Your new habits to reward or comfort yourself?

eijaj

I, like many of you, have noticed that I have the tendency to use food to comfort myself when tired or sad and use food as a reward when I reach a goal.

Now that I am trying to replace some of these habits with new ones, I would love to hear what has worked for you.

What do you do when you get home exhausted after a hard day? What do you do to reward yourself? Is it still a chocolate bar or have you found other ways?

missysippy930

The reward was in the scale moving down and the need for smaller sizes.

claireychn074

I’ve never actually rewarded myself with food so I’m not an expert on alternative strategies, but is there something you love doing? Maybe putting PJs on super early, putting on your favourite music and snuggling up with a book? Something that feels luxurious (ie not work or chores)? And if you feel like you want to nibble, could you be prepared and have a bow of snacks ready? I’m slightly obsessed with raw carrots and I know they’re not everyone’s thing, but a bowl of sliced carrots or cucumber could satisfy the physical act of snacking. I freely admit it’s not chocolate though!

eijaj

claireychn074 wrote: »

I’ve never actually rewarded myself with food so I’m not an expert on alternative strategies, but is there something you love doing? Maybe putting PJs on super early, putting on your favourite music and snuggling up with a book? Something that feels luxurious (ie not work or chores)? And if you feel like you want to nibble, could you be prepared and have a bow of snacks ready? I’m slightly obsessed with raw carrots and I know they’re not everyone’s thing, but a bowl of sliced carrots or cucumber could satisfy the physical act of snacking. I freely admit it’s not chocolate though!

Good ideas I have actually found couple new ways, a hot bath for example works for me when feeling tired or down.

As for rewarding myself, I am getting close to my next bigger target (20kg down). When I was about to reach my last big target I wanted to have a nice evening in a restaurant. But I don´t feel like it now, so I started to think about it again. How will I reward myself when I get to that next big goal. I think some new clothes are necessary and a reward enough, but I can´t always go for a big shopping spree when something good happens, that would soon be another bad habit to try and break! lol

Is it weird that I have started to think a long hike as a reward for next summer if I stay in course? I guess I have changed

I am in a good place now, but I know life will throw curve balls at me every now and then. So I want to be prepared and make sure I will not fall back in my old habits again when it happens. Also healthy habits are harder to practice after a hard day at work, or on a rainy Monday.

So all ideas, big and small are appreciated

wsusan162

I've started painting my nails, can't eat with wet fingernails

Theoldguy1

I have a sedentary office job so being able to move is my reward.

Also think what you are "rewarding" yourself for. Going to work or school is a normal adult thing, something that shouldn't require a "reward" just for doing it on a regular basis. Now if one has been working 16 hour days on a project sure a reward is fine. Shouldn't need a reward for doing the normal 8 hour day IMO.

tmbg1

I've really gotten into loose teas from a local tea shop. I have a bunch of different flavors and varieties. A cup of high-quality hot tea is surprisingly comforting.

Dogmom1978

If I have a really bad day at work, I want to hit the gym no matter how tired I am (also 10 min into a workout and the blood is pumping and I’m super energetic).

The reward is fitting into smaller clothes and being able to see all of myself if I look down. I don’t have to suck the gut in to find my feet anymore 😂

yirara

I don’t reward myself with food. Never have. For me it was reward that the weight went down and that i got better at sport. I also didn’t reward myself with nrw clothes as I’m anticommercial and a bit tight 😂 so... uh

springlering62

Homemade chai lattes.

Hot bubble bath with Epsom salts, a drop or two of lavender oil, and a good foreign decor magazine. If I’m really needy, I’ll pull out a classic mystery novel- Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh or Margery Allingham. I’ve read every novel a dozen times and never tire of them.

Not a do-at-home reward, but a Chinese foot massage is....aaaaaaaaah, and not super expensive.

lokiidokiiartichokii

I still enjoy food but I find investing in better quality things makes so I'm less likely to chow down on the entire thing (ie when I'm wanting chocolate, getting a bar of Cadbury/Godiva vs. some kind of cheap hershey bar at the checkout). I also enjoy eating out so my partner and we make time once a week/every other week to go down to our fav sushi place for 1/2 price sushi (we split a couple of rolls). I'm still in the midst of recovering from BED, though, so I find I need balance and consistency not restriction/deprivation when it comes to eating habits. For me, that also means basically eating the same things everyday and meal-prepping. If I've already got the food ready/prepared, I find it harder to justify getting junk/fast food or making impulsive food choices. Thanks to Covid, it's become so much easier because a lot of grocery stores do free grocery pick-up now so I just make up a meal plan/grocery list on Wed/Thur, schedule my pickup for Sat/Sun and meal prep over the weekend for the following week.

Along the lines of dealing with cravings, I've invested in a variety of video games. It's amazing how quick my cravings subside when I get into a game (my favs atm are Minecraft on my switch lite and Overwatch on PC). I'll also do a face mask or foot mask when I play games on the weekend as an extra little self-care step.

As for habit building, I aim to do yoga every night before bed. It's literally just rolling out my yoga mat, rubbing a little lavender oil on my pulse points (I do this so I can trick my brain into associated lavender with relaxing), and doing a 20-30 min session with Yoga W/Adrienne on YT.

Also, just gonna say... NSV like loose fitting clothes are nice but having gone up/down the scale a lot due to disordered eating, I find it more rewarding to treat yourself along the way, not when you meet specific goals. If you don't hit a certain goal or if you hit a goal and then life happens (like it's the holidays and you regain weight), it can get too discouraging imo. Plus, if you can afford to invest in nice clothes suited to your current physique or whatever it is that brings you joy, you'll be much happier than hating on your body because it doesn't fit your ideal in the now.

Chef_Barbell

I've been buying lingerie as little weight loss rewards. It makes me feel good and hot, plus the hubby get a bonus

NorthCascades

A good hike, a bike ride, a ski tour, even just a walk around the neighborhood.

age_is_just_a_number

Walk my dogs
Play a card game on my iPad
Read the MFP community and blog
Hot bath with epsom salt and a few drops of lavender and/or tea tree oil.

PKM0515

Nice tea in a pretty cup or mug (sip while reading, listening to music, or just enjoying the silence).
A craft you enjoy or something like adult coloring books, dot to dots, puzzle books, etc.
Online games.
Jigsaw puzzles.
Solitaire.
Listening to a Podcast or Youtuber that you enjoy.
Calling, writing a note, or sending a card to someone.
Snuggling with a pet, if you have one.

Psychgrrl

I do my nails (fancy manicure set), deep condition my hair, do a facial, have scented candles going. Lots of self-care stuff. Also, buying new workout clothes. 😃

kshama2001

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

I have a sedentary office job so being able to move is my reward.

Also think what you are "rewarding" yourself for. Going to work or school is a normal adult thing, something that shouldn't require a "reward" just for doing it on a regular basis. Now if one has been working 16 hour days on a project sure a reward is fine. Shouldn't need a reward for doing the normal 8 hour day IMO.

I could find a normal 8-10 hour desk job day exhausting if I 1. Didn't exercise at lunch time and/or 2. Didn't eat enough protein/had too much carbs.

It's amazing how much better I felt after getting in more movement and more protein during the work day!

rosebarnalice

I always have a book by my bedside- and reward myself with a cozy cup of herbal tea and an hour or so of "me time" reading in bed before bedtime

charmmeth

One of my friends moved from rewarding herself with chocolate to rewarding herself with flowers. I love this idea and have copied it, and it also supports our local florist (who uses sustainably grown flowers). [Our chocolate instake stil lgoes up over Christmas though!]

HabitRabbit

Journaling is my most effective habit when I’m seeking comfort. It’s like I turn into my own therapist. But I have to get in the habit of doing it frequently, or I forget about it and seek something that feels a little self destructive.

Actually, I’ve been in that indulgent, slightly self destructive mode for quite some time now, and it took this thread for me to remember this, so thank you for that.

happyness4me

tmbg1 wrote: »

I've really gotten into loose teas from a local tea shop. I have a bunch of different flavors and varieties. A cup of high-quality hot tea is surprisingly comforting.

I like this idea!

TeaBea

tmbg1 wrote: »

I've really gotten into loose teas from a local tea shop. I have a bunch of different flavors and varieties. A cup of high-quality hot tea is surprisingly comforting.

This^

I bought some "special" teas on-line and a stainless steel thermal mug to keep the tea warm longer. Really nice in the winter.

sgt1372

I've never consdered allowing myself to eat certain food as a "reward" nor the deprivation of certain food as punishment.

I just ate when I was hungry or "felt" like eating, which only became a problem when I got fat, which I "fixed" by joining MFP and counting cals so that I could lose wt.

I still eat whatever I want whenever I want as long as I eat within my caloric limits so that I can maintain and void gaining wt significantly beyond my redline again