DEMISE OF DOWNTIME

It is hard for me to believe my own response to the littlest 'toy' that I have ever purchased for myself. Once again, I am speaking about my fitbit. I can give two examples that show how this little tiny device affected my behavior just yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon I picked my daughter up at school.  I arrived approximately 45 minutes early and scored a parking spot close to the school.  In the past, I would have sat in the car for the 45 minutes listening to the radio and/or playing video games.  This is how I would have spent my downtime.  Nowadays, I have a new way to spend downtime and that is by proactively doing something constructive.  During the 45 minutes of 'downtime',  I walked around the neighborhood and I calculated that I walked an additional 2 miles prior to picking up my daughter.  This is what I call the demise of downtime.  There is always an opportunity to do something constructive.  There does not have to be downtime.

Last evening, there was a meeting at my daughter's school laying out the various events approaching as the year unfolds.  The school is just shy of two miles from home. In the past, I would have only considered driving to the school for the meeting. Once again, the tiny 2" fitbit called out to me to travel by foot and log the additional steps.  So I did.  The irony of walking is that it barely takes any longer.  A two mile drive in the city of Chicago still takes about 10 minutes with all the stop signs, traffic and traffic lights. Once one arrives at a destination, one must budget time to find a parking spot.  Therefore, in order to drive to the school to be there at a specific time and park the car one must budget nearly 30 minutes.  A two mile walk can easily be completed in  30 minutes. The walk is more constructive, it is healthier and it reduces wasted downtime.  

You may ask, "Why is it only now, with the fitbit recording your steps, are you walking so much more?"  The answer is simple.  That little device brings so much joy when the steps taken accumulate and get recorded.  It seems silly, but the thing is very effective.  This must explain why so many people around the world use the darn thing!

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 Wednesday MENU

breakfast   Raisin Bran (dry cereal, no milk) KIND BAR                             770 calories

lunch         SUBWAY ROAST BEEF SANDWICH, apples                          830 calories
dinner        Campbell's Manhattan Clam Chowder, Snacksquares             390 calories
SNACKS   DANG TOASTED COCONUT, BEEF JERKY, date pieces      1269 calories
      

total calories consumed 3259 calories

calories burned

elliptical machine, 92 minutes, level 20                                                          2028 calories

TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 2028 calories

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Wednesday net calories 1231 calories

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SUBWAY: FOOTLONG 9-GRAIN WHEAT BREAD ROAST BEEF (NO CHEESE)
LETTUCE, TOMATO, CUCUMBER, ONION - 640 CALORIES

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fitbit day 14

26697 steps