I rely HEAVILY on rewards (besides good health, higher self-esteem, and better fitness) to motivate me to get to my goals. I've been so out of it that I'm making an air-tight plan to end the yo-yoing including ways to deal with eating out. I'm trying to think of some really fun and out-there ways to reward myself, something besides CDs and movies and new workout gear or clothes. So far I have:

A weekend trip to Disney World (with a new bathing suit)
An old-timey photo
Pottery classes
Pagan supplies
Seeing a musical
New romance novels and a small Starbucks something

All this stuff is great, I just want some more original ideas. What have all of you done for motivation?

donno if this is any more original *sheepish grin*but:

tattoo(s)
new piercing(s)
hot stone massage
trip to hot springs/roman sauna
foot reflexology massage
confectionery course
southwest tour w/my baby
spa weekend in the alps

Right now I'm focusing on small rewards - I'm putting together a charm bracelet with a charm for every five pounds lost, and each charm has something to do with when I lost it - I lost the first five pounds in February so I got a heart charm, etc. They're cheap silver-plated charms - the steel bracelet and first charm cost me less than $5 - but its something I see every time I reach for food, to remind me to make healthy choices.

Right now, if I lose that first 40 pounds, I will consider that reward enough.

New piercings
Massages/facials
Vacation
New clothes
New shoes
Personal training package

Rewards are good motivators for me too. At first, my rewards were things I had been denying myself, like a chocolate croissant or cake. But now, I don't really want them as much- partly I don't like how I feel after I eat them, but also because I think it's kind of self-sabotaging to have to lose weight in order to eat things that make me gain weight...

Things I have bought recently as rewards:

CD - Rachid Taha 'Made in Medina'
New plant (I'm a plantaholic)


Things I plan on buying as future rewards:

Henna tattoo (not 'black henna', I know)
Shiatsu massage
Nice new bathing suit - a tankini (gasp!)

Aiela - that charm bracelet is a neat idea!

BP

I've been trying to get a permanent Henna-style tattoo on my ankle now, but maybe I'll put it off as my first reward for losing 10% of my current weight. I hadn't thought about the charm bracelet idea, it sounds like something I'd like to do, although the only place I can think of getting them off the top of my head is Claires.

As a reward for 20 lbs lost, I'm about to buy myself a real STEP! It's nice, like the ones they have in the gym...

Umm... some other ideas:

new Tanita scale with all the bells and whistles
a few sessions with a trainer
spa trip!
ukulele - (sorta kinda counts - will be combo birthday/40 lbs... hubby has already promised!)
and a new wardrobe for GOAL, of course!

I've been tossing around the idea of doing a reward tattoo when i meet my final goal.. but I'm not sure. I'm already rewarding myself with a tattoo for another great personal achievement this summer so i may have to think about that a bit.

I'm going to reward my first 20 lbs lost with a trip to get my hair did. I have always ALWAYS wanted to have black hair w/ bright red streaks and just never did it. well i think i'm gonna get a cut and dye as a reward. i can't wait.

beyond that i haven't got a clue other then the awesome reward of getting some new clothes, feeling better about myself, etc.

I love these ideas - the charm bracelet especially Aiela! I'm doing victory laps around the grocery store with bags of sugar for every 5 lbs lost. Of course within another month or two I won't be carrying those bags but wheeling them around in the buggy. Or maybe I'll graduate as I lose weight to 30 lbs of dog food!

I've also got the tattoo, bathing suit, belly button piercing and punk haircut on the list...and a trip, a grillout where I'm not counting calories, contact lenses, running shoes, yoga clothes and a membership to the studio, $50 and the thrift store for new clothes (all the funky cool clothes are always the smaller sizes), sexy black boots when my calves can squeeze into a pair again (that'll be about goal - I have muscular calves even thin), teeth whitening kit, new makeup...basically have a reward for myself every five lbs. Because every five lbs is a real challenge and deserves a pat on the back!

And while my diet is about health - for the rewards - a lot about this is looks, because I am "gaining attitude". Want the inner punk to show on the outside. Tired of being middle-aged, frumpy and milktoast!

My final reward is a trip down to a resort in the tropics for at least a week. I can't post my ticker yet, but I set it up - a hulu girl on a beach ;-)

All of these are such great reward ideas! I'm planning on stealing some of them.

Lately, I'm trying to concentrate on non monetary rewards (boo..economy...) that continue to support myself taking interest in, well, myself--like a afternoon off of work for no reason, a Saturday morning spent reading (instead of cleaning/running errands/working), ect. Every week that I am on plan, I schedule few hours somewhere to do whatever it is that I want to do. It has really helped me to focus on what is important to me. Shockingly, last Saturday, I spent MY time going to the gym--that was when I realized that this lifestyle change is really starting to take hold.

There are a few monetary rewards that I am focusing on. I just bought myself new gym shoes for 10 pound. They were crazy expensive, but they make me feel like I can run faster. I know that is just in my brain...but it reminded me of being eight years old and and being convinced that my new shoes made me run faster when playing Red Rover.

Secondly, I can't wait to chop off my hair! I think I have kept my hair longer the past few years because I somehow think it covers some of my weight (I'm sure it doesn't--but it feels that way somehow). When I hit fifty pounds lost, I'm going to reward myself by loosing the hair too!

But, as I said, I plan on stealing some of your ideas...it's fun to think about!

Here's some of mine...

-new piercing (prob a conch)
-hair colouring
-teeth whitening
-bikini
-shorts + Bikram Yoga
-corset
...and my ultimate motivator [my final goal] a full ribcage tattoo!

A full ribcage tattoo - OMG - I'm so impressed. And Riverite - a lot you said in your post struck nerves. Ever since I found this forum I've been thinking about "releasing my inner punkchick". The thing is I can dress it up anyway I want, but I have to figure out how to make the internal changes. I feel so terrible anytime I stand up for myself (I'm not a whimp - I think my friends think I'm pretty assertive - I just suffer horrible guilt and anxiety that I'm an bad ugly person). I don't want to feel that way anymore. I want to speak my mind (even if I'm wrong) and be okay with it. Somewhere find that certainty I have the right to exist, too. Right or wrong. Sigh. I'm feeling a little vulnerable today as I've been procrastinating and I have a client that is giving me a hard time. I want to flip them off and say shoo - go away, I don't need you and your cheap ways. But that's unprofessional. And so unZen. What would Tank Girl do????? Why isn't right or wrong clearcut? Gimme a futuristic desert and badguys any day! LOL!

These are all really great ideas for rewards... piercings and my ultimate tattoo have always been on my list, but massgaes, why had I never thought of that? I used to say I'd get shorter hair when I was slimmer but I just got really bored and chopped it all off one day... oops, but a semi-expensive haircut will be on the list near goal.

I just spent most of the day going around some of my favourite sites and racking up HUGE wishlists of stuff, but I'm going to get myslef a new watch and some new funky headphones somewhere along the line, as well as some new body jewellery.

Yeah, I'm planning on a tattoo for myself at the end of the summer if I've stayed on track all summer.

My grandma also is trying to keep me motivated and I collect Ball Jointed Dolls. I don't have the $$$ to get the limited edition doll I want right now, but she said if I stay on track until the end of his order period (in a couple weeks), she'll get him for me with the caveats that I have to keep working all summer and once I drop the weight I have to keep it off so that I'm still looking slimmer next summer. If I relapse before then, she'll repo the doll and sell him. ....It's been working as a pretty good motivator so far because I really want him and it's the only way I'll get him. Plus, it means I can save my money for the tattoo.

I think this is a great idea. Mind if I steal it? Where do you buy the bracelets?