Where can I find will power???!!!

I have struggled with this my ENTIRE life.... if I hadn't I wouldn't be here. As best as I can figure it the best way to approach it is 1 day at a time. I have lost as much as 70lbs before just to turn around and gain it back because I let myself get overwhelmed and fell back into old habits. Wish it were as easy as a quick fix but I guess I will just keep plugging away 1 day at a time and stop beating myself up for the days that I don't do so well. So here is to being half way through the day that I am currently trying to get through!

Go to nerdfitness.com and search for the post on willpower.

Quick breakdown...willpower is a finite resource, as in we only have so much at any given time and once you use it up your choices start to go downhill. Better option...focus on habits.

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/18/140516974/resistance-training-for-your-willpower-muscles

That is an article about will power. Think of it as a muscle, when you exercise it a lot, it gets fatigued and does not produce like it should. When you are exercising your will power all day, it is gone by the end and you are giving in to all indulgences. But if you work it out it will get stronger...as long as you rest it appropriately. I read a different article basically explaining it the same way and even understanding what's going on helped me control more. Good luck, stay strong, don't give up!

You can probably find someone selling bottled will power on ebay :P

Sorry, probably not funny, but its not something you can really find, its something you need to understand. Why do you want to stay on track, what are you working for.. what is your end goal. If you can really focus in on that, that should help you stay on track. But to often people just say I wanna loose weight, I wanna be healthier, but what is that, set a actual goal, all be it a small one, say I wanna loose X lbs this month (X being something less than 10), or I wanna decrease my body fat .5%, for me small goals was what kept me on track.

and the second:

http://sarahsweightlossjourneyblog.blogspot.nl/2007/02/dirty-liarmouth.html

Willpower: The dirty liarmouth.
"I'm going to do it this time. I really am! I'm going to stick to it no matter what. I'm so sick of being overweight and I've had it! This is "it" for me!"

I think we've all said something similar to ourselves at one time or another when we started the next "diet" we were going to try. I would wake up that Monday morning with so much adrenaline pumping in my veins that it almost hurt. I would be so positive, so confidant, so excited. I'd have willpower pouring out my ears. I'd even have a little extra spring in my step. "This is the first day of the rest of my life" I'd chirp as I ate my rice cake for breakfast and left for work.

And it worked...for a little while. I would have the willpower to say no to the donuts that somebody brought for breakfast that day.

"Nope, I'm on a diet. Thanks though" and the smile never left my face.

I would have the willpower not to have a tall frozen yummy chocolate coffee drink with about 10,000 calories per serving (with extra whipped cream of course!).

"No thanks! I'll have one bottle of water please." I'd sing to the pimple faced teen behind the counter.

Willpower would allow me to say "no thanks" to the pizza everybody ordered for lunch as I munched away happily on my salad and carrot sticks.

Willpower was all I needed to get through those tough and trying situations.

And then something strange and unexpected happened...willpower stabbed me in the back quicker than I could say "double bacon cheeseburger, extra bacon, extra cheese, add mayo and hold any sort of vegetable you may lay on it."

Willpower is the dirty little secret that nobody warns you about. If willpower were a person I'd call it a dirty liarmouth to its face. And if anything, people lie to you about it's abilities. It'll fool ya all right. Willpower sounds all great in the beginning. It makes you think you're prepared to face the real world. It builds you up, makes you feel ready, gives you a pep talk, a slap on the back and then shoves you out there in the world, naked and exposed, to only slam the door behind you and click the lock so all the world see you standing on your porch in your birthday suit. Then willpower watches from the window and giggles as you look for a leaf big enough to cover your 'bare' essentials.

It's when you have that willpower, that super attitude that YOU CAN DO IT... that's when dieting or lifestyle changes are easy. Willpower makes it simple to embrace your life change and say "no" to the things you know aren't healthy for you. Easy Peasy.

It's what happens after the willpower diminishes that you really need to prepare yourself for.

We all know that feeling of empowerment that willpower brings fades out like a pair of stonewashed jeans (tight rolled of course, I am a child of the 80's after all). Sometimes it can last a few days... sometimes even a few weeks... but if you're relying on willpower to take you through to the end, to get you across that finish line... then you are going into battle armed with nothing but a Nerf ball and some duct tape, both of which are fun and handy to have around, but neither of which will help you much in your weight loss endeavors.

I've had to mentally and physically prepare myself for when willpower packs it's stuff and gets the hell out. It still comes back every once and a while to make an appearance but I'm no fool. I know it will leave just as quickly as it came and right now there is no tree with leaves big enough to cover my "assets" out on that porch.

So here's some things I've done to prepare myself for when willpower fails me.

I don't keep "not the best choice of foods" in my house. Things like nutella, ice cream and baked goods, which are all my weaknesses, are best left at the store. If I must have nutella in the house, it's kept in the cupboard that I do not get into on a regular basis. I once had a box of chocolates here that I just knew I had willpower enough to say "no" to. After eating about 10 of them (in about as many minutes) and then crying to my husband that I ate 10 chocolates, he threw them in the trash. I've not (successfully) had a box of chocolates in the house since. I have recognized this and know it's a problem so I won't try to kid myself that I can do it. It's okay to be human and have faults.

I plan ahead for situations that tend to make me overeat, like parties. I know what I am going to do when I walk in. I know where to focus my attention and I know where to try to position myself in regards to food.
I have actually practiced dialogues to use when I'm in a "food pusher" situation to get me out of taking or eating food that I don't need or want. We all have Auntie Meanswell, who knows you love _____ (insert food you are now trying to eat only on special occasions) and insists you have the second and third helping. Having a plan ahead of time has spared me fumbling for the rights words or worse yet, conceding to their pushing to save hurt feelings. *tip* ask Auntie Meanswell if she can pack some up "to-go" after you've had your first, regular portion. This means saving her feelings from being hurt, and you have the choice, away from her, as to what to do with the extra food.

When I don't have the right frame of mind and come to a bump in my road I look back through the book that got me on this path, Dr. Phil's "The Ultimate Weight Solutions", and re-read the passages that I've highlighted. I re-read the things I have written while at Novarum, the center where I went for help regarding my food and weight issues. I refocus my attention on those small things that worked for me in the beginning because, low and behold, they will work for me now. I find the things that have proven to work for me and make sure they are still part of my daily routine. I allow myself to take things one day at a time, not feel rushed to lose weight, and to be human and make mistakes. I don't need willpower for that...I can be powerless but still have a will.
And I definitely have a will.

I struggle with this a lot too. The last three weeks have gone really well for me, though. To answer your question, you find the will power from your though process. I've completely cut out sugar and flour. I thought I was going to die when I made that decision...like, literally, die! But then I decided to think about it differently. Instead of thinking, "I want that and I can't have it!" I now think, "I can have that if I wanted to, but I don't want it." then I think of all the reasons I don't want it. Two common reasons for me are: it will not taste as good as being proud of my choice will feel and getting healthy is more important to me than anything I would get from that delicious brownie! But the thing I go back to the most is this quote, "When we think of this process not as deprivation, but a positive act and an ongoing spiritual discipline, we begin to find freedom" I feel more freedom in my life when I don't think of it as deprivation but as a choice to create a more disciplined person.

I think you make a very good point here, im am just the same as you all, but the past ten days have been good to me, would have been longer if i hadnt have had to be away from home for 2 days beginning of last week. Anyway , i feel like this too. I bought some cart dor icecream last night, coz im gonna have a spoon when i feel like it, Ive got chocolate in the cupboard and i will have a piece if i want it, i think this way, im still getting a little of what i like most , but just not hogging the whole bar down etc.
Try it, its worked before for me, i do fall off wagon but im good at the mo, and enjoying the good foods i eating.

This is a daily struggle with me. Ok, more like hourly, I should say. Like some others said, take it one day/hour at a time. Some days, I do really bad and give in & eat a candybar/Debbie cake/whatever but then, like yesterday, I did great. So I have to congratulate myself on that small victory of controlling my cravings. I don't think there is a magic potion to take away my appetite...if there was, I'd spend my entire tax refund on it!

Weighingin - those were fantastic pieces. Thank you so much for sharing those! Very sage advice.

"Motivation doesn't last, neither does bathing. That is why its recommended daily." What is your motivation today?

The best advice I can really give you is that you have to find it within yourself. I have been struggling with weight for all of my twenties, and about 3 years ago my best friend managed to lose 120 lbs by using MFP. I knew everyone in our circle looked at me like 'She did it, when will you?" and so I began counting calories, working out, cutting out fatty, salty, foods (my weakness) etc. And while I would drop, 30 lbs here, etc., I always ended up giving up and going back to the way I was....I did this OVER AND OVER. Then all of a sudden, beginning of this February, I just realized I had had ENOUGH. I am so OVER being fat, lazy, in pain, tired, cant run around with my little girl, etc. And I just made a change, every week I change 1 thing about my lifestyle. Anyway, The whole point in me blabbing to you about my struggle is this: I had to come into this on my OWN. Its not that I didnt want it before, I always did, but I had to REALLY want it to make it STICK. Willpower comes to you when you are TRULY ready. You will know best of luck!!

If junk food isn't in my house, I won't leave the house to get some. I'm lazy like that. But, if there is anything yummy and I'm snacky... yea, I will probably eat it. I have learned to NOT BUY my favorite junk foods, and when friends bring crap (ie. brownies, chocolate cake, donuts) to my house I have learned that it doesn't hurt to THROW IT AWAY after they leave. I am in control of what I eat, not the other way around. I do however indulge occasionally, and that seems to help my cravings.

I actually was having this problem the past few weeks of counting but kept exercising regularly and logging my calories the best I could and then finally something clicked and the past week'ish I have been WANTING to eat better and have been staying around my correct cals! Do you have your settings at the correct amount to eat for your height/weight/age,etc?

Start by saying restricting yourself to only 1 treat a day.... and then like 5 treats a week, then 4 then 3. And yeaaah, you get the point.

When I find that I'm 'losing' my will power, I sit down and write a list of my goals. I look over them and write a new list of what I need to do to achieve them. That usually does it.
Sometimes all it takes is a good look at myself naked, in the full length mirror. Cured!
I also play a mind trick on myself. I tell myself that each time I deny myself something that isn't healthy, or excessive, whatever, I become stronger. I remember that, if I am tempted again and it helps some.
We just have to want it bad enough, whether it's being healthier, leaner or stronger (or all of the above), if we want it bad enough, we will do it!