How to have the willpower to say NO

alexandravictoria88 · July 2019

My word am i really struggling with this at the moment. I know a lot of it has to do with how i feel emotionally and its the reason why i cannot say no to crap food. I eat a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner however, my snacking is out of control! Its stressing me out and that just makes me snack more! I work in a school with children who are autistic and as rewarding as it is..its mentally challenging and sometimes all i want to do is crab sugar and carbs and unfortunately round the workplace chocolates, biscuits and sweets are on tap! Everyone is eating them. Ive gained at least 3 to 4 kgs sincr working there and its really getting me down. I go to the gym at least 3x a week and my work keeps me active. Around 12.000 steps a day but cant seem to shift the weight and i know its because of the snacking! Yesterday as it was end of term i ended up eating a whole pack of maltesers. A whole 503kcal worth! I dont even eat that much in my meal!!! I was disgusted with myself. How do you guys stick to saying no and not give in! Please help
.i used to be good at it..but tiredness and stress doesnt help!

Danp · July 2019

Sounds to me like you're trying to lose weight in a way that doesn't work for you, so it's time to do something different. Willpower is a scarce resource useful for short burst and limited duration. It's not something you can rely on long term.

Try a different meal timing, maybe eating more or less frequently will help you eat in a calorie deficit
Try different foods. If the "healthy" breakfast, lunch and dinner that you're eating is leaving you unsatisfied then start eating foods that you will find satisfying and enjoyable so that you're able to eat in a calorie deficit.

In short if what you're doing isn't working for you. Do something else and if that doesn't work try something else again. Keep trying new things until you find what works for you then you won't have to rely on willpower.

G'luck.

kevinflemming1982 · July 2019

Personally, I haven't cut out snacks completely but allow myself the odd one from time-to-time. Just a small chocolate bar or a bag of nuts. If I feel snacky and it wasn't long ago that I had a naughty treat, say I had one yesterday, then I'll have something much lighter the next day. Low-fat yogurt, low-calorie snack bar (such as Fibre One) or some fruit. Hard-boiled eggs are pretty good too. Also, drinking some water can help kerb hunger somewhat.

Going cold turkey on snacking is hard, even for me and I have decent willpower (I gave up many things, just by stopping dead). But perhaps by letting yourself have the occasional treat, you won't crave it so often. A small bar randomly isn't going to have a huge impact on weight loss anyway, as your weight will fluctuate from day-to-day regardless.

There is a difference between being strict and being kind to yourself. It's finding a balance that works.

RaphaBianchi · July 2019

I plan my meals so I have a few hundred calories left over for snacks. When someone offers me something at work I have to decide do I want to use the calories then or save them for later. It's easier to say no when you know you're saving yourself for something later. Whatever the snack is, let's say Maltesers, I'll weigh out the amount that fits within my calorie allowance and just eat that. You don't have to eat the whole pack in one go!

lg013 · July 2019

Include snacks in your meal planning. Literally measure out proportions of filling snacks you like into tiny mason jars and store them where the junk food is so you choose them instead.

I’ll put a hard boiled egg, fruit, small cheese, almonds etc in 2-4 ounce jars and stock the workroom with them. I also make small protein bites for when I’m crashing (I teach all day too—totally get the energy drain!). Another favorite is to do a mason jar with 1-2 tablespoons of hummus or peanut butter at the bottom and load it up with celery or carrot slices. I will put 30 of these jars in our break room to tide me over in those weak energy moments

And sometimes someone brings in donuts...and they look delicious...and I really want one...so I allow myself to have 1/4 or 1/2 of that donut and really savor the flavor.

xxzenabxx · July 2019

Whilst all the above advice is about food I would also look into yoga and meditation. Or even just doing deep breathing exercises for 5 minutes will lower your cortisol levels and you will feel less stressed and you might not even want to eat all that food! Of course this won’t come overnight but doing it every day you will start to feel more stronger. Don’t focus on willpower but focus on discipline. Lack of sleep can also make it easier to overeat. Worryingly, your meals sound small because you said that you ate chocolate which is 500 cals and your meals are smaller than that. I would focus on making my meals so satisfying that I don’t even want to snack. On the days that I have a high protein, fat and fibre breakfast I don’t even want to look at food for atleast 5/6 hours. Another thing to think about is if your eating enough food. I mean is your deficit too aggressive? Last year when I had an aggressive deficit I just wanted to eat and eat. Hopefully there’s some good pointers to look into.

shaf238 · July 2019

Meal prep. I'd feel bad for wasting food I've already cooked and packed away.

rosebarnalice · July 2019

My mantra these days is "The only feeling food can fix is hunger."

When you reach for that snack, can you take a moment to stop and ask yourself, "is this going to fix what I'm feeling right now?"

Are you using the snacks as a personal reward for your hard work, a social connection with your co-workers, or a stress management tool? If that's the case, can you allow yourself to just FEEL the stress or the sense of accomplishment rather than trying to FEED it?

If you work with autistic children, then you know all about teaching your students to identify "trigger" situations and manage their responses. Maybe you can use your professional training to find some non-snacky ways to identify and manage your own triggers :-)

deannalfisher · July 2019

give yourself permission to have a cookie or some chocolate - when i started doing that, i actually complied better because i was denying myself stuff that i wanted

boymom121 · July 2019

My fave snack is Quaker’s Chocolate Rice cakes with a little peanut butter spread on it. I measure out my PB because calories add up quick with it.

That’s been my fave go to snack and it’ll pack well for the day in a container and you don’t have to refrigerate it. The chocolate rice cakes have little chocolate chips in it too. Total calories for mine come out to around 120 with the peanut butter.

LyndaBSS · July 2019

You're a perfect candidate for filling out your food diary a few days in advance. That's what I do.

From the moment I wake up, my food for the day is planned out. That eliminates last minute planning stress.

If I want to eat something additional, I look at my food diary. Do I have the calories available? No? Then I don't eat it. It's simple and it works.

darklyndsea · July 2019

If unhealthy snacks are available at your workplace, is there a way to make healthy snacks available? For instance, if your coworkers bring in unhealthy snacks, you could bring in healthy ones. If the administration brings the unhealthy snacks in, you could ask whoever's in charge of it to make a portion of the snacks healthy ones. That way, it's not a choice between an unhealthy snack and nothing, it's a choice between a healthy snack, an unhealthy snack, and nothing. It might be easier for you to choose a healthy snack instead of nothing.

7sorok · July 2019

Try adding hard-boiled egg whites with a touch of salt before snacking - it's very nutritious and kills appetite on the spot and very low in calories. Good luck!!!

HoneyBadger302 · July 2019

I found that buying some of the small, individually wrapped chocolates (or similar treats) and keeping those at my desk, and having one of them rather than the office snack served a dual purpose - it let me have a (reasonably portioned) snack, that tasted good and I enjoyed, and then I didn't feel anywhere near as deprived passing by the snack table in the break room. Pretty soon, it was EASY to say no as treats were being passed around since I didn't have this mentality of "that's not allowed." I was allowed something good, just my own (pre-portioned) treat. Ones that were individually wrapped was key though - otherwise, mindless snacking can ensue!!!

I think the advice of figuring out your triggers and WHY you want to snack after eating a full meal are also important. If you like a little dessert, plan in something small (say, a serving - ie actual serving size - of ice cream) after dinner. Enjoy each taste and savor it. I know for me, the mindless snacking is FAR worse when I'm just shoveling it in, but if I'm taking the time to enjoy my snack, and each bite of it, I tend to feel satisfied very quickly.

alexandravictoria88 · July 2019

I want to say a mssive thank you to everyone who replied. I have taken every bit of information and will try to apply this. Its more of a trigger. Im tired ive eaten well ..i can eat those biscuits. I think like most have said plan ahead, meal prep and know how much i need to eat. Again today with this 40degree heat at the momment i had physical training on at school and changing classrooms..there were biscuits, bread, icecreams! I had 4 little biscuits and a big tear off some bread.. was i hungry? No but i was very tired. If it wasnt infront of me i wouldn't have even thought about food. I got asked if i wanted an ice cream and i said No ..proud of myself lol. Its the eating to reward and eating to make me feel good that needs to stop.

kshama2001 · July 2019

Lots of times when posters say they are eating "healthy" they are actually under-eating. How many pounds do you want to lose total and what weekly weight loss goal did you chose?

Also, what's your protein goal - the default MFP 20%? How often do you hit or exceed it? How much fiber do you get per day? (I swapped out Sugar for Fiber in my food diary https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings .)

Often people get the munchies when they don't have enough Protein and Fiber.

Others need more Carbs or Fat.

Pay attention to your macros, play around with them, and see what fills you up the most.

lg013 · July 2019

I will say that we created a teacher wellness program at our school to encourage better health (and less burn out) for teachers. It was helpful Bc it got everyone in a better mindset and also got our admin to understand that not everyone loves food based rewards. They finally understood that ice cream rewards caused some folks more stress than good and found some other rewards to provide. They also offered more health focused events like walking meetings, etc. I think the biggest change it brought was the bringing in lots of processed foods into the break room all of the time. Instead we had days dedicated to bringining in healthier hommade snacks and asked folks to restrict donut days to 2 Fridays a month so those that needed to could prepare and avoid those days if needed.

It might be good to bring up wellness to admin and how the sugar rewards are causing stress and some frustration...suggest other rewards and events you can have as a staff. Maybe even talk as a department about it!

psychod787 · July 2019

I just say no... it does not match my goals? I'll pass...

How to have the willpower to say NO

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