How I lost 10 lbs. by blocking Facebook.
30 sec. version of this post:
The method I used: I built an Android app that blocked Facebook or any other app on my phone until I walked 5000 steps. The steps were tracked by my phone and/or Fitbit automatically.
The result: I lost 10lbs over 5 months and gained a daily walking habit.
The science behind it: Temptation Bundling, Commitment Devices and Choice Architecture
What does it take to make a habit stick? Do it 21 times? Do it for 30 days in a row? How about just getting started on something new? Where do we find the motivation? And, as if sticking to a new habit weren’t hard enough in and of itself, there are those pesky old habits that keep getting in the way.
I wanted to lose weight. It had been bothering me forever. But every day I would wake up, check my Facebook, and before I knew it, it was time to get to work. Even at work, when I had to force myself to hide my beloved phone into my desk drawer, I’d find plenty of ways to entertain myself by not working on my computer (because, let’s face it, wherever social media is available, we will use it). At lunch, I’d grab my Cup o’ Noodles and lose to my brother in a game of Words With Friends, and after work I’d lie on the couch watching YouTube videos of kittens or pranks (or kitten pranks) until falling asleep with my phone cradled to my chest. There was definitely not time in my life for exercise with this crazy schedule.
The realization that I was checking my Facebook ten times a day got me thinking. What would I do with all that time if I had no phone to mess with?
I like to consider myself a clever guy, not one to be foiled by my own environment. Once I realized where all my time was going, I realized I should make it easier on myself and figure out a way to keep my Facebook habit from interfering with my other goals. With the help of a friend, I developed an app that allowed me to block access to apps on my phone until I had walked 5,000 steps. And to keep me from turning to my computer as a substitute, we also developed a Chrome extension that allowed me to block the URLs until I had gotten all of my steps in for the day.
The app automatically tracks my steps and it works with my Fitbit, so I couldn’t cheat—5,000 steps or no Facebook. Later, I added the ability to block apps until I checked into my gym via GPS.
So what was it like to block my favorite app? I’ll admit that I’m not easily reformed when it comes to Facebook. Getting used to the whole thing was pretty annoying. What does one do upon waking if not roll over and start scrolling through emails and the latest Facebook updates? Would I ever feel joy again without seeing that little red circle with the number of notifications I’d received during the night? Life was bleak at times.
Warning: if you try this method, you will be annoyed at times.
I found that it helped to pretend this was just how Facebook worked now. Their new policy was that I had to walk 5,000 steps to get into their site. Instead of password, they were requiring my steps. And over time, it became easier. It became a habit.
Once it became a habit, I rarely encountered a block because I was reaching my steps goals before I checked my apps.
There are some quantifiable benefits that came from forcing myself to walk or jog before I checked Facebook: over 5 months I lost 10 pounds, dropping from 181 to 171. But there were also some less tangible benefits. I was surprisingly happier, and I felt sort of liberated by taking the time to walk in the morning before I did anything else. Before I saw the news, before I read what stupid thing Beiber did, before I found out what awesome accomplishments my friend had achieved that I hadn’t. Before anything was put upon me, I walked and had time to check in with myself, creating a buffer between me and my daily grind.
I found this method was not just a bad-habit reliever, but a good-habit builder. I got into the habit of walking most places whenever I could. I started hiking and took my first extended hike in my life (4 days) and I traveled to Europe and managed to rack up 25,000 steps/day without much fatigue.
Turns out, walking is what we’re built to do, I’d just never logged off and given myself the opportunity to enjoy it.
The science behind the method
I got my Masters in applied psychology at an expensive Ivy League school and because of that and the $40,000 I spent doing that (mostly the 40k I spent), I am compelled to tell you a bit about the science that inspired this app.
Temptation Bundling: developed by Katherine Milkman, Phd., “ involves coupling instantly gratifying ‘want’ activities with engagement in a ‘should behavior’ that provides long-term benefits but requires the exertion of willpower”. In my case, I coupled the 'desire' to check Facebook with the 'should' of walking.
Premack Principle: a method for behavior change based on pairing two behaviors together (That translates roughly to, “no dessert until you finish your spinach”). With NudgeKick, we are coupling the Facebook app (or any other app) with physical exercise (you can’t have your Facebook until you walk 1,000 steps).
Choice Architecture: Choice Architecture, as described by Cass Sunstein and economist Richard Thaler in their book Nudge, is “the way in which decisions may (and can) be influenced by how the choices are presented”. In the case of Nudge Kick, we are are narrowing the amount of choices you can make our phone or browser in order to make another the choice to exercise more likely.
Hacking Physical Environments: the Blue Zones Project: in their efforts to make city populations healthier, the Blue Zones team discovered that changing the physical environment of the city increased physical activity among the people who lived there. They built paths, wider sidewalks, added lighting to walkways, etc., leading to a healthier, more active population.
Instead of changing the physical environment, this app hacks the virtual environment to encourage movement. In effect, I put 5,000 steps between my Facebook account and me every day, and it worked.
Watch the founder of Blue Zones talk about moving his methods to the virtual world: https://vimeo.com/89053203#at=0
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