How Do You Celebrate a Milestone?

So, you set a goal of 20 pounds. Or 5. Or 50. And you get there.

How do you celebrate?

Do you treat yourself by eating something decadent? 

I have to be honest, my first thought is usually to splurge on something I've been denying myself. A cupcake. A couple of cookies. A steak. McDonald's. (I llllooooovvvveeeee McDonald's. Sad but true.)

And occasionally I reward myself that way. But when I do, I realize how backward that is. It's backward because food isn't a reward or a punishment. It's fuel,  plain and simple. If I use it as a reward, then I mentally have to go to a place where my daily eating is a punishment or denial. And then the whole concept of this "lifestyle change" goes out the window and becomes so much harder psychologically, I believe.

I'm really trying to change my relationship with food. To enjoy it, yes. But to understand how to use it. So if I want a cookie today, that I really think about what the cookie means. I back up a few days and tally how I've eaten and exercised. I look ahead a few days and determine how I'm likely to eat and work out given my upcoming schedule. Then I make what I hope is a smart decision. If I choose to eat it, I don't do so with guilt or shame, because I know where it "fits" in my program.

And since that's so much work ... I've found that buying myself some new clothes or getting a mani/pedi works just as well.