Did you ever go to plug an appliance into an electric socket in the wall and get a nasty shock? What happened the next time you went to plug something into that same socket? I'm betting that you were real, real cautious; you definitely checked first by touching it tentatively to see if sparks came out. If it happened again, or if you got shocked hard enough the first time, you probably never used that socket again. And if you did, it was probably a long time before you were able to use it without any twinge of fear or anticipation.

If this sounds like something you can relate to, then you already understand intuitively something about conditioning. Conditioning is what happens when a bell rings at dinnertime and after a while you salivate when you hear the bell. Conditioning is what happens when a song that was popular when you first fell in love elicits a fluttery little response in your tummy, even when you hear it 20 years later. Conditioning is going on in your life every moment of every day. But the things that shape your behavior most are the things that are strongly conditioned to pleasure or to pain (like the electric shock you got when you plugged in that toaster).

Most people who are struggling with fat are also struggling with some very powerful conditioning, and understanding how the pleasure-pain principle works can be a big help in breaking through some of the barriers that may be holding you back unconsciously. Here's why: living in a body you don't like is probably associated with a certain amount of pain. But it's "long distance" pain. And doing something about it takes time. You don't see results right away. Sure, having a fitter leaner body would be a great source of pleasure to you, but it's a "long distance" pleasure. It's not here right now, in this moment.