Dreaming of a cupcake to reward yourself for all that dieting work? Well, you may have to reframe your fantasies.
From Eileen: A friend of mine started a big-time diet and exercise program last week. She jumped in with her typical gregarious enthusiasm, setting up sessions with a personal trainer, reading food labels, packing her lunch, counting her calories … and telling everyone “This is it, guys! This is it!”
After the first week, she stayed on course, losing a pound. Not a smashing success, but a great start nonetheless. She was pretty pleased with her progress. Slow is OK because this was it, the real deal.
Once she finished telling her first week success story, she started talking about rewarding herself for all that hard work and success. How did she want to reward herself, you ask?
Why, heading off to the county fair over the weekend and having a funnel cake or two. Oh, and she already was fantasizing about some kind of special salted caramel cupcake she was going to consume when she had been good for a month. And, of course, there’s the bread pudding pancakes at the Southport Grocery and Cafe to dream and drool over.
I hate to be “Debby Downer,” as she called me. However, you can’t be successful on a long-term fitness program if you focus your reward structure on luscious, calorie-laden desserts!
I’m not saying you can’t ever have a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait (my personal favorite). I’m saying you need to reframe your reward system. If you still think dieting = deprivation, and reward=artery clogging desserts, you are not in it for the long haul. You are doomed to fail.
Find some other way to reward yourself … a massage, a new outfit, an afternoon at the movies, a nap. You can’t reward yourself with fattening treats and think you will stay on any diet plan.
As long as you are obsessed with food, you will always struggle with food. It’s not a matter of being “good” or being “bad.” It’s a matter of where you are focusing your attention.