Willpower and Determination

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  • jms1902
    jms1902 Posts: 6 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    Find a way of eating and a level of activity that keeps you at the correct calorie level without needing willpower. It can take some trial and error, but once you find it, you're golden.

    This. But not just for the caloric burn (but that is nice, too!). For me, rock climbing helps me keep my willpower up regarding food choices because the more fit I am, the easier/more fun it is!

  • zorbaru
    zorbaru Posts: 1,077 Member
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    EbonyDahlia wrote: »
    . Work on thinking "I'm going to do X" and then doing it.

    If this is not willpower, then what is it. It is the will and determination to do x. Willpower is not just related to not doing something but also to actually getting something done. Its the same as calories in calories out. there are many ways to describe it, but in the end it is the same thing. If you want to lose weight, and you stick to it without going back to old habits, then that is willpower.

    doesnt matter what systems / diets / fad crazes / blah blah you want to do , you still need the will to stick with it long term. if you fall off, you need the will to get back on.

    it is ALL about will power, regardless of what name you want to give it.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
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    zorbaru wrote: »
    EbonyDahlia wrote: »
    . Work on thinking "I'm going to do X" and then doing it.

    If this is not willpower, then what is it. It is the will and determination to do x. Willpower is not just related to not doing something but also to actually getting something done. Its the same as calories in calories out. there are many ways to describe it, but in the end it is the same thing. If you want to lose weight, and you stick to it without going back to old habits, then that is willpower.

    doesnt matter what systems / diets / fad crazes / blah blah you want to do , you still need the will to stick with it long term. if you fall off, you need the will to get back on.

    it is ALL about will power, regardless of what name you want to give it.

    Dude, it doesn't have to be willpower all the time. It can be change in mindset, revelation, exposure to new experience.

    For example, go through an open heart surgery and you will never look at bacon the same ... It takes no effort to avoid bacon.

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I don't think willpower is the key to success. I think a plan is.

    Read Hadfield's book,

    http://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/223528/astronauts-guide-life-earth#9780345812728

    And Duhigg's book on habits.

    https://g.co/kgs/DB0rBs

    Willpower will get you past the cookie aisle and the treats display at checkout. It will help you walk past the treat bowl at work the first two passes but not the third. Willpower is depleted by over-use and by the stresses of the day.

    Weight loss takes longer than a single pass of the cookie aisle. That's why you need a plan. Figure out what you need to change one habit at a time and build new habits.

    Plans are for the long haul. Welcome to the long haul club.
  • Jayfeather15
    Jayfeather15 Posts: 107 Member
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    endlessfall16 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    For me, it helped to re-frame the process so that it required a minimum of willpower, discipline or motivation. Those are not my strong suits.

    Some alternatives? Experimentation and thought are good supporting players. So is fun.

    When I first started losing, I felt hungry, and could see that I wasn't getting ideal nutrition by eating exactly as I had, but with lower portions - even though my fat-Ann way of eating was mostly healthy foods.

    By experimenting with what I ate, and when, I was able to find strategies that left me feeling pretty satiated most of the time, usually only feeling hungry when I was getting close to a meal time.


    Just curious, do you select what you eat for satiety for all the meals (every time you eat)? Or only for some of the meals?

    I imagine having that filter on all the time is going to affect one's decision to go out and eat with friends, etc. You would always have to judge which is mentally straining to me.
    I don't know what you mean but I usually try to consider my options before I eat. I have to make a conscious decision to eat something healthy. If we eat out I try to pick something healthy but good. It's even easier if it's a buffet because of salad bars.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,564 Member
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    endlessfall16 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    For me, it helped to re-frame the process so that it required a minimum of willpower, discipline or motivation. Those are not my strong suits.

    Some alternatives? Experimentation and thought are good supporting players. So is fun.

    When I first started losing, I felt hungry, and could see that I wasn't getting ideal nutrition by eating exactly as I had, but with lower portions - even though my fat-Ann way of eating was mostly healthy foods.

    By experimenting with what I ate, and when, I was able to find strategies that left me feeling pretty satiated most of the time, usually only feeling hungry when I was getting close to a meal time.


    Just curious, do you select what you eat for satiety for all the meals (every time you eat)? Or only for some of the meals?

    I imagine having that filter on all the time is going to affect one's decision to go out and eat with friends, etc. You would always have to judge which is mentally straining to me.

    One other thing I want to add: I personally don't think of satiety as a dietary "god above all gods". For me - as I mentioned previously, my life has to work as a life, including the social and celebratory components, 'cos fun. Beyond that, my eating has to balance satiety, tastiness, and nutrition.

    It's possible - for me, at least - to find ways to eat that hit all 3 of those goals the overwhelming majority of the time. I haven't found it necessary to sacrifice tastiness to achieve satiety: Life is too short to eat foods I don't enjoy. I haven't found it necessary to sacrifice nutrition, either. And this can be accomplished within my calorie goal.

    It's not that every food or every meal has to be "perfect" in some way. It's our overall way of eating that matters, and how that shapes up not just a food at a time, a meal at a time, a day at a time, but across some reasonable span of time. Willpower or determination has to play a bigger role, IMO, if one is outside that balance . . . and I'm not good at willpower or determination, especially not if it has to be all the *baby-feline* time.
  • bienemajamfp
    bienemajamfp Posts: 32 Member
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    For me its looking at all the overweight and obese people everywhere and thinking: I never want to be so out of shape!
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    Rebecca0224 wrote: »
    endlessfall16 wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    endlessfall16 wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    Landoficeandsnow wrote: »
    "Nothing tastes as good as fit feels".

    Actually, there are plenty of things that tastes as good, if not better, than fit feels. I hate this quote and all derivations of it.

    All I've got is that I take a break every 3-4 months and eat like I used to.

    In the context of curing disordered eating it's a great quote.

    I hate the contradiction of struggling to lose wt and promoting eating (that induces excessive) at the same time. That's disordered thinking, too.

    Okay, I must be inferring the meaning differently than you. To me, "nothing tastes as good as thin/skinny/fit feels" means "if you want to be thin/skinny/fit, don't eat". That certainly doesn't "cure" disordered eating in my book.

    How do you interpret the meaning of the saying? How does it "cure" disordered eating?

    Yes, we have very different interpretations.

    To me It's very extreme and illogical to advocate "don't eat". Not eating is not possible for any moving living thing. Don't know why you take it that far.

    Besides, it's the word "taste" which is a state of mind. I take it to mean being fit should come as a higher priority. If this priority always comes first as a rule, you can't have the excessive/overweight overeating. No?

    Nothing taste as good as skinny/thin/fit feels is a mantra in the eating disorder community to discourage people from eating.

    I went back and read my post and I swear it's in English and that is says a very similar thing - if you want to be thin/skinny/fit, don't eat.

    Yes, I know it's an inspo quote for ED community. I'm not the one who thinks it means something completely different and can cure EDs.

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