The key to weight-loss is as much about strength of mind and discipline as it is about diet and exercise. Re-programming your-self control is like training a muscle and in doing so you will no doubt boost your ability to resist temptation.
Now, before you give in to the jam splattered conclusion, know this; willpower can be trained just like a bicep. Your resolve gets stronger the more you use it. Research into self control shows that if you exercise discipline to meet one goal then you will be mentally fitter to take on the next
Willpower is not hard-wired into your personality. In fact it ebbs and flows thanks to glucose. Your body converts food into this simple sugar and your brain uses it when you concentrate and make choices. When glucose levels are low, You are more likely to give in to temptation. And its not just doughnuts but vices of all kinds, cigarettes, sex, rolling your eyes at your wife, any thing that you have to fight the urge to do.
One of the main reasons shedding a stone or two is difficult is that the willpower to achieve long term goals shares the same store of glucose as smaller, everyday goals. Researchers found that people abandon long term goals and operate on short term focus, even simple decision making drains your willpower. If you make lots of little choices close to meal time – comparing calories or deciding where to eat, you will suffer from decision fatigue leaving you weaker in the face of temptation. Your willpower muscle gets overworked and tired leaving nothing in the tank to face the next lure.
The key is to create new habits, cooking stock meals that you know well and that will not drain your willpower because they do not require conscious decisions about calories and ingredients. Likewise running every day drains very little willpower if it’s automatic, but lying in bed thinking about running exhausts it and here is the willpower secrets that will help you achieve your goals – Use It – and overtime your willpower will increase
1. Warm up your willpower
Take a small goal that you can train in a specific situation. For example, every time you pick up a magazine read it whilst holding a good posture. This has nothing to do with weight loss but it will build up your mental reserve of willpower.
2. Pick one goal
Cut out Alcohol, reduce your carb intake or stop swearing. Choose one of the three, as if you attempt them all at once and you’re less likely to succeed.
3. Lose weight right now
Aiming to cut your calorie intake down to 810-1,000 kcal a day works better as a goal than saying “I’ll lose 14 pounds in 2 weeks”. Make your goals immediate and specific and achievable and the results will happen.
4. Have a to do list ready
Decide ahead of time what you are going to do in specific scenarios. Such as “I am going to have salad at the work party”. It pre -programmes your will power when faced with tempting situations.
5. Guilt is your ally
It is much easier to go for that run if someone is waiting for you at the finish line. Humans hate guilt more than Lactic Acid.
6. Postpone rewards
Telling yourself you will have cake in the future makes it more likely to resist it than saying you will never eat it again according to the Tillburg Institute for Behavioral Economics research in the neatherlands.
7. Back yourself
Put your own money on the line to harden your resolve. At stikk.com you can place a real financial bet on whether your willpower can hold out. Fail and your money gets sent to a charity of your choice.
Good luck and remember if you need help please contact me