Raise your hand if you’ve ever treated yourself to something as a reward. I’m guessing that’s everyone out there! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing a little treat yo self for a job well done, but it hits dangerous ground if you always do it with food. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have cheat meals occasionally if your diet is restrictive or that you should stress too much about social gatherings, but we should make sure that the treating is deserved and an actual treat, not the norm.
I used to treat myself to dessert at lunch if I had a full day meeting. And why not? I sat in a windowless room all day, trying to absorb tons of information and having good discussions. But now I think – do I really deserve a reward for doing my job? Shouldn’t my paychecks be the reward? Or how about a stressful week where the paycheck isn’t enough – wouldn’t an hour of couch time be better than pizza?
Rewards are supposed to be good things, but I no longer t think of junk food as a positive reward. It might taste good for a second, but one cheat can lead to multiple cheats until you find yourself at the Taco Bell drive through wondering how you ever got there. Can something be so good if it takes away from the hard work you do the rest of the time? If I think of rewarding myself with food, I’ll give my brain another few seconds before sniffing out the closest Snickers bar to realize that the reward is more of a punishment, a step backwards in my training, another day that I didn’t do my best.
But that’s not to say my life is totally devoid of rewards. I wanted a new travel bag, so I bought one. Guilt free! Yes, it was more than I normally spend on a purse, but I figure it was money saved from the pints of Ben & Jerry’s I haven’t been buying lately. And when my husband saw the box from Coach in the mail, he had nothing to say when I told him it was a treat for hitting the gym so regularly. So go ahead, treat yo self! But make sure to do it smartly.
Purses
Treat yo self!
Massages
Treat yo self!
Manicures
Treat yo self!
Flowers
Treat yo self!
Movie night
Treat yo self!
Crappy teen vampire novels
Treat. Yo. Self!
