Rewards for sticking to exercise routine

tjaburke8

Hi all,

Sorry for the long post - I know this topic has been discussed before but I thought I'd "refresh" it.

I’ve been on a health journey the last year, aided greatly by MyFitnessPal and research-based books like “Atomic Habits” & others on positive mindset. I’ve dropped 80 pounds just by changing the way I eat, and I’m getting close to my goal weight. But I want to keep going. The thing is, I’m losing fat but I am not gaining muscle, so I need to incorporate EXERCISE.

This brings up a lot of anxiety for me. I’ve always been overweight & out of shape, not coordinated/athletic and typically don’t stick with exercise routines. Last summer I walked my dogs every morning which was great, but then we had a baby and that stopped.

I want to get more into weightlifting/strength training. I’ve done all the research, planning, I have the equipment, I know what workouts/routines I want to do – I’m ready to go. But I keep dragging my feet. As James Clear (author of “Atomic Habits”) would say, I’m “in motion, but not taking action”.

I’ve got the system down. I’m able to get myself up and dressed & go upstairs (where I have my dumbbells and space to exercise). But that’s where I hit a wall & lose my drive.
I’ve decided I need to set up a reward system. Something daily/weekly/monthly that I can “treat” myself to if I’m consistent with my workouts.

My plan is to have either a large wall calendar to mark off days or a jar to put marbles in every day I exercise (or something like that). I want it to be visible in my house & get my kids excited about checking off days, as their involvement will help motivate me as well.

But when I start coming up with a list of rewards, I’m falling short. Here are some things about me that I take into consideration when picking rewards:

• I’m a recovering alcoholic (so celebrating with a drink is out)
• Due to spending time with my kids, I’m limited on time (not too limited to work out, but too limited to enjoy time-sucking rewards)
• We’re doing OK financially, but we like to be frugal – I’d prefer to create a list of rewards that are mostly free/cheap.
  **While my wife is supportive of my journey, she’s not very supportive of spending lots of money every month on a reward
• I don’t have any hobbies except work & spending time with my family, so it’s hard to pinpoint an effective reward because I don’t really know what I “like to do”
• I do all the cooking
• We moved to my wife’s hometown a few years ago, so I don’t have any friends in the area to socialize or work out with
  **Although an accountability partner would be really helpful, I’m pretty introverted and enjoy doing things on my own

So, with all that said, I’ve started a list of some weekly and monthly rewards that I’ll allow myself to “earn” if I exercise a certain number of times each week/month:

Monthly Rewards
- Massage
- Golfing alone
- Pay to have house cleaned
- Join a fitness class (boxing, BJJ)

Weekly Rewards
- Lottery tickets (we never play the lottery but I thought it would be cheap fun)

Types of rewards (often suggested) I’m NOT interested in (for a variety of reasons):
- “Buy yourself a journal or planner”
- “Get a new outfit or a manicure”
- “Spa day”
- “Buy new workout gear” (I’ve got everything I need)
- “Decorate your house”
- “See a movie”
- “Sleep in”
- “Buy songs or listen to a podcast”
- “Play video games”
- “Read a book”

There’s a variety of reasons why these rewards won’t work for me (I’m not “putting down” these rewards or people who enjoy them). Either I already regularly do these things or they are not motivating enough.

So this is where I’m at. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to get as much info out there as I could to gather some good suggestions.

Anyone have any thoughts on rewards for sticking to an exercise routine?

bethp4838

I use The Conqueror Events to reward me for exercising and behaviors too. They are virtual challenges to log miles and earn a medal (awesome quality to the medals). The challenges are in different parts of the world and come with postcards and info about the places. Some fun ones too like lord of the rings and new Star Wars one. I log 0.25/per day for every good behavior (that I’ve created for myself) and how many miles I walked per day. Also a converter chart to calculate other things (like time doing yoga) to miles. It’s worked great for me and I have all my medals hung in my kitchen to keep my focus.

Theoldguy1

IMO, you don't need some contribution to the state like lottery tickets. You mentioned having kids. Look at long term motivation. Do you want to be active with them. See them grow up and have their own children? A great motivator I stole from Dan John is I want to be able to dance with my granddaughter at her wedding (sometime after she graduates from college). She is 8 months old and I'm in my mid 60's. Do the math and this means I want to be healthy and active at 90+.

Much better motivation than some "stuff". Good luck.

nossmf

You mention spending time with your kids, but video games and movies are on your "not interested" list. But would they be on your kids' "interested" list? Maybe you can recruit your kids as in-house cheerleaders by setting up a few rewards you earn but all of you enjoy. This way, if you fail to earn your part, they miss out, and thus have the incentive to push you, ask if you did your part today, etc. You can set up weekly, monthly and annual- or semi-annual goals your kids will look forward to enjoying, but only if YOU do your part.

To whit, something like:

Weekly - take kids to enjoy their favorite dessert treat

Monthly - take kids to see a kid-friendly movie in-theater

Annual - take kids to theme park or water park