How do you Reward Yourself?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
How do you Reward Yourself?
9
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 8:54am

I was thinking about this yesterday as I was buying my Body Shop goody of the month (one of my rewards for x amount of miles/mins put into training.) Then I noticed Chers post about getting the tatoo and it being a reward (Great Idea by the way Cher, glad to see your back), and was wondering what kind of things do you use to pay yourself back for those goals met?

Do you set mini and Large goals?
Do you set goals at all?
What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a small scale?
What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a Large scale?
Do you ever use food as a reward? ( I know this one may cause some controversy but I'm curious )
Do you find that if you keep track of your small steps and reward them that you make more big steps?

Thanks Ladies Can't wait to see what everyone does
Sabrina

Avatar for queenbeana
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Registered: 06-25-2003
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 9:12am

Do you set mini and Large goals?

I set both, For every mile I run, 500yds I swim, or 3 miles I bike I get 1 point. Each point is worth 50 cents. I have a list of mini goals and when I have enough points to buy it I do.
For my Large goals it's usually loosing x amount of weight (if/when i need to) or meeting a training goal that is difficult (Like my first week of doing 100 total miles on the bike).

What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a small scale? Usually my small rewards are under $20. *most of the time 10-15.
Magazines: Triathlon Magazine, Instyle, Vogue, etc
New Socks: I like cool running socks so sometimes I use them as a reward
Anything from the bodyshop: Soaps, lotions, perfume oil.

Something silly from any store (walmart, target, cvs) that I thought was cool and wanted even though it served no purpose. LOL So in other words the reward is getting something I DON"T NEED.

What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a Large scale? Basically anything over $20 dollars.
Usually New Clothes,
New Shoes (not running)

Do you ever use food as a reward?
Actually yes I do, But I don't have any real issues with food. I have to limit a lot of what I eat due to my training. So sometimes I use a mini cadbury egg or other sweet as a reward for making it to a workout I was going to ditch.

Do you find that if you keep track of your small steps and reward them that you make more big steps?
I know I do. That's Why I use rewards. I will stay on track without them but not as well.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2004
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 10:08am
Hi I am new to this board. I am a diet and fitness 'guru'...lol

I would like to respond to your post.

Do you set mini and Large goals?

Yes. I set both. My only true goal is to work out at least 4 days per week for an hour. When I'm really feeling good I will work out 5-6 days per week.

Do you set goals at all?

What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a small scale?

I don't really give myself small rewards but I do allow myself large ones

What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a Large scale?

I usually stick to my diet an exercise goals all week so on the weekends I allow myself to have anything I want as far as food is concerned. I don't go overboard but I will go to Diary Queen for a sundae or Starbucks for an iced coffee or I will eat dinner out and have a real meal on the weekends.

I also shop every single weekend. Shopping keeps me motivated. I like to wear a certain size and as long as I maintain that size I will shop.

Do you ever use food as a reward? ( I know this one may cause some controversy but I'm curious )Yes definitely...read above...smile.

Do you find that if you keep track of your small steps and reward them that you make more big steps? Yes.


Hope to post her more often.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 11:04am

Great Questions Sabrina.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 12:36pm

Great questions Sabrina, and I look forward to reading the responses later, right now I'll just fill in mine-


Do you set mini and Large goals?
Mostly mini ones, but I do have a larger one in mind, but keep my focus on the smaller ones.

Do you set goals at all?
(see above)

What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a small scale?
Being happy in a /tight\ pair of pants or something- that IS a reward for me ;-)

What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a Large scale?
Getting new clothes :-)

Do you ever use food as a reward?
Sometimes, but not that often.

Do you find that if you keep track of your small steps and reward them that you make more big steps?
Sure, everything adds up, right?

cl-vi_islandgirl
Getting Fit in Your 30's

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2004
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 1:06pm

Do you set mini and Large goals?


I set both, but mainly stick to mini goals.

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Fear

Avatar for queenbeana
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 3:39pm
Welcome to the Board SuperFemme.

We can always use a Fitness Guru :) Great idea about shopping reguarly to ensure you stay in a size. You would definetly catch any "bloating" faster and make the necessary adjustments.

So what kind of workouts do you prefer??

Sabrina

Avatar for queenbeana
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 4:05pm
Miranda

GET THEE A CALENDAR! And Some Stickers

Seriously I wasn't always an insane triathlete, you know. I started out almost two years ago and many times before that just trying to get in better shape (lbs creeping on, from time to time not having enough energy to keep up with my boys and family etc). I didn't decide to become a "Triathlete" untill about 3 months of serious/intense journaling of my workouts and getting into shape. Using mini goals and meeting them I finally needed a BIG Goal to keep going.

Think of it as abbreviated Planning and Journaling.

1. Decide what you are going to plan/Keep track off

for example: a. I kept track of the number of steps I took daily *i started with a pedometer* b. I kept track of the 3 days a week I worked out c. I kept track of the cals I ate during the day

2. The Calories and the steps I journaled at the end of the day

3. The Workouts I added a fun sticker( this is a key pick out something you want to use... ie something that speaks to you the best stickers are in the scrapbooking section) every day I did a 20 or more min workout. Because I like the stickers and they looked so festive on my calendar I would often times work out an extra day or so just to be able to use a sticker.

4. If you have one a Day Planner works best for this because you can keep track of your day and schedule in an exact time to preform your workout as well as the rest of Lifes tasks. Don't be afraid to plan things... Any good plan accepts change however, you'll be surprised how little you change it once you get used to using this type of system.

PS. If you are new to the whole planning/calendar thing Use a Wall Calendar you can Hang it up (near your computer) and just by being forced to look at the thing you will keep up with it and be motivated to make those daily goals. When you are ready... put a value to those workouts 25-50 cents per goal met then use that money for whatever when you get there. If your not sure you can afford to take 20 dollars out of your account in 2 weeks (who knows what you just did) Physically pay yourself for each workout. Keep a jar near your calendar and when you finish putting that sticker on go find a quarter or two and drop them in.

Ok I'll stop for now

Sabrina

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Wed, 10-20-2004 - 12:57pm

Sabrina, You ROCK!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-06-2003
Wed, 10-20-2004 - 9:45pm

Fabulous questions!

Do you set mini and Large goals? I used to only set large goals, but because they were big and vague without small goals to get me there, I was rarely successful in attaining them. Now I'm more apt to just set small daily goals with larger weekly goals.

Do you set goals at all? Yes! I find it helpful to list my goals in my journal. Then, I try to anticipate what challenges and obstacles might get in my way and how I might overcome them. For instance, if my goal tomorrow is to eat a healthy snack at work, an obstacle is the temptation to eat junk food from a vending machine. A way to overcome that is to make sure I pack myself something healthy to bring that is satisfying and that I really like. This kind of exercise helps me think about whether my goals are realistic. For instance, I might want to set a goal of eating low carbs tomorrow, but when I think about my obstacles, I consider that fact that I'm going to a wedding tomorrow and realize that it's probably not realistic of me to think I'm skipping wine or dessert entirely. Instead I'll plan to not pig out during hors devours, skip the dinner rolls and have a small piece of cake and a glass or two of wine.

What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a small scale? I haven't really given much thought to rewarding myself, but I'm gonna now! I think that would work for me. I'm excited. One of my goals is to do three 30 minute cardio workouts per week. Every time I do that, I can give myself five points and once I get 250 points I can get a new outfit or something. I can give myself points for other things too, depending on my short and long term goals.

What are some of the things you reward yourself with on a Large scale? See above

Do you ever use food as a reward? ( I know this one may cause some controversy but I'm curious ) Not really.

Do you find that if you keep track of your small steps and reward them that you make more big steps? Like I said, I haven't really done much with rewarding myself, but I'm going to start. I would expect that it'll help me reach some bigger goals.

Thanks for the great suggestions!

Debbie

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