Saturday, November 21, 2009

Rethinking my points system

It hit me the other day that I'm committing a cardinal sin and setting myself up for failure.  I'm trying to track way too many behaviors in my rewards program.  So I'm rethinking it - in terms of priority and what's going on in my life right now.

My biggest challenge between now and New Year's is not eating all the treats that will be a constant in our break rooms.  Most days, it is easy enough to pass through the break rooms and pretend I don't see the food.  But the treats that will be in the office over the next several weeks are not the usual fare.  A bit harder to pass up.   And on Wednesdays, it can be even harder.  I have to provide breaks to the receptionist on Wednesdays and well - I hate sitting at the front desk.  As I will use ANYTHING as a reward, especially food.  And the front desk is right next to the kitchen for one of the main conference rooms.  Lots of food left over at lunch - and that's when I have to sit up there.  I can do some serious damage to my clean eating plan on Wednesdays.

The next biggest challenge is always with me - 'sneak eating' as I cook or clean the kitchen.   It's not as bad as it had been, but I am still doing it sometimes.  And I think this one behavior by itself is probably the main reason I haven't reached goal.

SO - until New Year's, I'm going to focus on three behaviors (the third is a surprise):

1.   Choosing to not eat anything at work that I didn't take to work
2.   Choosing to not eat unless I'm sitting down
3.   Choosing to not punish myself with food.  (This gets an entire post later)

And there won't be points.  That's too much work to tracks.  Here's the reward plan

Choosing to not eat anything I didn't take to work - 

For each successful day, I will give myself time to look for songs or iPhone apps to add to an iTunes wishlist.

Each WEDNESDAY evening, I will assess the previous 5 work days (Thurs - Wed) and for each  successful week, I will give myself 1 song or 1 app.

Choosing to eat only when sitting down -

For each successful day, I will give myself time to look at recipes on the Internet.

Each SATURDAY morning,  I will assess the previous week and for each successful week, I earn a  magazine - one that either promotes BALANCED healthy living, or healthy recipes.

Choosing to not punish myself with food - 

This will be hard to measure.  For now, I'll say that each time I delay eating when I have the impulse to do so when feeling stressed is a successful choice to not punish myself with food.

For each day I successful choose to not punish myself with food, I earn 5 minutes of quiet time.

Each SATURDAY morning, I will assess my week and for each successful week, I earn manicure.  When I see my nice nails, it will be a reminder that I don't need to punish myself.

That's it.

1 comment:

  1. sounds like GREAT plans!

    And remember, the self-pride of reaching goal will last far, far longer than the taste of those holiday sweets. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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