Or, just the opposite! Sometimes we need a little incentive to change our habits. In this instance, it’s cold hard cash!

Researchers followed 100 Mayo Clinic employees over the course of a year as they took educational classes on how to eat healthy and lose weight. They were broken up into several groups – some of which got financial incentives to shed the pounds and others that just got the classes.  CNN.com

What they found is that the people getting cash incentives lost around 9 pounds on average in the course of the year, vs. the info-only folks who lost 2.

Programs like this are not exactly new. “About 86% of large employers are already offering some kind of financial incentives to help employees reach their health goals,”  (CNN again.)

Here employees who lost received $20. BUT, if they gained, they owed $20. This is effective for two reasons. Reward is nice, but reward and penalty together are even more effective. Second, these types of programs can get really expensive. Losers helped pay the winners in this case, and helped keep the cost of the program lower for the company.

So, what are your thoughts? Have you done this at your  company? Did it work? Read the original piece, and let us know!