Positive Reinforcement

Over the last holiday weekend my father brought a box full - two, actually - of my papers from kindergarten on.  I sifted through them all, thinking it was no wonder I have such a large ego!  My teachers all wrote such wonderful things on my spelling tests and short stories about bubble gum - I grew up thinking I was pretty smart (and obvious to anyone who knows me, I still do).  There were report cards, handwritten stories, drawings of intracellular processes - a quick trip through the memory lane of my k-12 education.

One of the treasures I found in these boxes were slips of paper - a whole pile of them - from my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Sherwood.  It appears she handed them out every week, and they say things like "You had a great week!  I'm so proud of you!" and "You win the dedication award this week!  Great job!"

I didn't think much of this (besides thinking there's no way I could be a kindergarten teacher) until I logged into my myfitnesspal account later that evening.  I've been using myfitnesspal (or MFP for short) for almost 6 months now and can say it has been a huge benefit to me - for those of you unfamiliar, MFP is a calorie counting site that includes some social networking - you can "friend" people on there and then your updates show on their newsfeed and vice versa.  So every time I log my exercise it posts to the feed "vegansara just burned 400 calories doing Bikram yoga." Usually friends on there respond with "great job" or whatever - there is a nice, supportive network of people.  There are times that I log in just to go through my feed and give positive feedback to people for exercising or for logging in for x number of days in a row. 

These are all strangers to me - or rather, people I only know through the internets.  But their feedback - positive feedback and support from people that share a common goal (health) has been so helpful.  With their help I've lost 25 pounds, expanded my exercise horizons and shifted my relationship with food. 

This morning, with this topic percolating in the old noggin, I sat down at my desk and looked up to this, posted on our office door:

My office mate and I have been working on two fitness programs - the Couch to 5k (C25K) and the 100 push up challenge.  When we started each of them I made a spreadsheet so we could track our progress with little stickers (you can see that one of us has completed the C25K - go Nicole!).  Our coworkers, thinking we are crazy for doing these things, still support us by adding their inspirational stickers and post its (thanks Bree!). 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that these things matter.  When trying to make significant change in your life, get support!  Whether you prefer the online anonymity of a site like MFP, or workplace accountability with a sign on your office door - get support.  Learn from others that are working toward similar goals.  And give yourself some little star stickers!

My kindergarten teacher knew how to positively reinforce behavior.  I don't consider myself a Behaviorist, but I don't discount the research B.F. Skinner did - if you want to modify behaviors, look at the reward system and implement one if you need to.


Feel free to ask any questions in the comments.  And thanks for reading!

(And an update from the previous post - I ordered the raw powder on vitacost for about 30 bucks, saving about ten bucks - for a one month supply.  I also tried another flavor from the same brand - orange dreamsicle - it was good, but not raw, so I decided to order the raw stuff).