Fitocracy
About three weeks ago, my friend Random mentioned this Fitocracy thing on Twitter. Said something about its geek-appeal in making a person exercise by turning exercise into a…not game, but geek-friendly activity by assigning points so you could level up by exercising.
Intrigued, I went to check it out. And yes, that’s what it is: a site that (afaict) gives you a point per calorie burned, and encourages you complete fitness quests that give small bonus points, and…and, well, you level up. It’s silly, but it’s also fun and bizarrely addictive, and it *works*. Last week I logged my activity, discovered I was, I don’t remember, 45 points from levelling up, and went and did 120 crunches JUST TO LEVEL UP.
Tonight I’m about 120 points shy of level 7, but not feeling man enough to go for it. Still, idea is pretty solid.
Here’s the other thing it’s done: it has made me log my walking every day for the past 23 days, not just miles-to-Rivendell as I used to do, but as an actual record of physical activity. And what I determined was that I get a lot of exercise, actually, and if I would stop eating so goddamned much there was very little doubt I would lose weight.
Monday I started tracking all my calories. I have not, frankly, covered myself in glory as far as staying on track with them is concerned-3 of the 5 days, I’ve gone somewhere between slightly and dramatically over the caloric intake I’m aiming for (which is not a paltry number in and of itself). But I’ve been keeping track every day for a week (at Lose It, which has made me at least a little more mindful of what I’m eating, and despite going well over the desired number a couple of times, I’m still down 2.5 pounds this week.
Somehow it really annoys the crap out of me that eating less and exercising more, like, y’know. Works.
(x-posted from the essential kit)