It’s nothing new that women like to reward themselves for hitting a weight loss or fitness goal. How they are doing it seems to be changing, and a little more permanent!

New clothes, pedicures, race entry fees, a fancy dinner, or indulgent dessert are all common ways people celebrate these major wellness milestones. For some, it’s not nearly enough. More and more women are getting goal tattoos as markers for their hard work and accomplishments.

“For me, tattoos are a way of honoring my body. I’ve struggled with my body image issues for most of my life, so to love it enough to see it as a canvas for illustration speaks highly to my body image now,” shared Jill Grunenwald, a healthy living blogger with two tattoos to show for her accomplishments.

Would you get a tattoo to mark your next weight loss goal or race finish? Here are a few women who share their what, where, and why.

Sarah Quina — Firebird on the back of her neck.

She was reward for getting back to a happy weight after losing 100 or so pounds. I felt like I was rising from the ashes as it were. I was back to 240 from 345 and felt great… I had planned to keep going with the weight loss at the time, but hit a huge plateau right after I was inked. It lasted for months, but eventually I gave up in favor of maintenance. I’d catch a glimpse of her every then and again and be reminded to finish what I started. Which I eventually did. I’ve kept off 185 pounds for more than 10 years.

Dani Holmes-Kirk — Celtic symbol of strength on her ankle; collage of running/triathlon symbols on her foot.

It keeps me connected to my journey and that I am strong enough to keep the weight off. I have a tattoo on my left foot that I keep adding to in regards to my fitness endeavors. So there is a 13.1, the 3 symbols for triathlon (swim, bike, run), a 26.2, a 48.6 and a Mickey head which is a reminder of doing the inaugural Dopey Challenge (5k, 10k, Half and Full marathon in 4 days in 2014). It also features the words “Finish What You Started,” which is in relation to my weight loss and fitness journey. Then it has the date 4-15-13 (I ran the Boston Marathon the day of the bombing).

DubyaWife — Phoenix between her shoulder blades; DubyaWife on her ankle

I knew I wanted [a tattoo] once I hit the goal for getting under 200 pounds. The phoenix represents rebirth… I felt like after I hit my goal I was a new person. So I wanted something that represented change.

Jill Gruenwald — Shanti on her back; Ohio with 13.1 on her wrist

One is for my 100-pound weight loss and means peace in Sanskrit. I chose it as a means of letting myself come to peace with ever getting up to 300 pounds and peace with my journey and choices. These days I’m actually about 40 pounds above that number so it represents peace in a totally different way.

The other is my half-marathon tattoo, which this proud Clevelander actually got in Savannah last year during FitBloggin! 

Stephanie Suire — Breathe on her wrist

I started training for my marathon this year. It means three things: remember to breathe when I am running and want to quit, when I get stressed and anxious about life I need to remind myself to slow down and breathe, and also to breathe in the word of God each day.