Good Job, Here’s a Cookie!

Well, I have done the reward thing for many years and am now working on stopping that. It is odd as we didn’t have that as kids growing up, but we weren’t allowed any dessert until after we had eaten our vegetables!

I can’t remember that we were rewarded with food much as a child, since we didn’t get dessert or candy every day. But I certainly fell into the habit later in life. I don’t like running errands and doing grocery shopping, so I used to reward myself for doing it all the time. It’s only recently that I realized that I was doing this and I’ve now changed my reward – some days it would be a container of berries for my smoothies (berries are really expensive here and we don’t eat them often) or a jar of malted carob powder, or a yummy organic pesto. Things I won’t inhale right away, but that will enhance my meals and snacks for days to come. Delayed gratification versus instant gratification. I like it!

Great post! I have this very problem… I train and train and then I think, “I deserve this giant piece of carrot cake/cookie/brownie/anything chocolate and delicious” and then I feel so guilty and beat myself up about it… no bueno. I’m working on eliminating sweets from my diet indefinitely until after my marathon. Thanks for an educated insite!

I think I’ve finally weened myself off of the good job, go out to dinner reward but man oh man, did I ever feel like I was depriving myself!

UGH…all those calories!

I grew up with the food/ reward thing…and have often thought of anything I like in foods as a reward: Doritos, chocolate, icecream… the list goes on and on. Yes, I’ve often referred to sweets and chips as “special treats” and having “earned” them, but it’s something I do less and less now.

The kids seldom get food treats or rewards. We have a cake on birthdays, but as for other sweets, I try to disassociate them from behavior. We get ice cream occasionally when it’s hot, but prefer to buy frozen juice on a stick… occasionally we’ll pick up some Pocky… on rare occasion some gummies, but on the whole, these are more random and not associated with being “good”

I think one of the reasons I tend to “self reward” with food is that it’s cheap. I’d like to be able to self reward with a massage, or a bouquet of flowers, or a day at the movies, but let’s face it, a bag of Doritos or a Hershey’s dark chocolate bar is 99 Cents, and I can easily afford that when I can’t justify spending $8 on a movie much of the time… if I have that much in my pocket!

This is SUCH a hard one for me. I also don’t necessarily remember being rewarded with food as a kid, but ever since I started “dieting” the good vs bad foods was always prevelent. I would feel so deprived from all the bad foods, that the second I lost 5 or 10 pounds it was “time to reward myself with a splurge!” I always end up feeling much worse off, not reguvinated to continue pluggin on.

If you have any ideas for other forms of rewards I would definitely be interested!

I would absolutely *kill* for that pretzel! okay, maybe just an ant or a fly, but they’d be dead over it.

hmm I was never rewarded with food as a child but i can definitely see how this could ingrain in to our mind that certain foods are off limits and only do something good thats deserving of a reward…. hm, definite food for thought — thanks for sharing miss Annabel!

Really good post. This got me thinking about the things I used to enjoy. Not even as a reward, more to dull the pain of real life. Hm… I feel a post coming on.

I try really hard NOT to use food as a reward with my daughter. i didn’t use the M&M trick for potty traning… don’t use food as a reward for her. i try not to do it as a punishment either… For instance she doesn’t have to EAT ALL her dinner… but she does need to make a good attempt at eating it. Not eating to get the prize is not good. And dessert is usually not your typical dessert. Sometimes it’s just strawberries. Sometimes it’s ice cream, sometimes, it’s NOTHING. eghad! depends on what she’s eaten all day and how much she’s eaten all day (she’s finicky from day to day). Anyhow… I feel like i was rewarded growing up and really hope as she grows up I’ll continue to break the cycle. it’s horrible!! I also don’t deprive her everything, but I do make sure for every “sweet” treat… she gets a healthy treat next.

I think, as a kid, we used sweets (ice cream primarily) as a treat, but it became synonymous with a “job well done” and “congrats” and all sorts of things. My parents aren’t super active so I never was as a kid either.

Now, I still have the thoughts of “wow, I worked out hard today, I deserve a ______” – but I’ve tried (and am still trying!) to recondition myself that it’s not a treat if I’m just poisoning myself with the sugar.

It doesn’t always work, but I’m still trying!

my fam was definitely a ‘food as reward’ family. we were also a ‘food as comfort’ family, ‘food as a cure for illness’, you get the idea….

i’ve tried to work really hard at finding non-food rewards (new bubblebath, massage, etc) to treat myself, although sometimes it’s hard to break the instinctive food reflex.

Great post! Luckily, I was never really rewarded with food as a child. In fact, my parents never had candy, ice cream or soda in the house. And when we went out, I rarely got a “treat”. We also ate organic, seasonal food. My parents never took me to a fast food restaurant and frequently talked about the negative effects of fast food, candy, soda, etc.

This all may sound great, but it sort of backfired for a while there. As soon as I moved out, I couldn’t wait to eat some fast food as well as processed food (things we never had in the house; my parents still don’t own a microwave). And guess what, I didn’t die! I didn’t eat a lot of food, so I didn’t even gain weight! I didn’t really feel any different as I worked out consistently. I appeared to be young and healthy. In a way I felt like, “See Mom & Dad, all the stuff you told me was so bad for me isn’t really that bad!” It took me quite some time to realize that natural, organic, locally grown foods that are in season are the way to go for so many reasons.

I’m trying to find a balance with my children between showing them the pleasures of natural foods (growing our own veggies & fruits, going to the Farmers’ Market, cooking together) but also letting them have some fun with food. Food shouldn’t be a treat, but I think some mint-chocolate chip ice cream is okay once in a while!

I don’t use food as a reward anymore BUT I do allow myself enjoyment times when I have a cookie or whatever it is I want to eat. Saying that, when I was younger, I did use food as a reward for a job well done. Now, I kind of just look at it as I deserve to eat it & maybe to some, that is a reward… to me it is just enjoyment.

I do encourage those in the weight loss process ( I am at my goal now & have been for years so I am past this) to NOT use food as a reward. Use a new outfit or a pedicure or whatever floats your boat so you get out of the habit of thinking of food as something forbidden that is only a reward.

As a kid, hell yes, it was there & everywhere & used as a reward as well! I remember when those ice creams cones were a quarter! What was I rewarded with.. everything sweet & fattening!

It took me some time to deprogram myself that way too. I used to have a hard day at work and felt like I deserved a burger and fries for getting through the day. How does being stressed out (something that makes you gain weight) mean you deserve to eat crappy food (something that makes you gain more weight). Does that mean I deserved to be 265 lbs? hehe

I try to eat treats sparingly and not on a whim. I have been craving a milkshake for about a year now. Some day, when I budget the 7000 calories or whatever it takes to have that milkshake I want, I’ll have it. I won’t treat myself for it.

I do have to admit, I may not have rewarded myself with food after my half marathon last month, but I did go crazy that weekend after.