Oddly, that's another way I'm using my Nook these days!
I need to lose about 90 pounds, I'd previously lost 20 and kept that off the past four years, but simply couldn't motivate myself to endure the hunger pangs and rigors of losing any more. Yet, for the health of my feet, ankles and bad right knee, I need to do it.
One night, I started thinking about how much I loved having my Nook and worrying because as reading is a sedentary sort of pastime, I was afraid I might read even more and uh, possibly gain weight.
And then it occurred to me that motivation to lose weight and exercise was sitting right under my nose, so to speak!
I'm using the Nook and buying ebooks as a REWARD INCENTIVE for my weight loss efforts. Normally, I don't buy books that often, but read borrowed library books instead. But this is working so far. With the idea of being able to buy an ebook or two if I stick to my calorie deficit and exercise, suddenly I can withstand the hunger, do the exercise and make real progress. Hubby is trying it too and he's making progress, where before, he never really even tried to diet. It makes me wonder if I've hit on something that could be useful for others?
At any rate, I put a page on my blog for how I'm working it, but I can clearly see that a reward motivation could work for just exercising or eating healthier or many other things, like uncluttering your house. (I'm kind of killing two birds with one stone on that... my first two weeks of ebook purchases have been to replace hardcovers on my bookshelves.)
Someone told me I was being creative, but I think it was sheer desperation. Still, dieting is fun again. I bought three ebooks this morning with my reward credits earned! Barnes & Noble ought to pay me for this idea! I think someone on the BN.com forums actually asked for a calorie counting app for Nook, so my plan would fit right in.
Nook Diet
Anyway, since my nook inspired it, that's what I call it. But anyone with a reader can try it, maybe it can become the MobileRead diet for the owners of other readers. Or just the Reader Diet. For me, having ebooks besides freebies and classics was a BIG motivation. Two weeks, four pounds lost. (Naturally, the first week was mostly water, but this week was a very respectable 1.2 pounds. Better than normal for me!)
The thing is, weight loss isn't always linear, so you don't always get to see a result. But as you can get exercise credit with my idea, you can always get *some* kind of reward just for plain old persistence and not giving up.