Rewarding Your Family

Let's face it. If mama's on a weight loss program, than the rest of the family is too. There aren't as many yummy snacks in the house. Many of their favorite dinner dishes are nixed because they are high in fat. When they want to watch TV they have to wait while you finish up your DVD workout. The process can make other family members downright cranky at times, so it's really important to take steps to get them on your team. Talking to kids about why losing weight is so important to you is helpful, but only goes so far. They just don't have the ability to understand at their age. They think you are fine just as you are and don't see what the big deal is. And they really want their snacks back after all. So I tried really hard not to force my diet on anyone else. To make normal meals that they enjoyed, and just adjust my portion sizes accordingly. This is not easy. But my children would have been in total mutiny if fed nothing but broccoli and rice cakes. The other thing I did is institute a reward plan for them too. At every ten pound weight goal we had a family party. We celebrated with cake and a movie that went along with the theme of weight loss in some way. (We watched "Shallow Hal", "Supersize Me", "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Big"... don't remember the others but we had fun picking out the titles.)   I know it seems counterproductive to have cake to celebrate weight loss, but hey...you do what you need to do right? It made them happy to have the parties and ended the fussing completely. They would often ask me, "Mom...how many more pounds to the next party?" They would be the ones to tell me to get out and run so they could have cake sooner. And they cheered for me every step of the way, because there was something in it for them too. You can reward your family in whatever ways you think they would most enjoy...going out to dinner or bowling. Whatever your family enjoys. But do try to acknowledge the impact your journey is having on them and give them regular "thank you's" along the way for their patience and support. Doing so will come back to you in spades, as they become personally invested in what your are doing and give enthusiastic high fives for each success. This can't all be hard work after all. Have some fun too! You've earned it and so have they!