Greetings
I'm back again, up to 98.9 kgs today. (217.6 lb)
I'm going to take a different approach. Instead of rewarding good behaviour, I'm going to punish bad behaviour.
So I am aiming to lose 4kg a month, and if I don't, I have to donate $50 to a designated ultra-right wing political party, which I hate.
Hopefully I can lose 36kg in 9 months, and stop any $ from going to causes I hate.
Last edited by sonickel77; 12-27-2015 at 06:10 AM.
If that works for you, I guess it's up to you. But in my experience punishment only hinders weight loss. Also, maybe find an unpleasant consequence that doesn't support horrible people?
Maybe try not rewarding OR punishing yourself. That often works best for me, anyway. I try to normalize it, not make when I do well extraordinary...just ordinary.
No, just no. Not only will this not work but you will also be making political decisions you will regret.
Your body does not respond to this kind of punishment. It only responds to actions that have something to do with food. Hunger is driven by our primal brain and must be dealt with in actions not logic and reason. A good book to read about this is Brain Over Binge. The only way to change your behavior is by changing your behavior and making it a habit, thereby changing your neuropathy.
Furthermore, punishing yourself is a really lousy way to self-care. It's not self care at all! A punitive system just does not work.
Last edited by Palestrina; 12-27-2015 at 09:53 AM.
Omg, that made me laugh out loud! My first thought would normally be, punishment won't work, but I do believe that particular punishment would stop me dead in my tracks, lol! Seriously, if I think about it, the reason I don't cheat on my diet plan is because of negative consequences. I'm generally an "all-or-nothing" thinker so if I go off plan, I know I'll find more and more reasons to keep going off plan until I fall off the wagon altogether and regain all my weight and probably then some. The desire not to be obese is what keeps me going. I'd like to be thin, but I don't think I'll ever get there again, so positive reinforcement is not exactly what motivates me. What motivates me is that I really don''t want is to be obese and, in my case, at risk of diabetes as a result. So maybe the negative reinforcement will work. The question though is for how long? If you lose the weight, are you going to keep it off? How long can you blackmail yourself? That's the problem I see with external motivation. However, if you decide to go through with it, PLEASE don't lose that bet with yourself, lol!
What motivates us is very individual. Maybe just a brief trial would be in order if it's really something you'd like to try.
I did the positive reinforcement thing when I was losing weight. For every ten pounds I lost I bought something very small as a reward. For me it was more about breaking down the amount I had to lose into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Down 1.7 kg in the first week so it must be working! Can't make my ticker move down for some reason though. I imagine Pauline Hanson's grinning face every time I want a mince pie, and it seems to do the trick.
I managed to meet my 4kg target this month (just about), although a plateau made things really scary for a while. The fear of donating to One Nation (Australia) gave me impetus to work very hard, but actually seeing the results on the scale isn't guaranteed at all.....
Motivation through punishment
My first thought would normally be, punishment won't work, but I do believe that particular punishment would stop me dead in my tracks, lol! Seriously, if I think about it, the reason I don't cheat on my diet plan is because of negative consequences. I'm generally an "all-or-nothing" thinker so if I go off plan, I know I'll find more and more reasons to keep going off plan until I fall off the wagon altogether and regain all my weight and probably then some. The desire not to be obese is what keeps me going. I'd like to be thin, but I don't think I'll ever get there again, so positive reinforcement is not exactly what motivates me. What motivates me is that I really don''t want is to be obese and, in my case, at risk of diabetes as a result. So maybe the negative reinforcement will work. The question though is for how long? If you lose the weight, are you going to keep it off? How long can you blackmail yourself? That's the problem I see with external motivation. However, if you decide to go through with it, PLEASE don't lose that bet with yourself, lol! 
