MM2S028: Season 2, Episode 12
By: Ken Boone Resolution #6: Reduce cable news viewing. Let's see how I'm doing with that. But in the meantime, here's an update on some of my other New Year's Resolutions:
There are still some things that I haven’t accomplished yet. But that’s cool. I just haven’t gotten to them yet. Not procrastinating. They’re just things I planned on doing in the Spring, the Summer, and beyond. As I stated at the top, I’d like to update you on the sixth item on my list: Lay off the cable news merry-go-round. They are not reality TV shows, and to tell the truth, I'm no longer interested the hosts' opinions or any other part of their shtick! Just give me the who, what, when, where, and how! Before I took the steps to curtail this bad habit, I needed some empirical data to support my decision. I first looked at what experts say is an appropriate amount on daily television consumption, of any kind! How much TV is too much for adults? Doctors and researchers have come up with slightly different answers, but the general rule is that anything more than 3½ hours of television each day can be excessive. Source latimes.com Among the health risks experts worry about are:
Then I drilled down to determine at the effects of watching cable news, especially for someone in my age group: Effects of Cable News Watching on Older Adults' Physiological and Self-Reported Stress and Cognitive Function. Older adults are the largest consumer of cable news, which includes negative and politicized content and may constitute a daily stressor. As older adults are also vulnerable to the negative consequences of stress, we hypothesized that cable news watching could induce a stress reaction and impair cognitive function. We tested exposures to cable news (i.e., Fox News and MSNBC) in a within-subject randomized controlled design in 34 healthy older adults. We also included negative (Public Broadcasting Station) and positive (trier social stress test) controls. Cable news watching had no effect on psychological stress, physiological stress, or cognitive function. This remained true even if the news exposures were discordant with participants' political affiliation. We conclude that brief cable news watching does not induce a physiological or subjective stress response or cognitive impairment among healthy older adults. Source: everydayhealth.com Because I’m a self-admitting TV addict, I needed something to fill in the blanks”. I figured that watching sports would be both fun and safe. And since there are professional teams based out of Charlotte in both basketball and football, I could root for the home teams. Big mistake, based on the scientific data I uncovered! Is Watching Sports Bad for Your Health? Previous studies have linked watching sporting events to an increased risk of heart attack and sudden death among spectators, especially for people with existing coronary artery disease. ... They found that TV viewers' heart rates increased by an average of 75%, and game attendees' heart rates increased by 110%. Source: National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine Feel ‘Addicted’ to TV? Here’s What to Look For (and What to Do). How to rein in your viewing
Bottom line is that if done in moderation, the effects should not be harmful! I made a hypothesis that being glued to a certain cable news network was bad for my health. That’s a big reason why cutting back on watching that network made it to my long list of New Year’s Resolutions. I thought that transferring my viewing hours from news to sports would fill the void and lower the blood pressure. I found out that watching cable news in small doses wasn’t going to induce stress and mess with my cognitive functions. On the other hand, consuming heavy doses of sports on TV will raise my stress level. I also learned that the exercise regimen I’m under is not an adequate offset. Doing all the things on my resolution list will go a long way for me to reach balance in my life. Now I know why my list is so long! But the main takeaway from all of this is that while I should do all of this, I should do all of this in moderation. I know that sounds like a cliche’, but cliches’ have their basis in fact. I’ll see you next time. Take care! Today's Quote “Moderation in all things. And even moderation in moderation. Don't get too much moderation, you know.” Maya Angelou – American Author, and Social Commentator
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MM2S027: Season 2, Episode 11
By: Ken Boone As I said in the past two episodes, my list of New Year's Resolutions ended up being 15 items long! I've never had a list this long, and I'm sure if no sane person would come up with one this long, much less intend to keep most of them! Most of the items are things I've already started and wish to keep them going. That brings me to the main question: why do I have a hard time maintaining momentum? Why do I find it difficult to see things through? The two reasons are:
“Discretion is the better part of valor”. Who said that? Until we figure that out, let's take a quick peek at my resolution list to see how I'm doing so far: Resolution #1: Post my plans on my dry erase board. That allows me to visualize my goals. It'll serve as my low-tech, non-artistic vision board. Resolution #2: I've hit the fitness center at least twice per week. Getting up and out the house is getting easier. And I haven't gotten pedaling yet! Resolution #9: I'm banging on the drums at least 4 times per week. Through patience and persistence, the beatings are starting to sound like a beat. I've still got a long way to go before I'm ready to play publicly, but I'm having a lot of fun! Resolution #10: I'm still playing along with my favorite tunes on the guitar. I sound like crap, but I'm marching on. I'm eager to see how much better I'll be in the next few months. All that is fine and good, but the question that bears repeating is: “Why is my list so long? Why do these simple feats warrant inclusion on a list of New Year's Resolutions? These activities should be second nature by now. For me the answer is simple. For the most part:
In the best case, saying “yes” when I should have said “no” seemed to send me down the wrong path. In the worst case, the wrong response would totally derail me. I would constantly find myself working against my own self-interest. I'm not using this platform to go around assigning blame. No one put a gun to my head. I could have just said no and dealt with the consequences. The choice was always mine. There are 15 items on my resolution to-do list. So far, I'm sticking with the ones I've already started. Can I stay on track? Again, only time will tell. We have a lot of demands placed on our time, talent, and resources. We can't say yes to every request, proposal, or demand. Doing that will guaranty failure. One way that I can increase my odds of success is to be honest with myself and others and be prepared to give the correct response. And sometimes the best response is to just say NO! Today's Quote “Saying 'No' does not always show a lack of generosity and that saying “Yes' is not always a virtue.” Paulo Coelho – Brazilian Author, Musician and Lyricist |
About the HostKenneth E. Boone, Sr. is a writer, podcaster, music lover, sports enthusiast, and retired accountant. Archives
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