What are your weight loss rewards?!

No real rewards. Just smaller clothes, as a nescessity. Relief knowing I feel, and look better.

Back at the start, I promised myself that I could get the tattoo I wanted once I'd lost enough weight for it to look good. 50 lbs later, I'm about 5 lbs from that goal , so I'm pretty stoked. I'm itching for some ink.

I like the idea of rewards. I stick to non food stuff and things I wouldn't normally splurge on. This is my list.

160s = new sneakers
150s = new workout clothes
140s = new blender
130s = Beats headphones
120s = Personal Trainer
Goal: Mommy makeover

*Mommy makeover is referred to a combo tummy tuck/ breast lift surgery. Most surgeons gave it this name, cause a lot of moms go in for this after having kids. After our first and before our back to back 2nd and 3rd my husband and I came to an agreement. I put my body through a lot carrying our children. I ended up with diastasis recti (separation of abdominal muscles) after our first and it got progressively worse after each child. The only way to fix mine st this point in through surgery. I also have that awful mommy pouch which no amount of exercise will take away due to all the excess skin. The deal is I have to hit goal weight and maintain for a least a year before investing in a nonessential/cosmetic surgery. *

For me, it adds a little incentive and fun to this journey. Cause this *kitten* takes hard work and most of the time it's not fun.

I've tried several self-set reward programs, but only one that really worked.

Right now I do have the ultra motivating external reward of fitting into my wedding dress (turns out, seamstresses are rare people in that they can credibly recommend a diet without being out of line).

The other one that was a more long-term thing wasn't really getting any physical item or treat, it was that once a week during my grocery shopping, I visited the butter section of the store and used the butter tubs to visualize how much weight I have lost. "It's just one pound" feels very, very different when you take the 1-pound tub of butter to your hand, put it next to your waist and think about it still being inside your skin two weeks ago. I did this butter tub thing while I had other reward programs for myself, but this was the best one.

The more concrete rewards I set up for myself didn't really work, for a few reasons:
1) If it's something I'm spending money on, it's money I've already received as a reward for working hard at my job and I've already earned it once, I don't need to earn it again.
2) If the reward is fitness related, why should I wait to reach the goal in order to get myself something that helps me reach it?
3) I know when I need a pick-me-up in the form of getting myself something nice when I feel it, not when some pre-set goal is reached
4) My preferences change over time, and something I think would be really nice now might not be that exciting in a few months
5) The item I want may come on sale before I reach the goal, or be otherwise sensible to purchase at a specific time that is before the goal is reached
6) Food rewards are usually for building the habit of not eating the reward food, which makes no sense
7) Clothing rewards: if it's a new size, I buy it when I need it, not when I've hit some arbitrary goal that may or may not be when my clothing size changes. Also, I don't need the pre-reward punishment of walking around in wrong-sized clothes while trying to hit the reward limit.

Obviously, for others these might work differently, but this is my reasoning for not having any other rewards planned than the wedding dress (and this is very short term, 2 weeks to go) and visiting the butter aisle.

I do non food rewards! It motivates me. And after I get to my goal, I’ll do rewards for sticking to my maintenance calories for a week, or exercising for 5 out of 7 days, etc. But right now while I’m losing I do a lot of rewards. For every 2lbs down, I get a small reward. Sometimes it’s a new lipstick, or a small bouquet of flowers, or even a new shirt. Then every 10lbs down I get a new shirt and pants. For 25lb it’s a facial. When I hit my goal, it’s basically a new wardrobe. I’ve been big for over 10 years so my old smaller clothes probably aren’t much in style anymore. ;-)

I just like having the satisfaction of a job well done. Personally, looking and feeling fit is reward enough.

To do this, I changed who I was as a person. I don't reward myself for being the person I am, I just live my life. I am thankful every day for my opportunities to move closer to my goals.