Take a lap

Rebooting is a biweekly newsletter about how we can use technology to take better care of ourselves.

Every relationship has its first lie. Sometimes it’s about how uneventful your social life actually is, sometimes it’s that your dog is totally housebroken, and sometimes it’s about a pint of ice cream.

Early on in a past relationship, my partner and I decided to have a night in binging a new show. On our way to my apartment, we picked up a pint of Ben and Jerry’s to chow down on, but only made it halfway through by the end of the night. I tucked it away in the freezer and promised I’d hang onto it until the next time we saw each other. At the time, I had every intention of keeping that promise. 

The night before we saw each other next, she texted me to say “you better not have finished that ice cream!” As easy as it would’ve been to admit that it had barely lasted the week, I put on my liar’s hat and said I had kept my promise, then rushed to the store to grab the last pint of Half Baked off the shelf and chipped away at it until I reached the halfway point. I came clean about thirty minutes into our date.

Sure, it makes for a funny story about the unreasonable lengths I’ll go to just to maintain appearances, but those moments also carry a tremendous amount of discomfort for me. Every time I indulge a bit with a pint of ice cream or a Crunchwrap Supreme (I know I know!), I run the risk of being pulled back into obsessing over every calorie I take in and every calorie I burn, checking MyFitnessPal every hour just to make sure I’m on track to lose the 60 lbs I set out to. 

Still, I like to stay relatively healthy and in shape, and that’s tough for me to do without having a set of tools to keep me on track and hold me accountable without making me obsessive. Finding a sustainable balance between proactively tracking my progress and ruminating over every meal and workout in order to reach an unrealistic number on the scale is tricky, but with the right apps and a slight tweak in my mindset, I think I’ve found it. 

One more rep: Most of my fitness-related stuff happens at the gym. I’m on a four-day lifting program, and have a fifth day scheduled for cardio that, if I stop kidding myself, I’ve probably done twice. I’m training to eventually enter a powerlifting competition next year, so I need to make sure I’m getting stronger and sticking to my schedule. There’s plenty of lifting apps to pick from—and most of them are great!—but Strong is my favorite thanks to its pleasant interface, ease of use, and a super tiny detail that keeps me motivated during my workouts: Instead of a loud buzz or an alarming screech, Strong lets you know it’s time for your next set with a boxing bell notification, which makes me feel like Rocky stepping back into the ring. Sure, he lost, but the movie’s still about him. 

Go at your own pace: I’ll never be a competitive cyclist, but I love waking up early and riding my bike along the beach before work. It’s a nice way to ease into the day with a clear head, and you can’t beat the view. While using Strava to flex on all your friends every time you run 10 miles in under seven minutes is generally frowned upon, it’s nice to follow my friends and see them out there killin’ it. You can even join groups of fellow runners and cyclists if you’re itching for a sense of community. Just don’t get too weighed down in the numbers and metrics. You’re out there doing things, and that’s plenty.

Stay on track: Calorie tracking can easily turn into an obsession over every meal and macro, which ends up being more exhausting—and potentially dangerous—than useful for me. However, one of the medications I have to take during the week absolutely kills my appetite, and if I’m not careful, I’ll get into bed realizing I haven’t had a meal all day. To make sure I hit my daily calorie minimum on those days, I use Calory. It’s not intrusive, and it’s pretty to look at, so even though the act itself is a bummer, at least my eyes are happy. Plus, I don’t use it on the weekends, so I don’t spend seven days a week obsessing and it’ll never know about the 10 mimosas I had on Sunday.

In the News

How Pinterest Built One of Silicon Valley’s Most Successful Algorithms (OneZero): I’ve long believed that Pinterest is the best social network, and you should really give it a try if you haven’t. You might not get a ton of likes for a funny joke, and you won’t find many interesting articles to read, but it’s wildly good at showing you exactly what you want, even if you didn’t know you wanted it. I’ve been using it as a guide as I redecorate my apartment and find ways to make it feel like home, and it’s been one of the best tools in making sure nothing clashes or looks out of place. Every time I open the app I see another thing I want to add to my room. That wouldn’t be possible without Pinterest’s algorithm, which manages to show you fresh stuff every day while lining up pretty well with your interests. This is a great look into how Pinterest has made that possible, and how they’re working to make it better as more challenges arise.

Something Nice

Untitled Goose Game: I know you’ve probably heard of it by now, and it’s probably weird saying this in a newsletter about being kind to yourself, but catharsis is a form of self-care and this game has it aplenty. The entire point of the game is to run around, as a goose, and just be an asshole to people. Whether you’re mad at your ex for never sending your shirt back, grumpy that your neighbors won’t stop slamming their doors, or just need to lash out after a rough day at work, you’ll feel better as you’re hiding a man’s shoes from him while he sips his morning tea. But my pup doesn’t seem to like it too much.

As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or just want to say hello, feel free to drop me a line on Twitter.

My thanks to Medea Giordano for editing this issue.