Will Power?

elliekay90
elliekay90 Posts: 6 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
So I currently weigh 163.2 lbs (just under 5' 9") and am unhappy at this weight. I'm not in shape and am having trouble controlling my will power to stay away from bad foods.

It's not my first time at the rodeo - at my heaviest I was nearly 200 and at my lightest I was 138. I've done the weight loss thing before, but something about this time I can't seem to get in the swing of it.

For the past several months I have lost a couple lbs and then it comes back because I get out of the habit of eating right.

Any advice for regaining will power to exercise and eat right? I'm getting married October 2018 and I'd love to get down to around 145!

<3

Replies

  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
    I agree with the above poster, but I also had a thought...when you need a little extra motivation, what about going wedding dress shopping?
  • sjd421
    sjd421 Posts: 54 Member
    What has helped me it to map out my days food, meals, snacks, drinks and all. It give me a roadmap for the day. Also, I started out by just walking for exercise and am recently adding back in body weight strength training, some weights and spinning. I am not yet at my goal weight but I feel this is more long term than anything I have tried before.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    It's not really will power that you need. It's to decide that losing weight is more important than eating and that you want to exercise more than not. That's not worded very well, but you get what I mean.

    Set a schedule and go do some kind of physical activity that you enjoy. Plan out your food in advance and stick with that plan. The decision and commitment to that decision is far more important to your success than the very abstract idea of will power.

    It will help a lot to divorce yourself from ideas like good and bad food. Decide what you want to eat and make a plan it eat it within your calorie goals. Quit thinking about exercise and start thinking about physical activity you like to do and that won't seem like exercise which I get the impression you think of as a chore. I'm the same way so I get it, but it's holding you back so let it go.
  • EliseTK1
    EliseTK1 Posts: 483 Member
    I have had this issue many, many times over the years. This time I seem to be doing very well. I think the biggest difference now is that I have a major goal (to run a marathon in January) and the desire to perform and feel well doing it has pushed me to make healthier choices in every area of my life, especially nutrition. I am not capable of adequately training and recovering on ice cream, candy, and fried stuff. Last time I worked out after eating sweets my blood sugar crashed and I nearly passed out.

    My advice would be to find an adventurous goal, something you can get into, something you can't easily renege on, preferably something that isn't just about weight. Train for a mud run, a mountain hike on your honeymoon, a diving expedition or a bike tour. Incorporate it into your lifestyle to make it a habit. Slowly the activity will become the reward, and fueling it right will become a higher priority than eating foods with sub-par nutrition and feeling cruddy about it after.

    Good luck to you!
  • RunStart34
    RunStart34 Posts: 164 Member
    Will power is something you work at. How much do you want it. I had to start baby steps. Just like you, I've lost a lot of weight before but gain most of it except 10 lbs. The hardest thing is starting again. I took a different approach this time. I took my time and prepared. Meal prep worked big time for me. I eliminated one bad habit and added a good one. I kept small goals. If temptation comes from associating or going out I limited those outing at first until I knew I could control my food choices when I did go out. You have to test for yourself what you can do, or works for you. Also, Keep thinking how much do you want it that your willing to work at it.
  • Arizona_C
    Arizona_C Posts: 1,476 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    If you call the food you like "bad food" and the food you hate "eating right", you're going to need way more willpower than anybody has. You'll figure it out.

    This is soo well said it's worth being read once again...

  • eileen0515
    eileen0515 Posts: 408 Member
    First I would want to know if you prepare your food, or grabbing restaurant food. It’s amazing just how much food you can eat, and maintain a deficit, when you prepare your own food. Using sound nutrition guidelines, cooking for yourself, goes a long way, to solving the problem of will power. It will also leave room for treats here and there. Good luck.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I suggest setting small weekly goals that are well within your reach. You are within normal BMI either way so you might benefit more from fitness goals that will tighten up some of your flab.

    Every week, evaluate how close you got to what you wanted. If your goal was over-ambitious, set a more realistic goal. If you sailed through, keep doing what you were doing or up your game a little bit.

    It is hard to stay motivated for a twenty pound loss "some day", but deciding to stay within your calorie goals for the day, say, five days out of seven, is immediate and achievable.
  • rickiimarieee
    rickiimarieee Posts: 2,212 Member
    You can still eat 'bad food' just in moderation. You just can't have too many calories! If you restrict yourself from 'bad' food then you're more likely to give up the diet or binge a lot more often!
  • emilynelson58
    emilynelson58 Posts: 5 Member
    I agree with the other posters. If you really want that food that you think is "bad", just consider if you want it more than your goal. If you really do and won't stop thinking about it then just go for a smaller portion. If your goal is more important at that time, then you also have your answer. (Just my thoughts)
  • _AshLynn
    _AshLynn Posts: 134 Member
    Don't keep junk in the house is the easiest thing I could probably say, and there are a ton of healthier recipes for "junk foods" that you might be craving 1 - It will take effort to make the recipes which helps because sometimes I am craving junk, but don't feel like making a batch of healthy cookies or brownies...but 2- when I do I make them in smaller portions that I can control.
  • crazykatlady820
    crazykatlady820 Posts: 301 Member
    @JaydedMiss You're so right! It isn't silly at all. I think I just meant it's silly of me to have not looked at it in that light before. I really like the way you worded it... about shifting the power away from some external non-existent. Will power and motivation are things I just can't afford to wait on anymore, so I have taken it upon myself to make the changes and do the work. This is the first time I've ever felt like holy crap I am going to succeed.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    crazykatlady820 wrote: »
    I've made a simple word swap. Instead of will power I say self-discipline. It's so silly, but looking at it in that light helps me remember that self-discipline is up to me and I either do it or I don't... no waiting around on the ever elusive will power to show up.

    This is what i tell people. Will power/motivation is fleeting and more often thn not its used as an excuse. And it takes away both the responsibility and the reward. When people say wow you have such motivation i get internally offended. It hasnt been motivation that lost me 110 pounds, Thank you. Its been my determination. Its been me going for that walk even when "motivation' hasnt been there. Its been me doing it anyway and building the habits. If i relied on this "motivation thing" Id of failed long ago. Find the force in yourself, Dont look externally. People who succeed have worked to build the habits while motivated, And lean on their determination to keep things rolling on their new habits.

    Taking the power away from some external non existent and therefore unreliable force and shifting it internally onto yourself isnt silly at all, Its empowering. Yes sometimes it sucks but sometimes its also wonderful- This way you get to pat yourself on the back for every good choice you make and learn from every bad choice vs just putting it off on motivation

    all of this. im 100 pounds down and its a constant desire to do better, to be better. sure we all have days that are better or worse, but in the end, it is up to ME whether or not I succeed. i dont keep foods in the house that are too much temptation for me. I work in a bit of chocolate most days. I went and signed up at the local gym (we bought a new house over the summer). all of this, is up to me, and me alone. change your habits, change your life.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    crazykatlady820 wrote: »
    @JaydedMiss You're so right! It isn't silly at all. I think I just meant it's silly of me to have not looked at it in that light before. I really like the way you worded it... about shifting the power away from some external non-existent. Will power and motivation are things I just can't afford to wait on anymore, so I have taken it upon myself to make the changes and do the work. This is the first time I've ever felt like holy crap I am going to succeed.

    So great to hear others realize just how powerful they are. As someone who struggled for years as a depressed lump of a human, And worked REALLY hard to shift my mindset, Its really really nice to finally feel powerful and in control of my own life. Great to see others picking up the power to. Honestly makes things so much easier in life and more enjoyable. I like being able to feel good about myself, Not motivation :p
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Here's another "word swap" that works for me. I've always been heavy, very heavy and I did that by eating too much, sometimes much too much. My current eating amount is my new normal. It takes some juggling to eat within my calorie restrictions. That's where logging comes in. Instead of eating a snack of unlimited bread and butter I'll eat an equally satisfying snack that I've weighed out so I know exactly how many calories my snack contains. Last week I thoroughly enjoyed a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips -- not as one uncontrolled snack of most of the bag but as several measured and logged snacks over a few days. Eating them in a controlled way meant there was no guilt attached. I even had three servings one day but since they were measured and logged, no harm no foul.

    Every once in awhile I eat with reckless abandon. It's not scheduled. It's a choice I make on occasion.
  • NicoleMckenzie2017
    NicoleMckenzie2017 Posts: 141 Member
    Hey girl- I relate to you on so many levels! I am 5 foot 8 and I was very thin my whole life up until about a year and a half ago I started putting on the pounds. at my lightest I weighed 130 and at my heaviest I weighed 190. In the past month I've lost 12 pounds by doing a 1200 cal intake and hitting the gym about twice a week. I also am getting married in four months- so I understand more than anything the want to get down to a certain size! I feel like for me, the motivation is in knowing I am in absolute control over what I put into my body. Before MFP I was a huge fast food junkie because it was easy.. but since counting calories that's the one thing I stay away from due to the high density of calories. I think also just seeing over time that the clothes get looser, your energy goes up, and you are chipping away to your goal is all very motivating to me. But I think my wedding lit the fire under my behind more than anything. The great news is you're not far off from your goal weight at all! :) My only advice would be to count every calorie and be honest with what your intake is- and you'll shed the little excess weight in no time. Good luck to you!!
  • counting_kilojoules
    counting_kilojoules Posts: 170 Member
    Honestly, I try not to label anything "bad" because I think that leads to thinking about them the wrong way. If I want a certain food I think about whether I it will be worth trying to fit it into my calories. Sometimes I do a bit more exercise to make it fit and it's absolutely worth it. (Or, in the case of a special occasion I just eat at maintenance that day.) Other times I would have to go hungry to fit it in and it's just not worth it. It's important to me not to absolutely exclude anything because this is a long term change and I need to not feel deprived because I end up binging. That said, I do tend to eat far less of some things now because they're not worth the calorie count to me.
  • BBum69
    BBum69 Posts: 35 Member
    Forget about "will power", and moderation is for birds. Find and/or learn to make healthier food that you would rather eat. Then eat as much as you want. Master the spice rack, learn different cooking techniques, try things from the produce section that you've never seen before. Try different brands of healthier foods, you will like some better than others, and you aren't eating junk while you find out.
  • missh1967
    missh1967 Posts: 661 Member
    crazykatlady820 wrote: »
    I've made a simple word swap. Instead of will power I say self-discipline. It's so silly, but looking at it in that light helps me remember that self-discipline is up to me and I either do it or I don't... no waiting around on the ever elusive will power to show up.

    This is exactly right. It comes down to discipline, plain and simple.
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