My news feeds having been doing a number on me recently. News feeds. You know, those apps on your phone or news aggregating Web sites that look at your past reading habits and then throw out a bunch of stories in hopes you\u2019ll say, \u201cYes! I\u2019ve always wondered why my dog follows me into the bathroom \u2026 I\u2019ll read that!\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the time these algorithm-based timesavers have me pegged. Offering up the right amount of politics, soccer, the latest news from Star Wars and really strange stories with headlines like, \u201cViral \u2018Goat Monster\u2019 is Actually a Real Goat Breed.\u201d Wo! That\u2019s better than, \u201cBitcoin saved my marriage, but got me broke.\u201d<\/p>\n
But lately, my feeds have taken a turn for, \u201cSay what now?\u201d They have me wondering. Questioning. Worrying. What in the wide world is going on!?!<\/p>\n
Like how I keep getting stories \u2014 sometimes 6-7 a day \u2014 that are a variation of this: \u201cSeven top superfoods to lose stubborn belly fat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Um \u2026 ok. Why exactly, dear algorithm, do you think I need to read so many of these stories? Because the \u201close belly fat\u201d topic is either incredibly trendy right now, or my digital devices are trying to tell me something!
\n<\/p>\n
First off, can belly fat really be \u201cstubborn?\u201d Like it\u2019s holding on for dear life and screaming, \u201cNo! You\u2019ll never take me! I have my rights!\u201d Stubbornness \u2026 not the fact that you eat too many cookies after drinking bacon fat cocktails. <\/p>\n
But what are these news sites implying? Maybe they\u2019re watching me? Judging me? We\u2019re all worried that Siri and Alexa are listening. What if Google is peering at me through my computer? I just read a story that Google always tracks us on our phones, no matter what we do to turn it off. Maybe some bit of computer code is also sizing me up and determining I am not at my optimal size. You were just supposed to search for Star Wars news, not take my body mass index!<\/p>\n
Just in case, I\u2019ve started sitting up at the computer and sucking in my belly to throw it off. Sometimes I do a few fake crunches before I sit down or yell into the other room, \u201cWhat\u2019s that? Why yes, I did just weigh myself. Lost one more pound. Cardio-kickboxing sure is paying off!\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardio-kickboxing!?! I\u2019ve never kicked a box for cardio in my life!<\/p>\n
Other stories have started coming up. \u201cBest body-weight exercises \u2026 to lose stubborn belly fat.\u201d Even, and I kid you not: \u201cThe One Tea You Should Have With Breakfast If You Want To Get Rid Of Belly Fat.\u201d <\/p>\n
TEA?!? The story has a line that reads: \u201cSearching for the perfect tea to boost your metabolism before that plate of eggs? This is the one tea you should have before breakfast if you want to get rid of belly fat.\u201d Or \u2026 maybe you just skip the butter-drowned eggs!<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m getting a complex. I\u2019m expecting any minute to see a headline like this: \u201cCouples counseling for you and your belly fat\u201d or maybe \u201cBitcoin investing to cut down on stubborn belly fat.\u201d Nothing on cutting out bacon fat cocktails or doing actual crunches. So, maybe Google isn\u2019t watching after all. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My news feeds having been doing a number on me recently. News feeds. You know, those apps on your phone or news aggregating Web sites that look at your past reading habits and then throw out a bunch of stories in hopes you\u2019ll say, \u201cYes! I\u2019ve always wondered why my dog follows me into the bathroom \u2026 I\u2019ll read that!\u201d Most of the time these algorithm-based timesavers have me pegged. Offering up the right amount of politics, soccer, the latest news from Star Wars and really strange stories with headlines like, \u201cViral \u2018Goat Monster\u2019 is Actually a Real Goat Breed.\u201d Wo! That\u2019s better than, \u201cBitcoin saved my marriage, but got me broke.\u201d But lately, my feeds have taken a turn for, \u201cSay what now?\u201d They have me wondering. Questioning. Worrying. What in the wide world is going on!?! Like how I keep getting stories \u2014 sometimes 6-7 a day \u2014 that are a variation of this: \u201cSeven top superfoods to lose stubborn belly fat.\u201d Um \u2026 ok. Why exactly, dear algorithm, do you think I need to read so many of these stories? Because the \u201close belly fat\u201d topic is either incredibly trendy right now, or my digital devices are trying to tell me something!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573,557,574],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2018-nutshells","category-getting-old-er-older","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1789,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788\/revisions\/1789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}