What is your most helpful tip for treating yourself

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I have been curious as to how the "rewarding", and giving yourself treats should work?! Any tips on how often you treat yourself, what you like to have as your treat, the time of day you reward yourself, and how you stop yourself from going overboard?! Go!

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  • SharonNehring
    SharonNehring Posts: 535 Member
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    I really try to make my "treats" not food related at all. A reward for losing is new clothes, a purse, an afternoon off to do whatever I want etc.

    If we're talking about allowing oneself to eat something not normally on the menu, I do that on occasion when we go out to eat. That way I can enjoy those fries, dessert or whatever without having it in my house for me to eat for several days in a row. The fact that eating too many carbs makes me physically ill generally keeps these kinds of treats fairly limited.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Eat "good" (whatever that means to you) 80% of the time. Fit yummy, portion-controlled treats into your calorie goal. Deprivation can lead to bingeing.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
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    A treat (I'm assuming you mean "cheat day") probably shouldn't be food related, since that's what got you here in the first place. It's like being sober for 6 months and celebrating by getting hammered. Get something that figures into your fitness goals. Have your treats regularly and make them fit into your days so it takes the "celebration" out of them.
  • LiveMore101
    LiveMore101 Posts: 84 Member
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    Lately, I haven't been too balanced in my eating. I've been eating out too much or just eating too much in general. This bugs me because ever since I started pushing myself to eat healthier, I have started to crave healthier foods. I feel horrible if I go overboard and feel AMAZING when I go a week or two without eating something bad...
    But, once I get back into the habit of things and get balanced again, I have decided to limit myself to these two options:

    On weekends, treat yourself to one meal and one small dessert, or....

    If you can't survive that long: During the week, treat yourself to three SMALL treaty snacks or desserts, like having a bowl of chips, a candy bar, and a frappe at Caribou Coffee.

    Just make sure you don't go TOO overboard when it comes to those two treat or cheat times. Because then that could TOTALLY blow off your progress. But I strongly suggest doing something like that. It's pretty manageable. And hey, if you slip more than you'd like, just shake it off and work it off, start new again the next day.
    If you want MORE than those two options, I then suggest to work out an extra 15 minutes that day of fairly intense cardio to blast off those added calories.

    Also, if you happen to want to indulge in something sweet, but don't want it to go way over calories, I just bought this book: Taste of Home-Comfort Foods DIET.
    It is AMAZING! I have tried several recipes in there already, like Chocolate Chip Blondies, and they are actually REALLY good! They also have healthy options in there for snacks and dinners and sides... This I STRONGLY, STRONGLY suggest in getting. I don't think it's more than 15 dollars. This might help in your progress even more. :)

    Good luck!
  • hannaawh
    hannaawh Posts: 51
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    A treat doesn't have to be food. :) Just yesterday I bought myself that awesome new pair of sweatpants I wanted to have for a long time. If you want to treat yourself with your favourite food but you're afraid you might overdo it - make it part of your regular day. You could have a tiny bit of cake every single day as long as you log it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that! Moderation is everything. Good luck!
  • KatJ_NZ
    KatJ_NZ Posts: 31 Member
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    I try to not make a treat food-related. Get a haircut (or just a wash/blowout), have a massage, buy a new nail polish, take a day off from chores... anything but food!