The dying art of will power.

banks1850

People always ask me: "Steve, how did you lose 40 pounds in 6 months?" I smile and
tell them: "I changed everything." They kind of look at me funny, so normally I'll
explain further like this: "I stopped eating all the crap, I started eating good food.
I stopped making excuses like 'I'll just have it this one time' and started telling
myself that if I didn't start now, I never would. I started exercising HARD. Pushing
my body. And when I wanted to quit, I kept going for an extra couple of minutes,
knowing that even though my body hurts, it won't kill me, and that extra 3 or 4 minutes
will benefit me greatly by forcing my body to up it's fitness level just to keep up."


Will power is a difficult thing to quantify. My definition of it is the ability to start
or continue things that we find less then pleasing, AND the ability to self-analyze in a
non-biased way. Self-critisizm without self-loathing is difficult, but necessary to
improve one's overall health.

Figuring out how much willpower you have is meaningless, because willpower is something you generate
by force of conviction, rather then having from birth or instilled by outside forces.

Those who you perceive to have more will power, many times, just have a higher (mental or physical)
threshold for pain. Likewise, willpower is the ability do things without worrying what
others are thinking. If you care that people will look at your fat while you are running
then you probably need to re-think your attitude, not your training schedule.

So how do we who have suceeded do it? You ask (and I see that question on here almost daily).

It has nothing to do with our technique, or our eating habits, or our workout regimen, those are
all results from the top level starting point. It has nothing to do with our support network or
who is doing what around us, at us, or too us, those are just external factors that can influence
day to day but never the totality of the process.
I believe with all my heart that having the willpower to begin, CONTINUE, and follow up with the program is THE unifying factor in any weight loss/health improvement program. With a strong conviction and follow through, you can accomplish it (and just about anything).
And when ever we say "I give up." or "I don't think I can do it any more",
we are just giving in to our base instincts and not using our higher brain function. This isn't to say
you can't stumble and "have a bad day", that's different, it's more to concede that something is difficult
and therefore "I just don't want to do it anymore.". Having a bad day is an error in judgment, but not a consession of defeat.

I hope people take this how I meant it to be seen. What I am trying to do is provide a good starting point for people that don't know where to begin, or feel like they have been trying and failing.

I put all of the onus on Me when I work out and eat. I have never once said, "my wife made me eat badly today" (jokingly I have, but I have also spoken to her about this, and she knows never to feel bad about suggesting someplace to eat). For you to succeed in this, you have to take all the responsibility. If you do that, you will realize nobody will need to tell you how to do this, you will already know, and when you succeed, you will also know that YOU did it! And let me tell you what: There is no better feeling in the world!

I hope this shines a light for at least one person out there.

Best of luck to all of you.

-Banks

banks1850

People always ask me: "Steve, how did you lose 40 pounds in 6 months?" I smile and
tell them: "I changed everything." They kind of look at me funny, so normally I'll
explain further like this: "I stopped eating all the crap, I started eating good food.
I stopped making excuses like 'I'll just have it this one time' and started telling
myself that if I didn't start now, I never would. I started exercising HARD. Pushing
my body. And when I wanted to quit, I kept going for an extra couple of minutes,
knowing that even though my body hurts, it won't kill me, and that extra 3 or 4 minutes
will benefit me greatly by forcing my body to up it's fitness level just to keep up."


Will power is a difficult thing to quantify. My definition of it is the ability to start
or continue things that we find less then pleasing, AND the ability to self-analyze in a
non-biased way. Self-critisizm without self-loathing is difficult, but necessary to
improve one's overall health.

Figuring out how much willpower you have is meaningless, because willpower is something you generate
by force of conviction, rather then having from birth or instilled by outside forces.

Those who you perceive to have more will power, many times, just have a higher (mental or physical)
threshold for pain. Likewise, willpower is the ability do things without worrying what
others are thinking. If you care that people will look at your fat while you are running
then you probably need to re-think your attitude, not your training schedule.

So how do we who have suceeded do it? You ask (and I see that question on here almost daily).

It has nothing to do with our technique, or our eating habits, or our workout regimen, those are
all results from the top level starting point. It has nothing to do with our support network or
who is doing what around us, at us, or too us, those are just external factors that can influence
day to day but never the totality of the process.
I believe with all my heart that having the willpower to begin, CONTINUE, and follow up with the program is THE unifying factor in any weight loss/health improvement program. With a strong conviction and follow through, you can accomplish it (and just about anything).
And when ever we say "I give up." or "I don't think I can do it any more",
we are just giving in to our base instincts and not using our higher brain function. This isn't to say
you can't stumble and "have a bad day", that's different, it's more to concede that something is difficult
and therefore "I just don't want to do it anymore.". Having a bad day is an error in judgment, but not a consession of defeat.

I hope people take this how I meant it to be seen. What I am trying to do is provide a good starting point for people that don't know where to begin, or feel like they have been trying and failing.

I put all of the onus on Me when I work out and eat. I have never once said, "my wife made me eat badly today" (jokingly I have, but I have also spoken to her about this, and she knows never to feel bad about suggesting someplace to eat). For you to succeed in this, you have to take all the responsibility. If you do that, you will realize nobody will need to tell you how to do this, you will already know, and when you succeed, you will also know that YOU did it! And let me tell you what: There is no better feeling in the world!

I hope this shines a light for at least one person out there.

Best of luck to all of you.

-Banks

anewbeginning

very well stated Banks. Thank you for sharing that with the rest of us. :flowerforyou:

pmkelly409

Can I get an ALLELUJIA?!?!!?


** willpower is the ability do things without worrying what
others are thinking. If you care that people will look at your fat while you are running
then you probably need to re-think your attitude, not your training schedule. ***

this defines me. but everyday that I make the decision to eat well and go to the gym and push myself a little harder than the day before makes this attitude fad away.

Great Post Banks! Thanks for saying what many, many here need to hear and hopefully take to heart. Years of being told you are not good enough can seriously hamper the willpower.

sculley

It is incredible what will power and determination will do for someone...

For me it is also stubborness....Not ever giving up...the flaw of always having to finish a run no matter how much it kills me lol


CONGRADS THOUGH YOUR AWESOME!!

thalli1

Thanks. It really is inspiring to hear the thoughts of somebody who is succeeding. Keep 'em coming.:flowerforyou:

MontanaGirl

Thanks Banks!! Awesome post. I think I need to print this and hang it up somewhere
I've been trying to help my 12 y/o understand personal responsibility and this falls in the same line. But kind of like the 3 fingers pointing back at me . . .:laugh: Untlimately, I am responsible for my choices and responses to life and it's stresses. I make the decision - to do or not to do. Again thanks - great food for thought!

jenken99

this post was inspiring you have to say no to those cookies and bad foods it is will power, iam trying and one day i will succeed:sad:

Healthier_Me

That's right Mista!!

Tell it... Tell I-T!!!

chriss1tt

Thank you Banks. I was just thinking today why does something I really want to change seem to be not working for me. Your post made a huge light bulb go off in me somewhere. I am printing this post and hanging it in several places around my home. I just hope you are still here when I DO reach my goal. Thank you.

banks1850

Thank you Banks. I was just thinking today why does something I really want to change seem to be not working for me. Your post made a huge light bulb go off in me somewhere. I am printing this post and hanging it in several places around my home. I just hope you are still here when I DO reach my goal. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Always happy to help.

beep

Yes, it all comes down to self-control, a quality that is a dying thing in our world: the ability to deny one's self something it wants. Especially when one wants something that will harm another person. I heard a pastor say he practices self-denial daily; purposely denying himself something he finds he really wants every day, to make a habit of it.

This is another chance for me to practice the same.

ChubbyBunny

This is great! I needed it today.

Maribel

Wonderful post Banks..I hope that you are filing all of this stuff away..I see a book. I will be printing this one too. Thanks for being such an inspiration.

Warmly,
Maribel

Maribel

Wonderful post Banks..I hope that you are filing all of this stuff away..I see a book. I will be printing this one too. Thanks for being such an inspiration.

Warmly,
Maribel

banks1850

Wonderful post Banks..I hope that you are filing all of this stuff away..I see a book. I will be printing this one too. Thanks for being such an inspiration.

Warmly,
Maribel

You know, I did create a section in the web site I set up for chatting. If you have a chat login, then you can log in and look, if not then you can register. here are the instructions.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/7809-chat-room-instructions?page=1

but you don't have the click on the chat link, instead just click on the "MFP Post Archives" link and it will take you too the archives. But I have NO time to keep this updated (although I did put this one in), I wish some helpful soul would offer their services to do some of the archiving with me, that would make it so much more useful of a site. Any takers? Would only take you a couple of minutes every few days. I just have like no time right now.

beep

I'd be happy to archive, if you told me what and how to do it.

banks1850

I'd be happy to archive, if you told me what and how to do it.

we'll talk, I'll email you, not now though, I'm relatively busy at work and have baseball right after, maybe tomorrow. Thank you. :flowerforyou:

beep

Great. A new hobby!

lockedcj7

I measure my days with small victories. This morning someone had left a sheet cake on the workroom table. I walked by it. I decided to go back to get a piece about 10:30. By then, it was gone.

Just by delaying gratification, I was able to go without it! Now if I can just control myself for the rest of the day...

SunnyInBuffalo

I am glad I found this tonight. I was feeling a bit discouraged. I think that staying with it is what counts. It is easy to get caught up in the magical thinking and the diet commercial promises. What seems most frustrating is it can be so hard to lose the weight and so easy to gain it. It is disheartening. It is then that i just need to KNOW I am doing the right thing and results will come.