Rewards vs. Penalties?

cordianet · June 2012

I know lots of folks probably use rewards to motivate themselves, such as "If I hit xyz weight, I will reward myself with abc." My question is, do any of you also penalize yourself if you don't hit certain goals? I'm finding this may motivate me more than the rewards and was curious if anyone else uses this sort of tool to keep themselves on track?

rose313 · June 2012

If I go over my calories one day I even it out over the rest of the week, so my weeks are always under but I may go slightly one or two days. So I don't really penalize myself, I just can't have all the things I want if I messed up the day before.

stfuriada · June 2012

Hmm.

Good idea now that I think about it.

For every 50 calories over your limit, add another 10 mins on the elliptical (5 isn't too punishing imo) :bigsmile:

cordianet · June 2012

I wasn't thinking daily goals, I meant more like rewarding yourself for reaching a particular goal weight and/or % body fat , vs. penalizing your self in some way (monetarily or by taking away something you care about, for example), if you fail to make the goal. Personally, I have goals setup for about every 90 days with both rewards and penalties for each major goal.

Surely I'm not the only one!

PittShkr · June 2012

I get angry and smash things!

mes1119 · June 2012

rewards are more effective than punishment from a learning theory point of view.

wild_wild_life · June 2012

No. Honestly I don't reward or penalize and it never occurred to me to do so. What sort of penalty do you mean?

cordianet · June 2012

No. Honestly I don't reward or penalize and it never occurred to me to do so. What sort of penalty do you mean?

Well, for example, if I fail to make my ultimate goal weight, I have committed to selling my motorcycle and giving the money to charity. (If I got to keep the money, it wouldn't be quite so meaningful.) Since I REALLY don't want to sell my bike at all, I'd say I'm extra motivated to succeed!

AlissaMyron · June 2012

I don't think I ever have thought to penalize myself. For me, dieting stops when I say, 'No, I can't do this or I can't have this.' The more I focus on the things I've done wrong, the more likely I am to give up. I don't think it is about punishing ourselves for making mistakes. I think it is about taking those mistakes and learning for next time.

Shoot, if I penalized myself for everything I could have done better, I would have been gone weeks and weeks ago.

Tenoreo90 · June 2012

No. Honestly I don't reward or penalize and it never occurred to me to do so. What sort of penalty do you mean?

Well, for example, if I fail to make my ultimate goal weight, I have committed to selling my motorcycle and giving the money to charity. (If I got to keep the money, it wouldn't be quite so meaningful.) Since I REALLY don't want to sell my bike at all, I'd say I'm extra motivated to succeed!

O.O That's hardcore! I honestly don't think I could take a chance like that-kudos to you!

As another poster said, I don't punish myself for not reaching major goals, but yeah, if I go over one day I try to go under for the next week (however long it takes to make up those cal).

1Kristine1 · June 2012

I don't think I ever have thought to penalize myself. For me, dieting stops when I say, 'No, I can't do this or I can't have this.' The more I focus on the things I've done wrong, the more likely I am to give up. I don't think it is about punishing ourselves for making mistakes. I think it is about taking those mistakes and learning for next time.

Shoot, if I penalized myself for everything I could have done better, I would have been gone weeks and weeks ago.

Exactly. I just restart the next day hoping I can do better. I don't set time frames either, because weight loss isn't a race for me (yes it would be nice to lose it all this second). But I need and want to keep it off. Doing it at a pace that I don't have to sacrifice everything I like, such as occassional junk, is beneficial for me. I just mentally celebrate the milestones and try not to feel guilty about going over somedays. I should be exercising the excess cals off but lately I havent been motivated to do so. And thats fine with me, I just need to realize it will take longer this way.

Lesley2901 · June 2012

I don't use rewards or penalties. Achieving a goal that I have set is reward enough and if I haven't achieved what I was aiming for I just work harder to get there.

mmapags · June 2012

I don't use rewards or penalties. Achieving a goal that I have set is reward enough and if I haven't achieved what I was aiming for I just work harder to get there.

I'm with Lesley. I kind of see it like the Yoda quote, "there is no try, there is do or do not." Rewards and penalties, for me, mean my goals are not internalized.

wild_wild_life · June 2012

No. Honestly I don't reward or penalize and it never occurred to me to do so. What sort of penalty do you mean?

Well, for example, if I fail to make my ultimate goal weight, I have committed to selling my motorcycle and giving the money to charity. (If I got to keep the money, it wouldn't be quite so meaningful.) Since I REALLY don't want to sell my bike at all, I'd say I'm extra motivated to succeed!

I have heard of something similar but it was more about making your committment public and making someone else agree to hold you to your goal (or else you had to pay them, do something for them, etc.). I wouldn't think most people would be able to be their own policeman like that. I know I wouldnt be able to do it without setting myself up for a big internal struggle.

You could also think of it as, if you meet your goal you get to keep the bike!

cordianet · June 2012

rewards are more effective than punishment from a learning theory point of view.

Probably true, but I'm not trying to learn, I'm trying to change behavior. As Skinner taught us, you reward positive behaviors and punish negative ones. This approach will generally lead to an increase in positive behavior and a decrease in negative behavior. Simply put, when trying to change behavior both positive and negative consequences together seem to drive behavioral change much better than positive rewards alone.

For me personally, I have had goals with rewards before and still never was successful losing weight. Knowing myself, the rewards just were not enough. I needed some "skin in the game" as we sometimes say. I needed to feel like there were both good things to come from succeeding, and bad things if I failed. I seriously don't want to fail now, I can tell you that!

wild_wild_life · June 2012

rewards are more effective than punishment from a learning theory point of view.

Probably true, but I'm not trying to learn, I'm trying to change behavior. As Skinner taught us, you reward positive behaviors and punish negative ones. This approach will generally lead to an increase in positive behavior and a decrease in negative behavior. Simply put, when trying to change behavior both positive and negative consequences together seem to drive behavioral change much better than positive rewards alone.

For me personally, I have had goals with rewards before and still never was successful losing weight. Knowing myself, the rewards just were not enough. I needed some "skin in the game" as we sometimes say. I needed to feel like there were both good things to come from succeeding, and bad things if I failed. I seriously don't want to fail now, I can tell you that!

The problem is your behavior, even if perfect, may not lead to the expected results in weight loss. Maybe consider rewarding or penalizing your behavior rather than the outcome which is dependent on many factors beyond your control. Just a thought.

paulywoo · June 2012

For me the ultimate penalty for not reaching my goal is the failure to lose weight. In say 6mths time no penalty would be greater than looking in the mirror and seeing my overweight self looking back.

Rewards vs. Penalties?

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