Perhaps why it was successful, researchers pointed out, was that it offered sticks to the carrots—there were also penalties for not losing weight.

There've been a lot of talk about wellness programs—if they work, how much they work, how much money they save and questioning what incentives there should be. This particular study reinforces a fact we've known for years: Money and other incentives drive our behaviors.  

And now we know for a fact that cash can initially work—and does for most people when it comes to healthy behaviors. But what will happen in the long-run? No surprise here: People often revert to unhealthy habits once the financial motivation is gone, the researchers point out.

The thing about wellness is it generally works only if you want it to. Wellness isn't about short-term weight loss; it's a way of living. Basically, as people worldwide might complain about their significant other: You can't change someone unless they want to change.

To be truly successful, it has to mean something and go beyond the incentives. A gym membership is often a good long-term incentive, on the other hand, because it's something that's going to promote continuous healthy activity.

I want to say that part of the problem with financial incentives is we're enabling our entitlement society. So, now we won't do something—even when it's good for us and directly mostly affects ourselves—unless we get some sort of reward? Isn't being and feeling healthy incentive enough?

Though I get financial incentives and why they work, most of me just worries we're reverting back to childish behaviors. After all, I feel that at this point in my life, my parents would scoff at me if told them I made my own bed in my own apartment or that I ate an apple AND an orange today, then asked for some money or a cookie as a reward.