“The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

You work hard, you watch calories, you run, jump, do aerobics and do your best to keep from "giving in" to your cravings. It would mean you've fallen off the proverbial weight loss horse, and that you've failed. I beg to differ ...

I think a reward is a powerful thing. It motivates you to stay the course, it provides a small amount of cheating in a calorie counting world, and gives you the slight satisfaction of curbing a craving. Without rewards, what are you working for? Do you want to go the rest of your life never having ate a piece of chocolate, or indulged in a decedant dessert? That's just ridiculous. When you make the effort to change your life, eat right, exercise regularly, and just be in better overall health, it's important to keep living. You want to find that happy balance between new healthy life, and not so healthy life. You can't just completely cut-off one, and think you have the faith or discipline to NEVER think of snack food again. That's just ridiculous ... too.

So my theme this week is how to reward yourself, keep your spirit up, and make sure that you aren't going "without" enough that you don't find yourself gorging at the fridge at midnight. Happy balance, that's what we want here. It's a scary idea, though, right? How much can I eat, what can I eat, when can I eat? I see a Dietician regularly and she makes sure I'm "rewarding" myself when I can. Of course the idea of a reward isn't blowing through an entire bag of Cheetos in one night. That's being a fattie with no control, and we're not those type of girls ;) A reward is in moderation, it's a handful of those Cheetos when you're watching TV at night, or a fruit smoothie after that hellacious workout. It's making sure you aren't going without. Do you pass on that ice cream trip with the family? Hell no, you just make sure when you get there that you eat out of a cup, and go light or fruit friendly ... sans the toppings, sorry! Going out for a night with girl friends? Worried what that drinking will do to the waistline? Fear not, have a glass of water after every glass of what you like, and you'll find yourself backing out on that extra glass before you leave, problem solved :)

See, this is a life style change, it's making things work FOR you instead of laying the guilt AGAINST you. Guilt leads to turning down the rewards, then you feel bitter, you lose your spirit ... and everyone pays for it in the end. So use moderation, use those brains I know you have, think about what you're putting in your mouth, and just make sure you don't go without!!

It's 7:25pm, and I don't have all the images from the girls as of yet, but I will post the ones I do have. So here goes, and make sure to leave some love!!

>> UPDATE << It's 1:55pm and I just added both myself and Alexis :) Still waiting on Adrian, Emily & Mistie :)