The Carrot and the Stick

There’s that old cliché which compares the two disparate methods of forcing a ruminant to ambulate. One can either provide an enticement, in the form of a dangling carrot that the animal will walk towards, or one could employ punishment, beating the stubborn ox with a stick until it exhibits the desired behavior. For myself, I have always preferred motivating behavioral modification through the use of rewards. I find them to be much more palatable than punishment.

As such, I have decided that the best way for me to stay motivated on my fitness quest is to set goals for myself and then reward myself for meeting those goals. Specifically, I have set the goal of following my diet and exercise plan to the letter for the next 3 weeks. That means no missed days of exercise and no unauthorized foods unless it’s my “free” day. (There will be only 2 “free” days between now and Feb. 14 th and on those days I can eat whatever I want and there is no exercising. Probably will be Feb. 4th and 11th) And what do I get if I stick to this plan? Diddy Kong Racing for the DS.

I didn’t even know they were MAKING this game for the DS. My good friend Raste pointed it out to me yesterday and now I can hardly wait. It looks like the game doesn’t release until Feb. 6th, but I’ll have to wait an additional week anyway. And of course that is if, and only if, I stick with my diet and exercise. If I mess up, I’ll have to wait another 3 weeks and see if I can stick to the diet and exercise through that period. This should actually prove to be very good motivation for me, since I REALLY want this game.

I played Diddy Kong Racing in college until my eyes just about fell out of my head. I liked MarioKart a lot, but something about Diddy Kong Racing is just a step up. I liked the story driven stuff and the boss races as well as the various collectable items like golden bananas and silver coins. Then there was the hidden level at the end with new tracks and a new unlockable character that was WAY faster than any of the standard ones. My college roommate and I actually played this game in rotation to churn through the content as fast as possible. When one of us went to class the other would be playing the same track over and over again, trying to beat the elite developer times that were posted for each track in the games credits. There was a dirty internet rumor that if you could beat all of those times that it would unlock yet another, EVEN FASTER, character, but that turned out to be a filthy lie. My roommate and I didn’t really mind too much though, because we knew we had done something that very few people probably ever did with that game. You had to race PERFECTLY to beat those times. You had to pick up every item, take every turn with speed, and hit every boost or there was just no way to beat the times. It may very well be the only time I have ever squeezed every bit of marrow out of a game, besting every possible task and unlocking everything the game had to offer. It felt good, and I want that feeling back.

Of course, there will be obstacles. I did plan out my meals last night to last me through Saturday, and I went to the grocery store to pick up everything I needed, so I have a plan that will last until then, but there are 2 unexpected things that could set me off of my goals. One is that I forgot we are going out to dinner with some of my wife’s coworkers tomorrow because one of them is moving. Fortunately we are going to a Japanese steakhouse where I can get some pretty healthy stuff, like tuna sushi and vegetarian noodles. I’ve already looked at their online menu and I think I can navigate that easily enough.

The other potential stumbling block is that Sunburned Goose called me out of the blue and is going to let me borrow his 360 for a few days. He is going out of town this weekend and will be dropping off his 360 on Saturday morning and will probably pick it back up on Tuesday. Now, this is not really a big problem with my exercise regimen because I do that in the morning, but it could screw up my diet if I don’t have the discipline to continue making my plans and preparing my food ahead of time. For me, sticking with the diet is all about the preparation and planning. If I prepare my meals in advance and take them to work with me, there is no way I’ll cheat. I’m not tempted by the lunchroom or vending machines so long as I already have something prepared. I get into trouble when I don’t have a plan set up. That’s when I find myself walking out of an all-you-can-eat buffet and moaning “Why the hell did I do that?”

The presence of a 360 in my house is also easily countered. I’ll just get my plans and shopping done BEFORE Saturday. Originally I had planned to do this over the weekend, but I know the temptation of a new gaming device will be too great, so I’m going to get ahead of the game so I can game it up without feeling guilty.