I'm a fan of http://dontbreakthechain.com
Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
51–60 of 94 posts
Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#52My challenge with working out is not how to continue once I start which tools like the X.effect and streaks help with. It is how to go from 0 to 1. How to start? That’s a mindset challenge which is probably insurmountable for any app to solve for an individual. I’ve watched myself bottom out through eating junk and lazing around before something clicks and I start exercising. I want to figure out how to shorten the distance between two exercise peaks.
Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#53Oh goodness thank you. I was looking for something just like this.
Glad you find it useful
Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#54Streaks are often self-defeating. A few samples from the duolingo forums where this comes up frequently: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/17598950/The-demotivation... https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/3705144/Streak-Breaker-Wh... https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/7927344/Lost-streak-and-m...
As some one who had lot of bad habits, using stream method really helped me. I will give you an example.
Smoking - I used to smoke a pack a day since I was 21. 5 years ago I decided to quit. I started a stop watch on my wrist watch to count number of hours since last smoke. Once that went up 250 hours, I used a wall calendar to mark of days. I tend to break the stream couple of times a year by smoking socially. But when I see my wall calendar, I always get back to maintaining the streak. I have not quit the habit, but I went from going a pack per day to 2 packs per year, which health wise is good enough. Having said that, I found that having a wall calendar, bigger the better, really helps. Apps with notifications etc not so much. I am currently working on an app which turns your android wall paper into a streak tracker, will of course post on HN when ready.
Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#55My challenge with working out is not how to continue once I start which tools like the X.effect and streaks help with. It is how to go from 0 to 1. How to start? That’s a mindset challenge which is probably insurmountable for any app to solve for an individual. I’ve watched myself bottom out through eating junk and lazing around before something clicks and I start exercising. I want to figure out how to shorten the d…
The only thing that works for me in that situation is to decide to do it and then do it, no matter what. It’ll suck for a couple of weeks, but by tracking weight, body fat, and just looking in the mirror for changes, it sucks a little less.
Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#56No app will work. You just have to reprogram yourself to do it. Nothing else but ACTION will suffice for exercising. A very fit friend of mine said to me many years ago "I just don't give myself any choice about whether I'm going to the gym." You can talk and use apps and make plans and get trainers and coaches and excuses etc etc etc but in the end the ONLY thing that works is ACTION - go and exercise. Find an exerc…
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Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#57It might be a stupid question, but how do I sign up? I can't find it anywhere.
Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#58No app will work. You just have to reprogram yourself to do it. Nothing else but ACTION will suffice for exercising. A very fit friend of mine said to me many years ago "I just don't give myself any choice about whether I'm going to the gym." You can talk and use apps and make plans and get trainers and coaches and excuses etc etc etc but in the end the ONLY thing that works is ACTION - go and exercise. Find an exerc…
> "I just don't give myself any choice about whether I'm going to the gym."
I use this strategy too and it's the thing that has worked best for me. I make it a rule and don't let myself ask questions. No "do I have the time/energy?" or "should I do my workout today?", because it's always easy to find a reason not to. Wiggle room has a tendency to grow and suddenly you haven't worked out in a couple weeks. Then a month. Now you have to start over again.
Taking choice out of the equation makes it a lot easier to form and keep the habit.
If you go after work: "In order to go home, I have to go to the gym first." As though the gym is required step in the process.
If you prefer the morning: "In order to have breakfast, I have to do my workout first."
That's it. That's the rule. Like brushing your teeth before bed.
Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#59I see a lot of people here having success with goal-setting and gamification, but sometimes it's a struggle to come up with concrete goals. This is especially true if there's no obvious problem to solve at the moment (OK weight, good body image, stress managed, just not exercising). What's a good goal, then, for someone who simply wants to increase useful lifespan? "Run at least X miles every Y days" feels like "write X lines of code every Y days", which feels arbitrary unless you're training for a distance-running event. How much is enough? Where are the diminishing returns? What do you even measure?
Gamification is basically a way to substitute fake goals for real ones, which works for some people but not all.
Re: Show HN: Simple tool to make a habit of exercising
#60It might be a stupid question, but how do I sign up? I can't find it anywhere.
You click on the "Try it out" button to create a demo dashboard, add tasks and then click on register to sign up.
Sorry about the convoluted route.