I have promised myself a new fall outfit from ColdWater Creek when I lose the next 10 lbs. Problem is, I haven't found one I just love yet Anyone else using incentives for staying on plan other than the thrill of the scale going down?

I frequently use this article for helping me decide on 'rewards:'

Eat or Treat
You know the feeling. You've hopped on the scale and WOW! it's looking good. Or you catch sight of yourself in a shop window and for the first time in years, instead of thinking “Who's that dumpy person?”, you say with an unexpected burst of pride: “That's ME!”
Or maybe you've won a prize, been promoted, come first place in a contest, beaten the opposition, or just got lucky in love. It's a human response in situations like these to want to celebrate; to feel like letting your hair down, painting the town red.
With most of us though, sooner or later our celebrating will flow on to food and drink. Of course! So what can we do to celebrate that has less calories than a box of chocolates, yet still feels like a reward? Here are our suggestions:
Instant Buzzes
· A facial can always make a woman (or a man) feel special. There is something about the smell of those creams and lotions and the clean skin we come away with that is pamper-plus.
· Go for glamour with a photo at one of those places that makes you look like a movie star or a top model. Or get an “olden days” photo to pass on to your grandchildren.
· A new hairdo is always a huge morale booster and a great reward. Try a new color, get your hair lightly waved (or straightened), braided or crimped.
· Give yourself flowers. Have them delivered or pick up a bunch at the markets. Better still buy tons and spread them through the entire house.
· Rent that video you've always wanted to see. If it's a romantic one, lay in a supply of tissues, or import a friend or two as support.
· Buy yourself a new outfit. If you’re still losing weight, you can be confident and buy it in your goal size as a major incentive to go the final distance. Or you can please yourself today with one that fits and flatters now.
· Don't wait for the overseas trip when you can get it duty-free, buy an expensive perfume and splash it around. You are celebrating, aren't you?
· Float for an hour or so in a huge bubble bath. Take that book you've been dying to read and keep topping up the hot water.
Time Treats
Of all our assets, time is perhaps the most elusive. It wastes without a trace, yet each day we have a whole new quota. But while we use it and abuse it, there often is not enough of it to do the things that really give us pleasure. So what better way to say “Congratulations” to yourself, than finding time to do the things that you specially enjoy?
· Read that new book. You know, the one that has been gathering dust beside the bed. Better still, combine two pleasures, and take it to the beach, on a picnic, or into the park and read for hours. Finish it if you like.
· Spend time with a friend that you have been promising to get together with for ages. Go shopping, take a hike, ride your bikes into the hills, even talk for an hour on the phone if he or she's out of town.
· Visit the museum, the art gallery or that new little craft store you've been dying to get around to.
· Scrap your diary and seize a whole day just for you. No plans, no pack drill. Take your watch off and just play it by ear.
· You love swimming, but somehow you never get to the beach these days. Pack a towel, sunscreen and hat, and go.
· Be a kid for a while. Go fly a kite, buy a bunch of balloons and give them away as you go, make a daisy chain, get a yo-yo and practice all those silly stunts again.
· Go through your photographs. Write on the back of them or have some fun making up silly captions. Stick them in an album or frame a whole wall-full.
Once you start thinking of special ways to treat yourself, dozens more will come to mind. Soon, rather than routinely slipping into a bakery the minute you feel a celebration coming on, you'll think again. You'll find yourself automatically popping open a bottle of bubble bath rather than the bubbly, passing the chocolate store on the way to the florist, and dialing the theater for tickets to a show rather than ordering in pizza.
And even if, after all, you choose to do none of the above, as the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “the reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.” So congratulations, anyway!

Never, I pamper myself all the time.

I will probably splurge and buy a pair of new jeans (lucky, sevens, or some other overpriced brand).

lala

I bought myself a new bangle bracelet for every mini-goal. They are very pretty and I wear them to parties/challenging situations to remind myself of my accomplishments when I reach for something to eat.

I wrote down a reward for each 5-pound goal. They are things like books I want, etc. -- just small things, but I make myself wait. I've been telling myself that when I reach my goal weight, I'll give a big reward but haven't decided on it yet.

I'm hoping for goal by the end of the year (or sooner) I am going on a cruise in January and want to buy a new dress for "formal dinners". Plus I will need a new bathing suit - hope I can find one in January

Most shops probably won't be carrying bathing suits at that point but some speciality shops may carry them for the new line early. You can always find them online though.

The major stores carry bathing suits starting in November for cruise season.

MMMM The first 5 lbs that go?a new cd, or a top
hugs
niccii

Susie, when faced with food challenges. I just put my hands on my hips