I’m starting off the new year with a diet. I want to set myself up for success, so I will not make this an all or nothing plan. I will start with 30 days and if I have a slip up so be it. Yoni Freedhoff says slip ups happen so I will accept that it will happen and move on. After 30 days I will assess my progress and decide what the next step is.
My diet is about social media. I don’t think I consume it in a healthy way. I spend an excessive amount of time on social media. Since I did not have it growing up, it is a novelty that I cannot get enough of, kind of like junk food for some people.
I long for those days of simplicity with paper and productivity. I remember fondly writing little notes in class and passing them to my BFF known then as my best friend. I remember hours of phone conversations instead of endless digital chats. When I wanted to learn something new, I would get a book on the subject or read an article in a journal. Now I just scroll through my Facebook feed and click on the many links to learn about stuff I don’t really need to know.
One of the problems has become too much information. I can’t take it all in. Too much of anything is unhealthy. Too much food, even good food, is not healthy. Eat less, is the message top nutrition scientists have been saying for years. I am going to implement this same advice for social media consumption.
My high school buddy Dr. Tanny is also dieting. He proposed the idea and it was just the impetus I was looking for to stop the insanity of Facebooking. Partnering up with someone who has the same goals is motivating and fun. Exercising with someone helps with accountability and reduces the chance of missing a workout.
We will see how far we get and what positive experiences stem from this approach to reducing the consumption of social media. Dr. Tanny will wean himself off slowly by ranting on twitter. I will relax on Pinterest for now.
Montreal Nutrition 