I’m not a big fan of television. That’s not because I don’t like it. Rather, I like it too much and end up watching more than I want. I’m a lousy moderate about shows I like. With Netflix I try to watch while riding my bike on the trainer but sometimes I sit and watch. See past musings on my failure as a moderate, Moderation Versus All or Nothing.
I’ve been thinking about it lately because I got a FitBit and it’s solved a problem for me, answered an old question I’ve had about TV. I’ve long known that studies show that television watching significantly lowers your metabolic rate. It’s like all the downside of sleep with none of the health restoring, restful benefits.
But I confess I’ve been skeptical. Surely I don’t sit perfectly still while watching. After all, I’m a fidgeter. I stretch. I pet the dog.
Nope. Turns out that I don’t move much at all while watching. I noticed because my FitBit was reporting evening naps! Turns out that they aren’t naps at all but episodes of 3%. Such a good show. You should watch it! But maybe while riding your bike.
And the thing is the FitBit is pretty good at distinguishing sleep from other things one might do in bed, like reading. It never counts reading as sleep. Television is different somehow.
I’ve blogged about other fave shows, like BoJack Horseman. And somewhere in the archives there’s a post about Once Upon a Time. Anyway, I’ll keep watching but I’ll either do physio while watching Netflix or ride my bike on the trainer.
How about you? Where and when do you watch your favourite shows? What do you make of the TV/health connection?
Here’s more:
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Every hour of TV watching shortens life by 22 minutes – Telegraph
- 9 Ways Watching TV Is Bad For Your Health |
