Wouldn’t that be awesome? Instead, doing what’s right for your body takes motivation and effort. If you prefer to live a moderate to largely unhealthy lifestyle, like I do, then keep reading. I don’t always eat the right foods, I definitely don’t get enough sleep, and I really haven’t exercised for longer then I would like to admit. Sound familiar? If left to my own devices, it’s just too easy to make the wrong choices when it comes to my health for me to help myself. Which is why I want to further explore the concept of Social Health, by looking at a Ning community started by Jason Falls , called Twit2Fit.
The idea is that going it alone in a quest to live a healthy lifestyle, is tough. We have support mechanisms throughout childhood in the form of family and friends. These people help us steer through our discovery of ourselves and our worlds.
My argument is that similar support mechanisms are needed well into adulthood. For example, my wife helps me with my suit, shirt, tie color combos every night as I get ready for the next work day, for which I am very grateful. In turn, I help my wife rediscover the joy of laughter when I come up suit, shirt, tie color combinations on my own in an attempt to show initiative.
We all need help in our everyday lives, so it stands to reason that we also need help when it comes to our well being.
Enter Twit2Fit. This small, but mighty community of people using social technologies to lean on each other in order to complete their health related goals. It’s the ask the audience and phone a friend concept that made Who Wants to be a Millionaire so exciting to watch. If I’m feeling weak, I can receive crowd-sourced support from a fellow community member in my time of need.
I love the concept.
What’s extra great is that the community exists on two different platforms. There is the Ning twit2fit platform, where you can post photos and videos, share stories, and ask and answer questions; and there is twitter where you can get instant feedback from your fellow twit2fitters who follow you, when you need a quick support boost to keep away from that second jelly donut or to egg you on when you think its too cold outside to go for a walk. There is also the potential to meet up with your new found friends, to do fun things together, as there are 12 different groups based around geographic location. I think its great, and if you’re interested you can read the back story behind why Jason created this community here.
I really believe that there is some connection between being social and being healthy, and have joined the twit2fit community to explore this theory in greater detail. In the meantime, I’d love to read your thoughts on the social health mash-up. Do you think that online friends, strangers, and strangers who become friends can have a positive impact on your behavior?
Why or why not?
Photo by: kI.fitness
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