OCB: Obsessive Compulsive Benefits

OCD: short for obsessive-compulsive disorder. INFORMAL: having a tendency towards excessive orderliness, perfectionism, and great attention to detail. (Oxford Languages)

OCB: short for obsessive-compulsive benefits. INFORMAL: using orderliness, perfection and attention to detail to improve one’s life. (Blue Skunk blog)

It’s good to keep track of your fitness efforts. But can one go too far? Become obsessive?

For about 30 years, I’ve been going to the local Y and doing weights three times a week. The picture above shows the machines I do and number of reps. Nothing that, so far, has given me a Schwartzenger-like physique. I started doing weights to complement the four mile walks I do on alternate days after reading an article in some health magazine that after age 40 men supposedly lose about 5% of their muscle mass each year. I found that frightening so I joined the Y, got a quick intro to the weight machines, and became compulsive about not just doing the reps, but recording the workouts.

After so many years of doing more or less the same exercises, I don’t really need a written reminder of the machines, the weights or the number of reps I do. But I keep one anyway. See below:

An 8.5x11 self-printed sheet like the one above will last me about 30 weeks. I keep it tucked into the file space provided for Y members to keep such records (along with a couple hidden ball-point pens) and happily carry it with me from machine to machine recording my ”progress.”

This activity makes me wonder if I am not somewhere on the OCD spectrum - obsessively recording data that really doesn’t need to be written down. I just toss these sheets once filled, after all. In saying this, I do not wish to trivialize how impactful OCD can be for many people - it can be serious and debilitating. I’ve known a couple hoarders personally and their compulsions have been detrimental to their happiness, if not their ability to function. 

But might a little OCD actually be OCB - with the B standing for beneficial? Somehow filling out the sheet above when I exercise is motivational. Subliminally, I wonder if an exercise not recorded, really doesn’t count. How would I feel if I saw many days had gone by between workouts? What if my ability to do a certain weight went down? And somehow there is just a comfort in carrying my little sheet of paper and pen with me from machine to machine.

To be honest, I probably have a few other OCD tendencies. I am religious about recording my time and distance on my walks/hikes using MapMyWalk on my phone (and not really happy with myself when I forget to restart the program after a break). I record my bike rides too. Each time I fill my car with gas, I manually calculate my mileage: Number of miles driven/number of gallons used. Yes, my car keeps a running record of mileage, but I still do this each fill. And when I put gas in the car, I always make sure the final cost is a number in which the last number before the decimal point is the same as the last number of the total price: $18.38, $26.96, etc. Bonus points if both sides match ($32.32). I tell myself this is so I know it is me who used my credit card to get gas. But maybe it is just being weird. I like all my shirts facing the same direction when hanging in the closet, with dress shirts grouped with dress shirts, flannel shirts with flannel shirts, etc. I record all my regular expenses each month in a spreadsheet, as well as my income. I track my investments monthly. I believe in the Oxford comma. I shop from a grocery list. I solve the Jumbles in each morning’s newspaper without fail.

I don’t see how any of these quirks degrades my quality of life - or the lives of others. And I like the feelings of orderliness that these routines generate. But it is probably good to recognize that such behaviors may be seen by others as odd.

But I am sticking with them.

Comments

[Pat Hensley]

I feel the same way about data. I keep a daily track of my steps, miles, sugar and food I eat. I logged in my food daily for about 1585 days in a row when I missed a day. I was so upset that I had to start back at day 1 again and I almost gave up. I keep a daily bullet journal where I log in my steps/miles and sugar intake from the day before so that helps me stay on track. When we go on long road trips, I write down all the expenses each day and even categorize them into food, lodging, gas, and other. When I get up, I calculate the total, figure out the daily average, and even make charts. These are helpful when we plan our next trip. I also blog about our trip, the daily mileage, and list where we stayed and what we liked or didn't like. I guess I have OCB too! LOL