Cheap/Free Reward Ideas?

MJ_Watson

So, I officially hit the 20 pounds lost mark. I didn't reward myself at any point before this, but I'm finding that I'm having this attitude of "I've ONLY lost x pounds. I still have to lose x, so it's not that great," etc. Very demotivating.

So, I thought maybe rewarding myself every 10 pounds might help me see it as more incremental and give some encouragement. But money's tight this month and I don't want to get into the trap of rewarding myself with food (only real wiggle room in my budget)... so I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do here. Any ideas? It doesn't have to be for a reward, it could also be something to help with the overall problem here.

Thanks!

I_Will_Be_The_Swan

An at-home spa day. Take a bubble bath by swishing some tea and body wash/shampoo into the water, light some candles and relax. Work extra conditioner into your hair, comb it, and wrap your hair in a shower cap and a warm towel to deep condition. Scrub your face, then apply a masque from a store, if you already have one, or one made of oatmeal, avocado, and mint tea. Paint your nails, fingers and toes, and then, when your nails are dry and gorgeous, turn on the shower and rinse the conditioner out. If there's anywhere nearby with a massage chair, like a laundromat, pop in a fiver and get a mechanized rubdown. Tah-dah! Spa day.

IrritatedDoro

The at-home spa day sounds nice. You might also do a beach-or park-or zoo-or museum day, all for fairly low cost. Depending upon your fitness level, you might find it rewarding to actually enter a 5K as a reward? (Or, maybe that would be punishment?) Maybe buy yourself a nice journal.

ngressman

Get a book mark with an inspirational quote for you. Put a star sticker on it for every pound you lose. I also started a paper clip chain to see some progress. (You could string beads, froot loops, or some other cereal anything to show the weight loss). A bottle of nail polish costs as little as $2 you could give yourself a manicure or pedicure. Take a picture of yourself at 20 pounds and start a scrapbook, so you can see your weight loss. Sometimes 20 pounds doesn't seem like much, but when you see it with your former pictures you will notice a big difference. Put pennies, nickels or quarters in a jar for every pound you lose. You will see the jar fill up. (It won't amount to a lot of money, but it will be a way to see the progress). You could see how long it takes to fill up the jar. Are you down a size? Maybe get a new shirt or pants? If it costs too much try a second hand store.

I have 100 pounds to lose so I know the attitude of I only lost X amount of pounds too well. Maybe keep track of the percentage of weight loss for your body. (Kind of like Biggest Loser). Keep up the great work. 20 pounds is awesome!!

MJ_Watson

Thanks for the great ideas, guys! I especially like the idea of doing something physical for each pound lost - that should really help me quantify it. Actually, I live in Korea and these little love note bottles are popular here (they look like this: http://i54.tinypic.com/wcbz48.jpg). You're supposed to write one note for your SO for every day and put it into the capsule and I've seen a lot of 100 ones. They're not so expensive, so I think I'll buy one, empty it out, and put one back in the jar every time I lose a pound! Cheap and positive idea, but I would have never thought of it alone!! Thank you!!!

Might do that spa day too. God knows I could use it...

And yeah, progress pics are super important for me. I started taking them for 30DS and got depressed because I couldn't see a difference even in pictures (all my clothes are falling off but I pretty much look the same to myself in the mirror ). Someone recommended I crop my head off and once I did that, I came back two days later and was floored!! Suddenly, I could see the difference. The mind is very strange...