So I've seen on this forum that a lot of people break down the amount of weight they need to lose into multiple smaller amounts, and some people have a reward in place for reaching each goal. Of course, the weight loss itself is the real goal, and I'm VERY well aware of that, but I do like the idea of giving yourself a small reward for reaching each goal!

For people that do rewards, what have you chosen? I've been trying for 3 weeks to think of what I want my rewards to be and thought I'd see what others are working towards. Right now I'm probably a few pounds under 220 (next weigh in at the doctor's office is in a week!) and want to lose 70 pounds. I've set my goals at 200 lbs, 185 lbs, 175 lbs, 165 lbs, 155 lbs, and 150 lbs. Figure it will get harder as I go since I'll have less weight to lose, so I put the later goals closer together. I mentioned this in another thread, but my "grand prize" is going to be the kitten I've wanted my entire lift- my husband and I have jokingly named said kitten Cupcake.

Thanks

Awwww little Cupcake kitten, that will be the best!

I kind of randomly rewarded myself with stuff along the way: hiking pants, a new shirt, sunglasses, new nail polish, stuff like that. My husband also gave me encouraging cards when I least expected it, that was really nice, too.

You could set aside $1 or some other amount for each pound you lose, then when you reach a pre-determined amount of money, use it to buy something special that you want.

I realize that you are not supposed to reward yourself with food, but when I lost weight years ago, the girls at work used to go out for pizza every Friday. I made a rule that I could not go unless I had lost 5 lbs since the last time I went. I wasn't exactly rewarding myself since I don't believe in giving up any foods, I was allowing myself to have it. It turned out to be maybe once a month or so, and I believe that is reasonable, knowing I wasn't going to have it again until I lost another 5 lbs.

Why did I re-gain? I got married, and that became a whole other ball game!

Cupcake is such a cute name! AWWWWWWWWWWWW

I reward myself with new clothes. I'm looking forward to actually being able to enjoy shopping again! Other than that.... I did join everymove and earndit which takes my fitbit steps and turns them into points that I can then spend on things from charity to stuff for myself. Right now I'm working on supporting the Make a Wish foundation on Every Move. For every 1500 pts I earn they donate $5 to the charity. It's not really that much, but it makes me feel good knowing I may be helping someone out just by getting off my butt!

FickleHearts, I like the idea of donating to charity. A couple of years ago I tried to lose some weight, and decided to donate a dollar to a children's charity for every day that I ate how I was supposed to. If I messed up, that day's dollar didn't get donated. Nothing like guilt to motivate, huh?! It worked in the short term but then kind of fell by the wayside and I went back to eating how I had been, not because I don't love kids

It had occurred to me that maybe after meeting each goal, I could buy something for Cupcake. We already have a cat though (adopted him as an adult so missed the adorable baby months) so we have all of the kitty basics already, plus a lot of kitty non-basics. Our cat is spoiled! Maybe I could do things like buy a collar, an ID tag for the collar, a personalized kitty Christmas ornament, a cute cat bed since I suppose the cats might want to occasionally sleep in different places...

We bought beds for our cats...... And they never once slept in them LOL.

Instead, they preferred boxes like most cats do. Then I stumbled upon this at Petsmart and my cat, who sadly passed not long ago, adored it!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think pet rewards is a great idea too! As soon as we move into our new house, first of the year hopefully!, we're getting a new kitty and possibly a new puppy. That might be a great incentive for me as well.

Yay for Cupcake!!!! The healthiest treat of all.

I have big rewards for the big goals, I got new running shoes when I was out of obese class 2 and I hope to get a bike when I get out of obese class 1. For smaller goals (i.e. a five to ten pound loss) I will reward myself with things like an exercise dvd, bubble bath, or clothes, ... but nothing too extravagant. I'm about to get to 50 pounds down, and since I didn't really wear makeup at my top weight, I am thinking about signing up for a free makeover when I get there!

I also have time based goals. For example, I have an overseas trip coming up and so I'm really focused on how much easier I will fit in my airplane seat. At the moment, that is more 'real' to me than the numbers on the scale. On that trip I hope to be able to do some hiking, so improving my strength and stamina keeps me working hard at the gym.

And exercise goals. I would like to do a big famous 10K in my town at the end of May and so I am training for that.

And I track my inches (I take measurements every two weeks), because often when the scale refuses to budge it's because my body is busy tightening up my skin and putting on muscle.

When you have a lot of weight to lose, it helps to have lots of short term goal and a long term goal. For me, as I pass one goal it's good to have the next one just out of reach, because there's no temptation to slack off. And it's good to have a variety because as one part gets more difficult, you can focus on something else.

I reward myself along the way...

BUT..my 100lb prize is full on spa day, makeover.
My husband is a photographer so his 100lb is a new lens

Our final goal is renewing our vows in Hawaii, on the beach. We got married on the beach by our house, we wanted Hawaii, but....did not happen. So now that has become our ultimate goal.

Lazylioness, I really want to go to Hawaii one day! That was one of my thoughts for the final big reward, but we don't have money to spare for a big vacation. Of course pets are expensive as well, but unless something really weird happens, the thousands of dollars we'll end up spending on Cupcake's care will be spread over the hopefully 15-20 years of his/her life, rather than all in a week! I will get to Hawaii someday, though

FickleHearts, my cat loves his bed. He spends probably at least 8 hours in it every day! This is his bed, it's the exact same color as his fur. He also has a Pillow Pet that he loves to nap on.

I'm not really into clothes or makeup, and while I'm sure I'll need to buy new clothes, that's not really a reward for me because I HATE SHOPPING. Would be nice if the clothes I already have could just magically shrink along with me.

Okay, I think I've settled on my choices, thanks to you all The one makeup-like thing that I actually enjoy is nail polish, and I love blankets, books, and puzzles.

200: nail stamping kit ($15)
185 (this will be my halfway point): a new throw blanket to keep me warm since I'll have less "stuffing" by then (about $40)
175: $30 worth of books of my choice
165: a jigsaw puzzle of my choice ($10-$15)
155: kitten paraphernalia
150: Cupcake the Kitten!

I hear you. My husband and I are thankfully done with the raising of the kids. The eldest is 22 the youngest 15 and by the time we get to Hawaii he will be about to graduate. Now granted we are supporting them through college, should they choose to go, only the eldest is in college atm but she works to pay a lot of her basic expenses. Beer, gas cell phone..you know the important ones when you are 22 LOL. So we are just now starting to have any "extra" $. I figure that we have two years to save.

I cannot believe you hate shopping? WHAT?!?!?! LOL. I hated shopping for me when I was heavier, but now that I am getting into "normal" sized clothes again...my girlie gene has kicked back in HAHA. I have to remember not to spend all of our Hawaii money on clothes! Especially since in the shopping department my husband is more of a girl than I am!

Your goals are awesome and super obtainable and your gifts to yourself are awesome!

You can totally do it

LazyLioness, thanks for the encouragement, you're so kind

Yeah, even when I was a healthy weight, I didn't enjoy shopping for clothes. It's just not my thing. Of course I look fine- don't dress in worn out, garish clothing or anything. My wedding dress was purchased online when I found one that fit what I was looking for, I purchased 2 sizes to try out and they were I think $200 each. Was perfectly happy with them. The shoes I wore during my wedding came off the clearance rack and were the last pair they had, they were I think $5. My cousins did my nails, hair, and makeup. The makeup consisted of clear mascara, a tiny bit of blush, and a lipstick so natural looking that my mom declared that it didn't look like I was wearing lipstick. Didn't want to spend a lot on things I'm just not interested in, but I think I looked nice

Lol my wedding dress was $25 on eBay. It was a simple white sundress. Shoes were white ballerina flats. After the ceremony which was free at the lighthouse we had a beach party. Hubby and the groomsmen wore Luau shirts shorts and flip flops.

Our whole wedding was $1500 and was super fun!

I don't spend money on stuff I don't like either! Well except bills! Lol. I just love love love to shop. I am counting the pounds until I can refresh my underwear drawer...at Victorias Secret!

Lioness, that wedding sounds awesome! Ours was small, too. My sandals were actually flip flops (NICE ones!), it led to an awkward moment when my mother-in-law realized that I wasn't kidding when I said I'd purchased flip flops to wear at the wedding!

Oh jeez, going to Victoria's Secret is so awkward. I feel like I don't belong in there because I'm definitely bigger than any sizes they offer, but I like their smelly soaps and stuff. At least the employees have been very nice whenever I've gone in Good luck earning your new undies and your vacation, sounds awesome!!

Making milestones and reaching them is a great success. When you plan to loose weight then it seems very hard and difficult to loose it and achieve desired results. This is the most happiest moment also when you achieve desired your desired weight and this should be the time to praise yourself and reward yourself.

I hate shopping mainly because I don't have the money to buy all the things I see, but any time I'm in the mall I try on some clothes. Nothing works better to get me back on plan in a big hurry than seeing how I look in the 5 way mirror.