It's fine, I'll wait. Okay, you good? Alright. I'm not here to discuss Tawny Kitaen, or even hair bands of the 80's. Rather, I am here to discuss weight loss. Here I go again, starting a new regime. I had some slimming success a while ago, and now I have eaten myself right out of that success. So I am back to work. (Sidebar discussion: when do I get to stop trying to lose weight? Can I be squishy and dumpy when I'm, say, 68? 73?) I'm on the usual plan of limiting flour and sugar, and any day now I'm going to start exercising. This morning I went to the library and did what I always do when I start a diet--I got a stack of cookbooks with names like Amy's Bakery, and Deep Dark Chocolate. Apparently I like to make myself struggle. But this time I am trying something new--it's called Stickk.com. You go to the website, and make a commitment to do something--it doesn't have to be weight loss. Then you can sign up a referee who will make sure you don't cheat, or you can do the honor system. You can let your friends know you are doing it. It's all a little bit of added incentive. But the kicker comes with the last step: you choose who will get your money if you don't meet your weekly weight loss goal! The recipients of that money are known as "anti-charities." I mean, you can give money through this program to a charity that you like, but I don't find that terribly motivating. Knowing that if I don't meet my weight loss goal this week, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library will get money from me is very annoying and thus highly motivating. The site was founded by Yale econ and management professors who studied the effectiveness of "commitment contracts," in terms of getting people to save money. Turns out commitment contracts work really well for everything! The fact that not only will I have to PAY if I don't make my goals, but I will have to pay to something I would never give money to is keeping me on the straight and narrow. So I have a goal, I have a deadline, I have financial ramifications. When I achieve my goal, I'll post a picture of myself doing splits on the hood of a Jaguar.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Here I Go Again...
Before we start to discuss my latest diet, would you like to finish humming that Whitesnake song? Are you imagining Tawny Kitaen doing the splits on the hood of a Jaguar?
It's fine, I'll wait. Okay, you good? Alright. I'm not here to discuss Tawny Kitaen, or even hair bands of the 80's. Rather, I am here to discuss weight loss. Here I go again, starting a new regime. I had some slimming success a while ago, and now I have eaten myself right out of that success. So I am back to work. (Sidebar discussion: when do I get to stop trying to lose weight? Can I be squishy and dumpy when I'm, say, 68? 73?) I'm on the usual plan of limiting flour and sugar, and any day now I'm going to start exercising. This morning I went to the library and did what I always do when I start a diet--I got a stack of cookbooks with names like Amy's Bakery, and Deep Dark Chocolate. Apparently I like to make myself struggle. But this time I am trying something new--it's called Stickk.com. You go to the website, and make a commitment to do something--it doesn't have to be weight loss. Then you can sign up a referee who will make sure you don't cheat, or you can do the honor system. You can let your friends know you are doing it. It's all a little bit of added incentive. But the kicker comes with the last step: you choose who will get your money if you don't meet your weekly weight loss goal! The recipients of that money are known as "anti-charities." I mean, you can give money through this program to a charity that you like, but I don't find that terribly motivating. Knowing that if I don't meet my weight loss goal this week, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library will get money from me is very annoying and thus highly motivating. The site was founded by Yale econ and management professors who studied the effectiveness of "commitment contracts," in terms of getting people to save money. Turns out commitment contracts work really well for everything! The fact that not only will I have to PAY if I don't make my goals, but I will have to pay to something I would never give money to is keeping me on the straight and narrow. So I have a goal, I have a deadline, I have financial ramifications. When I achieve my goal, I'll post a picture of myself doing splits on the hood of a Jaguar.
It's fine, I'll wait. Okay, you good? Alright. I'm not here to discuss Tawny Kitaen, or even hair bands of the 80's. Rather, I am here to discuss weight loss. Here I go again, starting a new regime. I had some slimming success a while ago, and now I have eaten myself right out of that success. So I am back to work. (Sidebar discussion: when do I get to stop trying to lose weight? Can I be squishy and dumpy when I'm, say, 68? 73?) I'm on the usual plan of limiting flour and sugar, and any day now I'm going to start exercising. This morning I went to the library and did what I always do when I start a diet--I got a stack of cookbooks with names like Amy's Bakery, and Deep Dark Chocolate. Apparently I like to make myself struggle. But this time I am trying something new--it's called Stickk.com. You go to the website, and make a commitment to do something--it doesn't have to be weight loss. Then you can sign up a referee who will make sure you don't cheat, or you can do the honor system. You can let your friends know you are doing it. It's all a little bit of added incentive. But the kicker comes with the last step: you choose who will get your money if you don't meet your weekly weight loss goal! The recipients of that money are known as "anti-charities." I mean, you can give money through this program to a charity that you like, but I don't find that terribly motivating. Knowing that if I don't meet my weight loss goal this week, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library will get money from me is very annoying and thus highly motivating. The site was founded by Yale econ and management professors who studied the effectiveness of "commitment contracts," in terms of getting people to save money. Turns out commitment contracts work really well for everything! The fact that not only will I have to PAY if I don't make my goals, but I will have to pay to something I would never give money to is keeping me on the straight and narrow. So I have a goal, I have a deadline, I have financial ramifications. When I achieve my goal, I'll post a picture of myself doing splits on the hood of a Jaguar.
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