Monday, April 18, 2011
Aversion Therapy
I have been thinking about what Sarah did - committing to give money to Sarah Palin if she didn't lose 10 pounds in 12 weeks (or whatever it was). I am trying to think of something that I can do that would be enough of an aversion that I would also be willing to put on trashbags and run around the block to lose the weight. The money thing isn't enough of a motivator to me. I mean - would my $25 impact Sarah Palin at all? No. Would I miss the $25? Probably not. So - not a huge issue for me. I thought about doing something I REALLY hate - like signing up to be a lector at chuch. Public speaking fills me with terror. Even whispering to the decon while I was on stage this week that father had dropped a host on the floor left me stunned and trembling for quite some time afterwards. That would be an effective committment, but I still have this fear that I CAN'T lose weight no matter what I try - and that would be really adding insult to injury. I could do something like give away my yarns. That makes me feel a little sick inside to think about it. But the people I would give them to would be Katie or Emily - so it isn't like I would be really GIVING them away. OTOH - now that I am thinking about this... I could use that as a motivation tool. I could give one skein a week away each time I don't lose weight. I could make it receivers choice - which would mean that I would have no say in what Katie or Emily picks. They could take my favorites!! But I think there needs to be a carrot to this stick. Maybe at the end of each month I could earn some of them back somehow. I need help on the details... What do you think?
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4 comments:
Don't choose something that really stresses you; that could seriously backfire on you. You want to motivate yourself, not threaten yourself. Maybe it would be better to earn spinning time or reading time based on activity? Want to read for an hour? Then maybe that "costs" 30 minutes of walking. You could make yourself a menu.
I like Julie's idea. I really think you should work on incentives :) I'm going to help you with this b/c I'm developing an incentive plan for Healthbeat. Maybe we can brainstorm this later.
Self-threats, oddly, seem to work better than positive incentives, as Sarah posted some time ago. But the trouble with your plan is that you LIKE giving things -- even if they are something you like having. So I don't think that's the right approach for you. Unfortunately, I don't have an alternative approach.
That said, it's not a bad idea ALSO to have to earn non-active fun time, like reading or spinning, by doing fitness. But I think only you can come up with something that really scares you!
Well first, I think you hit on your *biggest* problem -- you're scared you won't lose weight. You must deal with that hurdle. Don't be afraid to do what's needed to lose if it's what you want to do. Need is another issue -- but you've got to want it. Personally, I have to want to do it. There's always a need.
I also was thinking that you should provide yourself with an incentive program -- if you hit goals you get something you really want -- maybe there's a festival you want to attend, a place you want to go. I'd avoid food rewards. You need to determine your own incentives that will work for you.
For example, there are a couple of things that I *want.* I can live without these things -- one is a high-end saute pan -- but I've decided they would be great rewards and even better motivators. I won't spend the money if I can't trim down.
I use my old jeans as a measure of how I'm doing but they provide two different kinds of motivation -- first, they show me that I'm making progress and second they are a motivator to continue. I've never gotten to the point where they fell off of me, so maybe now is the time.
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