Being chased around by your fitness tracker?!

That we are definitively living in a new era of personalised health and medicine is evident from the proliferation of "wearables" on the market and being developed; the most obvious testament to this being the number of people who now carry around a monitoring device in place of their old wristwatch, maybe even replacing an already somewhat passé smartwatch with it. 

The concept of wearing clothes made of materials that can sense and respond to activity, temperature and moisture is no longer new, and specialised materials were credited with the breaking of over 100 world swimming records between 2008 and 2009 alone, for example! But I am referring more specifically to activity trackers, and the role that they are currently playing in our lives, and the potential contribution they make in improving our overall health. 

Now I have been pretty active all my life, and still run on the mountain or around the track (in the stadium that is home to the Montreal Alouettes) four or five times a week, so I don't really need to monitor my activity, right? But it seems that could be wrong! First up, it is pretty true that after a day in the office, then getting home to change and go run, followed by a shower and making dinner, well, it's real easy to spend the remainder of the day pretty immobile in front of the TV and a good documentary.  

That appears to be fairly natural after a day of work and exercise at the end, but a study I heard of actually suggested that sitting is the new smoking, and it was just as dangerous in the physically active as in the proverbial couch potato. The "sitting is the new smoking" idiom was coined by Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic, who also happens to the inventor of the standing desk. He believes that we are "sitting ourselves to death" and that the effects of such behaviour are actually permanent, and cannot be reversed by subsequent return to activity. 

I find that kinda hard to believe, personally, but the message is clear - sitting is a killer - and we need to get off our backsides and move more! There's no clear answer yet, but I would love to know if staying mobile more of the time, even or especially in the absence of vigorous exercise, is actually better for us than working out and then collapsing on the sofa, feeling justified in our end-of-day sloth. If simple movement is king, then can we forgo the torture on the treadmill? 

Even considering all of the above, I wasn't really convinced of the need or use for wearables, and even as typically a quite early adopter, I resisted the urge to have an activity tracker strapped on my arm, 24/7. Apart from anything else, I like to sleep with nothing on (I mean on my wrist, people!), and you can't do that if you want your sleep patterns monitored. If I go in, I go all in, or not at all, I felt. But this was suddenly challenged and changed by a family member who sent me a Fitbit at Christmas, and I had to consider facing my failings on my smartphone, every single day. 

I admit, it took me a few days to charge it up and strap it on, especially with some people stating that it was a prison, and a shamer of the lazy, and was only the beginning of a new form of healthcare mind (and body!) control; a modern day Big Brother that was threatening to take over our very lives, and even predict our deaths. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the naysayers were largely those that hate working out or going to the gym! 

But I went with it, and got used to having my every move, and activity, and heartbeat, and snore, monitored by the deadly device that now watched over me, 24/7. At the end of each day, my smartphone would tell me "It's time to begin winding down for bed", and I would awaken to some gentle pulses on my wrist, and a summary of the activitty of the day before on my screen. Before you even think a clear thought, you get to see how inactive you were yesterday.

Of course, it's a lot of fun on your big days, seeing you did over 12,000 steps and 30 floors of stairs, during almost 90 minutes of activity, and that your resting heart rate is the 50s. However, after a lazy weekend day, seeing the stats that show "You are a sloth, who did almost nothing in the last 24 hours" is well, not quite so much fun! Like everything else in life, I feel that the happy medium is in moderation, and getting the best out of what is supposed to be a fun addition to life, not a prison guard or roving doctor barking at you. 

It can be kind of addictive to see good stats, and then want to reach that level every day (or most days), but how much danger is there in that? If it does make one more active, then fine! The key is not taking it all too seriously, and not letting it rule one's life. "No, I can't go to the movies tonight, because I was in the office all day and had lunch there, so I am only at 1939 steps for today. I need to go walk or run this evening, or else I will have horrible stats first thing in the morning!"

Thus, use the device to encourage one to do more, but not get in the way of or ruin the quality of life. If it assists on obtaining generally improved numbers even five or six days a week, and then a bad day occurs on a Sunday, fair enough! One is still further ahead of the game than without it. In fact, for me personally, the most valuable use of my Fitbit is not truly as an activity tracker, per se, but more as a sedentary time tracker. If I go run or climb some stairs, I know what I did, but it can be much harder to take note of one's sitting time or lazy periods. 

In fact, a study in the UK in 2016 found that out of 82 technologies useful for monitoring activity, only 9 of them actually functioned as sedentary period monitors. This is where there is a gap in the market. In many ways, I don't need my butt kicked for activity inandof itself, but I probably do need it kicked to keep moving and do so more regularly. So I get my Fitbit to buzz my wrist and make sure I do a minimum number of steps per hour, every hour if possible, and that's a definite benefit to me, I feel. 

If sitting is the new smoking, then I need to do less of it! Not least as I never even tried smoking! The future of such devices is clearly in taking more responsibility for one's personal health, and even getting pre-diagnosed with characteristics of a sedentary lifestyle (before disease), as well as the integration of increasing quantities of useful data and analytics being uploadable to one's doctor and healthcare records. It's kind of a scary new world in that regard, but we aren't quite there yet. And I certainly have no intention of inputting my water intake and dietary habits to my Fitbit, that just ain't going to happen!

As invasive as biosensors and wearable technologies threaten to be, if they catch something before it kills one, how evil can they be? More significantly, if they actually provide something that might be missing - a guilty conscience or a kick in the butt or silent encouragement - and get us moving more which ultimately prevents lifestyle-related diseases from taking hold in the first place? Then they could even be a godsend, and something to enjoy rather than dread. Taking more personal responsibility for our health in this new era of personalised medicine just seems to be the appropriate thing to do. 

For this boy? My tracker deets page tells me that even though I have climbed 10 floors and done 2,000 steps, zero real activity has been detected thus far today. Guess who's going running this afternoon? :) 

This Wednesday belongs to the women of the world!

So here we are at March 8th, which of course means the annual celebration of all things female, and given that we here at AmorChem are led by two women, well, I didn't have much choice but to acknowledge the significance of this day. No, my job does not depend on it - I hope! :) 

You know, I am all for the recognition that any gender or minority receives for their contribution to the world, but I can't help but feel that some of it is becoming rather old-fashioned in feel, or may even be outdated in today's world. Yes, I can hear the screaming hordes of abuse coming my way for that suggestion, and okay, I would have to try being a woman for a day (a month, a year?) to truly get it, I guess. But still. 

It just doesn't seem to me in the western world at least, that women are not recognised for their hugely significant place in the world, whether that world is one of being a wife and mother, or working at a place of business, or both. There is no doubt that historically, things were on a much less level playing field than they are today, but do we still actually need to somehow imply that women are so distinct from men, even in 2017?

I imagine that the answer is a resounding "yes" even in spite of women being more prevalent in previously male-only bastions such as the military, the police force or even high-level politics. But for every almost-the-first-female-POTUS-in history, there are presumably millions of others who don't feel they get a fair shake of the tree, just like the outgoing first-black-POTUS-in history did not necessarily change the perception of life as a young black adult in the USA. 

But I am not a fan of the "prize for everyone" philosophy that seems to be rampant in schools today, even in sports competitions, nor am I a fan of rich, famous celebrities being further pampered for their work at huge awards galas, and especially not if they show tantrums at not having won. Don't even mention Kanye West in that regard! Not everyone deserves or needs a prize, and not everyone has to feel they won even if they lose. 

I actually kind of admired the gutsy move by our very own first lady, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, who chose to take an alternative stance on the day by drawing attention to the men and boys in (her) life and co-celebrating them. 

"This week, as we mark International Women’s Day, let’s celebrate the boys and men in our lives who encourage us to be who we truly are, who treat girls & women with respect, and who aren’t afraid to speak up in front of others."

She also encouraged women to take a picture holding the hand of a "male ally" and post it using the hashtag "TomorrowInHand". Rather remarkably,  but totally predictably, this approach drew both appreciation as well as howls of horror from those who chose to see the move as somehow anti-feministic. Comments ranged from "I've never had to have my hand held!"to "Celebrating Women's day by celebrating men?" to "Allies are important but they don't get to be part of our day!", and so on. 

I mean, really? No, I mean, reallyyyyy? Honestly, this type of thing just makes one want to leave social media forever, because the whole shaming-by-social-media thing is completely out of control, even when it comes to someone who clearly has nothing sinister up her sleeve and nothing but the best of intentions. People with simply too much time on their hands choose to troll on social media rather than trying to actually contribute something useful to society, and by so doing often distort the original purpose and meaning to a positive post. 

In some ways, in part because of stupid social media shenanigans such as those outlined (very briefly) above, a negativity begins to permeate what are supposed to be societally positive initiatives. Ms. Trudeau was simply illustrating a point that reflects my overriding feeling on this, which is that it takes two, or all of us, to make the world go round. She has her own version of success in this life, but sees it as an inclusive success, not an exclusive one, and wants to celebrate those who contribute(d) to it. What the hell is so wrong with that?

Maybe the best way around the problem is to cancel the day altogether, or, we have to introduce an International Men's Day! This would be a great idea, if someone else hadn't thought of it first; apparently there is one, and it's on November 19th this year. I had no idea it even existed, which perhaps says a lot. I know I don't feel any need whatsoever for an international day recognising my gender, but that may be because I am a man, right?  Wrong!

I believe in men and women, period. It's how we all ended up here, even if that statement could almost get me in trouble today for its implications. The political correctness pervasive in the media (not just social media) and the endless shaming of those who err (almost exclusively via social media) is rampant, and it's gotten to the point where saying nothing at all is the safest route forward. I personally hate that, and I think it does not bring us forward. 

Lest I am misunderstood, in conclusion, I am all for celebrating the women in our lives, at home, outside, and in the workplace, yet I don't feel (at least in North America) that we need a special day to acknowledge them. Just like I don't need any silly-sounding men's day. I prefer to celebrate women year-round, not just on some artificially created special event day; ditto St. Valentine's day. And if you ask most women, they much prefer year-round appreciation rather than roses and chocolates ordered online at the last minute on Feb. 13th from the office, after hearing someone mention tomorrow's big day!

Next we will be asking for a special day to commemorate just us Irish?! Hmm, I think we already have that one, too, and it's only a week or so away! On that note, I better get back to my desk and focus on the needs of two of the women in my life, before they begin to ask themselves whether they really need any men in the office anymore and label me as superfluous to requirements! Have a great International Women's Day (to all those who do celebrate it) but just remember, tomorrow is as much a day to celebrate women everywhere as is today! 

[Photo courtesy of Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network and the Toronto Sun]