70 Days | What Are The Rewards?

Yesterday I asked the question "What are some rewards you can give yourself that aren't food?"  If you look under the comments you'll find some really good answers.  But I thought I'd give you some ideas. These range from small rewards for making a good choice in the day, to medium reward for meeting short-term goals, to HUGE rewards that are on your dream board--those are for meeting BIG goals!

Ready...

SMALL REWARDS (Free-$10):
Savor a warm cup of tea in your favorite mug, enjoyed in a quiet place
Stop at your favorite coffee shop
Listen to your favorite music--something happy!
Allow yourself to dance
Take a bubble bath
Give yourself an at-home manicure/pedicure
Go thrift shopping
Watch an extra hour of TV
Settle down with a good book
Get cozy under the covers with that book!
Enjoy a phone call/FaceTime with a friend
Write a letter to the person you love--to tell them how much you love them.
Add a sticker on a chart...to earn a bigger reward
Write in your journal
Get away to read your Bible and pray
Buy a new pack of sugar free gum
Read blogs of people who inspire you
Create a new Pinterest board of pretty things
Buy yourself fresh flowers
Enjoy a magazine
Light candles
Burn essential oils
Go for a run--with your favorite tunes!
Go to the gym and enjoying your workout
Hold the hand of someone you love
Go to a movie (free of popcorn!)
Add a pretty stone to a jar--collecting your accomplishments!
Play a game
Wear that pair of jeans you've been saving and can FINALLY zipper
Breathe in the fresh air...for some of us, we don't stop long enough to breathe.
Start your own "awesome" club--invite some friends (I did it...and all of YOU came)
Daydream
Scrapbook
Look for beauty
Don't clean the house...for just one day! (or do clean it, if that's a reward for you!)
Laugh!  A LOT

This is my bracelet...every bead on it represents a milestone!

MEDIUM REWARDS ($25-$50):

A charm for a bracelet
A new piece of jewelry
A massage
A hair cut/color
A facial/manicure/pedicure
New clothing
A special date night
Take a class (I pick Creative Writing!)
Theater tickets
Going to a concert
Visit some art galleries
Attending a symphony
Tickets to a sporting event
Music lessons
Audition for a play/musical
Skating lessons
Dance classes
Zip lining
Ropes course
Take a personal retreat
Hire someone to clean your house--just once! (okay, maybe twice)

Dan & I at the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville, TN

LARGE REWARDS:
I can't tell you what these may be.  Create your own bucket list and DREAM!

Don't EVER stop dreaming.  Don't ever stop creating your own adventure book.  Life is too short to spend time pouting about FOOD!  Go live!!!!  Take it from Carl & Ellie from the movie UP.  If you have never seen this movie, it is for dreamers.  If you have seen this movie, I dare you to watch this video clip...after all we've already been though together in our first 19 days and not shed a little tears.  Go live your life!  BE FREE!!!!

77 Days | Who Stole Our Fun?!

If you're on our Facebook page, you may have seen that Dan & I went on a date last night.  A date that didn't revolve around indulging in unhealthy food.  Delicious food, yes.  Unhealthy food, no.  We had a great time just being TOGETHER.  But my journey didn't start that way.  I was cranky and irritable for some time when I first started my journey toward health.  Maybe you can relate.  Here's how it was for me...

WHO STOLE MY FUN?!
Tick, tick, tick...the clock was moving slowly and my family wasn't in a hurry to get up and get the day started.  Normally, I would have been thankful for that.  Quietness.  Alone time.  Things a mother relishes.

Then, once everyone was awake, I was immediately biting off their heads.  I definitely put on my grumpy pants. (Which, might I add, were much looser than a week ago!  Ha ha!)

Last night, once the kids were in bed, I finally said the words out loud.

"I'm bored."

There was no response. 

This morning, I woke up and found myself immediately sighing again.  I was putting on my make-up and getting ready for the day when I said the words out loud again.

"I'm bored."

This time Dan responded.  "It's tough to realize how much of our entertainment has been derived from food, huh?"

At Max Brenner's Chocolate Factory in New York City while on our Foods of New York Tour that we hosted in July 2010.
  

I hadn't thought about that.  He was right.  I didn't realize that I was grouchy because I wanted to eat.  I didn't realize that I was hungry because I was bored and wanted something to do.  No, not just SOMETHING to do--I wanted to eat.  I wanted to go to a restaurant and order a five course meal and sit and linger over it with a glass of wine.  I wanted to come home and sit up for another five hours exploring the kitchen cupboards.  Wait...NO.  I didn't really WANT that.  I didn't even realize that was why I was upset.  I just realized there was a void.  And the void was food.  And...I was bored.

But you have to be kidding!  I am here with my husband and my children.  We are surrounded by toys and places to go and things to see and kittens to love and friends and family and a church and...

It's not so much boredom as it is discontentment.  I don't want those things.  I want something to entertain me and be easy and be mindless and be pleasurable.

It's time to redefine all of those things.  Food is not entertainment.  Food is not ease.  Food is fuel.  And it can be pleasurable.  But it is not my satisfaction and it does not bring comfort.  I have been deceived by my Food Idolatry for a long time.  I have to find a new way to live.

FOOD has stolen my fun for a very long time.  Now, I need to rediscover what fun really is.  And be content along the way.

At the pinnacle of a hike in spring 2013.  It was time to refuel before the hike back down.  Now THIS was fun!