Reward & incentive

[Loulourw]

Hi

I'm at the start of my weight loss goal. Am wondering if anyone has any cool 'visual' motivation for how much weight they've lost. I'm reluctant to stack bags of sugar for every pound! What do you do that is fun and effective?

Also, do any of you reward your weight loss and with what? How?

[IndigoBlue61]

Hello Loulourw 😊

I use a tape measure, photographs and also keep a journal recording my food intake as well as feelgood moments 😊 This has been really useful to look back on

One suggestion I loved was using books piled up, one for each pound 😊

My rewards are mostly new clothes - I'm still a little addicted to going into shops and trying on nice things ❤️ Especially now the actual 'weight' loss is slow but I'm still getting smaller if that makes sense?

[YellowRose55]

Hi Loulourw

For motivation have a look in the Topic section and under "the road to success" you will find lots of stories from members on achieving goals along their journeys.

As with visual motivation, some member use a jar and save £1 for every 1lb they lose and when then reach their mini goal they use the money for a non-food reward. My last non-food reward was an hair cut for reaching 4st lost.

I'm sure you will get lots of replies with many different ideas.

Have a good day.

Rose

[Phil62]

Hi Loulourw

Just finished 12 weeks and lost 3 Stone. Now started again to reach my Target of 10st10lb.

The best reward is to look in the mirror and be pleased what you see.

Have treats ,but not every day. I cycle a lot, so got my self a New bike. Thats my Reward.

And it makes that next lb so much easier. Good Luck.

Kind Regards Phil62

[Tiggerr in reply to Phil62]

That's a great loss Phil62. Congrats!

[CaptainRainbow 10 kg]

I suppose this only works if you go to the gym, but I like to remind myself when I feel like my weight loss isn't "that much" by going and picking up a dumbbell equal to my weight loss... I'm currently at 12kg, and those things are quite heavy! I guess it's physical instead of visual, but it's still pretty awesome.

I've got a spreadsheet I track my weight in with a graph, and it has various stats and arbitrary goals. My first couple of goals have been pretty simple - get under 18 stone, and get under 17 stone (my thing is a mess of imperial and metric, it just works for me). My first gift to myself was an Urban Decay eyeshadow palette I'd had my eye on for a while. My second was a pair of Irregular Choice shoes (at a bargain price admittedly) that I'd been after for a while. My next step is to get under 100kg (15st 10 I think) so it's a way away, so I have time to save for my next treat

[CheerfulDragon]

I'm one of the people who puts money aside for each pound lost. When I've lost enough weight I plan to treat myself to some nice new undies.

As for visual motivation, I have two photos. The first is me when I first met my husband. I weighed about 9.5 stone. The other is me at my heaviest - 13.5 stone. I've lost some weight since that picture was taken, but I'd have to lose more than 3 stone to reach my weight when the first picture was taken. I'll be happy to lose another 2.5 stone. Anything more is a bonus.

Looking at bags of sugar only works if you use sugar every day, which I don't. I could compare the weight I've lost to bags of potatoes, but we don't eat many potatoes either. Maybe I should look at the spuds in my local supermarket, just to encourage myself over the 7lb I've lost so far. I may still have the profile of a potato, but I've lost more than the weight of a bag of them!😃

[victoria-anne]

I made a little 'forecast' sheet with my projected weight loss each week, going all the way to my target weight. This way I can see wether I am still on track, and feel the reward, or incentive, if I've managed it or fallen behind. (This week I fell behind...)

I have also highlighted mini target weeks in which I intend to reward myself. A hair cut for midway!

[Loulourw in reply to victoria-anne]

That's a great idea - I'll be googling tonight!

[Chuckyegg]

Hi Loulou

Welcome to the forum and I hope your weight loss programme goes really well. This is a nice post Loulou. 🙂

I'm all for visual aids, definitely. When I began my first diet last year I made a weight loss vision board on which I stuck motivational sayings, gold stars, my drawings/paintings, photos from magazines, recipes, colourful healthy foods, drinks etc, anything that was positive and pleasing to look at or read.

Unfortunately, that diet was cut short, as explained in my last post. This time round I keep a food journal with gold stars and wow stickers and gold cups for milestones. I'll start to sketch pics in it as I progress and stick on jewels/gemstones to denote pounds lost and make it more visually interesting and glittery. 😄

I reward myself at every half stone - just a token thing like a nice crystal tumbler for my coconut water or a nice china cup and saucer for my green or lemon tea.

These visual aids make it lots of fun and I actually anticipate getting onto the scales and visualising the weight loss. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Grannynise 6lbs]

I've got a large shopping bag and have filled it with stuff (mostly books) equivalent to my lost weight. Lifting it up is a good reminder of how far I've come.

[CheerfulDragon in reply to Grannynise]

I'd have thought you'd need a suitcase for 1 stone of books! Or do you mean you fill the bag with books equal to your latest weight loss?

Using books to represent weight loss is a great idea. It's certainly something I could do - I have more than enough books. You've actually made me think about getting the bathroom scales downstairs to weigh some books - 7 pounds for the amount I've lost so far and 3 stone for the total I want to lose. Actually, I'm not sure that I could get 3 stone of books balanced on the bathroom scales. Perhaps filling a large bag and using luggage scales is a better idea. 😕

[Grannynise 6lbs in reply to CheerfulDragon]

I weigh myself without the bag of books then with and take one away from the other. .. then add a few more books and try again until the weight of the bag is more or less correct. It is a big bag as I've lost 22 lbs and difficult to lift!

[Loulourw in reply to CheerfulDragon]

I love this idea. I'll be doing it. 10lbs of books in a pile. Transferred slowly but surely to the other pile.