I became addicted. Hopelessly addicted. The more I succeeded, the more I wanted. The streak went 100 days, then 200.

Neil Breen with his dog, Katy. “While I already did a lot of walking, I had never before counted steps.”Credit:

Then it was a year, a year and a half … two years. I was heading full-steam towards a three-year streak of 10,000-step days when a routine surgery did me in. As much as I tried, I failed to walk 10,000 steps. Not just one day but four days in a row.

After 931 days the streak was gone. To be honest, I wasn’t unhappy about it, as it had become an obsession: one I knew I had to break. But my health app – Pacer – refused to give up. As part of the streak set-up you’re allowed a “rest day” every week, which was pretty generous, I thought. I used that a few times but very seldom.

Two days’ rest in a week and the streak would be over. That kept me on track many times. But post-surgery and after the second rest day, suddenly Pacer allowed me to activate a “bonus” I had earned to keep the streak alive.

A “bonus”? This is new. I thought, like many addicts, “OK, the use of one bonus won’t........

© The Sydney Morning Herald