

The paragon of inefficiency - wells-riley
http://blog.wells.ee/the-paragon-of-inefficiency

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kstenerud
If you can't take an hour out of each day to do an intensive physical activity
(as in actually raising your heart rate, not just building up arbitrary points
by moving around more), you're doing it wrong.

Taking regular time out for physical activity gives you fitness (real fitness)
and focus (which helps you do your job more efficiently). These "fuel bands"
are basically expensive ways to fool yourself.

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crazygringo
> If you can't take an hour out of each day... you're doing it wrong.

So if you work a nine-hour day, take 3-hour evening classes to advance your
career, get the required 8 hours of sleep a night, commute for 2 hours, spend
1 hour with your family, and then another hour for showering, dressing,
breakfast, etc., you're doing it wrong?

I think a lot of people don't have an extra hour every day to spare. Your
attitude is awfully condescending.

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kstenerud
You may think I'm being condescending but I'm not. This is not my judgment of
you or anyone else; these are the cold, hard facts of life.

If you don't keep your body in shape, it WILL fall apart on you. An investment
in your body is an investment in your future. You can either be the 70 year
old who runs marathons, or the 70 year old with a walker. The choice is yours.

There are a million reasons why it can't be done, but the funny thing is, when
someone wants something bad enough, he tends to find ways to make it work.

I'm sure you can keep heaping more and more things on our fictional family
straw man until it's impossible for him to do anything at all. That's fine.
There's always one more reason why it can't be done or shouldn't even be
attempted. But life is quite indifferent to our reasons, and plods on just the
same whether we're in control or not.

It's really no skin off my nose how other people live their lives. I'm just
pointing out the creeping dangers that lie ahead.

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nickzoic
... Right up until you work out the most efficient way to reach your desired
level of inefficiency ...

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wells-riley
We have to go deeper...

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alexkiwi
Gotta love the cognitive effects of measuring simple data. Even if fuel points
are arbitrary, the behavior change is a welcome one.

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JamesLeonis
The fact that the points are arbitrary I think prevents someone from finding
ways to hack or optimize it. If it counted calories, then you would look
online for the best ways to burn calories. If it measured heart bpm, then you
would find ways to cheat that.

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vegashacker
Sold. So is the Nike the one to get? I thought I had read that people didn't
like that one?

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wells-riley
I chose the fuelband because I know people who already have one. The social
element is minor, but still somewhat helpful. The iOS app is really useful,
and the device itself is really 'cool'. People swear by Fitbit or jawbone Up
too. There are also some iOS apps that track a couple of those metrics on a
budget. For my money, nike was the way to go.

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ktizo
Could you wire it directly to the limbic system so you only get hungry after
you have moved around enough?

