Rewards That Aren’t Junk

Healthy Lifestyle, The Balance

 

When you think of rewarding yourself for a job well done, do you always turn to food? I do. During the Whole30 I have found that meeting my goals doesn’t feel that special when there isn’t a piece of cake or some ice cream at the end. What to do?

I’m on a journey to retrain my brain to expect pleasure to come from somewhere other than food. It’s a little embarrassing to admit how hard this has been for me. And it continues to be a struggle at times but I’m working on it and thought I would share where I am in the journey.

The first thing I did was to make a list of healthy treats I could enjoy as rewards for meeting Whole30 goals. This is really only a half step since the end goal is to have the reward be something entirely other than food. But I needed the crutch and so I fashioned myself a fine little crutch! Here are my ideas for festive but healthy rewards:

 

1.  Pour a glass of bubbly – Pellegrino, of course. But add a slice of lemon and lime or a few raspberries to make it feel special.

2.  Get some really fancy tea – We have a couple fancy tea shops in Burien (Phoenix Tea and Cascade Herb and Tea) that have some outstanding selections. Brew a cup and put it in a pretty mug (I treated myself to this really cute one from Anthropologie)!

 Teacup

 

3.  Grab a Kombucha – I like the Synergy Gingerade variety. Make sure it doesn’t have any sugar. This one reminds me of enjoying a cold beer on a hot day.

 

Ok, so that’s how I toast my successes without falling off the Whole30 plan. But what would it look like to treat myself in ways that involve nothing edible? This is where it got harder…but also more creative and fun.

Read about it in my next post!

 

In Health!

Erin Collins

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