Today I would like to write about something that I feel is an essential ingredient to a healthy life:

*Celebrations*

Too often when we are trying cut spending and/or calories, we forget to celebrate small victories. Maybe it’s just a one pound change on the scale, or realizing that you drank 8 glasses of water today, but we must remember to reward ourselves for a job well done. Rewards are vital to staying motivated!

However, when I first started my weight loss journey, my problem was, that my celebrations always revolved around eating unhealthy food. I always thought if I went to the gym, I got two extra cookies at dinner. By doing this, I was shooting myself in the foot and derailing my progress. I am having a similar experience in my journey to wiser spending. After achieving a goal (say passing a large exam), I used to reward myself with expensive dinners out or beauty treatments. Don’t misread me, these things in and of themselves are not wrong, and it is very important to make room in both our budgets and our health plans for occasional splurges. What I am saying, is that I often used celebrations as excuses to blow my calories and my cash.

Now, I am trying to look at celebrations in a new light. I am trying to find rewards that support my goals instead of sabotage them. (Note: this doesn’t mean that I never have cookies or pedicures, I just make sure those items are planed for if I choose to use them as a reward.)

Here are some ideas for budget and fitness friendly reward/celebration options:

1) If you need to relax, ask your family for some extra help and take time to do yoga or take a relaxing bath.

2) Wishing you could pamper yourself, but don’t have the money for a spa treatment? Visit your local dollar store; they often have great deals on hair, nail, and bath supplies. Another idea, if you have a significant other, plan a “massage trading evening”.

3) Achieve a fitness goal? Instead of celebrating with dinner out, use that money to buy a new exercise DVD or fitness accessory.

4) Keep yourself motivated to achieve your nutrition goals by checking out kitchen gadgets at your local thrift store. You can find some great deals on fun, new-to-you kitchen items (I call them grownup girl toys)

5) Looking to fuel the fire of your spiritual growth? Ask your friends and family for book recommendations and then see if they would be interested in starting a temporary book trade. This way you can pass on books that have been helpful to you, and spark good conversation.

6) Achieve a financial goal? Treat yourself by having an intentional celebration night at home. Try out a new or special recipe and spend some time talking with your family about how good it feels to be making progress towards financial health.

In any journey, when you have a long way to go, it is easy to just mark a goal off the list and begin focusing on the next challenge. We must remember to celebrate our progress and be grateful for how far we have come.

I would love to hear you thoughts on ways to have goal supporting celebrations.