5 Healthy Ways to Celebrate Weight Loss Success

What do you think of when you think of “celebration”? I think of parties, food, drinks, sweets, cake, friends and music. It’s the easy way to celebrate, but not the only way to celebrate. It’s also not the best way to celebrate when the thing you are celebrating is weight loss or meeting a health and fitness goal.

Think about it this way. What if you were a recovering drug addict? Would you celebrate 30 days of recovery by having a party where you can indulge in some drug use just for one night? It’s actually quite ludicrous when you think of it that way. So why would we do the very same thing with food after finally getting “clean”?

Here are 5 healthy ways to celebrate your success:

1. Secure your size, not sabotage it.

Instead of going out to eat or indulging in the greasiest, gooiest, highest-calorie food you can find, go shopping! Seriously! You could easily spend $100 treating yourself to a special meal or two, or going out on the town. Instead of sabotaging your success, secure it! Treat yourself to a new pair of jeans or a new outfit instead to fit your brand new body. Not only will this be a great treat, but it will also keep you motivated to stay in your new smaller size. This type of celebration supports success, instead of sabotaging it.

2. Support your lifestyle, not your old one.

We tend to let old habits creep back into our new healthier lifestyle. We ALL do this – even me. Next time you reach a goal, instead of treating yourself to an old unhealthy habit, do something that actually supports your new healthy lifestyle. Treat yourself to a new pair of tennis shoes, a gym membership, a class pass, fitness magazine, gym bag, fitness accessory or helpful gadget. Set small goals with small healthy prizes along the way to keep you focused and motivated to keep plugging away.

3. Celebrate on purpose.

Many times we piggyback our celebration onto another event, like a birthday party or football game. If you do this, your celebration not only loses value but it can easily turn into a habit of making excuses to celebrate because there will always be a party to attend or an event surrounded by food and drinks to tempt you to “celebrate” again and again. Plus, it’s very unlikely the people who are “celebrating” with you appreciate what you are celebrating or will share common goals. Celebrating on purpose takes planning, but it also should be set apart from other typical celebrations. Otherwise, you may find yourself celebrating every weekend.

4. Celebrate with the right friends.

It normally takes more than one person to help you reach your goals. It could take a supportive spouse, a trainer, workout partners, friends or co-workers to help you stay committed every day. If you want to celebrate, don’t celebrate alone. Celebrate with the people who will understand your accomplishment and are excited for you more than others. Most of the time, they too are working toward a goal so they won’t want to sabotage their success either. And, if they haven’t reached their goal, your victory can inspire them to try harder. Also, the right friends will understand why you are still drinking water or not wanting to go completely overboard in your celebration instead of trying to convince you to let loose because you’ve “worked so hard” and “deserve it”.

5. Party outside the box.

A party doesn’t have to involve food or drinks. A party or celebration’s most important component is the people who are celebrating with you. Once you have decided who you want to celebrate with, then decide what you want to do – and be creative! There are SO many ways to celebrate. You can go to a theme park, play mini-golf, go bowling, plan a beach or pool party (Lord knows you won’t want to pig out if you are wearing a bathing suit! LOL), go to a rock climbing gym with friends, see a show, plan a mini vaca, schedule a shopping trip with friends or have a spa day. You can even go solo and treat yourself to a pedicure or schedule a relaxing massage and just enjoy some quiet time to yourself.

We will always be tempted to do what we’ve always done and take the easy route, but if you are truly changing your lifestyle, you will also have to change the way you celebrate victories. Because, if you are working this hard to improve, you will have a lot of victories in your future!