads to a “Let’s do this!”

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