The modification of my behavior would surely fail if I didn't give myself valid punishments and reinforcements; but I think I came up with some good ones. First off would be the reinforcements. A postive reinforcement that i've given myself is to go to the movies every week I eat solely organic food. Another reinforcement would be my health and well-being, but that comes much later. A negative reinforcement would be loss of self-doubt. Now on to the punishments... A positive punishment would be to make myself run the Mt. Wilson trail if I fail to eat oganically that week. I was thinking to run a mile for every day that I don't eat organically. And if you've never been on the Mt. Wilson trail, trust me, it's not fun. A negative punishment would be to also deprive myself of the movie night at the end of the week. I found some effective strategies on how to stay the course, and also save some money when buying organic:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cheap/20040901a1.asp
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/sshw/message/default.asp?p=Health&m=108
I'm assuming this is a fixed-ratio schedule because if I eat organically Sunday-Friday, the reward comes Saturday night. So this means the positive response comes every 7th time I eat correctly.
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Hey Josh. Your program sounds great. The reinforcements are attractiving, and the positive punishment is efficient. Just a little question. Can you force yourself to run a mile if you don't eat organically? because I am sure that I will not make it if I can't even push myself to eat organic food. XP Maybe you can ask someoneelse to force you run.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a really good program however it seems like some of your reinforcements are basically you thinking of something either negative or positive. I'm not exactly sure how well that would work, but if it works for you then go for it! Also, are you planning on going to farmer's markets? They tend to have cheaper food while also being organic. A benefit to shopping at farmer's markets is that they don't have to transport the food large distances so if you're an environmentalist the food wouldn't have contributed as much carbon to the environment.
ReplyDeleteHi Josh!
ReplyDeleteYour program seems really good! -.- and no that trail is not pleasant to run!!ha ha avoiding that at all costs would motivate someone. The whole saving money and being in great health now and later in life are good motivators as well. But just make sure you have something to remind you of when you don't eat organic, because you could forget and the conditioning would be ineffective.I hope your plan works well!
Sounds like your plan is going to work Josh. The reinforcement of going to the movies after every week of eating organically is definitely a good positive reinforcer. That Mt. Wilson trail, it is a type of punishment or reinforcement? Overall, I agree with Rachel in that having someone to force you run would probably work too. Hope everything works out for you.
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