Carrot? No thanks...

When we face the task of changing our behavior toward more healthy actions, we have to figure out how to motivate ourselves.  We want to do more of some things (like exercise) and less of other things (like eating too much cake). 

Pretty much we can choose between carrots and sticks as motivation.  Imagine we are donkeys.  We will move toward yummy carrots (I admit, I would have to be a donkey to find carrots motivational!) and away from sticks that might whack us on the behind.  The research suggests that, in general, adults respond better to rewards than punishments.  This was also true of my children, at least, but they are hardly a representative sample.

Rewards come in two flavors, and neither of them is carrot.  We can give ourselves something we want or we can get ourselves out of something we want to avoid.  In practice, this might mean that we get a long massage for losing that first five pounds or that we might get out of doing burpees at a workout for remembering to log our food intake every day.

Because we are all individuals, we will need to experiment to find out which rewards actually get us to make the changes we want.  We can experience science in action!