Reward Yourself – During, Not Just After!

Pamper Yourself

Sometimes the very hardest thing about making a lifestyle change is remembering to reward yourself for your successes. Whether you’re cutting your spending, cutting your calories, boosting your exercise, or teaching yourself a new skill, rewarding yourself will help keep you on the path to your goals.

It’s just as crucial to your success to celebrate reaching your goals as it is to have the goals in the first place. When should you reward yourself? When you finally get off your tush and set the first goal! And at each incremental goal. And when you need an extra incentive to keep you on that path. And when you achieve your large goals.

It’s easy to say that you should reward yourself, but determining HOW to reward yourself can present more challenges. If your rewards for a job well done include a nice dinner at your favorite restaurant, a decadent dessert, or making your grandmother’s 3 meat 5 cheese lasagna recipe, it can be really tough to modify your rewards to reflect your new healthy goals. This is something I struggle with fairly often. So, I think it’s high time I came up with a list of non-food related rewards to help us all along the way.

Non-Food Reward Ideas:

Manicure / Pedicure
Treat yourself to a magazine or book
Go for a drive with the windows down
Bubble bath!
Take a nap
Go for a walk
Window Shopping
Go dancing
Sleep late
Buy an outfit in your new size
Rent or go see a movie
Get tickets to a sporting event or a show
Put cash into a “Final Goal” account for a vacation or motorcycle or whatever it is you’re saving for! (We’re considering $10 for every pound lost and kept off into a Harley Davidson fund… whatcha think??)
Craft supplies
Weekend trip to the beach or the mountains or to Vegas… whatever
Get a new video game
Go on a picnic
Spend some quality time in a hammock
Get a massage
New mp3s from iTunes
Buy yourself some flowers
QUIET TIME!!!
New fun cookbook
Go to the zoo or museum
Start a new herb garden