social anxiety and fitness: tracking using humans vs. technology
DESCRIPTION
My recipe for overcoming social anxiety? Habituation. Pick a social thing that scares you but that you enjoy doing, and keep doing it over and over again, even if it’s hard at first. You will learn to recognize the patterns of your feelings and begin to be able to insert a rational thought into the emotional loop – “this fear is not real!” – which will lessen the severity of the emotion.TRANSCRIPT
Social Anxiety and FitnessTracking using humans vs technology
Lisette Sutherland
Social Anxiety: how it
developed Grade school: lived on American
AFB, went to German school Moved to US: culturally different than
others Teens: Goth University: Hydrologist Goth Natural personality trait: ENFX (90%
F)
Social Anxiety: How did it
manifest? Low self-esteem Lots of self doubt Highly sensitive (ENFX) Wanted to go out but dreaded it
(ENFX)
Got tired of dreading it and started looking for solutions!
Therapist as
Quantifier/JudgeSocial anxiety is an irrational fear:
wanted a sympathetic/compassionate solution and an objective judge
Criteria: objective/honest judge someone not a part of my life “normal” well-adapted person
Social Anxiety: Habituation
Repeated presentation of a stimulus will cause a decrease in reaction to the stimulus
Social Anxiety: The Plan
HABITUATION
Choose activity I like but dread
Do it over and over again
Report experience
Social Anxiety: The Plan
HABITUATION
Choose activity I like but dreadGoing dancing at clubs
Do it over and over againDeath Guild every Monday
Report experienceWeekly therapy sessions: use objective
human to guide directions
Social Anxiety: Findings
I SHOULD HAVE QUANTIFIED! (how much faster would therapy have been?)
But I can say: Feel better overall Healthy self-esteem/confidence Go out regularly Go out alone without hesitation Armed with coping mechanisms &
knowledge
Social Anxiety: Findings
Reprogramming is possible! Cheer! Habituation is an awesome tool Habituation is totally hard Important to find activity you truly like Over time (~5 years), the feelings
became so familiar. I learned to recognize that they weren’t real. Severity decreased.
The human sympathy from therapist was helpful & motivating
And now... real quantification
How much can I eat and weigh 63kg?
Fitness: Tracking Tools
MyFoodDiary.com◦ Calories
◦ Exercise
◦ Sleep
◦ Body measurements
RunKeeper.com◦ Routes
◦ Exercise types
◦ Times
◦ Trends
Net Calories vs Weight
(MFD)
Exercise (RunKeeper)
SHIN SPLINTS
Fitness: Findings
Food has too many calories!
To weigh 63kg: Eat less and move more
◦ Eat less than 1500 net calories per day
◦ Add walk to end of day of all sitting
◦ No eating after 9pm
◦ Consider ADCR/16-8
Tracking exercise helps motivate me to do more
Tracking calories helps me eat less
I have more self control before 4pm than after
Good reminder: Be careful of meaningless coincidence
Meaningless coincidence
I never cycle on the 11th, 24th, or 29th
Tracking: Human vs
Technology
Accountability partnerships are powerful
Tracking/quantifying is essential Use methods/tools designed to fit your
situation and your style