Training Myself to Stay On Track

 I recently read a book called What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage by Amy Sutherland.  The book is based on this article by the same author from The New York Times, and its premise is that humans have a lot to learn from animal trainers about how to elicit desired behaviors from others.

I think that's true.  If you look at behavioral psychology, the premise is exactly the same as what you find in animal learning.  People respond well to positive reinforcement and unpredictably to punishment.

(Before I go any further, yes, that is my cat on a toilet seat-shaped apparatus.  I was inspired by a friend to teach Lily to use the people potty, and she rebelled horribly by leaving lots of presents all over bathroom mats... but as long as this article is about training myself, I thought the photo was appropriate.  And also funny.)

I've read some articles (on Nerd Fitness, I believe) about ways to keep yourself motivated after you get past that original "I'm doing this because I'm super excited about it since it's brand new and I have a ton of momentum!!!!!!" stage.  They recommend external reinforcers, such as giving a trusted friend $100, which you only get back if you meet your fitness or diet goals.  A really extreme example is designating a large amount of money to be donated to a political party you dislike.  My brain goes straight to the Tea Party, but in Drop Dead Healthy, AJ Jacobs takes it a step beyond that and asks his wife to donate $1000 to the American Nazi Party if he has another slice of the dried mangoes he's addicted to.  That would certainly do the trick!

A few weeks ago, I was having dinner with some friends, and one of them mentioned that in college, when money was really tight, he took up jogging three times a week.  In order to motivate himself, if he missed a run, he would put $1 in a jar that could only be used towards fitness-related expenses.  "I should do something like that!" I thought.

But then my mind started grinning.  (Do minds grin?  Mine does, I think.)  Ah ha!  If I had a bank like that, I could save for the Vibram 5-finger shoes I want!  Or I could buy a pull-up bar so I can do bodyweight exercises without going to the gym!  Or... ooh... special fitness classes.  Or maybe a food processor - does diet count as part of my fitness stuff?

So clearly that's a terrible plan for me.  Seeing as right now fitness is my obsession, I'd deliberately skip workouts just to be able to save for the stuff I wanted.

So I flipped it on its head.  Now, any day I eat 100% paleo and stay within the calorie parameters of My Fitness Pal, I get $1 towards fun fitness purchases.  And any time I do whatever exercise is on my weekly chart (see my previous article about organization), I get $1.  So I can earn up to $2 per day.  That's not that big of a burden on me financially, and I'm saving for things I might otherwise decide I don't have the money to invest in.  And with the exception of a (reasonably priced) gym membership and the Broadway Bodies class I want to take once I move, that's the ONLY money I can spend on that stuff.

And it works, too!  The other day, a coworker set out a plate of brownies in the break room, and I took a plastic knife and cut off a sliver.  "Just a small piece," I thought.  But then I thought of the Vibrams I want and left the brownie slice for someone else.  I don't get my $2 every day, but I usually earn at least one or the other.

It's self-perpetuating in a positive way, which is just what I was hoping it would be.