|
A Reward System Key to Continuing Your Weight Loss Plan
Rewards are key to any plan that is a long-term goal. Since losing weight should always be a long-term instead of a
short-term goal, it is best to accompany your weight-loss goal with a reward system that will keep you on track. In
order to better understand the idea, first take a moment to think of possible rewards for your weight-loss program.
While some people might be prone to make their reward system out of food items, this is actually the last thing
that one should do. Rewards should never be food, whether they are for meeting weight loss goals or for meeting any
other goals. Making food into a reward is one of the biggest ways to set oneself up for eating disorders in the
future. Don’t use food as a reward—not for yourself and not for your kids either!
Spa Rewards
Once you have excluded food as a possible weight-loss reward, you can move on to other kinds of items or ideas that
could be rewards. One of the most popular types of reward is the reward system for women who like special
treatments. Treating oneself to a massage, a manicure or a pedicure is a good way to reward oneself. In addition to
the experience of the treatment being a reward, this type of reward also helps to perpetuate the cycle of
self-betterment. Many women are trying to lose weight in order to feel better about themselves, in particular,
better about the way that they look. Getting manicures and pedicures are just one more way to beautify yourself,
raising your self-assessment of your overall look and making you even more able to look in the mirror and be
confident about what you see.
Understand that it is not the physical aspect that should be stressed, but the psychological reaction to the
physical look. Women who think they look beautiful are confident and feel good about themselves. For many women,
having a manicure makes them feel more beautiful, which perpetuates the cycle of self-confidence and ability to be
strong.
Entertainment Rewards
Another good type of reward is the type of fun thing that does not consist in beautification. For some women, an
entertainment reward would consist of a trip to the movies or a trip to the ballet. For other women, it would be
letting oneself buy a CD that you’ve been holding off buying because you’ve been being so good about saving money
lately. In either case, the reward system helps to make you feel that you have accomplished something. When you’re
losing weight, it’s important to recognize the milestones along the way to your long-term goal. If you don’t
recognize and celebrate the fact that you’ve reached milestones along the way, you are at risk for falling off the
bandwagon.
Dinner Out?
Although it is stated above that food should never be a reward, it is okay to have a special trip to a favorite
restaurant as a reward for a dieting milestone. The thing that you have to be careful about though is making sure
that you do not treat the meal as part of your diet or as a binge. Do enjoy whatever it is that is your favorite
dish. Don’t order three appetizers and two entrees, followed by dessert. Enjoy a typical meal without feeling
guilty about the creamy cheese sauce and the chocolate cake. Treat it as a treat, but do not go overboard; either
extreme is taking a step towards eating disorders. While a reward system can help one lose weight, it would be a
shame to set oneself up for an eating disorder by choosing the wrong rewards for the job.
| 
Delicious
Google Bookmarks
Stumbleupon
Digg
BlinkList
Blogmarks
Facebook
Ma.gnolia
Reddit
Twitter
Yahoo My Web
Livejournal