The Power of Habit

[Skytoads]

Being the person I am,  I have always viewed habits from my rose-colored glasses. A few short months ago I felt unstoppable. I was the healthiest I have ever been physically, spiritually and emotionally. I was waking up at 4:30am to work out every morning and eating clean throughout the day. All of this changed when I changed one thing in my life which spiraled into a whole entourage of bad habits.

 

I decided to buy an Xbox One and I purchased Halo. I played throughout grade school, high school, and college and finally gave up video games for good, or so I thought. When I purchased Halo I started getting closer with my best friend again through Matchmaking and one thing led to another. I was convinced I was older now and I could limit myself to a few hours a week but by the end of the first week I knew that this was going to be a big problem. The hours consumed by the game wasn't even the biggest problem it was the downward spiral it has caused. I started drinking soda again after cutting it out cold turkey for over 3 years and again my self imposed limit of a few a week has turned into a few a day. The time I took the make chicken or ground beef for the week has turned into Halo time and now I resorted back to eating peanut butter sandwiches and cinnamon toast crunch. 

 

At the end of each night I reflect back on the day and admit to myself that I need to cut out the soda and limit the time I play halo. I decide to make changes every night but by the morning I am heading to work where I have a diet coke or two and when I get back I feel tired so I lay on the couch and with the controller just conveniently lying beside me I decide to play a few games which turns into a night full of Halo until I rinse and repeat the next day. 

 

I feel like my old habits have taken a hold of me. I want to still be able to play Halo with my best friend without it consuming but a few hours each week. I want to be able to have a diet coke, without feeling guilty or wondering when I will have my next one. I want to be able to eat healthy on weekdays and let my weekends be cheat days. I want to deal with all of these problems responsibly. I need to respawn. 

[Ocelot]

I probably can't help that much because although I love games and will play obsessively from time to time, I always get tired of the game after a week or two and feel no need to go back to it.

 

I think you need to talk to your friend. Just say "I can't play except Thursday evenings" or whenever. You don't have to explain but if you feel the need, how about "I have a big project I have to work on" or "I'm doing a course" (you are - in Nerd Fitnessing!) or if you don't mind a white lie situation you could try "I get migraines/tunnel vision/carpal tunnel/terrible nightmares if I do more than one evening/a few hours a week". (Don't do the last one - I'm a sneaky assassin, don't listen to everything I say!)

 

If that doesn't work, you may have to consider selling your Xbox and getting a new hobby that won't get you so badly hooked.

[Noname123]

I play WoW. A LOT. (I raid twice a week, always do my dailies across two characters and use it to catch up with friends who live states or countries away and run heroics pretty regularly) But I only play it after I get my workouts done for the day, have my work done and food prepped. Keep a waterbottle close by and try to keep soda out of your house entirely. If you don't have it in the house and you're about to game, I doubt you'll put your gaming session on hold to run to the store to get it. It's up to you to make health a priority but it is totally possible to be healthy and an active gamer if that's what you're looking for. 

[Robpocalypse]

My brother and I are both older gamers and what we have done is set aside one night a week as game night. This allows me to plan workouts around game night and not feel guilty when I binge game one night a week. The other nights I dont even turn the xbox on, it does get too easy to get wrapped up and realize you have burned several hours away.

It's easier said than done, I realize, but setting limitations on gaming not only serves as good practice for health regimes you might want to follow through on.