Behavioral Economics for Weight Loss

29 Jan Behavioral Economics for Weight Loss

Use this one trick daily

What if you stepped on a scale every morning and never found out your weight? Behavioral economist Dan Ariely thinks you’d slim down more successfully. He says stepping on a scale reinforces the desire to be healthy; but the number it reports can actually be demotivating, mostly because weight fluctuates a lot. Even a tiny gain after dieting self-denial is discouraging.

So Ariely’s scale doesn’t have numbers. For the first 10 days it says, congratulations, you stepped on the scale! After that it notes you’re doing better, you’re doing worse—but still no numbers. The accompanying app assigns missions like reorganizing the refrigerator—behavioral “tricks” to encourage better behavior.