Rewards

A couple posts ago, I mentioned rewards. For many of us (myself included), we have a skewed opinion of a reward. In the past when I did really well eating healthy all day and exercising that day, I would reward myself. More often than not, it was in the form of food. And because I was rewarding myself for being good, it was always in the form of something really bad for me.

By using sweets (cause that's my weakness) for a reward, I was eliminating all the healthy eating and exercising I had done for the day. Now, I am not advocating that you should never not eat things that you really enjoy, in my case that is chocolate in same shape or form. But what I am saying is that make it worth it. Don't settle for okay, go for totally AWESOME!!!! And don't do it everyday. Maybe cut it down to once a week. Really look at the dessert or treat for what it is and then decide if it is worth it.

Ever since I started this blog, I've adjusted how I see food. At times, it's almost sad when I look at things I used to indulge in. I have a goal and indulging in just okay sweets is going to prevent me from achieving that goal. Why let something that is just okay get in the way of a better, healthier me? Now when I indulge, it has to be something that is worth the calories.

Which brings me back to the concept of rewards. If you are going to use food, maybe have it be ONE Hershey's kiss versus the whole serving or 10 M&M's instead of a handful. For me, I have decided that food no longer needs to be my reward. Mine may be a pedicure. It may be 30 minutes of quiet time. It could be a new lotion. Rewards don't need to be eaten (although humans are really in to instantaneous satisfaction), nor do they need to cost money. It could be a bubble bath. Whatever you choose to be your reward, do it so that it feels like a reward and not something you feel entitled to because you had a good day. Because in my case, my previous rewards were counteracting my achievements to the point that the scale was going up instead of down.