Researchers at the Research Triangle Institute of North Carolina found paying a loved one to lose weight will actually help them shed some weight.
Dieters, over a three-month period, were offered a $14 bonus every time they lost one pound of weight more than the control group. At the end of three months, the people being paid lost more that 5% of their body weight as opposed to those who weren’t paid to lose weight.
A variation of this approach is to use money as a tool to break any habit that you are having difficulty breaking. This idea comes from Dr. Julian Whitaker. Dr. Whitaker recommends giving a sum of money (whatever amount that will cause you to let out an ouch if you lose it), to a friend with the instructions to pay it to a group or organization whose philosophy is the opposite of yours if you slip on breaking your habit or you don’t reach a goal you have set for yourself.