Feeling weighed down by the dieting-litany of “can’t”s and “should”s? I can’t eat any breads, hamburgers, desserts, or french fries. I must not drink soda or those lovely high calorie frozen coffee drinks. I should drink more water, eat more fish, and I should most definitely eat more fruits and vegetables.
Sometimes these diet rules are unrealistic and we set ourselves up for failure. It becomes too easy to cheat because too many of our favorites are off-limits. What’s worse is that the cheating can lead to feelings of hopelessness or depression, which can lead to even more eating.
What if, instead, we could step outside this negative paradigm and still lose weight? A new way to approach dieting would be to focus on the positives and reward ourselves for good food choices. You could start by setting up a reward system for yourself. One way to do this is to give yourself one point for every good choice. You can assign a monetary value to each point, count your points at the end of the month, find out how much money you have earned towards a reward, and then participate in the reward of your choice. You could also decide how many points (or how much money) you could earn when you reach weight goals; such as, when I lose 10 pounds I will gain 25 additional points.
Here are some examples of good food choices for which you could decide to give yourself points. I did not eat a donut at work. I drank 8 glasses of water. I substituted my regular lunch burger and fries with a turkey sandwich and apple. I did not have a second helping at dinner. I did eat raw broccoli with dinner. I had only one small chocolate square for dessert.
Remember to reward yourself often with some of your favorite (non-food) treats. Here are some possibilities for rewarding yourself- a day at the spa, a massage, a new purse, a piece of jewelry or pair of shoes you have been admiring, a manicure, a trip, or tickets to a show.