My Personal Fixes: Reward Days

This will be a series sharing some small ideas or methods that I use in my personal health and fitness journey. This post will be about my Reward Days!


You may have heard the term "cheat days" when it comes to healthy eating. A cheat day is known as a day (usually once a week, every other week, etc.) when someone diverges from their routine diet plan and enjoys food or beverages that are not considered healthy. While some people despise the idea and think that they are something to laugh at, I believe that these days do not do harm, but help along the path to a healthy lifestyle! Let me explain why...


I myself do not refer to these days as cheat days, but as Rewards Days. The reason for this is because the term "cheat" has a negative connotation and implies that you are doing something wrong. That is definitely not the approach to take when you are trying to feel good about yourself and what you are doing. When you work hard for a goal, it is important to remind yourself that you have done a great job. As noted in the HBC program, the key is moderation, which is why reward days are typically spread sparsely. This way you can continue to feel good about yourself while enjoying that ice cream bar or popcorn that you love so much.


When I had first implemented the reward days into my healthy eating, I began with two per week. This is not ideal, but it was difficult to give up those Doritos! As I became acquainted with my new lifestyle, I found it was time to take it one step further and cut down the reward days to once a week (Wednesdays, to be exact). Eating healthy foods six days out of seven became second nature to me and I eventually stopped craving the ice cream, cakes, and chocolate all together. After a while, my body realized that it didn't need any of that stuff, and I started to crave the healthier foods that my body had become fond of. As of right now, I no longer have scheduled reward days because of that reason. However, I do enjoy a cupcake or chocolate bar once in a blue moon, but thanks to my reward day implementation, the urge to do so comes very rarely now.

Note: A reward day doesn't mean you should only eat junk food the entire day! You should still, at the least, try to eat healthily throughout the day, and just enjoy a reward or two.