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Find a different way to reward your progress
Choose Your Rewards Carefully
As people lose weight and come closer to reaching their goals, it’s easy to get on the reward train and give yourself an edible treat for all of your hard work.
Foodies, emotional eaters, and people who struggle with their weight often reward themselves with food. To reach your fitness and health goals, though, this should be avoided until you reach your goals.
After you reach your goals, it’s okay to have treat/cheat meals every so often, but not to the point of it leading you back to where you started: overweight.
The tricky part of consuming processed foods and sugar is that they are extremely addicting. Once you start, it can be difficult to stop.
I think of myself as a masochist in some forms because when I’m on my usual diet plan, I eat clean five days a week and allow myself to eat the other two days flexibly, but once those two days are over, I have to head straight back into the diet plan.
Sometimes the cravings remain after I head back into clean eating. My body and mind want more sugar and processed food because it tastes good and makes me feel good (temporarily, anyways). However, I have to refrain if I want to meet my goal of eating clean and also maintaining my physique.
Discipline Is Pain
Humans don’t like pain. We run away from it as soon as we come into contact with it. Implementing more self-discipline to an already potentially tedious and gruesome process can be mentally draining. Still, the longer you refrain from eating sugar and processed foods, the stronger you become mentally and the weaker the cravings get.
Better Rewards
Learn to create more meaningful rewards for yourself, not only when it comes to losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle, but for other life achievements that will come.
When we can focus less on food, we shift our mindsets and lifestyles so they’re less food-centric and more centric on things that matter most. Food is a large part of cultures worldwide, but it doesn’t have to be our god.
There are so many ways we can reward ourselves and our progress in leading a healthier lifestyle. Here are a few:
A new workout outfit.
A spa day.
TV time.
A trip.
A free activity that you enjoy (jumping on trampolines or chilling with friends more often).
Are you slowly killing yourself?
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.