Is the Recency Effect Affecting You?

Ever hear of the cognitive bias known as the recency effect?

Let's explore!

This bias makes us recall events or items or things that happened most recently.

For example, if you were showed 10 cards with 10 different faces on it, you'd most likely remember the most about the last few cards you saw.

I think this plays a big role in our health and fitness journey - in good and bad ways.

If I ate garbage all week and then decided to turn it around on Friday (yay for making a U-Turn!) by Sunday night I'm most likely going to forget (and want to forget) how badly I ate Monday - Thursday.

This can be dangerous because we can easily fool ourselves.

Conversely, having a bad week and then having the ability to just exercise and eat healthy and being able to make ourselves feel amazing is why life is so amazing. We can change what we do, and how we act and how we feel - at this very moment.

What about a workout? You might have slacked your entire workout and then realized you're wasting your time towards the end and decide to really push it. You then might think you're working your tail off at the gym. That's what you're going to remember, and want to remember.

It also can be upsetting because if something annoying or bad happens to us that's all we might think about. And that can put us in a terrible mood which can lead to overeating.

When in reality we probably won't even remember what we're upset about in 24 hours.

So beware of the recency effect. And just being aware of it can really help to identify our own behaviors that aren't helping us to feel our best.

In spirit of the recency effect, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of the MBT family!

-Adam

P.S. Let's finish the day strong! Don't give in. :)