Rewarding good eating/exercise with money

BuffingButtons

You've heard it before and probably know it by heart... "I just can't keep motivated. I can't stay on track. I'm gaining it all back."

This motto is me 110%. I use MFP religiously, go to the gym and make healthy choices. I lose 5-10 pounds and get really excited. Then, I never make it to my goal of losing 30 pounds and I gain everything I've lost back over a few months. To make it worse, I find myself gaining 1-3 pounds extra each time I go through this cycle. I'm the heaviest I've ever been.

But tonight something happened. I realized how much I love shopping. I love the weekends because I get to go to the mall, craft store, grocery store and any new boutique that has popped up. I get to spend my weekend on Amazon and take advantage of Amazon Prime. I get to spend money and buy new things for myself.

So what does shopping have to do with not staying motivated to lose weight? I'm going to stop shopping on the weekends and start using shopping as a reward. For each pound lost or each time I go to the gym, I get to buy something for myself. If I don't lose weight or go to the gym, I don't get to buy something. I'm going to stop shopping on the weekends. I have plenty of hobbies at home to keep me busy, so I'm not worried about boring weekends. I'm going to limit the purchase to $10. If I'm too busy to buy something for myself, I'll set aside the $10 and buy something $20 the next time I can reward myself.

One of the things that has always ruined MFP diary is the birthday party at work where a piece of cake, cookies or ice cream is handed to me to partake in the celebration. Where every Monday and Wednesday morning our company brings in donuts, shortbread cookies, fig newtons and rice krisipy treats with foo-foo sugary cofffees to say thank you. Where I take a sample of every desert at the potluck to eat. For each time I tell myself no and/or tell someone no for any offers like cake, cookies, candy, sugary coffees or donuts... I'm going to increase my reward to $15.

I thought I'd share this idea in case it may help someone else. If your able to help me with any suggestions too, I appreciate it.

XOXO
- BuffingButtons