Working in the field of health and wellness can be surrealistic at times these days. By that I mean we get caught up in a wave, which takes over the field. Much like diverse periods of painting, from the impressionists to the surrealists.
Various “periods” we’ve had in wellness are:
- HRA period
- BMI period
- ROI period
- Incentive period
- Outcomes based period
- And witness now the tracking period!
A good example of the craziness in the tracking period is the recent IPO of Fit Bit. The wearables are the rage, or so “they” say. It’s all in the tracking. Here are just a few items wellness leaders suggest you track.
- Calories
- Number of steps walked
- Fat content of food
- Minutes slept
- Daily weight
- Blood pressure
- Cholesterol levels
- Exercise minutes
- Screen & television time
Whew, don’t know about you but that’s an exhausting list. Wonder how much time it takes just to track all that stuff? How many more minutes will you spend on an electronic device in order to compile the list?
But the real question is “Are we any healthier?”
One example
Having had a long career as a professional dancer I like to draw similarities from the field because of my first hand experience. Dance demands that the body be ready, day in and day out for the stage. One must take class and rehearse daily in order to keep the machine in working order.
One learns to instinctively listen and pay attention to the body. The minute that disciplined nature of listening wavers things start to go awry. For example, not paying heed to nagging aches and pains or being careless with one’s energy sources. Both of those lapses can ultimately lead to injury and possibly loss of work.
So dance teachers and coaches if good in their field help dancers develop skills that enable them to listen acutely to their body and take action when needed. Simply said you learn self-sufficiency tools for proper body maintenance.
What does this have to do with tracking?
My feeling is that this push to track everything hinders the ability of individuals to pay attention to their own body. Lifestyle to me equals something to be able to utilize over the life span. Do we really want individuals to count steps or calories for the rest of their lives? Seriously?
Think about it, would a dancer count how many pliés he or she does during a performing year? How many minutes of exercise? Better yet if they did would it make them a better dancer?
What if an individual is feeling tired and exhausted and at the same time feels pressured at work to lose a few pounds? They have been tracking calories and steps religiously but not much has changed. Pressure continues to mount and elements of depression or self-doubt creep in.
How could this have been different? If our wellness focus had been on building skills to combat exhaustion for example, tools like developing a meditation practice, taking more breaks and getting adequate sunshine, we might be supporting an individual in need of energy.
In my opinion it comes down to a question of quality vs. quantity. For instance let’s teach companies and individuals tools and skills that enhance the enjoyment of lifestyle endeavors, thus the quality of life. This wavers from the quantity of minutes, calories or other number crunching event.
Another example of the quality side is promoting real food and real meals as a pleasurable experience. We can assist individuals in building skills and tools that enrich their cooking and shopping knowledge to boost quality meals. This supports a more positive lifestyle around nutrition.
This differs from tracking food or a counting one singular nutritional component and in my opinion takes the shared fun or pleasure away from the experience. Our goal should be ultimately to augment both the individual’s and the company’s quality of life, wellbeing. We are a whole body not just one singular number.
“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.”
Salvador Dali
