The post I’m going to make today is something I’ve not only wanted to put down for a while but was originally written for a monster book on fat loss that I started last year (which is 95% done and from which The Women’s Book sprang). Since that book focuses on fat loss, most of the language deals with that topic. But it would generally apply to behavior change overall. I’ve changed some of the text and verbiage for various reasons.
Behaviorism
An older idea of human behavior (called behaviorism) suggests that we do things either to obtain reward (things feel good) or avoid punishment (things feel bad). While there is obviously more to it than that in humans, there is no doubt that these types of pathways play a role in human behavior.
Humans tend to do things that feel good/reward them (like eating) and avoid things that feel bad/punish them. … Keep Reading