Weight Loss Tips: Why You Should Reward Consistency, Not Weight Lost

When it comes to weight loss, the biggest struggle people face is keeping up their 
motivation. It is easy to get motivated in the very beginning, where those first couple 
days you are running on adrenaline from all the excitement of this new journey. 

But by day 4 or 5, you have lost your steam, and start losing the motivation you were 
sure you could hold onto. How do you stay motivated? One of the best methods to use 
is with rewards. You can reward your progress along the way, just like you would any 
other goal. 

However, instead of giving yourself rewards for losing a certain amount of weight, we 
recommend rewarding consistency instead. This lets you focus on what is really 
important – staying on track. You can’t predict how much weight you will lose in a 
certain amount of time, but you have full control over how consistent you are.


Why Reward Consistency?

The main reason you should set rewards for consistency is because it is really the only 
thing you have control of in your weight loss journey. Even if you do everything 
perfectly, you can’t predict how much weight you will lose and how long it will take, 
which makes it more frustrating to set rewards based on weight lost. 

This is when weight loss stalls can cause a lot more stress and panic than they should. 
It is during these times when staying consistent is even harder, so that makes it that 
much more important to reward consistency. 


Why Shouldn’t You Reward Weight Loss?

You can still have rewards for weight lost, but it is really not recommended to make it 
your own focus. There is so much to consider when it comes to how fast weight will 
come off, and the scale is constantly fluctuating, so it might not even be 100 percent 
accurate. 

If you choose rewards for losing an amount of weight you thought would be gone in a 
month, but takes over 2 months, then that is a lot longer to go without that reward. This 
can actually hurt your progress, because you lose all that motivation by waiting so long. 


Other Things You Can Reward Throughout Your Journey

In addition to consistency and progress in the form of how many lbs you lose, you can 
also create rewards for other mini goals during your weight loss journey. Here are a few 
ideas:

Drinking your water goal every day for a certain number of weeks
Completing a new exercise program of 4, 6, or 8 weeks
Tracking your food in your journal every day for a certain amount of time
Getting down to a goal size in your clothes

Types of Rewards

What rewards should you choose for consistency and other goals? Anything you want! 
You want it to be attainable and realistic, so don’t make your reward something that 
costs more money than you would reasonably have saved by that point. But it should be 
big enough where you really look forward to it. 

There are so many possible rewards, from as simple as treating yourself to something 
you have wanted but never purchased because it wasn’t a priority, to something like a 
spa day or a tattoo that costs a little more money.

Here is a list of possibilities:

Going shopping for new clothes or shoes
Spa day
Pampering, like getting your hair colored, nails done, or getting a massage
Tattoo
Taking a fun day off work
Going on a weekend trip
Any type of purchase you have been wanting
Time to do something just for you

But keep in mind you can chose absolutely anything you would feel excited to work 
toward!


How Often to Reward Consistency

This is where it gets down to how often you would be consistent in your weight loss 
journey before you get each reward. Again, it is going to depend on you entirely. There 
are a few things to consider, such as:

How much money the rewards cost and if you need to save that money. It can be 
fun to think of these big, lavish rewards, and that would definitely be motivating. But not 
if you can’t afford it by the time you would reach that goal. 

What you are most looking forward to. When you make a list of rewards, consider 
when you would want or need them by. If you have something you have been dying to 
get, then put that at the top of the list, and choose a shorter goal to be completed before 
you receive it.

How long it would take to reach a specific goal. Realistically, how long would it take 
to complete a gal you have? If it is for consistency, then it’s easy to say you will stay 
within your calorie deficit or exercise every day for a week or a month. But with goals 
related to more specific results, then this is definitely something to consider.

Events you have coming up related to that reward. Lastly, you may have some time-
sensitive rewards that you would need by a certain to date. Say for example you want to 
get your hair colored as one of your rewards, and you know you also want it colored for 
your birthday party. If your birthday is in a month, then you know to choose something 
you would be done with in about 3 weeks. 

