What do you all do to strengthen willpower???

senecarr

DeguelloTex wrote: »

jgnatca wrote: »

Willpower (self-control) is overrated. It is a limited resource, so I wouldn't depend on it in all situations.

So is the sun's hydrogen. That something is limited doesn't mean it can't be sufficient.

Some people may have more success with other approaches, but that doesn't make willpower overrated.

SoUl_ReBeL2021

I know this might sound odd but I will watch an episode of my 600 pound life! That really gets to me and then I have no more desire for that food.

wannabeskinnycat

BZAH10 wrote: »

wannabeskinnycat wrote: »

My willpower comes from my weekly weigh ins. A quarter of a lb is a loss And my ultimate put the food down strength comes from last year when I needed 4 nurses to move me from bed to bed. That will never happen ever again

There ya go! Congrats to you for your progress so far. Outstanding!

Thank you 68lb so far

jgnatca

Here's what gets me. People try loading this impossible diet plan on themselves so they've got an internal dialogue going on all day, "NO" to the habitual stop at Tim's in the morning, "NO" to office cake, "NO" to the vending machine in the coffee room, "NO" to second helpings of pasta at supper, "NO" to the garlic bread on the side, and then BAM, willpower shot. Triple serving of Ben & Jerry's with hot chocolate sauce to finish off the day, with a side order of all dressed crinkle chips with full-fat ranch dip. They feel like a failure after negotiating a minefield of temptations all day. They weren't a failure. Their willpower ran out. Not because they were weak, but because at some point, everyone's willpower depletes.

I'd rather they take on one challenge at a time and succeed every time. When I succeed, I feel stronger.

Now, I've fielded all these temptations and more, but I shot them down one at a time. It is now habitual to take the better choices, while choosing to give in to a "temptation" under control, once in a while.

MsJulesRenee

Make a conscience effort everyday to not over eat at night. If you do that you will eventually get tired of watching yourself do it, get angry and try harder to improve - turn negative actions/thoughts into positive motivation! It takes time to build good habits. You can really apply that to anything in your life

SueInAz

jgnatca wrote: »

Here's what gets me. People try loading this impossible diet plan on themselves so they've got an internal dialogue going on all day, "NO" to the habitual stop at Tim's in the morning, "NO" to office cake, "NO" to the vending machine in the coffee room, "NO" to second helpings of pasta at supper, "NO" to the garlic bread on the side, and then BAM, willpower shot. Triple serving of Ben & Jerry's with hot chocolate sauce to finish off the day, with a side order of all dressed crinkle chips with full-fat ranch dip. They feel like a failure after negotiating a minefield of temptations all day. They weren't a failure. Their willpower ran out. Not because they were weak, but because at some point, everyone's willpower depletes.

I'd rather they take on one challenge at a time and succeed every time. When I succeed, I feel stronger.

Now, I've fielded all these temptations and more, but I shot them down one at a time. It is now habitual to take the better choices, while choosing to give in to a "temptation" under control, once in a while.

We covered this subject in a psychology class a few years ago. There have been several studies done on the theory of willpower depletion and that seems to be the general thinking. Have someone exert willpower and then have them exert it again a short time later and some will give in. Have them exert it again and most people will start to give in. I think it's why "everything in moderation" works better for many people. If instead of telling yourself "no" over and over you can say "yes" to one tiny serving (a 30 calorie miniature chocolate instead of a 250 calorie chocolate bar) then your willpower isn't being depleted and it's easier to say "no" to the next thing. The same with building a treat into your day. It's easier to say "no" when you know you're going to be able to indulge later. The trick to making this work is setting yourself up to succeed by having those tiny treats on hand or built into your daily plan.

It also helps to keep anything that will undermine your success out of the picture. Don't buy foods you know are triggers.

jgnatca

<---- garlic bread. Trigger.

DeguelloTex

SueInAz wrote: »

jgnatca wrote: »

Here's what gets me. People try loading this impossible diet plan on themselves so they've got an internal dialogue going on all day, "NO" to the habitual stop at Tim's in the morning, "NO" to office cake, "NO" to the vending machine in the coffee room, "NO" to second helpings of pasta at supper, "NO" to the garlic bread on the side, and then BAM, willpower shot. Triple serving of Ben & Jerry's with hot chocolate sauce to finish off the day, with a side order of all dressed crinkle chips with full-fat ranch dip. They feel like a failure after negotiating a minefield of temptations all day. They weren't a failure. Their willpower ran out. Not because they were weak, but because at some point, everyone's willpower depletes.

I'd rather they take on one challenge at a time and succeed every time. When I succeed, I feel stronger.

Now, I've fielded all these temptations and more, but I shot them down one at a time. It is now habitual to take the better choices, while choosing to give in to a "temptation" under control, once in a while.

We covered this subject in a psychology class a few years ago. There have been several studies done on the theory of willpower depletion and that seems to be the general thinking. Have someone exert willpower and then have them exert it again a short time later and some will give in. Have them exert it again and most people will start to give in. I think it's why "everything in moderation" works better for many people. If instead of telling yourself "no" over and over you can say "yes" to one tiny serving (a 30 calorie miniature chocolate instead of a 250 calorie chocolate bar) then your willpower isn't being depleted and it's easier to say "no" to the next thing. The same with building a treat into your day. It's easier to say "no" when you know you're going to be able to indulge later. The trick to making this work is setting yourself up to succeed by having those tiny treats on hand or built into your daily plan.

It also helps to keep anything that will undermine your success out of the picture. Don't buy foods you know are triggers.

Willpower in what kind of situation with what kind of options?

Do you think this kind of breakdown in willpower would apply to, say, Jessica Biel if she were asked out enough times? I'm asking for a friend.

ihatetodietalways

Your brain will always win over your willpower. Make sure you give your body all the nutrients it needs and you will be satisfied. Of course, a good no to sugar at bedtime is discipline. But you should not be starving. What I am guessing is that you have been used to that behavior for a while and your body is asking for it. You know, like a drug.

DeguelloTex

ihatetodietalways wrote: »

Your brain will always win over your willpower.

From where does your willpower derive if not from your brain?

SLLRunner

carriefeidt wrote: »

I used to be super strict with my diet but it seems that sugar has gotten the best of me lately (normally only at night) and I feel like I go in zombie mode... How do you guys strengthen your willpower?

]

Carrie,

I weigh and lot my food every day. I plan ahead and pre-log everything I eat.

Unless you have a medical issue with sugar, then its fine to have in moderation. I make sure I have some sweet stuff every day, it keeps me in a very good mood.

jgnatca

@DeguelloTex , I know you are responding to @SueInAz , but I thought I'd throw in my two cents anyhow.

DeguelloTex wrote: »

Willpower in what kind of situation with what kind of options?

I've provided many examples in my little rant. There's habitual (morning run for coffee), social (office cake), locational (vending machine), and familial (dinner time). Each is their own situation that may require a different strategy to overcome. It might mean avoiding the coffee room for a while until that sort of temptation isn't such a big deal any more.

Do you think this kind of breakdown in willpower would apply to, say, Jessica Biel if she were asked out enough times? I'm asking for a friend.

Most definitely yes. There's a case study. My Date with Drew.

DeguelloTex

jgnatca wrote: »

@DeguelloTex , I know you are responding to @SueInAz , but I thought I'd throw in my two cents anyhow.

DeguelloTex wrote: »

Willpower in what kind of situation with what kind of options?

I've provided many examples in my little rant. There's habitual (morning run for coffee), social (office cake), locational (vending machine), and familial (dinner time). Each is their own situation that may require a different strategy to overcome. It might mean avoiding the coffee room for a while until that sort of temptation isn't such a big deal any more.

I mean the experiments. What situations are they using to test willpower? I mean, if they're going to give me $1000 to eat a cupcake, that's not really a question of willpower. If they aren't I'm not going to eat it no matter how many times it's offered.

Willpower regarding things that aren't as important is inherently going to be a little more malleable. I wonder how determined the people in the experiments are, as opposed to those who never want to be overweight again.

ihatetodietalways

I am a diabetic. If my sugar gets low enough, there is no willpower in the world that will keep me from eating, especially sugar. My body needs it and it makes me get it.

DeguelloTex

ihatetodietalways wrote: »

I am a diabetic. If my sugar gets low enough, there is no willpower in the world that will keep me from eating, especially sugar. My body needs it and it makes me get it.

Medical conditions change the calculation in a lot of things. That's not really at issue, it seems to me.

lemurcat12

A few things:

First, I keep in mind what I'm trying to achieve and why it's important to me. Not eating the cookie that appears in my office just because I am not supposed to eat cookies (for example) would be hard. Not eating it because I have a good plan that involves eating a certain number of calories and some specific foods to help with specific goals (losing weight this week, being energetic for my workout, which is connected with goals like training for some event, saving room for my planned dinner I'm excited about), make it much easier, since it makes sense to me. And if I decide once in a while that it won't kill my goal to change my plans I don't beat myself up--I just think about whether it was helpful or not and if not I reemphasize my focus.

Second, I try to put together sustainable habits and I remember that it becomes easier. I've had a few weeks where I was eating maintenance and pretty carelessly, to be honest, since I felt I needed a bit of a break, and getting back to it can be hard. But after a few days the routine comes back and it's not hard anymore. Of course, this depends on it not being an overly strict routine but one I can imagine being happy with.

And third, I really like:

jgnatca wrote: »

I develop strategies where I might experience challenges to limit their impact. For instance, having a healthier snack on hand if I'm travelling, so I don't give in to poorer choices. I have a snack late afternoon when I have my energy slump, so I don't cave to automatic eating when I get home. I make my salad in the morning (my energy peak) to be available as a better choice during the evening (energy slump).

I do the same thing. And when I find myself failing to comply with a plan I think about why that was--often it's something like too little sleep, putting myself in situations where I'm working late, will be really hungry and stressed, and have no food available that I want to eat. Then I'm more likely to eat whatever's around (usually nothing that fits in my calories or with my nutrition planned). Same with traveling without being prepared. I've tried to learn from these situations and try to plan, and if I know I won't be perfect--for example, when I get stressed at work and decide not to bring lunch since I've failed to make it in advance--I try to have a backup plan that works okay (like places I'm fine with buying food from) and not to beat myself up for everything not going according to the perfect plan. (This is also why I hate stuff like "clean eating" where the perfect seems to be the enemy of the good enough for now.)

ihatetodietalways

How many undiagnosed prediabetics and diabetics do you think are out there? Millions. The first sign of diabetes is hyperinsulin response upon sugar load. Doctors do not test for this. I am just saying, please don't freak out about it. There is a book written by a doctor in Chicago where he tested almost 14,000 people from ages 3-90 over a period of 25 years and he found out that a high insulin response to glucose load is the first sign.

kema2000

I usually remember something I saw recently. it was an of a girl looking at a pastry and her though was I can crave that for 2minutes, but I've been craving a thinner healthier me for many years. and plus I don't exclude sweets from my diet, I just know where to leave room for them, and I also allow myself to have cheat days 1 or 2 x a month, where I can eat whatever I want. I still log it even knowing that I will go over my limit, but at least it's there and in my face and I try to do better on my next cheat day.

ihatetodietalways

I find it funny that fitness pal is for losing weight, but people are very defensive about cutting crappy sugary foods.

whmscll

ihatetodietalways wrote: »

I find it funny that fitness pal is for losing weight, but people are very defensive about cutting crappy sugary foods.

+1