What reward system did you use or are you using?

hope516
hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am currently reading The diet beck solution...which focuses on the Cognitive aspect of weight loss.

I digress, it suggested a reward system for weight loss as you go. And I have come up with my own:

I have always wanted a nice charm bracelet but have never had the occasion to spend that kind of money on myself, but now I do! I am trying to lose 100 pounds (more in the future) in 2016, so my idea is to buy a bracelet, and buy a charm for every 10 pounds I lose!!!! How inspiring is that!?? I will have the bracelet on every day to remind me how much I have lost and to continue my goal of filling that bracelet! Can't wait to earn my first charm!!!....

What reward system did you or are you using to reward your hard work??
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Replies

  • maugrim87
    maugrim87 Posts: 7 Member
    That's actually a really good idea! When you get your charms you can always look to them as a reminder for how far you've come! Great idea!
  • KareninLux
    KareninLux Posts: 1,413 Member
    A new bathing suit!
  • TheBeachgod
    TheBeachgod Posts: 825 Member
    results
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    thats what I thought. Plus if I am having a hard day and the temptations are just too much I can look at my bracelet and see my charms and realize I got them by making sacrifices, as far as the second helping or not hitting the gym!! I am actually super excited by the prospect. Going to get my bracelet this weekend, and it signifies the 75 plus pounds I have already lost!!! :D
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    TheBeachgod wrote: »
    results

    Sometimes you are not always going to see the results you want to see and sometimes the look in the mirror will not reflect the hard work you put into it...but I feel like if you have a concrete reminder system it could work better.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,551 Member
    The first time I came across a thread about rewarding ourselves for losing weight and other accomplishments, several months ago, the idea felt completely foreign to me ... puzzling. Losing weight is the reward ... achieving the other accomplishments is the reward.

    And when it comes to stuff like clothing, jewellery, something for the kitchen or whatever, I just go buy it when I decide I need it.


    But I've done some thinking about it, and I guess in a way, I do "reward" myself when I achieve something or when something significant happens because I go on a celebratory or "in honour of" long, long bicycle ride.

    That's what my husband and I did on our wedding day ... we cycled 100 miles and then got married on a lake in a remote mountain location. That's what I've done when I finish a course ... get another certificate or degree or whatever. And I was on a 200 km event when my first niece was born.


    So I guess for me, it is more about something I like to do rather than get.

    And when it comes to losing weight, the more I lose the further and faster I can ride more comfortably. :)
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    For every 3 calories I burn during exercise, I get to eat 2 calories. So, if I burn 450 calories on a run, I get to eat something with 300 calories. It's an awesome reward system for exercise!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    No system for me. I'm always rewarding myself...I don't know if that's good or bad. I just find that training and food tracking can beat me down sometimes, so I make sure to do something nice when I start feeling rough.

    I did say that if I got lean enough for my 30th birthday I would give myself the gift of a bulk.
  • MyPrimalLife
    MyPrimalLife Posts: 123 Member
    wow i love the charm bracelet idea. my incentive is that when i lose all my weight (60 lbs) i am going to put on my wedding dress (from 23 years ago) and have wedding portraits made. i never had any "real" professional portraits of just myself in my gown, so this will be an awesome way to be able to pamper myself. day at the spa, portraits, etc.

    for short-term goals, i haven't thought of anything yet. thanks for the inspiration.
  • gailyn1789
    gailyn1789 Posts: 3 Member
    I have a charm bracelet - and have a few charms I purchased as rewards, but then gained back the weight. So, I have been trying to decide - can I wear it now or do I have to wait until the weight comes back off? It is too expensive to remove charms and put them back on...
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    Your charm bracelet/charms, does sound like a very nice idea.

    My reward was buying smaller sizes. All the way down from a tight 24W to size 8 in some brands. Pretty big incentive for me.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    i sign up for races. i train hard, and fuel my body accordingly. when i cross the finish line, i'm usually rewarded with a medal, a t-shirt, and a beer, and if the day has gone really well, sometimes i get to step on to the podium.
  • jpaulie
    jpaulie Posts: 917 Member
    like someone else mentioned, results are my reward
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    MyPrimalLife wrote: »
    wow i love the charm bracelet idea. my incentive is that when i lose all my weight (60 lbs) i am going to put on my wedding dress (from 23 years ago) and have wedding portraits made. i never had any "real" professional portraits of just myself in my gown, so this will be an awesome way to be able to pamper myself. day at the spa, portraits, etc.

    for short-term goals, i haven't thought of anything yet. thanks for the inspiration.

    i absolutely love your idea too!!!! I would love to see the pictures!!

    I think your short-term goals are important to reward along the way though!
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    tincanonastring wrote: »
    For every 3 calories I burn during exercise, I get to eat 2 calories. So, if I burn 450 calories on a run, I get to eat something with 300 calories. It's an awesome reward system for exercise!

    I am glad this works for you, but I have been rewarding myself with food my whole life, which is why I am overweight.....lol!!!
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    jpaulie wrote: »
    like someone else mentioned, results are my reward

    sometimes its just not enough!
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    edited January 2016
    hope516 wrote: »
    tincanonastring wrote: »
    For every 3 calories I burn during exercise, I get to eat 2 calories. So, if I burn 450 calories on a run, I get to eat something with 300 calories. It's an awesome reward system for exercise!

    I am glad this works for you, but I have been rewarding myself with food my whole life, which is why I am overweight.....lol!!!

    Not to quibble, but you've been rewarding yourself with too much food your whole life. In the manner I described, I not only get a reward I like (food, glorious food...or beer), but my reward system leads to further progress.
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    tincanonastring wrote: »
    hope516 wrote: »
    tincanonastring wrote: »
    For every 3 calories I burn during exercise, I get to eat 2 calories. So, if I burn 450 calories on a run, I get to eat something with 300 calories. It's an awesome reward system for exercise!

    I am glad this works for you, but I have been rewarding myself with food my whole life, which is why I am overweight.....lol!!!

    Not to quibble, but you've been rewarding yourself with too much food your whole life. In the manner I described, I not only get a reward I like (food, glorious food...or beer), but my reward system leads to further progress.

    Precisely! You are correct! But I have other issues with food i.e. emotional eating, food addiction...and I guess rewarding myself with food would not be the way to go.

    I would never give an alcoholic a drink of my wine cuz they have gone a whole week of not drinking. lol

    But thats what is so dynamic about weight loss, everyone can do it...you just have to find what works for you!
  • alyjb1121
    alyjb1121 Posts: 186 Member
    For everyone who says results are the reward, maybe replace the word reward with additional motivation?
    I have been trying to lose my baby weight for about 5 months now and it is not going as well as I had hoped so I cannot really be thinking about rewarding myself but I also cannot give up so I am starting a motivation jar.

    for every pound lost (30 to goal) $1 goes in the jar. for every pant size lost (4 ish to goal), $5 goes in the jar. And for every time I exercise something (haven't made up my mind yet as I am just starting, but maybe another $1 each time) else goes in the jar......it will motivate me to keep going seeing something add up since the "results" are coming slow. And it will be exciting to use all the money for new skinny person clothes lol :smiley:
  • a_little_less_lauren
    a_little_less_lauren Posts: 15 Member
    I'm not really sure yet, aside from smaller clothes, but I do want to do something tangible to celebrate/reward myself.
  • alyjb1121
    alyjb1121 Posts: 186 Member
    a_little_less_lauren wrote: »
    I'm not really sure yet, aside from smaller clothes, but I do want to do something tangible to celebrate/reward myself.

    I love to shop; when I lost weight in 2014 (I gained due to pregnancy after the loss LOL uuuugh) I would shop for clothes at thrift stores because it can be expensive to be in a size for a month then drop again and so on for months til you reach goal. then when i reached goal i went to the fancy stores and bought a new wardrobe of amazing dresses and such for work. it felt awesome......so that's why I am using the monetary motivation this time, to prepare for new clothes again!!
  • Lisa_Dubh
    Lisa_Dubh Posts: 35 Member
    hope516 wrote: »
    thats what I thought. Plus if I am having a hard day and the temptations are just too much I can look at my bracelet and see my charms and realize I got them by making sacrifices, as far as the second helping or not hitting the gym!! I am actually super excited by the prospect. Going to get my bracelet this weekend, and it signifies the 75 plus pounds I have already lost!!! :D

    Congrats on the 75lbs loss, that's aamzing! I bought my first bikini so working towards wearing that on my holiday at the start of March. I will buy one item of clothing once a month if I keep up the good work and maintain. =)
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    Kind of using the stick instead of the carrot at the present. I'm 61. Been playing Indoor Soccer since 1979. Pretty competitive league for the fist 25 years. Been playing in a less competitive Over -30 league since 2004. But, I'm getting out of shape, too old and less competitive. Moved to Goalkeeper in recent years. Anyway....told my wife that if I can't lose at least 5 lbs with each 8 week session, I am going to retire from soccer. I really don't want to quit, but I don't want to let my team down either. This current session is almost finished. I have lost 8 lbs so far. So, I am good for the next 8 weeks. 5 lbs during that time. Then reset. If I am successful, I will lose 30 lbs this year. Then 30 next year. Then I will reevaluate.
  • whirlygigs4
    whirlygigs4 Posts: 6 Member
    I'm just doing stickers in my planner so far. Gold star each day I meet my calorie target and a green star for exercise. I like the visual pattern.
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    whirlygigs4 wrote: »
    I'm just doing stickers in my planner so far. Gold star each day I meet my calorie target and a green star for exercise. I like the visual pattern.

    the book said this is also effective, like if you do a check list instead of just a check using something positive like a star or plus sign.
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
    hope516 wrote: »
    TheBeachgod wrote: »
    results

    Sometimes you are not always going to see the results you want to see and sometimes the look in the mirror will not reflect the hard work you put into it...but I feel like if you have a concrete reminder system it could work better.

    I agree :) I actually write down my basic info for each day in a journal and add stickers to the successful days. I know it's not exactly adult but I enjoy the process and it helps me see the chain of positive days all in a row. On days I'm not successful I color the day, to show its not a total loss but also not worthy of my Rainbow Heart stickers or smiley faces.
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    TheRoadDog wrote: »
    Kind of using the stick instead of the carrot at the present. I'm 61. Been playing Indoor Soccer since 1979. Pretty competitive league for the fist 25 years. Been playing in a less competitive Over -30 league since 2004. But, I'm getting out of shape, too old and less competitive. Moved to Goalkeeper in recent years. Anyway....told my wife that if I can't lose at least 5 lbs with each 8 week session, I am going to retire from soccer. I really don't want to quit, but I don't want to let my team down either. This current session is almost finished. I have lost 8 lbs so far. So, I am good for the next 8 weeks. 5 lbs during that time. Then reset. If I am successful, I will lose 30 lbs this year. Then 30 next year. Then I will reevaluate.

    good luck on reaching your goal and sticking with something you love.

    I understand you think you are getting less competitive and out of shape but I think losing something you love even it moves you a minimum amount would hinder your progress verses keep you in shape. I think you should keep it up, especially if it is something you love
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    brb_2013 wrote: »
    hope516 wrote: »
    TheBeachgod wrote: »
    results

    Sometimes you are not always going to see the results you want to see and sometimes the look in the mirror will not reflect the hard work you put into it...but I feel like if you have a concrete reminder system it could work better.

    I agree :) I actually write down my basic info for each day in a journal and add stickers to the successful days. I know it's not exactly adult but I enjoy the process and it helps me see the chain of positive days all in a row. On days I'm not successful I color the day, to show its not a total loss but also not worthy of my Rainbow Heart stickers or smiley faces.

    who cares if it is adult or not.

    It is a proven fact that positive reinforcement is always better than negative. And it is very easy to be negative to ourselves, without even trying. I know for a fact I say horrible things about myself all day every day!!! I chide myself on a daily basis. I NEVER say good job to myself!!! And I think this is a normal pattern for everyone!

    Do what works for you!

    Once again I think anyone can lose weight. There is no one magic cure. Its all about finding what works for you personally.
  • Annabella402
    Annabella402 Posts: 12 Member
    I follow healthy eating most of the time and reward myself with little treats like chocolate or a slice of cake which helps me keep going.
  • hope516
    hope516 Posts: 1,133 Member
    I am surprised this isn't a more widely used tactic....

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