Back on the StickK!
⬇0.3 lb since my last post ⬇ 11.7 this year ⬇ 17.7 overall
Hi, gang! Been forever since my last post, and honestly, there's a reason for that. I fell off the weight-loss wagon for quite a while there. Work stress, travel, Easter holiday family visits, and a number of other lame excuses crept in and stole away my good intentions.
But I'm psyched to finally be able to report a loss, having gone up, down, back up and finally back down to my lowest yet over the past month or so.
What made the difference this time? StickK.com. It's a website that I read about in the book Thinking Small (more on that in a later post) and so I ran out to try it.
Designed by a couple of Yale egghead types, StickK prompts you to set a goal, put money on the line, and designate friends (or enemies, I suppose) as your "referee" and "supporters" (the money and the friends are optional, but recommended). The idea is to apply the latest research in behavioral psychology to the process of goal-setting. It turns out that people are more likely to stick to their goals if they:
After lots of n=1 experimentation, I have found that my weight loss stops cold whenever I booze it up. So I decided that my StickK goal would be to cut out drinking on weeknights, unless it's a legitimate party occasion (let's not get crazy, after all). At the end of the week I report my results, which are then confirmed by my referee. If I report a failure, or if I don't report at all, StickK charges my credit card and makes a donation in my name to a charity that I hate (in my case, a superPAC that funds climate change denial).
So far, it's been great. It's actually been easy to cut out the fast-developing habit of drinking a glass of wine (or several) after work every day, in part because I know that my buddy Marty and my sister Leanne (both unapologetic tree-humpers like me) would be all over my ass if I did break my rule.
If you'd like to be a supporter and cheer (or jeer) me, go to the website here. Likewise, if you're looking for support, I'm BigDavey in the StickK website. Find me there and I'll be happy to get on board with whatever you've got going on. Cheers!
Hi, gang! Been forever since my last post, and honestly, there's a reason for that. I fell off the weight-loss wagon for quite a while there. Work stress, travel, Easter holiday family visits, and a number of other lame excuses crept in and stole away my good intentions.
But I'm psyched to finally be able to report a loss, having gone up, down, back up and finally back down to my lowest yet over the past month or so.
What made the difference this time? StickK.com. It's a website that I read about in the book Thinking Small (more on that in a later post) and so I ran out to try it.
Designed by a couple of Yale egghead types, StickK prompts you to set a goal, put money on the line, and designate friends (or enemies, I suppose) as your "referee" and "supporters" (the money and the friends are optional, but recommended). The idea is to apply the latest research in behavioral psychology to the process of goal-setting. It turns out that people are more likely to stick to their goals if they:
- make a public commitment,
- attach a meaningful reward or punishment, and
- use the power of social networks.
After lots of n=1 experimentation, I have found that my weight loss stops cold whenever I booze it up. So I decided that my StickK goal would be to cut out drinking on weeknights, unless it's a legitimate party occasion (let's not get crazy, after all). At the end of the week I report my results, which are then confirmed by my referee. If I report a failure, or if I don't report at all, StickK charges my credit card and makes a donation in my name to a charity that I hate (in my case, a superPAC that funds climate change denial).
So far, it's been great. It's actually been easy to cut out the fast-developing habit of drinking a glass of wine (or several) after work every day, in part because I know that my buddy Marty and my sister Leanne (both unapologetic tree-humpers like me) would be all over my ass if I did break my rule.
If you'd like to be a supporter and cheer (or jeer) me, go to the website here. Likewise, if you're looking for support, I'm BigDavey in the StickK website. Find me there and I'll be happy to get on board with whatever you've got going on. Cheers!
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