I'm trying to think of rewards to get when I reach certain milestones. I think having small goals with non-food rewards associated with them will help.

Any ideas appreciated!

I am just about to go to a massage appointment that I have:P, I booked a relaxing massage at a fancy spa and I plan on just taking this day to relax in the sauna and the hot tub, and then maybe just go to a bookstore and have a coffee and read or something I deserve it! Itīs also a good idea to put a certain amount of money in a jar for every pound you lose and then after a certain amount you get to cash in the money and do something for yourself. And if you are on a tight budget you can do something relaxing for yourself that doesnt cost a lot, like some home-spa things or relaxing in bed with a good novel.

hope that helps!

good luck on your weightloss journey

thanks! I love getting pedicures and massages, so that's a pretty good one. I never thought about "paying myself" for each pound lost. That's a good idea too! I also came up with if I lose 1 lb or more everytime I weigh in, my husband will give me a foot massage! not too bad....

For entering each 'decade' I do small things like:

a new book
a new CD
a new plant
new guitar sheet music
new exercise dvd

No rewards for me....The number alone on the scale is the reward..It's what's keeping me going. I try to see it that way. Because when I'm at the point when it's time to maintain, what would I do if I were the "type" who needs a reward? I'd be desperate!

For me it's new clothes. I set a size goal and when I get there, I get to buy a new outfit.

But also ... mani/pedis, waxing, a massage, a facial ... anything that celebrates something about me w/out being food related.

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I agree with all of the above!! Especially the "spending time at a day spa"!!!

For my 20 lb goal, though, I bought a beautiful full length mirror for the bedroom. I needed to get my head out of the sand and take ownership of the whole body.

I'm not much of a rewards person either. I did book a cruise for October 2009, and I plan to be at (or at least very near) goal by then.

I am not rewarding myself, I am just happy to see the scale display a smaller number. Right now, I have enough clothes to wear but once I am down to a weight that I want to maintain, I am going to splurge on a super-dooper pair of jeans.

I used to reward myself with food. Pizza was my favorite but this was not working so well. I now do manicures, new make-up etc.

When I had the time a few months ago, I would go to the movies once a week if I had done what I wanted to accomplish that week in terms of eating & exercising. It would always be just by myself and no one else would know. Felt like a mini adventure and allowed me to see "guilty-pleasure" movies that I knew others would not consider seeing, like 27 Dresses, et cetera. Some movies were good and some bad, but it was nice to have that 1.5-2 hours of just me and the movies.

I guess if you are a popcorn lover, though, this would be a very bad idea for a reward.

thanks again for all the ideas. I really like the exercise dvd idea. I do TurboJam right now and there are some more videos that I don't have yet, so that would be a good reward. Now I have to decide what my goals are. Do you list all of them or do you do them one by one?

I also do small rewards for just staying on plan. Because sometimes the scale does not reflect the effort. Earrings, books, etc.

When I want something that is a luxury (that I'll buy anyhow) I make myself hold off until I reach a number I'm anticipating in a few weeks/months. This way I'm motivated to work it for a material item (Imma material girl) and it lessens any thoughts of sidetracking I may experience. For instance, I've wanted a fire pit for our patio for some time, saw a cute one awhile ago and told myself to wait to get it when I was down 65 pounds. I got it last night!

So it's not necessarily a reward bought just for losing weight/being healthy but a motivation since I won't allow myself to buy whatever until I reach that weight.

To me, the numbers on the scale is pretty much reward enough. But I have a pair of Levi's 501 jeans hanging in my closet that I wore after my first son was born....they are a size 6, and were my very favorite jeans. While I've long since gotten rid of all my other "little" clothes, I really love those jeans and have kept them as I know in my heart that one day I will be wearing them again. So getting to wear those jeans again will be the best reward I can think of right now.