What are replacements for food as a reward

cvhs59

What are good alternatives for food (or shopping) rewards?

lulalacroix

To me, the answer seems very individual. I've gotten myself all types of rewards for weight loss including new clothes, trips, jewelry, etc. None of it helped me keep the weight loss off though.

Lietchi

Well, if you exclude food AND shopping, it becomes tricky 😛

I bought myself a fancy fitness tracker when I went from obese to overweight.
Buying new clothes was a necessity and a reward at the same time. I didn't really give myself rewards aside from that, certainly nothing linked to specific numbers on the scale. My new body, fitness level and self confidence was the best reward, honestly.

Some people like to treat themselves to massages, pedicures, manicures, special holidays.

Caliimacchia

If you want to celebrate go out somewhere and do something, museum, bowling, mini golf, hike, see friends...do something you wouldn't normally do. This way it's an activity and your are out and about, you can have food (lunch/dinner) but it won't be the main focus.

cmriverside

uh...better health? Being able to smile when I look in the mirror?

When I was losing weight the only material thing I bought that I wouldn't have bought anyway was a chocolate-brown pearl ring one Valentines Day. It was to remind me more than reward me, though. I wanted to stay away from sweets and no one was buying me jewelry so I did!

When I set my weight loss goal I also planned and paid for a vacation to coincide with the amount of time I estimated it would take to get to a healthy weight BMI. It was in the Bahamas. That meant a week in skimpy clothes and bathing suit. That was both a Big Reward and a motivation. It worked.

Sinisterbarbie1

When I was losing weight I did things like spa trips that incorporate healthy eating and exercise and re-energize me for the next phase of my weight loss. I look forward to still doing that just to keep up with healthy habits and enjoy the relaxing part of the trip. If you can’t spare the time away (or the expense that comes with it) maybe you can recreate some of the elements of a spa day at home. Plan a day of healthy but delicious foods, serve them on nice dishes for yourself, buy some magazines or other relaxing reading, do a fun work out video (dance videos on youtue can be fun for a change of pace) or go for a hike/walk/bike ride/ski/skate etc. in a park nearby then come back and make a bubble bath or a hot shower using some nice bath products and skin products. Finish up with a fancy tea or coffee or smoothie or favored seltzer in a nice glass garnished with fruit while you watch a favorite movie on tv or netflix. Finish up with a meditation from a meditation app like calm or headspace.

You can get a lot of sample size beauty products at places ike sephora or ulta beauty or even the wagreens/cvs/rite aid or target. A relaxing face mask, a nice soak or scrub in the shower with good smelling soaps that you don’t normally use = stuff like that always makes me feel pampered even if I do it myself,

Rockmama1111

Don’t wait for a milestone to do nice things for yourself. For long term success, “weight control” or the broader “being healthy” has to be a part of your lifestyle. You might as well start making your lifestyle amazing all around.

I’m talking simple things, like a lot of the suggestions that have already been given. Nice plates/hot bath/home facial/movie night/nature-walk-instead-of-treadmill kind of stuff. I want some every day.

HoneyBadger302

I'm not very "reward" motivated...more results. So when I start to see results, that provides more motivation than anything. I'm also very competition prone, but need at least a SLIGHT outside force (so a challenge I set up and only am accountable to me doesn't do much), but something like 75 Hard I will put my head down and get it done. Things like transformation challenges don't work very well for me, more that daily "do it" challenge than anything.

Hence part of why I'm starting a year of Live Hard on the 2nd....even though no one else is technically holding me accountable, for some reason in my brain it makes the difference.

lynn_glenmont

Doing things that were hard or uncomfortable when you weighed more? Maybe playing with kids/grandkids if you've been in the habit of just sitting and watching them because you can't keep up with or can't get down on the floor to play with infants? Ditto for pets. Taking a hike, going skating or skiing or biking or doing something touristy that involves more physical effort than you've been comfortable doing lately?

Go out dancing (or stay in with your SO and dance and ... whatever)?

If you sew, taking in some clothes that now look like you're wearing a tent?

If your extra weight made you less likely to tackle repairs or painting or yardwork, do that and improve your environment to match the improved you?

I'm all for "rewards" that reinforce the reasons (or emphasize additional reasons) for why your life is better from losing the weight.

ninerbuff

I believe when food is viewed as a reward (unless maybe you won a dinner from say a raffle), that the diet being implemented is severely restricting or banning foods you may enjoy and that you're denying yourself. Food IMO shouldn't be looked at that way because it's one of the reasons that many fail after doing a diet, reaching weight and then reintroducing and back to overeating them and regaining lost weight.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Kiyomoo

Maybe you can get a cork board and every time you reach a certain milestone, you create some sort of craft and stick it to the board. Your own little award. You could also just buy stickers or patches to put on the board if you don't want to make something yourself. Seeing the visuals of your success could make you feel great;

penguinmama87

I do have milestone rewards that involve spending money, but I don't regard that as "shopping" per se. They also aren't free-for-alls but specific items that will need to be replaced as I lose weight - new workout clothes, for example. This might seem random but on my list are two rooms that I have been itching to paint. Does weight loss actually have anything to do with painting the rooms? No, but it's just a subtle boost for motivation (though maybe it would if, say, I currently weighed more than was safe to use a ladder!)

The rewards themselves are not motivating enough, though, and I am willing to admit that. Just a fun "bonus." Any time I wear the new workout clothes or see the rooms I painted I'll have a visual reminder that I set a goal and met it, and that feeling is hard to beat!

AnnPT77

Maybe it's too Pollyanna-ish, but weight loss and fitness deliver their own rewards . . . and I found that I didn't need to wait until goal in order to see benefits** in improved mood, better mobility, less discomfort/pain, etc. I was also gradually being able to do more fun physical things more often, without negative consequences during and after.

It helped me to think of eating for weight loss as an experiment in finding calorie-appropriate foods and meals that I truly enjoy, plus not totally eliminating any treat foods that were genuinely a joy for me (though I did make some of the calorie-dense ones less frequent). On the exercise front, I stick with activities I actually enjoy there, too.

I think that if I'd taken a more punitive approach - restrictive eating rules that seemed like a sacrifice, extreme/unpleasant exercise - it would've been more important to have extrinsic rewards. The easier I could make the process, the better things went, for me.

I do admit that I kinda kicked myself when a thread here made me realize that I could've bought (another) boat as a reward for reaching goal weight. But that would be shopping, I guess.

I may also be a weirdo: The need to buy a complete new wardrobe - from underwear on out - after weight loss was more of a punishment than a reward, to me. I hate to clothes shop!

** https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1275030/whats-your-most-recent-nsv/p1