When you reached a weight or fitness goal, be it your final goal or a small step along the way, how did you reward yourself (or how will you reward yourself)? I'm looking for ideas. I haven't lost enough to warrant new clothes or something expensive, but enough to where I should be proud of the effort I expended during the past month or so.

A Cruise for me and my June Bride. Have some small rewards along the way but the final prise is overall fitness to be around for a long time.

i think your rewards should be small things you love, like getting your nails done or buying yourself something youve really been wanting. a new pair of shoes, perhaps? or jewelry? whatever you enjoy, let yourself have small rewards along the way!

brit

I think anything you enjoy can be a reward. Like to read? Buy a new book, like to scrapbook? Buy some new materials. Give yourself a "pamper day". Get a new hairstyle or cut. You could get a manicure. The list is almost endless, anything you can think of whether it costs $ or not, as long as it's something you don't normally do all the time and is something you will enjoy. I am curious to see what other people will come up with.

i agree with the above in that it doesnt have to cost anything or it can . (i.e. a long bath)

these are ideas i have (not necessarily have done):
-professional massage, day of beauty (at home or at the spa), trip somewhere, new sneakers, new workout clothes, new clothes for the size you are at, buy a journal, a calendar (mark off days you workout-i love that idea someone from traineo gave me-thank you!!), heart rate monitor, anything fitness related, magazines to read while at the gym, new,headset for the gym, cds, find ways to donate old clothes....

i can think of endless things.
personally, i love to be pampered. who doesnt??

I rewarded myself with an IPOD nano to help my running after I finished my 1st marathon.

Initially, I chose running as an exercise to lose weight because it is cheap. I don't need fancy equipment and gym membership. All I need is a pair of running shoes. Later on, I found a lot of runners have fancy devices like Garman, Polar, Sunto,...etc to help training. I was tempted. But, I told myself to commit to my original goal - the cheapest way to keep fit. I have reached my goal to finish a marathon. Then, I reward myself the IPOD to enhance my training. Now, after every satisfied long run, I reward myself with a massage to relax my muscle.

In the past, I always reward myself with a big meal (seafood buffet, steak dinner) every time I success at something.

my health is my reward to myself. I don't think you should reward yourself with any physical possession, because we only have one life, and if you f'ed up your body you should be doing everything you can to fix your mistakes, and to me progress and the benefits are my reward.

progress is a reward and results are a reward, but sometimes i need the extra push and knowing i have a reward coming or something extra to look forward to helps push me along even more

Hmm reward.... gosh I rarely think about rewarding myself. Usually i'm just happy to hit my goals and know that the people on the beach don't think a white whale has landed.

That any my pants fit... sometimes thats the most rewarding thing of all!

Agreed. Otherwise, what's the point of rewarding yourself in anything? Plus, I honestly don't have more energy, don't feel better after exercising, don't feel that much healthier, didn't lose enough weight yet for me to *really* notice a change in my body, etc., so I need something to keep me going.

so reve have you come up with any rewards you like for yourself?

Not yet. What's challenging for me is thinking of something that I would buy for myself after losing weight that, 1) I wouldn't buy otherwise, and 2) is fairly inexpensive.

When I lose a lot of weight, then I can see a reward being, say, sexy clothes or nice lingerie of some kind, but the first 10-20 pounds is much more challenging. Plus Christmas is coming, so a lot of the fitness-related rewards that I'm thinking of (heart rate monitor, more songs for my iPod shuffle, another sports bra) I'm hoping to get as presents.

it doesnt have to be something that you wouldnt buy otherwise-that was just a suggestion. once you get it for yourself you can just remind yourself that that is what you got b/c of what you did. again, it could be a journal, a magazine, a book, candles, sunglasses,...you could always return what someone got you for xmas if you already have it

Oh I know. I just feel like I would enjoy and appreciate it more if I knew that it was a reward that I wouldn't/couldn't just get for myself anytime. Maybe a massage or a facial, if I can find a cheap-ish one.

sounds great reve. you could always do an at home one-they could be fun too! buy all the ingredients and make an at home spa day of relaxation!

well said matt a.!

although i do believe a physical reward make our hard work well worth it! haha

brit

One thing I like is to take a lesson related to something I am interested in - bonus if it's something like yoga, pilates, martial arts where you will continue to see improvements at you get more healthy... I am going to reward myself early next year with some kung fu classes, and hopefully in the summer w/ a membership to a local rock-climbing gym

god idea dave! i like that.

oops good

Great idea, Dave.

I am going to reward myself with a yoga class after reaching my next goal. I have been chating with folks in the Yoga, Running and Weight Loss group. It seems yoga can help my running. I will definitely do more research on it.

Something that I desire...

A good book
A latte and a slice of marble cake (no, not while I'm buying the book )
An itunes card for $15
A new shirt or workout pair of shorts
Or...the usual splurge meal like a nice burger or ice cream sundae. These are dangerous though... and DO NOT weigh yourself for a week or so after eating!

i dont like to use food as rewards. i think food should just be part of your everyday living and you should be able to incorporate foods you enjoy into your diet. id rather use material or nonmaterial things or just seeing progress as my reward.

I agree with jennifer g. Are we all trying to lose weight and control our diet? It could be risky to use food as rewards. It may ruin all the hard work we have done for months.

Dan's idea of a new pair of shorts is great though. We should be proud to show off all the hardwork.

yes i like the shorts idea too. i need to work on new pants first and then shorts!

I don't think food is a great idea for a reward either, but sometimes I find it appropriate. I know that even though I'm eating very restrictively right now, that's not my long term goal; I will eat healthy forever, but I don't need to be quite as tough as I am right now when I am maintaining a more ideal weight. With that in mind, sometimes I want a pizza, or beer and wings, or a huge bar burger dripping w/ cheese and toppings! To do that, I just make sure I have an extra-intense gym session and reward myself immediately for that session - hit the gym, then go to dinner. I know that my body is in turbo mode while I'm eating and I am more likely to immediately use a lot of those calories for fuel. Plus these treats have a lot of protein for my muscle recovery I've done this a couple times and I have seen no negative impact from it...

Dave, that is true. If the diet cannot be keep life time, highly likely we will fail. Training to eat healthy to become a habit is the key. Occassional eating disorder can be Ok if we exercise harder and get back on healthy eating habit.

Are you saying exercise harder to prepare the big meal is better than exercise afterward? I did not think of such. I have been thinking to exercise harder next day to burn off the extra calorie from dinner party the night before.

I started very small once upon a time and built up gradually. Initially it was daily goals, until I adopted the habit. Then it was weekly goals to keep me looking forward. Then monthly goals, and so on.

A daily goal could be, 'if I complete my training session today I will watch my favourite programme on tv, and if I don't I won't'. It almost seemed petty, but as long as you stick to what you say it will work. Or plan a movie to watch the weekend and say you will watch it if you stick to your weekly goal. Find something you would like to buy for yourself and agree to buy it when you have done your goal. It could be anything, and doesn't have to be frivolous. I once needed to buy a stapler, but insisted with myself that I must earn the right to buy it. It wasn't about money, it was about committing myself to my goals.

I used loads of incentives over the years: Dinner dates (I used to include my partner in my goals. She knew if I succeeded we'd go out for a meal so she fully supported me. Her support was a huge boost, and rightly she shared the reward.) Theatre tickets, cinema tickets, new clothes, a week off training, everything pretty much.

Nowadays I link it in with something that I planned to do anyway. Like, if I arranged a night out then I can't go unless I've trained. If it means being an hour later than everyone else for a night out then so be it.

My goals have got bigger as well. If I hit my goals by next summer I'm going to invest in a photo shoot to celebrate and record my success in the best possible way.

Hope this makes you think

Get a massage!

Dean, that is great tip! I wish my boyfriend is supportive like your partner. I definitely will try out with smaller daily goal first. Thanks for the good advise.