Okay, this one is about tracking. I'm just trying to get a couple of podcasts ahead. So I'm not trying to run around and fit some more in. And I made an effort on straightening the hair. It's waiting for the timer. Have you ever felt that tracking your steps and your calories is meant to make you feel good, but it's had the opposite effect and it's made you feel crap and guilty and defeated? Well, I am the same. So today's podcast is about why I've stopped tracking things. And that title is probably a little bit misleading because there are still things that I need to track. or I will have a break from tracking. And it so obviously, because I'm still getting my train of thoughts. So the intention of tracking is that, you know, you're, you're meant to feel healthier, you're meant to get those everyone told you have to get those ten thousand steps and you have to eat, however many calories it is, twelve hundred, fifteen hundred, eighteen hundred, whatever it is, and have to do this and you have to get this much sleep and you have to do whatever I found that sometimes it has the opposite effect and it's made me feel worse so and I'm doing this because it happens reasonably regularly so I have an Apple watch and that tracks how I sleep I know my shit I know my shit I know my sleep is shit most of the time I don't have you know my deep sleep is pretty well non-existent I can see all of that and whilst that's really healthy to know those things at times it's like you know what I don't want to be reminded that I'm going to sleep bad tonight and I don't want to have to get that notification on my phone that I haven't hit whatever the sleep goal was and like I've taken my apple watch off like showing my wrist that it's bare um I'm not wearing it this weekend because I don't want the guilt that's going to come with that. So I know that today is mostly going to be me in the office doing things, catching up on things. I don't want the guilt of my watch yelling at me saying I haven't closed my rings because I haven't, you know, hit my ten thousand step milestone or whatever it is. Or I've got something yelling at me. You haven't logged your breakfast. Like, you know, log your breakfast. We have to keep you on track and everything. And I can appreciate all of that. you know, is really helpful. But I think doing that religiously and feeling like it becomes more of a chore. It's a chore to get to those ten thousand calories. It's I'm sorry, ten thousand steps, ten thousand calories is huge. It's a chore to get to those ten thousand steps. And, you know, if you're trying to log your food and then, you know, you've made something different and you're trying to get all the different measurements and stuff, I think there's just so much reliance on listening to people telling you what to do. And then it has the opposite effect of you feeling guilty. So if tracking things for you excites you, doesn't stress you, challenges you or whatever, then this podcast is probably not for you. This episode is probably not for you because you're all over it. But For me, I like tracking things, but I feel like every now and then I need to have that break. I don't need to be reminded that I haven't closed my rings. I don't want to be a chore that I have to go for a walk to try to get those ten thousand steps or drink my eight glasses of water or whatever it is. And I know all those things are really, really useful, but I don't think it's healthy to be concentrating on that. every single day because then it becomes a chore and then I think it has the opposite effect of what it was meant to be. So if you were needing permission to stop tracking things for a little bit, here is your permission. No doubt I will probably put my watch back on Sunday night because that's kind of the start. of the working week. I generally find on a weekend is where I'm like, you know what, I'm going to take my watch off. I don't want, you know, I guess you can turn that notifications off and all that. I can appreciate that. But you're still looking at it knowing that you haven't closed those goals or you haven't hit that milestone or whatever it is that it might be. So usually on a weekend, I will just take my watch off. give myself permission for that. It feels quite good to not have it on sometimes. And I have taken a lot of notifications off my phone so they don't come through on my watch as well. But it was just kind of listening to some people recently and, you know, they were feeling guilty because I hadn't hit, you know, their, I think it was their step count. And it was devastating to them that they didn't hit it, you know, and then it was becoming a chore because they felt like they had to go and do that before they do everything else or they had to go for a walk late at night when it's really, really cold here in winter to get those, to get that step count out. So I, you know, as I said, tracking, I track, you know, I do track, I track the financials for my business and I have been changing my lifestyle a little bit so I can hopefully have that better sleep and concentrate better. So like I'm making changes to that, but I don't need to be reminded every day that I still have shit sleep or I still haven't hit those milestones when I know I am making slow incremental improvements, which is going to help me more than me getting the shits and having to go and hit those ten thousand steps or you know eat have twelve hundred calories or whatever it is um I'd rather go okay well I'm going to make more conscious choices around my food today that food didn't quite make me feel good all right there I've had it I've had my beans I've had my chocolate you know and I'm not going to feel guilty over that like you know I enjoyed that type thing um so if Anyone has any feedback, any comments, any tips, if you're feeling the same, I'd absolutely love to hear from you. I just feel that we have so much responsibility and I'm sure males feel it too. I can only about because I'm a female and I'm a mum and a business owner, but you have all these responsibilities and I feel the last thing I need is my phone or my watch yelling at me saying, you need to go and do better because you haven't hit those steps for today when I know that you know I've I've gone for a walk and maybe didn't quite get those ten thousand steps but I've gone for that walk and it feels good or I've sat outside in the sun and I've read so I've done other things other than you know what my phone is yelling at me to to do so um because I think if anything becomes a chore it's it's you're not going to enjoy it you're going to resent it it's probably not going to last and having that break every now and then for me just from my watch um having different boundaries in place so my emails are off my phone I don't have them on there anymore I have uh social media blackout on my phone so I want to hit that um that time uh block per day I don't have access to social media anymore So, you know, it does involve boundaries as well. But I just wanted to let you know that don't feel bad because you may not have reached that step count today or you didn't track your calories or you tracked your calories and you went over what you were meant to and your phone is telling you that, you know, especially my fitness pal, when you put your calories in, it's like you're not going to lose weight, you're going to gain weight if you continue on like this. Like it makes you feel shit and it makes you not want to do that in the first place. So, yeah. Tracking, important. I don't think, you know, unless you have to do it for medical reasons or something like that, I'm obviously not telling you to go against that type of advice. But if it's just trying to do general health or trying to feel better, I don't think you need to have that guilt on you that you haven't done something for that day, those couple of days. I was sick again this week. So I know, like I was sick twice in two weeks. I know that Is my body telling me, all right, I've dropped you on your ass for two days. You keep going, I'm going to drop you on your ass for four days. So I know that I have to slow down. I don't need my watch yelling at me saying, you haven't done your step count when I was pretty well either, you know, in bed or on the lounge in pain. I don't need that reminder, you know, when I'm not feeling well. But it's listening to those signs. as well that if your body is telling you to do something then you know you better listen to it otherwise it's probably you know I'm not going to end well for you but yeah it was just that I I thought this episode was important because I had been thinking about it and I think about it quite often and I often take my watch off so I don't have that responsibility but just having conversations with people recently where they have said the same thing and but they were still doing the thing because they were feeling bad that they didn't do the thing. It was like, okay, so you've had a busy day running after the kids and you've had a busy day at work or, you know, you have been unwell or you have sat in the sun and read your book. Like that is all self-care stuff as well on top of, you know, whatever else that you might be tracking from a health perspective. And I keep using calories and health and steps because that's usually what, you know, my phone is yelling at me. to do and there's probably other things glasses of water like how much water you've drunk that's another one um I know that I drink two glasses sorry I drink usually two liters of water per day I don't track that though um so I know my water intake isn't too bad most of the time um that's probably also a lie I probably don't do it every day every time I'm in the office I definitely do because that's just part of my routine I probably get a little bit slack once I do get home but I know I do still drink water I just don't track that side of So, yeah, just be more kind to yourself. Stop feeling guilty over things that probably, you know, aren't going to matter in five years because you didn't hit your ten thousand steps today. That's not going to matter in five years. And we all know that when you eat better and you move and exercise, then and have that self-care that you do feel better. But just give yourself a break every now and then. So you're not accountable. to your watch or set your goals to something really, really low. Set it to like a thousand steps a day, perhaps. And, you know, then you might be getting those wins and you feel like you can increase that thing, you know, maybe increase it to fifteen hundred or two thousand steps. So, you know, that's a suggestion as well. But yeah, I just thought, you know, we're halfway through the year. Christmas is going to be here before we know it. I don't know how we ever got to July. But we're here in July and I just feel that everybody is kind of getting exhausted already. And, you know, it's school holidays right now. I appreciate not everybody gets that time off, but I feel exhaustion is kicking in already and we still have, you know, five, five and a half months left. until the end of the year. So if you are needing permission to not feel guilty because you haven't hit whatever milestone that your watch has been telling you to do, what your phone is telling you to do, here's your permission to go. If that is all okay, have that time off that you need. Don't feel guilty because all those little small things that you're doing as well will add So, yeah, please reach out if you want to have a chat about that further or you have any questions or feedback. I'd love to hear that. And just remember these episodes are for you. I'm sharing things that people have requested for me to speak about and things that have popped up with clients and whatnot. So if there's any other topics that you want me to discuss, please just reach out and let me know. Otherwise, yeah, enjoy the rest of your day. Please share this with somebody who might be Feeling a little bit guilty for not doing their step count or something for today. Let them know that it's all okay and I will catch you next time. See you.
