Moral licensing

I find that my Fitbit is really helpful in keeping me on track. I did indulge a bit this week, but I logged everything in and I realized I was still within my alloted calorie limit. Usually, this type of "indulging" would have driven me into a frenzy of overindulging because I would have thought "- oh! well - might as well fall off the wagon, I already failed." It is difficult to log in the "not so good" stuff but in a way it takes away the anxiety associated with binge eating.

Now, back to my book on willpower... Last blog, I put up a quote about what the author calls "moral licensing" , which is that...

"When you do something good, you feel good about yourself. This means you're more likely to trust your impulses - which often means giving yourself permission to do something bad. (..)Moral licencing doesn't just give us permission to do something bad; it also lets us off the hook when we're asked to do something good. For example, people who first remember a time when they acted generously give 60 percent less moneyt a charitable request than people who have not just recalled a past good deed."

" The logic of licensing is not, strictly speaking, logical. For one thing, we rarely require a connection between our "good" behavior and the "bad" behavior we're justifying. Shoppers who restrain themselves from buying something tempting are more likely to go home and EAT something tempting."

"Anything that makes us warm and fuzzy about our virtue- even just THINKING about doing something good- can license us to follow our impulses. (..) Another study found that merely considering donating money to a charity- without actually handing over any cash- increased people's desire to treat themselves at the mall. Most generously we even give ourselves credit for what we could have done, but didn't. We COULD have eaten the whole pizza, but we ate only three slices."

Wow! I don't know about you... but I recognize myself 100%! I am a champion at moral licensing. Just this week, my overindulgence came after my training session with Véro, my trainer... 2 small bags of chips = 500 calories...

Knowing what is causing this behavior can maybe help me, the next time it happens.