goals, goals, goals

i've decided i need rewards for when i hit benchmarks in my weight loss. my health magazine says you should have rewards for every five pounds that you lose ... otherwise, if you set your goals to be like 10 or 20 lbs, you'll get frustrated before you ever reach a goal.

i've done pretty well this week in sticking to my plan. i've eaten almost all healthy food, have exercised several times and have reached beyond my goal number of steps each day on the pedometer. the benefits have been great: i've had a lot more energy, i've lost about two pounds (which is within my margin of daily fluctation, but i'm still happy) and feel like i look a little slimmer when i look in the mirror.

so, my goody bag of rewards that i can choose from when i lose a solid three more pounds is as follows:
- something from jcrew because i love their stuff but am usually too cheap to buy it. you have to have a good excuse to spend the money on jcrew, and this seems as good as any
- a new pair of shoes. i'm about to need some new new balances, but i'm also interested in some sporty outdoorsy shoes, boat shoes and a pair of nice brown flats that i could wear to work but still walk in on my break
- a facial. i've never had one of these (again, too cheap), but i know i could seriously use one. the skin on my face could rival a 15 year old's.
- a few sessions with a personal trainer. this sounds more like a step to losing weight than a reward, but the thing is, i want someone who knows what they're doing to set up a plan that will help me tone my body. i can exercise to lose weight, but i still struggle with getting my muscles to look hot.
- pilates class or two. see previous explanation.

most of these items, ok all of these items are basically stuff i've avoided buying or paying for because i'm otherwise too cheap. i don't want to replace one problem with another by starting to spend a lot of money, but i know i won't be hitting my goals weekly, so i think it will be ok. plus, i can't reward myself with a big fancy dinner out, cause that would just defeat the purpose.