Willpower- your hidden muscle!
- findbalancecoachin
- Nov 18, 2022
- 3 min read
WILLPOWER. Is it the secret sauce to dieting success? WILLPOWER. The word itself feels strong. It’s often spoken about relative to health and eating habits, but what does it mean?
According to Webster, willpower is: the ability to control one’s own actions, emotions, or urges. It's also a: strong determination that allows one to do something difficult.
So why do many of us struggle with willpower when it comes to dieting?
One theory is because willpower is a limited resource. Our willpower is being put to the test all day long, and not just when you’re choosing to eat a salad instead of pizza. A difficult client at work makes passive aggressive comments and you bite your tongue. You begrudgingly stop surfing the web to brush your teeth and get ready for bed. You’re perusing Amazon late Saturday night and resist the urge to get that useless thing at a great price. Our willpower is like a muscle that can fatigue with repeated overuse. It's no wonder then, that relying solely on willpower to help you make healthy choices day in and day out is largely ineffective! However, just like a muscle that can go limp when exhausted, we can also strengthen our willpower muscle by developing a regular practice of self-control.
Another theory is that our beliefs can either increase or decrease our willpower reservoir. For example, if you hold the belief that “diets are hard work”, it will be far more difficult to use willpower to keep you from eating that cookie after dinner. But if you believe that “diets are easy if I just eat what’s on my plan” you will have a much different experience! You will be able to draw positive energy from those thoughts and channel it into staying on track.
Some tips for increasing willpower:
· Developing a practice of self-control. This can be as simple as using the “out of sight, out of mind” analogy. Keeping unhealthy foods out of your house is an example of this at work. You can also use a technique called “implementation intention”. This is an intention you set to help you make decisions ahead of time, instead of in the moment when your brain is looking for instant gratification. An example of implementation intention is before going to a birthday party, deciding “if someone offers me a piece of cake, I will choose to eat fruit instead”.
· Exercise! Scientists at an Australian university found that study participants that stuck with an exercise regimen for 2 months had more self-control, when measured in the lab against people who did not exercise. This effect bled over into all areas of their life.
· Eating at regular intervals. Dipping blood sugar levels may make us crave sugar, which will put our willpower to the test! Consider eating smaller more frequent low-glycemic index foods to keep blood sugar levels in check.
· Try intuitive eating. This means ditching diets and focusing on nourishing your body. It’s honoring your hunger and getting rid of labeling food as good or bad. You respect your body and eat mindfully only to satiety.
The takeaway: Willpower is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to changing our eating habits. It can be depleted, but it can also be increased with different techniques. With repeated practice, we can use our willpower as a tool to help us tackle life’s challenging moments.
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