How many times have you heard someone say, “I can’t wait until I drop (insert number here) pounds. When I do, I’m going to have (insert huge caloric meal).” Heck, maybe you’ve even said it yourself. I know in the past I have.
Unfortunately, that kind of thing is just self-sabotage! You can’t celebrate your health and fitness milestones with a buffet of foods that are just going to end up sabotaging all your efforts. When you think about it, it doesn’t make sense to eat healthy and watch your calorie intake all week, just to go overboard with one meal and undo all the hard work you’ve done, does it?
Celebrating Fitness Milestones with Healthy Rewards
You should never start a weight loss program thinking that all you need to do is put a temporary diet in place. Ideally you want to change your eating habits for life. Of course everyone wants to be a healthy weight, but you need to eat healthy for life to maintain that healthy weight and avoid preventable diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Tips for Celebrating Your Health and Fitness Milestones:
- After a week of following your healthy diet, don’t let yourself mess everything up by going overboard on the weekend. We should always follow the 80/20 rule, 80% of the time eat healthy, and treat yourself 20% of the time. This does not mean you eat within your calorie budget all week just to eat 5000 calories on the weekend. Instead, try treating yourself once in awhile with small things like a serving of ice cream or a couple cookies.
- When you reach a fitness goal, reward yourself with a fun physical activity. You could go to a trampoline park, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, indoor rock climbing, or take a fitness class you always want to try! It doesn’t have to be an expensive reward, just something you can look forward to and use as motivation to reach your next goal.
- If you have finally finished a program like Couch to 5k, sign up for a race! Okay, this may not seem like a reward, but once you cross that finish line, you are going to feel amazing! Or you could take it up a notch and try a color run or a mud run! Now that’s a fun reward!
- When you hit a certain weight goal, buy yourself some new workout gear! For some reason, a new pair of running shorts or yoga pants makes people want to do a workout, just to break them in. Or you could buy a new pair of sneakers. Running shoes should be replaced every 300-500 miles. Even if you are not a runner, if your workout of choice is walking, the same rule applies! That’s a new pair of shoes about every 6 months.
These are just a few ideas that you can use as a reward for your healthier lifestyle, but it doesn’t stop there. You could also get your hair done, get a manicure or pedicure, get a tattoo, a new piece of workout equipment, etc. Of course, the ultimate goal is buying a new wardrobe when you reach your weight loss goal!
