A friend just turned me on to a great article on tracking self-generated data in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, "The Data Driven Life" (April 26, 2010) by Gary Wolf.
One man describes tracking his alcohol consumption at Drinkingdiary.com to see if he was bingeing, healthy or unhealthy in his drinking. I'm always on the lookout for good Internet tools to help folks better understand themselves. Drinkingdiary.com is a real find.
The site provides a free, anonymous and easy-to-use way to get a true measure (no pun intended) of how many units of alcohol you drink daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. The site includes a demo drinking diary (so you can see how the data is charted and presented) and is color coded to indicate whether your drinking is within recommended guidelines and, if not, how far afield you've gone.
The measurements are done in units of alcohol. Figuring out a "unit" is just basic math. Multiply the amount drunk (it's done in milliliters (ml.) but you can use a conversion app or assume 1 oz. translates to 29.5 ml) by the ABV (alcohol by volume) number on the bottle and divide by 1000.
Here's an example: 12 oz. can of Bud Light
Convert to ml: 12 oz. x 29.5 equals 354 ml.
Look at can for the ABV (check realbeer.com for a complete list of each brand's ABV): 4.2%
Multiply ABV by ml. and then divide by 1000 : 4.2 x 354/1000 equals 1.49 units
Let's say you have 3 cans of Bud Light during a game, watching T.V. or hanging out with friends. Surprise! You're up to 4.5 units and have blown by Great Britain's generous daily health guidelines for men (For men it's under 4 for women it's 3 and under).
So, whether you're trying to lose a little weight by watching those empty carbs or just interested in how much "liquid courage" is part of your life, check out Drinkingdiary.com
"Knowledge is power"--Francis Bacon (1597)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Psychotherapy .....A Good Buy?
Just off the academic presses, two British researchers--Chris Boyce of University of Warwick and Alex Wood of University of Manchester--have shown that the psychological well-being gained from a 4 month course of psychotherapy is worth far more--32 times more!-- than the money used to fund it!
Looking at large data samples collected in the areas of economics, law, social policy and health, Boyce and Wood sorted out the "cost" of psychological distress from various life events (e.g. unemployment, personal loss and injury) and good mental health outcomes in psychotherapy. When the cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy was compared with direct financial compensation, they determined it would take a one-time pay raise of $41,000 to get the same well-being boost achieved from a $1300 course of psychological treatment.
You can check it out yourself at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/earlycareer/2009-10/psrfbb/boycewood_hep_website_copy.pdf
(Not too technical at all and very jargon-free!)
....Or listen to Boyce's lively, easy-going radio interview (only 20 minutes) about this work and its eye-opening implications at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oljsoor8QDE
Take care, everyone!
Looking at large data samples collected in the areas of economics, law, social policy and health, Boyce and Wood sorted out the "cost" of psychological distress from various life events (e.g. unemployment, personal loss and injury) and good mental health outcomes in psychotherapy. When the cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy was compared with direct financial compensation, they determined it would take a one-time pay raise of $41,000 to get the same well-being boost achieved from a $1300 course of psychological treatment.
You can check it out yourself at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/earlycareer/2009-10/psrfbb/boycewood_hep_website_copy.pdf
(Not too technical at all and very jargon-free!)
....Or listen to Boyce's lively, easy-going radio interview (only 20 minutes) about this work and its eye-opening implications at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oljsoor8QDE
Take care, everyone!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Learning to Love (Or Coexist With) Imperfection
"Errors admit fresh air."
In his slim, but fully informed book, Mind Over Water (1999), Craig Lambert grabbed my attention with this statement. So many of us get stuck, truly stuck, on the idea of perfection and become too afraid of errors. Lambert states, "Errors ought to fascinate us. But to receive their message, we must be concentrated on our task, rather than on ourselves." (pg. 88)
Self-awareness can be a real boon. But, when we focus too deeply or hypercritically on how our actions reflect on us, it stymies our true living. We freeze in place, caught in fear of making mistakes.
Lambert goes on, "Most real learning comes from trial and error; therefore the essential thing is a plethora of trials......Failures are road signs--NOT THIS WAY--marking the route to success."(pg. 88)
It takes courage and patience to ignore the negative internal chatter that keeps us from valuing our attempts, whatever the outcome.
Here's wishing us all a bit of both.
In his slim, but fully informed book, Mind Over Water (1999), Craig Lambert grabbed my attention with this statement. So many of us get stuck, truly stuck, on the idea of perfection and become too afraid of errors. Lambert states, "Errors ought to fascinate us. But to receive their message, we must be concentrated on our task, rather than on ourselves." (pg. 88)
Self-awareness can be a real boon. But, when we focus too deeply or hypercritically on how our actions reflect on us, it stymies our true living. We freeze in place, caught in fear of making mistakes.
Lambert goes on, "Most real learning comes from trial and error; therefore the essential thing is a plethora of trials......Failures are road signs--NOT THIS WAY--marking the route to success."(pg. 88)
It takes courage and patience to ignore the negative internal chatter that keeps us from valuing our attempts, whatever the outcome.
Here's wishing us all a bit of both.
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