Bribing Myself to Lose Weight: Small Incremental Rewards or Bigger Overall Reward

[MattTuck]

Hoping you guys can help me out. I need to lose weight over the winter and I'm trying to come up with a system to bribe myself thin. Do you think it is better to reward incremental progress, say, a small reward for every 2 pounds, with bigger rewards for 5 or 10 pound increments? Or is there more value in adding up all the little stuff, and just holding it in reserve for when you hit the overall goal? I need to drop about 20.

Total amount I'm willing to contribute is about $200, so figure about $10 per pound.

Looking for ideas for ideas of product also. Things like handlebar wrap, Silca or Lezyne CO2 inflators, multitool, new tires, dura-ace skewers, lights and/or blinkie, new cycling cap, neck warmer, etc.

[Bwana]

I would say larger increments. Measuring one or two pounds can change day to day no matter what kind of workouts you're doing. I think five is a good number. That way if you hit a wall or something, you're not holding on to your "big reward" for a week or two.

Your reward will have to be new clothes, better save the money for that. :p

[smontanaro]

Hmm... Out of the right pocket, into the left? I don't think it would work for me.

I think it might be more effective to consider where the calories are coming from and going to (or not). Once you know that, you can tweak your eating and exercise habits to improve things on both sides of the balance sheet. That worked pretty well for me through the spring and summer. I dropped ten pounds and an inch or two around my waist. Some of that went out the window recently, as I crashed my bike and started a new job where they feed me breakfast and lunch. [emoji1] Lack of exercise and ever-present food isn't a good combination...

The weight reduction might be reward enough.

[christian]

Apple for breakfast. Oatmeal for lunch. Not instant oatmeal which has a high GI. Sensible dinner. Run and bike. Eat a reward banana for every hour you bike. Oh yeah, frequent rewards. In the form of a banana

[ojingoh]

Best reward is the biggest reward. Game design (I know you didn't ask for gamification, but still) suggests that larger rewards feel better and engage the pleasure center, triggering feelings you're trying for here.

If it were my game, I'd add extra motivation, a random one - so for instance you ride your bike 20 miles, some days you get n reward (maybe even no reward,) but some days you get 5n reward for the same ride. You do not know which reward you're getting. This is by far the most motivating reward game, and the reason that people play lotteries, video games and go fishing.

Another game to think about is the somebody else benefits game. In this game, if you succeed, you get to give something meaningful to someone else. You will get more motivation from that than you do if you reward yourself. This adds a social dynamic, and in turn other people will participate and benefit from your success.

[OtayBW]

It's simple: have your wife withhold sex until 5 lb wt loss increments are reached. Motivation and reward right there in one tidy bundle!....

[Dead Man]

I like your thinking on this. I'm currently gaining weight, and especially so now that I've kinda quit drinking. Being a pleasure seeking escapist, I tend to replace one form of gratification for another, and I've been eating Halloween candy like its gonna get stolen by a fat kid (which I am rapidly becoming) instead of drinking.

For myself, a weight reduction reward system that includes alcohol would be double awesome - lose 2lbs in a week, reward myself with booze on the weekend? F yea. I get to lose weight, be glad to do it, have a light at the end of the dark tunnel that is the new week, AND have a controlled way to indulge in my favorite indulgence.

[Luwabra]

It's simple: have your wife withhold sex until 5 lb wt loss increments are reached. Motivation and reward right there in one tidy bundle!....

My wife would start cooking up a storm. It's already rough let alone giving her incentive :)

[hockeybike]

Buy smaller pants, look at self with muffin top, internalize that muffin tops got you to muffin top shape. Throw out old pants, get to point where muffin top is pastry rather than self.

[seric]

I'm someone who had to lose around 80lbs at one point to be where I'm comfortable, and is now about 15 lbs heavier than I like being at my current strength level. I prefer to reward myself for large rewards. Reminding myself that nothing tastes as good as weighing less helps a lot as well.

I do weigh myself every morning while trying to lose. The daily numbers don't mean much, and taken alone can cause a lot of misdirection. However, by graphing them useful patterns can come to light. And this would also give you the ability to set a period of time that a reward goal needs to stay in place before qualifying.

[OtayBW]

My wife would start cooking up a storm. It's already rough let alone giving her incentive :)
I didn't think of that!....:confused:

[crownjewelwl]

That's not gonna work...tell someone you will pay them $200 if you don't lose the weight by the end of the winter...and don't eat sugar

[adub]

Always be hungry till April and you'll win your bet.

[laupsi]

Apple for breakfast. Oatmeal for lunch. Not instant oatmeal which has a high GI. Sensible dinner. Run and bike. Eat a reward banana for every hour you bike. Oh yeah, frequent rewards. In the form of a banana

grow old and die. C'mon, how about a little bit of living while alive? One doesn't have to be so austere to participate in "clean and healthy living".

[christian]

He didn't ask to participate in clean and healthy living. He asked how to lose weight. That approach works well.

[cat6]

Make a bet against the Paceline forum and let members bet against you in whatever increments they like, not to exceed $200 total. You need to be at your goal by Spring or you lose.

Or collect your $200 and if you don't reach your end goal by March you donate the $200 here.

That's better motivation IMO.

[Louis]

Make a bet against the Paceline forum and let members bet against you in whatever increments they like, not to exceed $200 total. You need to be at your goal by Spring or you lose.

Or collect your $200 and if you don't reach your end goal by March you donate the $200 here.

That's better motivation IMO.

In a related method - have a competition with someone at work.

Each person establishes multiple goals over, say, a 4 month period, and you both track your progress against your own goals.

[MattTuck]

Eat a reward banana for every hour you bike. Oh yeah, frequent rewards. In the form of a banana

Made me laugh.

Lots of good advice here.

[estilley]

I should really do something like this. Broken collarbone has six more weeks until I'm cleared to ride. Cleared to run right now and lacking the motivation. Ironically lost weight since stopping riding, but really don't like the low activity part.

Used to run 90 miles a week back in the college days and Portland might be the best running city in the US so I don't really have any excuses!

Maybe if I run the 7 days a week I'll reward myself with a beer a couple nights a week.


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[cnighbor1]

diabetes A friends sister Jewish faith when talking to her doctor about being over weight he stated diabetes is expensive when you have in terms of medical costs
she lost 100 pounds fast
Let that get you going to lose pounds

[Wayne77]

A couple random thoughts:

Reward yourself upfront with something that if used makes you fitter or gets you involved with other like-minded persons (buy a smart trainer, get a power meter and read up on training with power, coaching, indoor computrainer sessions, crossfit membership, that sort of thing)

Read up on and convert yourself to a healthy living program like Whole30, or something along those lines.

Treats every now and then should be part of the change in lifestyle not part of the reward (in my opinion).

Fitness challenges with friends & co workers work short term only.

In my opinion, offsetting a healthy living choice with a reward is not sustainable, and just reinforces that healthy living choice as the undesirable "work" to get something more desirable "dessert". Maybe set up your healthy living choices in a way such that they are their own rewards...lots of ways to do this. For example, going to a gym and working out has zero appeal for me. Getting up at 4:30 to join my friends (who are all expecting me to be there and excited to see me) at an indoor cycle training session motivates me because its the only time of day I get to see people I care about. Joining a team and racing with friends who rely on you is another example. Socializing your commitment to performance gains has huge motivational power.

Great little article: The myth of Self-Control (http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/11/3/13486940/self-control-psychology-myth)

Taken from the above article: Will-power "in the moment" thinking is highly overrated and research is showing that a mindset focusing purely on self control rarely leads to positive change. If anything it just increases focus on that endless success-fail-guilt-fall off the wagon-recommit- loop. Eating a slice of cake is not a moral failing. Its what happens when a hungry person is standing in front of a slice of cake. If you're running/cycling/eating healthy "because you have to", odds are you won't be successful.

[unterhausen]

I have to weigh myself almost every day to lose weight. I'm reasonably good at losing weight if I dedicate myself to it. The trick is starting, which is really the hard part. You don't have to lose the weight all at once. Make sure you aren't eating any high calorie foods without realizing it. Peanut butter is one good example, typical PBJ sandwich is massive calories.

If I lost 2 pounds a week, I'd be dead in a year. Not that it's going to happen, but this is always what I tell myself. Incremental weight loss is the best kind. Otherwise, once you reach your goal you will just balloon back up

[estilley]

For example, going to a gym and working out has zero appeal for me. Getting up at 4:30 to join my friends (who are all expecting me to be there and excited to see me) at an indoor cycle training session motivates me because its the only time of day I get to see people I care about.







That's it right there.

If someone asks me to meet up really early in the morning I'll do it 95% of the time. If I'm just on my own, I'm much less likely to go early. Friends and exercise is one of life's great combinations!




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[ripvanrando]

Money does not motivate.

You need to find an intrinsic source for that MoJo.

You have to want it.

When I hire people, I look for drive because you either have it or you don't. $200 won't do anything for you but make you unhappy with yourself in the Spring.

Figure out what you like to eat that fits your food intake requirements. You can't out ride a bad diet. Get rid of all the other "food" from your house.

To lose fat you have to burn fat. Control of insulin and refined carbs in conjunction with a lot of long steady rides helped me lose 50 pounds in 3 months. GL


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