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Hi everyone!

As you all know, I've been on a plateau ever since I started trying to lose weight.. gonk It's really tough to step on the scale each week and see NO progress, even though my eating and exercise habits have been SO drastically changed.

Especially during plateaus, it's important to stay MOTIVATED. Since I don't have the scale's help, I've set up a little system of "rewards" that keeps me on track, week after week.

This is what I do every weekend, REGARDLESS of whether I do well on the scale:

1. Go eat a delicious meal of Sushi with my friend Alma.
It's expensive, and a splurge with points, but it's once a week, so it's ok. We LOVE sushi so this is a huge motivator for us to go to Weight Watchers. We spend this time talking about how the meeting was, and our plans for the next week.

2. During the weekend, I have to buy ONE item of clothing, like a shirt or pants. An accessory item is optional.
The reason I do this is to keep myself motivated. One week of hard work, one new piece of clothes! This way I can slowly transition to getting a wardrobe (as I lose weight), and I can look cute at every weight. I think that looking your best is a part of FEELING your best. smile If you're losing a lot of weight, don't wait until you "finish" to get new clothes-- go now! Transition your wardrobe slowly, over time. If you can, go shopping with a friend-- a close friend who will HONESTLY tell you if something looks good or not. It's fun!

Here are some other motivating "rewards" I've given myself, that I don't do weekly:

1. Invest in beauty!
There's no weekly target for this, but I'm trying to make an effort to invest in my beauty. That means buying higher quality make-up, getting good (and pricey) haircuts, getting my eyebrows professionally waxed, and making some bigger investments in "staples" of my beauty regime-- for example, expensive perfume or shoes, or a purse. Expensive bras also fit in this category. These items may be expensive, but I try to choose things that will last me a long time. biggrin

How about you guys? Do you have a reward system you'd like to share?

I do much the same, except that because I'm trying to save money, I promise myself one weekly HEALTHY food treat (sushi; a nonfat frozen yogurt; an especially creative salad) in addition to the normal healthy foods.

Instead of giving myself a time frame for buying new clothing, I give myself a weight frame: Every five pounds of my weight (180, 175, 170, 165...) I get myself one article of clothing (or, one 3-pack of undies or socks).

Once a month, my RLSO and I go out to dinner at one of the kosher restaurants across town (because there aren't any kosher places in our neighborhood), or I'll buy some sushi-grade salmon and tuna and we make our own.

When I reached the halfway point in my weight loss, my mother-in-law surprised me by buying me a new iPod so I could work out with some great tunes.

I also am trying the idea of rewards that DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE to more weight loss. I recently bought two new workout outfits and a pair of training shoes. My next purchase will be a bicycle. Once I'm 2/3 of the way to my goal I want to try another form of exercise. Who knows, maybe I'll take a Pilates or yoga class.

My mother has said that when I reach my goal weight, she'll spring for an entirely new wardrobe for me. I'm looking forward to that, I must say!

I agree that bad-for-you foods should never be a reward. However, good-for-you foods are something I need to see as a reward instead of as a necessary evil.

My food rewards:

Big gorgeous salad -- helps with the 3 daily vegetables
Bowl of strawberries sprinkled with Splenda -- helps with the 2 daily fruits
Sushi -- low in fat, high in nutrition
Nonfat yogurt -- helps me get my daily dairy allowance
Trying a new fruit or vegetable I've never had before
Trying a new recipe from the Weight Watchers cook books
Buying a new Weight Watchers cook book

This way, instead of looking at those foods like "Ugh, more diet food," I've gradually started to see them as treats. Last time I had a "treat" was yesterday, when my synagogue sent out for kosher pizzas for lunch during our CPR/first aid certification course. You know what? It didn't taste great, and it wasn't very satisfying. When I got home, I cut a whole cucumber into quarters and ate it, and THAT was satisfying. That was a treat. By training myself to look at the freshest veggies and fruits as treats, I've come to really crave those things, and not so much the things that aren't as good for me.

Divash - I love your idea of turning things like vegetables or fruits into treats. That is a great idea, especially because I tend to get into a mindset that says it's something more like a punishment or a routine. xP