I’ve had to make deals with myself–walk first, read a “real” book for an hour, eat a “real” breakfast, then I can get on the computer. If I hit the computer first, the day just melts away. I can’t eat and work on the computer very well, and a very nasty coffee spill on the keyboard years ago taught me to keep my coffee cup far away. So for me, computer time doesn’t drive me to snacks as much as it consumes a disproportionate amount of my time.

To balance my life and enjoy the real world away from the computer I joined a small theater lovers group. We go to productions almost every week. We have dinner, conversation and enjoy a play or musical. I must admit, however, I learned about this group on the computer.

I also like to have dinner parties, etc. We had a great party last night even though I confess that I was tempted to pull out my laptop to show pictures. My daughter reminded me “Let’s be here now.” So I resisted that urge.

We’re not going to toss out our computers any time soon, but it seems balancing online activities with real-life relationships (even if it’s just communing with nature daily) will help us avoid the fate of Rippled Butt Man.

My office computer is on the first floor, so I’m constantly moving between office and recording studio all day. Good exercise. And I never eat snacks or food when I’m at the computer.

I’ll second what others said about how great a treadmill desk is. With my treadmill, all I had to add was a finished shelf from Lowe’s; the height was just fine as is.

Also, my guess is that there are other variables that need to be factored into our understanding of the study:
- Where are you working? Is it at a company that provides free soda pop? What about free food? I’ll bet that every time a new person walks in the door who was not working at a free soda/free food place, they gain 10 lbs in the first year. 1 extra can of soda per day per year = 10 lbs (unless you work out more).
- Are the people in question snacking on high-carb, high-glycemic foods (yes, carrots are included in this category)? What about those who eat other types of snacks?
- What about people who snack + workout? Changes there?

I wanna see the study. Link? Source material?

Funny. Though I worry about not moving enough when I have weeks where I’m more tied to the screen, I never worry about my eating habits. I’m totally paranoid about crumbs on the keyboards, so I don’t ever eat in front of the computer. At home, the rule is eat at the dining table only. One of the first rules I made in my own house, because I came from a family of eat-all-day-and-don’t-realize-it people. So my daughter, thankfully, has no thought of eating in front of the computer at home, either.

That was a real surprise that others are getting fat that way.

Oh, and “funny,” funny, too. Well-written as always.

Regards,

Kelly

One, the person in the studies was not me, I am the guy who actually eats carrots, while computing on a treadmill desk. So, I am not blaming technology for “my” unhealthy habits, but rather reporting on a growing trend.

Two, while my volume of e-mail and twitter might seem “excessive” for someone who is not professionally online, it’s actually quite light for someone who is a “web-worker.” While I certainly earn a chunk of my living offline, my online activities are a critical element of my living.

@ Jared – great point about twitter being a mobile technology. I haven’t gone there yet, still tweet from my seat.

@ Tim – dude, the comments actually continued past yours, the streak has ended.

@ @ Michelle – can you believe it, life before twitter. We all actually had one!