Step Five: Reward Yourself

I'm starting week three of my lifestyle change and things are going well. I'm happy to report that when I weighed myself yesterday morning, I was down another 3.9 pounds! That makes a total of 8.7 pounds in two weeks! I'm putting a lot of effort into this change and it's nice to see that I'm being rewarded. I know it won't always be like this, that the more I lose the harder it will be, but it will all be worth it when I can cross the finish line of this weight loss journey!

I have a couple of goals that I would like to accomplish this week. Firstly, I'm going to continue on with how I'm eating. Some of the choices I've made aren't particularly healthy (i.e. Friday's pizza), but I was able to keep my calorie intake below my budget. As of my weigh in yesterday, my calorie budget is down to 2,025, but I've been keeping under that anyway, so it shouldn't be an issue. I'd also like to continue using my stationary bike like I have been. Last week I rode six of the seven days for an average of 35 minutes each time. I'm impressed with myself that I was motivated enough to do it six days! My goal was to ride at least three days a week. Lastly, I'd like to add a workout video to my schedule. The bike offers cardio, but I should add something for muscle tone as well. I'll try using the DVDs at least three days a week. The DVDs offer different stages, with the first one starting at 20 minutes. Gotta start somewhere!

On a different note, I watched a rather surprising video the other night. It was a lecture or something of the like that was done at the University of California. On the Lose It! website, I joined a group, "100+ Pounds to go," and one of the ladies on there shared a link for the video, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth." It's kinda scary! The video goes quite in depth on the cause and rise of obesity over the last 30-40 years. I would strongly recommend watching it. It's about an hour and a half in length and, at times, gets into some pretty in depth biochemical terminology and models, but the speaker does a wonderful job of trying to explain everything so that people without a degree in biochemistry will understand. There is also a similar series, "The Skinny of Obesity," also done by the University of California, available on YouTube. The series is done in a much more viewer-friendly manner.  I watched them both. I was awed and sickened at the same time. Definitely worth the time.

Once again, I digress...

Without further ado, the next step...

Step Five: Reward Yourself for Your Accomplishments

I've been told that when you are trying to lose weight, it may be a good idea to set rewards for smaller goals achieved. Say, getting a massage done once you've lost 10 pounds or something along those lines. Obviously the biggest reward will be the weight loss, but sometimes the whole thing seems like an uphill battle... Which it is most of the time... It's nice to reward yourself for the little accomplishments. The reward should not be edible, as that would be counter-productive.

I've been racking my brain about when and with what I should reward my progress, but I can't seem to think of anything. I had made a list of rewards for myself a few years back when I'd attempted losing weight (it was done with medication and I wasn't able to maintain the loss once I stopped taking the pills), but the rewards that I had then don't really interest me now.

I think for now I'll just set up a "rough draft" of my rewards and I can change them as I see fit.

- 10 pound loss: Get a massage
- 25 pound loss: Manicure/Pedicure
- 50 pound loss:
- Weight below 200 pounds: A new purse (maybe Guess! or Coach)
- 80 pound loss:
- Goal reached: New wardrobe!

I'll have to think about it some more and update it later. I honestly can't think of anything I'd like to reward myself with (other than a big bowl of ice cream)...