Making Progress

I've recently been able to open up my 10 lb. and 15 lb. incentive envelopes. Sometimes I forget it's my own money that is providing the goodies. It's a lot of fun. And I'm very glad I wrote notes to myself.

For the 10 lb. envelope Natalie included a DSW gift card and a Kohl's gift card.

I bought some really cute beige shoes with the gift card, a 10.00 coupon and some extra cash.





At Kohl's I bought my first Kitchen Aid mixer. It was on sale, I had a 30% coupon and a 25.00 gift card, plus a 30.00 mail in rebate. I was happy with what I paid for it. And to top that off they gave me Kohl's cash to spend this week! It's still in the box but will get used this week.

For the 15 lb. incentive envelope I received a Barnes and Noble gift card which I promptly loaded to my online account. I like to buy Nook books to read at the gym.

I still have 3 envelopes to go, 20 lb., 25 lb. and 30 lb. I'm taking it slow and steady hoping to make it permanent.

Do you have a fitness goal this year you are working on? Do you need to refocus on that goal? Now's the time to do it.

in-cen-tives

Merriam-Webster defines incentive as "something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder, something that incites or has a tendency to incite to determination or action".

Synonyms:

boost, encouragement, goad, impetus, impulse, incitation, incitement, instigation, momentum, motivation, provocation, spur, stimulant, stimulus.

 

Turns out I need some encouragement, incitement, momentum and motivation in my life. Especially when it comes to my efforts to lose weight. So I created my own incentive plan.

It starts with a goal. My goal for now is to lose 30 pounds. In previous weight loss attempts the first 10 pounds is a worthy goal. For my incentive plan I broke it up into the number of pounds lost. It starts with 10 lbs., then for every 5 lbs. after that I receive an incentive envelope.

There are a total of 5 envelopes. My original plan is to hit 10 lbs., maintain the 10 lb. loss for 2 weeks then reward myself with the contents of the envelope. However, as I'm getting close to the first incentive of 10 lbs. and for how hard I've worked, I may forego the two weeks of waiting, we'll see.

What is inside the envelopes you ask? Well, it starts with a note to my future self. It's like a vision statement for how I see myself in my future. I praise myself, I acknowledge the struggles I may be having and I offer myself words of encouragement.

Stimulus and incitement is the goal. Also, inside each envelope is a surprise for me. I involved my daughter in this incentive plan by providing her the envelopes and an amount of cash. Her job was to divvy up the cash anyway she wanted and fill the incentive envelopes with gift cards, cash, notes, whatever she wanted.

I provided her a list of suggestions for the gift cards. Now I have my incentive plan in place. I have the first envelope hanging on a kitchen wall as a constant reminder of my goal.

Baby steps, 10 lbs. to start, then a reward for each 5 lbs. after that. Once I hit my 30 lb. loss I will evaluate if I want to go further.

I'm close to my first envelope, I can hardly wait.