When was the last time you were motivated to do something that you knew was not going to benefit you in any way?
In my previous life, before kiddos and blogs, I got my masters in Behavior Analysis. What I love about it is that the relationship between our environment and behavior just really clicks with me. We do things based on how it benefits us – what we get for doing it, or what we avoid for doing it. When I struggle a lot with my weight loss, I need to take some time to evaluate what I’m getting out of giving into my snacking impulses that the healthier behaviors aren’t getting me.
The overall best consequence of better health is being trumped but the immediate satisfaction of giving in to the crazy snack monster.
It’s time to create my own incentives! 
Visual Reminders
While I was in grad school I had a lot of weight loss success. I rewarded myself each week with a small beaded bracelet for every two pounds I lost. It was a nice way to see my progress each day and feel proud. 
I’ve also seen the jars with the marbles inside, which is another great way to keep a visual reminder right in view.
Financial Incentives
Y’all know how frugal I am – contemplating another No Spend Month right now – and I will do anything not to lose money, especially if it’s within my control. That’s why I had so much success with Dietbet. I was not going to lose that money! I was able to stay strong for that month while I focused on a shorter-term goal. I notice a huge difference with my motivation to stick to my goals when I enter monthly DietBets. It gives me a shorter goal to focus on, a community to share it with, and a reward at the end! Right now, I’m very excited about the Better Together game with prizes for helping your fellow players! 
I also love the idea of paying yourself for each workout – you could end up with a pretty great treat for yourself and some even better results.
Rewards that Help You Go Further
This is one of the smartest ways to reward yourself! These are things that will feel like a special treat, but will actually help you stay on track even more and take your further.
Some examples of Rewards that Help
- Investing in a personal trainer
- Signing up for a 5K, marathon, or obstacle run
- Buying some clothes that make you excited to workout
- Fitness gadgets, videos, or equipment
- Taking a fun fitness class
- Treating yourself to a fantastic subscription service like Gigabody for new workouts
- Taking the family to a new park, on a hike, camping trip, or other active outing
- Getting together with some girlfriends to recharge and take care of you
What Should I Do??
I’m struggling to find what will work for me… I’m joining some June DietBets (Better Together, a game with a really long name, and Fit and Flabulous), because that has been helpful to keep me on track and it helps me earn money to pay for other rewards. I’m thinking I might need to add a visual reminder such as the bracelets that used to work for me in the past, and hopefully my My Day Friday posts will help me check in and keep up with rewarding myself with that visual reminder. So, what should I spend the money on as my big reward? I’m thinking a new website design might be my 15lbs weight loss reward?
What rewards and incentives do you use to keep you going?
I am not at all sure what I need to do to help motivate me to get going on weight loss. We had the jars with the marbles for awhile but I just recently got rid of them because they were mainly just collecting dust. There are a whole bunch of people in my life right now who need to lose weight and get healthy. I need to figure out how to pull together something that encourages all of us. We’ve tried a bet in the past, but people just give up.
Will definitely be putting my thinking cap on for this.
Stopping by from Sharefest!
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It is hard to find what will help motivate each person! I’m in a DietBet now where everyone is very engaged and sharing tips and it’s helping a lot, but I’ve still had my moments. I’ve never done a bet with a small group of people I know, but I think, if I did, I would make it something where everyone had to work together or everyone lost. That could really help motivate people because they wouldn’t want to let the others down.
I’ve been doing accountability check ins each week and ai think that helps a ton because I’m committed to sharing it now.
Good luck to you! Let me know if you find something that works!