What makes a reward?

Let's talk about rewards this morning. What exactly do you deserve? Think about that for a moment.

On this past Tuesday's episode of The Biggest Loser, trainer Jillian Michaels confronted contestant - and Olympic gold medalist - Rulon Gardner over video footage from his room in which he is seen eating things that could sabotage his weight loss. Chips, bags of candy, fast food. Jillian is known for her take-no-prisoners approach so I'm sure Rulon thought he was in for a flogging. Not so much. She calmly went to him to discuss in private why he felt the need to overindulge when his clear purpose for being at the ranch is to lose weight.

Rulon explained his view that he thought he deserved it. He was working hard, losing a ton of weight (well over 100 pounds so far) and figured he could afford to reward himself with a few of his favorite foods. To his credit, he was very honest and forthright about it.

This struck a chord with me big time. I am guilty of thinking this way occasionally. I've lost 250 pounds...I *deserve* to have a bag of chips. I've worked hard and deserve to reward myself. But, as Jillian pointed out, what do you think you deserve?

We deserve to be healthy and live longer. We deserve to be proud of ourselves every day for the choices we make.

Jillian discussed with Rulon the theory that people sometimes have an all-or-nothing approach to food. If you start eliminating foods, it only leads to deprivation and binging when you do succumb to the temptation. Then guilt lingers, you feel like a failure and turn to even more bad choices in an attempt to console yourself. And the cycle goes on and on. Because some foods feel forbidden, we tend to think of them as rewards. Food should never be used in this way. As a society, food often surrounds celebratory events. And that's fine: But the type of food and the amount of it are extremely important. We need to make the celebration about people, not a double-chocolate layer cake.

I have stated many times in the past that I don't believe in bad food. An eating plan that directs you to eliminate any food - whether it's a Snicker's bar or homemade bread - gives me reason to pause. Nothing is totally off limits but of course a clear head and moderation must prevail or you will end up right back where you started and all your hard work will be lost. Do I struggle with the balance? Every single frickin' day! I am guilty of backsliding just like anyone else.

"I ate one piece of pizza, so I blew it and might as well have five pieces." Or maybe you blow one meal and it ruins the whole day for you. Try not to get caught up in that mentality. Even if you have the five pieces, when it's over stop for a second. Think about what just happened. Can you change it? No. Can you move on and make a better choice at the next meal? Sure. You're in control. Even when you screw up, how you deal with it is up to you. Still in control.

Jillian explained that she wasn't telling Rulon to stop eating certain things, just wanted him and the other contestants to try to think about food in a different way since when they leave the ranch, they will deal with choices like this more often, every day. Eat one burger, not three. We all know this stuff - I've blogged about it many times - but it's harder to put into practice. It's not easy, but if you succeed even 80% of the time, then you're ok.

Food isn't a reward in and of itself. Good health is, though. Let's all try to remember that when reaching for the third doughnut of the week at work. I will if you will.