The cardinal rule of behaviour change.
What is immediately rewarded is repeated, what is immediately punished is avoided.
Reward yourself immediately after completing new habits. “If the puppy does a trick, it gets a treat” - yes you are a puppy in the metaphor.
And no, we aren’t saying to have some chocolate after you eat some Protein and NDFs.
Our goals are delayed rewards that obviously take time, so we need an immediate reward to stay on track. We need some reinforcement to keep practicing healthy eating behaviours.
With nutrition, we can increase the satisfaction of a meal by making it taste good. WHAT? A healthy meal that tastes good? It can’t be true! But it is!!
Using flavours, herbs, spices, seasonings, and low calorie sauces can reward us to make this a repeated behaviour. In the background, our delayed reward of health and body composition are accumulating.
We can also give ourselves a reward each time we practice a new habit or after we’ve reached our weekly target.
Each time you practice your habit, celebrate (remember the ABC strategy). Tick it off your list. Share your win with a group or accountability partner.
If you’ve hit your weekly target, how can you reward yourself? (Try not to make it food related though).
Example: When I have Protein at Breakfast, I’ll take a photo of it and share it with my coach to get feedback.
When I complete my tasks for the day I’ll go for a walk and listen to a new podcast.
When I’ve hit my plant target 5 times a week for 4 weeks I’ll by myself a new book.
Find a positive, goal aligned way to reward yourself so you look forward to repeating the habit.
Remember the earlier lesson the habit loop. The reward is the reinforcer.
