YOU ARE NOT A DOG (food rewards are not the best choice)

Do you know the three mealtime words that can cripple weight loss? "Because I exercised.

If you've ever exercised to lose weight, there's a good chance this has crossed your mind: "I worked out so hard. I deserve a treat!" And it's also pretty likely that you consumed more than usual – and in so doing ate back all the calories you burned, and then some!

"Because I exercised," Yup, sounds about right. I'm not innocent, either. We can all feel shame together, realize the error in our thinking and move on.

Burning off 300 calories just to reward your efforts with a 500-calorie piece of cheesecake or ice cream or peanut butter and jelly sandwich is just bad math. I'm terrible at math but even I see that this kind of thinking just won't help. Realizing that burning calories is the least important thing exercise does is smart thinking. By realizing the nutritional benefits of your food and that the quality of what you're putting in your mouth is far more important than it's calorie content, allows you to resist food rewards and make healthier choices that fuel performance.

A dizzying barrage of magic-bullet diets has left most confused about gluten, carbs and calories, and ever farther from their feel-great weights. What's worse, some of it has to do with the frustration and the disappointment people feel after changing the content of what they eat – say, cutting out fat, sugar or flour – and finding that it doesn't make a difference.  Who among us has done this?  Short term solution for a long term problem.

This is what works.  Mindful-Be aware, without judgment, of the physical signals of hunger, environmental cues and emotional triggers that prompt the thought "I want to eat." Then, sit down and savour foods they enjoy, without guilt. This kind of awareness removes a lot of the judgments of good and bad that so many diets are built on.  I say, "Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat."in moderation.

Rewards are great incentives but rewarding your new healthy behaviour with treats is just sabotaging your efforts. Getting fit and health is a reward in itself, remember that. But if you must reward your efforts try to do so in none food ways. Studies show that exercise without a proper diet isn't going to get you that body your looking for.

  You cannot out-exercise a bad diet! I'll say it again, what you shove in your pie hole directly correlates to your health and how good you look naked.

Hey, we've all done it but some continue and even develop a Pavlovian response to exercise wherein the exercise becomes a trigger for the treat. Even when we calorie count, which I don't recommend because it's can make some people, me, crazy, people tend to overestimate just how many calories were burned via exercise then overcompensate with food reward.

It's bad math, but it happens.

Here's a few NON FOOD rewards.

Give yourself permission to take a nap. Sleep in! Take a selfie to celebrate your progress. Post your progress on social media (or on our FB page Cherry Bomb Garage Gym ;)) so your friends can celebrate with you. Take a bubble bath. Make your own ribbon or trophy. ( we do this for almost everything, especially board games,  you name it and they are hideous!!!) Unwind with a movie of your choice. Plan a night out with your friends. Buy a lottery ticket. Buy a new workout song. Invest in more workout clothes. Get some new shades for outdoor exercise. Try a fresh hair colour. I'm partial to blue!!! Buy a small personal blender for smoothies and protein shakes. Order a pair of high-end wireless headphones. Invest in a fitness tracker to motivate you even more. Take a cooking class to up your game. Go for a flashy piercing or tattoo! Plan a weekend getaway with your significant other to show off that new bod. Hire someone to clean your house so you have more time to hit the gym. Try a beginners fitness class, something outside your comfort zone, like pole fitness or CrossFit or Olympic lifting.