Sure you have heard about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This classical story is seen by some as a symbolic representation of inner conflict between good and bad in human¹ .

Do you have them in yourself?

When you are about to start anything - project, job, or hobby -, you are enthusiastic and committed to do the best. That’s the ‘good you’.

Then you slack off and fall into temptation. Oh oh… the ‘bad you’ have just taken over.

What should we do, then? Can we make the ‘bad us’ disappear? Or keep the ‘good us‘ stay for longer?

Well, in an earlier article, 5 Smart Strategies to Start Winning Diet Battles, we talked about how our energy and motivation are constantly going up and down, and how to use the situation to our advantage.

As pictured above, every time we feel that our drive and energy is high, do something breakthrough that will bring big progress in our dieting. Whereas when we are in ‘low’ moments, carry out smaller incremental actions.

Similarly, when the ‘good us‘ is present, take some breakthrough steps that will prevent the ‘bad us‘ from doing too much ‘damage’ later. The following are some examples of what ‘good you’ may want to do:

• Sign up and pay upfront for 2 years gym membership. So when the ‘bad you’ want to slack off exercising, at least she/he needs to think twice because of the potential of losing so much money. Or do other things that will basically increase the ‘punishment‘ for not sticking to the weight loss plan.
• Buy that dream outfit. Put it in the wardrobe where the ‘bad you’ will see it very often and remind him/her of the ‘reward‘ that is available upon succeeding.
• Do things that will either ‘force’ or ‘make it easier’ for the ‘bad you’ to stick to the diet. Throw away those fizzy drinks. Buy smoothies as a replacement for milk shakes. The 5 Smart Strategies to Start Winning Diet Battles article has some more examples to help get you started.

This article is the last in the How to Stick to a Diet Series. If you missed the previous articles, check them out here:

1. If you don’t read this now, you’ll hate yourself later.
2. Here’s how plan A help you stick to a diet.
3. Here’s how plan B help you stick to a diet.
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’s dieting tips.

1. Professor Dan Ariely mentioned it in Predictably Irrational [↩]