Rewarding Yourself for a Job Well Done!

Today is all about rewarding yourself for your amazing work! We all have our ups and downs while losing weight and trying to get to an ideal/healthy size, but staying positive can be hard. That's why you have to reward yourself! Rewarding yourself will keep you motivated and excited about what changes you're making to your body.

For instance, my mother and sister are also trying to change their eating habits. My mother was disappointed that she hadn't lost any pounds for the week, but she said she could see that she lost in terms of inches. You can still reward yourself for that! It's still an amazing achievement in my book.

My weight has been fluctuating up and down, and now that I can afford food again I can go back to eating way healthier (Note: This doesn't mean I was eating like a cow, it just means that the options available weren't healthy in nature---portion control is something I'm thankfully good at---unless it's ice cream!) Ultimately I'm proud to say that as of today, I'm down to 160 lbs!

Now, money is tight for many of us out there. Rewarding yourself can be a challenge in itself. But there are ways to do it! Just do not reward yourself with food. Many dieters out there have a "cheat day" or "cheat weekend"! All they are doing is sabotaging their ability to lose. If they weren't on an actual diet, and instead eating healthy to change their lifestyle, they would realize that they can indulge here and there without making it a reward. The mentality of the food reward leads to a negative way of thinking when it comes to "diet food". There's no need for that!

Here's my first reward: I turned my side swept bangs into a blunt bang style (DIYed) for free! And it made me feel incredible. Instantly I felt more attractive, more sophisticated, and more like ME!

Anyway, here are some low-budget and cute rewards you can do for yourself!

• Give yourself a make-over. Use some Youtube tutorials and try out different make up styles with products you already have, or can obtain inexpensively.
• Paint your nails! Get a mini-manicure set if you don't have one and paint those puppies!
• Give yourself a reward that is inexpensive that furthers your motivation (I will be getting a new sports bra soon, as my 10 lb reward).
• If you're like me, and can't afford clothes often, go to Goodwill and pick out one outfit. It'll be under $10 and you can donate it back once you're too skinny for it!
• Give yourself a mini spa day at home. Make your own face mask, or purchase one (most are about $2), soak your feet, lounge around, and maybe meet some friends later to show off how relaxed you are!
• Reward yourself with one of your favorite books---make time to do it!
• New music to work out to!
• A new accessory like jewelery, scarves, etc.
• A new work out DVD or something else fitness related.
• And more!

There are so many ways to reward yourself for good work. You can do it. And by doing something special for you in return, it'll make you feel great!  Obviously this is a list of less expensive ideas, but the more money you have, the more room you have to reward yourself with.

A few ways to do the reward system is keep a jar filled with slips of paper with different rewards on them, or assign an award on a calendar once a week. My mom and I do the 5lb reward, 10 lb reward, etc. to keep us going strong!

What are your rewards?


-Whitney