Rewards

Often I’ve thought that recovering from bulimia would be easier if I could utilize positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement is when you immediately reward a good behavior. It has been shown to be the most effective behavior teaching method.

All the rewards I can think of are food rewards though, and the whole point is to get myself away from using food as a reward.

So here is a list of other rewards:

Writing down that you are a good person

Listening to your favorite song

Playing 10 minutes of a video game

Dancing

Message someone on facebook with a kind word, or tell them in person

Reading a funny website

Paint your nails

Dress up and do your makeup and hair in a new fun way

Play an instrument

Go to a free museum or somewhere within walking distance

Tell you significant other you love him

Go to the mall and shop

Any others you can think of?

I tried to put stuff that can be done immediately after the desired behavior but of course some of these things would take time to do.

Anyway, the idea is that if you reward yourself every single time you do a positive behavior, then eventually that behavior will become intrinsically motivated. I don’t know how well this works if you administer it to yourself, but it works when someone else does it, so if you have a really dedicated friend…