Presents! attainable goals & rewards

I've been dieting for only about three weeks, but I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself. I usually don't last this long and I'm attributing it to, primarily, two things.

One, Myfitnesspal.
If you have an iPhone and want to loose weight, you absolutely must download this free app right now. If you do not have an iPhone I would still suggest you use their website version, or a comparable site, but having it with me at all times is so handy. Not only will it track your calories, sodium, sugar, and weight or measurements, it will also prepare handy dandy reports that give you a graphic representation of how many calories you've consumed or burned over the last week. Coolest of all, it has a bar code scanning feature where you can hold up your phone's camera to just about any food item and boom-bam-done. You don't even have to search the database. I also like that it has a little online community where you get status updates on your pals. It's helped me tons for accountablity purposes. Which is actually why I'm doing this blog! Hopefully logging what I learn along the way will keep me on track longer. I feel more motivated myself when I can be a cheerleader for someone else, so I'm cheering you on... even if not for totally altruistic purposes!

Two, attainable goals and rewards.
I have my google calendar filled to the brim with reminders, goals, and concerete rewards. I weigh in tonight and if I have lost one pound since last week, yours truly gets a present.

Nothing huge, but something to look forward to. I don't think my pocketbook will suffer much damage, especially since I'm packing my lunch in lieu of eatting out now. So if I've lost a pound, I get a Last Tango - bright terracotta creme nail polish from Sephora. Drool. Last week I met my goal and sent flowers to my sister who is kicking butt at her new business- I'm so proud of her. One rule: no food rewards. I have new workout apparal, an awesome present for mom's birthday, a statement necklace, and a lilly pulitzer agenda coming up!

Might I suggest you give it a shot too? If you do, tell me what things you're working for in the comments!