Stale Popcorn, Judgmental Gym Shorts, and the Science of Steady Habits

It’s a new year with new resolutions. How about some strategies to help us actually keep them? Forget willpower. We’ve watched resolve cave often enough to know that betting on internal fortitude is like betting against gravity. I never wager against temptation—I’ve seen its win-loss record. University of Southern California professor Wendy Wood argues that real change comes from habits, those automatic behaviors triggered by consistent cues.

In an interesting experiment, Wood recruited participants to watch short movies. She randomly distributed either fresh or very stale popcorn to different subjects. Meticulously weighing the popcorn remains, she discovered that participants who reported that they rarely ate popcorn at the theater consumed the fresh popcorn but avoided the stale snacks. 

Conversely, people who reported that they regularly ate popcorn at the theater ate large portions of the stale popcorn, even though they later described it as awful. Their habit (cued by the theater environment) overwhelmed their taste buds. 

In another version of the experiment, participants instructed to eat with their nondominant hand consumed much less of the stale popcorn. Even this small interruption of routine fooled the brain into a healthier action.

Professor Wood downplays the idea that willpower determines success in favor of the often slow but steady replacement of personal habits. Losing weight, exercising, and completing chores are functions of setting daily behavioral patterns that we do automatically rather than exerting bursts of willpower to do the right thing. 

Let’s get practical: what does establishing a new habit look like? Nothing grandiose, for sure. We struggle to keep a plant alive, so trying out for three Olympic events is a bit of overreach. Rather, focus on just one new habit. Be specific, and put it on paper. “Get healthy” is far too vague. “Take 3,000 steps a day, five days a week” cuts to the chase. Even better, make the goal so easy that you can’t fail—take 3,000 steps, two days a week. (You can increase the number of days later.) Your brain loves these small wins. Be sure to record your success—your ego likes to see progress.

Now let’s change the cues (get you out of the theater). Put your walking clothes out at night; nothing motivates like judgmental gym shorts glaring at you before you get out of bed. After dinner, stay away from your telephone until you’ve recorded your steps that day. Use “temptation bundling” by downloading interesting books and podcasts that are only available to you while you are walking.

Next, modify your routines (use your nondominant hand). Put on your exercise clothes as soon as you get home from work, and hit the Peachtree City cart paths. If you finish lunch early, get in a few steps before going back to your desk. Tell supportive friends about your plan—one may wish to join you.

Researchers also remind us that setbacks aren’t failures; they’re data points. Approach goals (“eat more fruit”) work better than avoidance goals (“stop desserts”). Instead of “no more sugar,” try “one apple with lunch.” Your brain is a better traveler when it has a destination rather than just a “Do Not Enter” sign. And habit formation usually takes weeks, not days—about two months on average. Hang in long enough, and it gets easier because your brain starts helping instead of resisting.

So, to stay away from stale popcorn: Resolutions? Absolutely. Willpower? Nah. Habits with smart cues do the heavy lifting. Stick with them, and before long even temptation will get discouraged and look for easier targets.