You v. You, the Radiolab podcast that inspired it all.

When I started my Grand Old Opry challenge four months ago, I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know if I could be successful, and if I was, I didn't know if it would be worth it. It was hard, and a lot of times I hated the restrictions, but I loved the results.

I found that this way of losing weight made sense and worked for me in a way no other program had. I recently stumbled upon the podcast that had inspired me to start this challenge. I couldn't find it before, mostly because I had thought it was done by This American Life. Then one day as I was jogging and listening to Radiolab podcasts it started to play. I was so excited to find it again, and found it spoke to me just as strongly as I had remembered. The episode is called You v. You, and I would definitely recommend listening to it. You can listen for free on their website. It's only about 25 minutes long and like all of their programs is both interesting and entertaining.

The first time I heard it I was at a playground with my kids, listening to my IPod as we played. I listened to the story of Zelda Gamson, and how she overcame her smoking addiction. If you remember from my initial Grand Old Opry post, this is the woman who pledged to give $5,000 to the KKK if she ever smoked again. She never did. Then I listened to David Eagleman explain the reasons why her ultimatum worked. It was like the heavens opened and I saw the light. I realized that this is what it would take for me to be successful at weight loss.

I have transcribed some of what they say in the podcast. It's mostly David Eagleman, with some interjections by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich. I lumped it all together to make it easier to read.

Things that are offered right now have so much more power than things that are offered in the future. You can think about this whole thing as a battle about time. We'll make all sorts of very poor economic decisions if something is offered right now vs. later. 

When you look at the neuroimaging it becomes clear that there are different parts of the brain that are battling this out. And the now parts are always stronger. 

Here is the key. What she is doing in the case of the cigarettes is she's saying, 'I know that I want to win this long term battle, but I'm having a heck of a time doing it. But if I can make the long term plan tied into a different immediate feeling of disgust, then all I have to do is have the disgust battle the desire.' 

What she has done is she's turned this battle into a present tense battle on both sides. I want a cigarette now vs. I hate the KKK now. So it's a now vs. now thing. And I think that's the only way we ever win these long term battles is to give them some sort of emotional salience. Some reason why they matter to us right now otherwise it will never work.

This is so true. When I was having my strongest urgings during the contest the logical consequences of gaining weight and dealing with obesity problems weren't enough to stop me from eating. Whatever the future consequences may or may not be, they weren't strong enough matter, because they weren't immediately threatening me. What mattered most were the instant ramifications. When I was doing my challenge the instant consequences of eating too much were that I would lose the challenge, take responsibility for my actions, tell all my friends and family that I had lost the challenge, and then humbly follow through on the punishment. Even though those immediate consequences weren't as drastic as Zelda's, they were enough.

I hear a lot about people hitting rock bottom. I wonder if rock bottom is just the place where the future becomes the now. The future ramifications of what might happen are staring you in the face. You realize if you don't stop your addiction right now there is no stopping the consequence. You have gotten to the point where you are in a now vs. now situation.

I never hit rock bottom with my weight gain. Not to the extent that I would do anything to stop it. I knew that as a person I was more than my weight and I was happy with who I was. I didn't consider weight that much of a defining feature. Sure, I knew health-wise I would be better off weighing less, and I did want it for myself, but it wasn't enough to make the dramatic changes I needed to create a healthy lifestyle for myself.

I truthfully wasn't even that motivated to lose weight when I started this challenge, but I forced myself into a position where I would have to care. To use another reference from the Radiolab episode, I backed myself up against a cliff and took on the fight. And I was successful.

The use of a self-imposed ultimatum isn't something new. There's even a website, stickK that provides a way for you to set a goal with a monetary punishment if you fail. But something about the way it was explained in this podcast really resonated with me. And I like how I was able to create a unique, kind of silly, way to challenge myself from it. It worked well, and I plan to use the same method again, starting on Monday, to continue losing weight.

Details to follow soon.