As I get closer and closer to my 50 lb loss, I can’t help but fantasize about celebrating with a giant bowl of macaroni and cheese.  But, I also know that rewarding myself with food (especially THAT kind of food) will only take away from my victory and not add to the experience.  Plus, I’m sure it would make me feel just awful physically, since I haven’t eaten that way in so long. 

Step 9 in the TAKE ACTION plan is about finding ways to celebrate and reward yourself for your hard work without it being about food.  You have to remember how you got to the weight you are (or were).  Chances are, it started small.  Something like, “I worked so hard today.  I really deserve a piece of cheesecake tonight”.  And then the next day is someone’s birthday, and of course you HAVE to have a piece of birthday cake, right?  Then the next day, they bring in pizza for the whole office at lunch and who can turn down pizza or free food?  The days start to blur into each other until, before you know it, you are finding something to celebrate or reward yourself for every day.  Like I always say, you can’t eat everyday like it’s your birthday.

So what can you do instead to celebrate your milestone weight losses or dropping a size?  Plenty! 

• Treat yourself to a mani/pedi
• Go buy an article or two of clothing in a smaller size, then take your larger clothes to a donation center
• Go see a movie with a friend (and smuggle in some grapes, so you have something to pop into your mouth besides popcorn)
• Go to the bookstore, find a quiet corner and thumb through all your favorite magazines
• Pay a visit to your hairdresser for a new cut or color
• Book a vacation you’ve been dying to go on
• Pamper yourself with a massage or facial at a really deluxe spa
• Roam through an art gallery, a museum or an antique store

You’re getting the idea, yes?  Make a list of all the things that you love to do, either alone, with a friend or with your mate.  Maybe the list will have some small things, some medium things and one or two really big things on it.  Maybe for every 5 lbs, you do something small for yourself, for every 20 lbs you choose a medium thing and for a really big milestone, you do something really big and blow it out.

No one said I could never eat macaroni and cheese ever again.  But, you know what?  That’s just not how I want to celebrate a 50 lb loss.  From now on, my celebrations are going to be about DOING, not eating.  Eating is just fuel for my body.  A real celebration is about doing the things I love with the people I love.