Weight Loss Rewards
July 5, 2009 by Mohamed
Filed under Weight Loss
As you work towArds your weight loss goals, what do you do to reward yourself for the small accomplishments? A binge isn’t a reward but perhaps a small treat is.
As I started to lose weight I had a reward in mind every step of the way and my BIG reward to myself when I am down to my goal or ideal weight will be an Armani suit with the designer shirt, tie and shoes.
What will your reward be?
Maybe a vacation for yourself – to a beach destination? A trip to an exotic location such as Rome, Paris, or someplace truly tantalizing like Morrocco!
It could even be something as simple as a spa getaway… or for guys, seasons tickets to your citys hockey team, football team? Maybe the 60″ home theater set-up? I’m not advocating going in debt to reward your weight loss — but think of small rewards that will keep you motivated to take the next step and to continue losing weight.
I read an interesting article entitled “Outcomes in a Program that Offers Financial Rewards for Weight Loss”. This is a very new report, that was issued in May 2009. The abstract reads:
Obesity rates in the U.S. have doubled since 1980. Given the medical, social, and financial costs of obesity, a large percentage of Americans are attempting to lose weight at any given time but the vast majority of weight loss attempts fail.
Researchers continue to search for safe and effective methods of weight loss, and this paper examines one promising method – offering financial rewards for weight loss.
This paper studies data on 2,407 employees in 17 worksites who participated in a year-long worksite health promotion program that offered financial rewards for weight loss.
The intervention varied by employer, in some cases offering steady quarterly rewards for weight loss and in other cases requiring participants to post a bond that would be refunded at year’s end conditional on achieving certain weight loss goals.
Still others received no financial incentives at all and serve as a control group. We examine the basic patterns of enrollment, attrition, and weight loss in these three groups.
Weight loss is modest.
After one year, it averages 1.4 pounds for those paid steady quarterly rewards and 3.6 pounds for those who posted a refundable bond, under the assumption that dropouts experienced no weight loss. Year-end attrition is as high as 76.4%, far higher than that for interventions designed and implemented by researchers.
This really puts into doubt whether financial rewards vis-a-vis insurance companies or employers help as the average weight loss over one year was only 1.4 lbs. It was higher on average for those that had to give something up to lose weight — a refundable bond.
You can read and purchase the paper here http://www.nber.org/papers/w14987.
How do you set-up your own rewards system? It’s easy!
Here is what the article Weight Loss Motivation: Remember To Reward Yourself This Summer says:
Here’s how to set up a good rewards system:
- Choose some benchmarks and reward levels. You can also reward yourself for levels of consistency.
- Make the reward meaningful to you. As a reward, a new pair of shoes may not hold as much motivation as a simple night alone with a book. Then again, it might.
- Choose two or three options from the Reward Roster below or come up with a few reward options of your own. It doesn’t take much. Sometimes, the best rewards are those you can’t buy.
- A lot of small rewards, used for meeting smaller goals, are more effective than relying solely on the bigger rewards that require more work and more time.
- Don’t use food as a reward. Even good food. It’s just too much of a slippery slope. Don’t even mess with it.
- Plan to celebrate. Figure out now how you’re going to celebrate reaching your health, fitness or nutrition goal. Involve other people, tell them about it. Create a celebration that you can anticipate and then keep it within sight all the time.
- Be honest with yourself. Fudging the numbers mentally, or “borrowing” against the next reward hurts the cause of building a lifetime habit. Remember to keep your focus on building a habit, not just figuring out how to get the reward.
If you follow this link http://www.ehow.com/how_2227477_reward-yourself-lose-weight.html you’ll be treated with 7-rewards (mostly for women).
Regardless of what you choose, you need to reward yourself for the small victories to keep you motivated for the ultimate goal – getting to your goal weight!
Here is to your health!
Mohamed
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