Where Do You Get Your Willpower From??

[SunsetRunner]

Hi Guys and Gals 🙂

I have over 5 stone to lose - lost 10 pounds in a month and then put it all back on in a couple of weeks as my willpower disappeared and all I wanted to do was sit on the sofa and eat! So I did!

Sooo I need your help! Any tips on willpower and how to keep going? What do you do to continue, rather than giving up at the first hurdle? I need a kick up the bum!

Thanks 🙂

Kat x

[divedragon]

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@RichardWatts wrote:

If you have to use will power you're doing it wrong. Get yourself on a long term weight loss direction through changing bad habits and picking up good ones. There aren't many people that can keep weight off through willpower.

Suggestions:

1. Eat slower without distractions

2. Drink water with your meals to slow digestion

3. Eat more nutrition/fibre 

4. Reduce sugar intake (cakes, biscuits, fizzy drink, deserts, packaged foods.etc)

5. Reduce consumption of packaged/manufactured foods

6. Stop when you feel satisfied no matter how much food is left

I've lost 22 pounds doing these things. I stopped even trying for about 2 weeks and kept my weight stable without putting any back on. 

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First and most importantly, congratulations on your success. 

It takes willpower to do those things you list.  To switch from the typical junk food we typically eat and make more healthy choices it takes willpower.  I personally do not like drinking just plain water, but I've been doing it - on willpower.  Giving up the fizzy drinks was difficult - it took willpower.  I'm not much of a sweet eater, but do have a vice for salty snacks.  It takes willpower everytime I go through that asil in the store.

By implying its an easy task, we paint an unrealistic picture in other's minds.  Loosing weight is about changing habits and it taks an effort to do that.  It takes making the right choices, not just today, but tormorrow and the day after.  While your list is an excellent set of objectives, doing them day in and day out will require a degree of willpower until they become habit.

[emili]

@SunsetRunner, here's the thing. If you look at caloric intake as a diet- you will always be fighting the fight. Always. I have been on a diet since my late teens. I have lost weight, gained weight, stayed the same and everything in between. over 20 years later, I have found my success. For 43 years, I have fed my body through my brain. Your body does not want a brownie, or processed food, or a burger or pizza. Your mind does. In fact, your body has such a hard time processing that kind of food- it would beg you to never eat it again. So I listened to my body and not my brain. Way I see it, the last 43 years my brain dictated what I eat. The next 43 my body gets to. I eat real food, I don't starve, I am not deprived, I eat out three times a week, I work out high intensity and don't fall over from low sugar or fatigue. I also don't gain weight, I get to wear what I want, my skin looks great and my doctors use me as an example of a 40 year old woman in charge of her health. Bonus, my family gets to eat this way too- my kids have a head start. If you want to know more, please reach out. I don't want to overwhelm or overshare if its not the direction you are going in. Good luck in your journey- may success be yours!

[loveabull]

The most important thing is not classifying food as good or bad. Food is fuel, if you overfill your gas tank the car isn't going to run better right? It's knowing when to stop. Have the pizza, one or two slices then put it away. Staying hydrated is important too. Always have a cup or bottle of your favorite low cal or no cal beverage available. Sometimes we're just thirsty and feels like hunger. I love Thai iced tea. I make it with 75% tea, no calories there. Then equal and skim milk, all day and all night...if you like plain water that's even better.

[Mbrookford]

Hi there Siobhan, Im Janna from NJ,and Im 54 working on my weight and health in general. To be honest I am fighting my weight issue. (I really do have a sluggish thyroid..not an excuse) Every pound is a victory for me. I have lost 15 lbs thanks to my HR. Now I am under 200 lbs which is huge.. pardon the pun, for me. I would love to have an online supporter. Now I am fair, and if I am not the kind of friend you are looking for esp because of the distance, it's all good. But either way, all the best to you. These wristbands are such a help!

[Trooper]

You gotta wanta be thin. But there are sacrifices that your going to have to make reach that goal. First, your not going to be able to pig out with your friends and relative on junk food. Some say it is okay to cheat, I say, " Once you get the taste of Doritoes or something sugary in your mouth, it is hard to control!" I choose to avoid them altoghether. Instead, I buy the Fiber One Brownies at 70, 80, or 100 calorie snacks. That helps with the cravings for sweets. You need to keep track of what your eating. Not just making it a temporary thing, but as a life long goal. That way you will always know how much your eating. I count evertthing I eat.I am about 8 pounds away from my diet goal of 169. I plan on continuing to count my calories, even when I get to the goal. Face the fact your going to get hungry, real hungry sometimes. " What and how are you going to do control your craving?" I eat about 4 saltines to help control my appetite. Or I drink a lot of Crystal Light or plain water. I also have a ready to go plan in action for emergencies. For pizza days, I eat the Lean Cuisine French Bread Pizza. For Hamburger Days, I can eat the Smart One's Mini Cheeseburgers or if  I want Chicken and Fries, the Smart One's Chicken and Fries meals. I also keep Grilled Chicken patties in the fridge too!!. I have several types of seasonings like the Kettle Popcorn Seasonings and Popcorn Buttery Spray from Krogers or Walmart. There are lots and lots of ways to create meals for breakfast,lunch,and dinner. I keep my count at about 1200 a day, but I can eat more if choose to do so. One more bit of advice. Stay away from carbonated beverages or anything with fizz. The gases cause your stomach to expand, and your get hungrier and it takes more food to make you feel full. Good Luck!!!

[ninjamidget25]

For me, they key is distraction.  I try to keep myself busy doing things so I don't think about eating.  Doing things with your hands like hobbies, etc is a great way to distract from wanting to go to the fridge.  If you have a particular hobbie that you've always wanted to pick up, now is a good time.  When I want to learn about something new and I have no idea how to approach it, I just take a look on youtube and there are plenty of videos out there showing me exactly how to do what it is I'm interested in.  Beware, though...this can lead to more than one hobby  🙂

[jlippincott]

I used to think I wanted to be thin, and kept on failing. I remembered that my mom had said if the plan she was on when I was younger had not harped on the thin aspect and had instead concentrated on the being healthy part, she would have not given up after a year.

I made a decision to be healthy,

First goal: lower bad cholesterol, raise Goog cholesterol,

Second goal:  have fun activities ie rollerskating once a week

Third Goal:  Walk a 5K

Fourth Goal: Lower my Glucose to below 85 (there is Type 2 on both sides of my family)

Current Goal: Have a waist that is below 35" (again Type 2 prevention)

Monthly Goal: Complete the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day (5 miles walking)

Next Goal: Try out a Stand up Paddle board

the give ups and the add to list:

in 2012: Krispy Kreme, Chocolate Creamed filled and plain donuts, I will have one only every 4-6 months

Result, I can barely eat it and I have to order the cream filled only, I actually dread if they hand me a plain Hot one.

Nov 2014: gave up Cheetos, Funjuns, Doritos, Reg chips

Added, baked chips, tortila chips, alternative chips, but not every day.

Result: I rarely eat chips, I don't really crave them any more, when I did try a small bag of doritos approx. 8  mo. later, discovered that they really had absolutely no flavor.

Jan 2015: gave up McDonal's Sweetened Ice Tea, I was drinking 2 a day and craving a third at the end of the day.

Added, flavored water ( I make my own), Unsweet tea or sweetend with Stevia/splenda

WInter/Spring 2015:  Gave up fried chicken legs ( only allowed every 4-6 months)

Better option: Rocco Dispiratos Flash Fried chicken, but I still eat it rarely and it is now a special treat.

Summer/Fall: Emptied all the hidden stashed of candy

Ughh! How old is this stuff! A lot of it I had forgotten about and it was dissolving in the wrappers.

Added:  I control how much I get from the bulk section, and it now becomes enjoyable not mindless eating.

I hope that gives ya'll some ideas. I can't do an all or nothing. but I can compromise with myself.

If you decide to not eat something, then make sure you replace it with another option.

If you really want that Caramel Frap at Starbucks, get it, but get the smallest and ask them to make it light and with no whip.

[Annie-NH]

I found it much easier to stay on track, get in my 11,500 steps each day and eat right when it was light enough to walk before and after work.  Now I am struggling with food and steps, it is dark when I leave at 630am and dark when I get home at 430pm, I live where there are no sidewalks or street lights, but lots of wildlife, not good walking in the dark. I still park as far away as I can and get up and walk, but not hitting my goal during the work week is difficult.  Driving 20 mins to walk in the town isn't feasible, the dog is home alone for 10 hours, not going to leave him again and it is expensive. Gym just opened up at work and I am doing what I can during lunch.  you have to want to be healthy ( a long term goal) more than you want to put something in your mouth ( a short lived pleasure).  at least that is what I tell myself,  i do believe journaling every bite is help ful. and seeing progress is encouraging.

[LizaD]

Weight Watcherts has really helped me. I track everything I eat. Knowing I will be accountable for every bit helps me. 

[Farica]

This might sound hokey, but I really believe it, and that's that it is easier to practice will power than to not practice it.

There are people who are a normal weight and who've never had to diet or worry about it, they automatically make the right choices most of the time. Somehow you have to teach yourself that having discipline in your choices in the here and now is preferable to swinging back and forth. Life becomes very difficult when we overeat for a period of time, then tell ourselves we're not going to eat anything but kale smoothies for the rest of our lives, can't manage it for a day, beat ourselves up for it, feel bad and worthless, go back to eating poorly, get on the next trendy diet, fail again, repeat and repeat.

Try to make good choices the daily norm for you, allow some treats, eat slowly, enjoy your food, don't overeat, move as much as possible during the day, and be the self-disciplined and self-assured person you'd like to become.  

[Simpson]

I think willpower is only a small part of weight loss. Willpower is a finite resource and easily exhausted and can't carry the load. Moreover, we live most of our lives operating on autopilot, letting habits take us through most of our day. What we need is to develop positive habits.

Unfortunately, setting up those positive habits is hard (and takes some willpower) and getting derailed, and falling back to older negative habits, is easy.

[LordHeathen]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to Fitbit and I am awaiting for my ChargeHR to afully into arrive tomorrow fingers crossed.

I decided to take part in Fitbit so I could see how much activity I am doing each day and I use my fittness pal to track foods.

Six years ago I broke my pelvis overseas and I have not really recovered. I now suffer with chronic pain every second of everyday. It is hard because I used to be fully active weight lifting, running, swimming, playing competitve sports near on everyday and I was very fit. Recently I was not even able to walk a hundred metres down the road before I had to turn around due to the pain.

However, over the last two weeks, I have forced myself to get on a bicycle and I am now cycling ten miles a day (to work and back), I found that by making physical exercise a part of your daily routine, rather than as an appointment to attend I have started to get some motivation back. Also I found a t-shirt that read "train as if your life depends on it, because if you don't push now, are you going to be able to push when it really matters" this for some reason inspired to me and made me look at life differently.

Hopefully, with the Charge HR I can really enjoy tracking the activities, challenges and get on top of my shoddy eating habits.

[Aqua671]

If you can find a way to replace a meal a day with a healthy choice then two meals a day then all three and you're good to go.  It's hard at first but I found a shake meal replacement with great nutritional values so I wouldn't be starving myself.  Best of all I really enjoy the tase and it fills me up.  You have to find something like that.  You have to enjoy the process or it will make you miserable.

Best of luck, keep it up, and hit us up if you need a boot in the toot to get you moving again 😉

[LordHeathen]

Hello @Aqua671,

Could I ask (if it is not considered rude to) what type of meal replacement you used, as I am totally new to that side of eating. Well I have heard of slim fast and used to take protein supplements many years ago, is it an actual liquid meal? Could I just liquidfy my meals instead lol!

[Aqua671]

LordHeathen, I am using Raw Meal by Garden of Life. I prefer the vanilla over the other flavors. It says to do 1 scoop per 4 oz of liquid but I do 1 scoop per 12 oz. Not a fan of smoothies and thick drinks. I prefer flax mill but have used cashew, almond, soy, almond/coconut, and so on as long as it's unsweetened. Trying to stay away from all sugars.

[LordHeathen]

Ah thanks, how often or how many meals do you use it over. I drive lorries and thought this would be great for night shift or even a meal before work.

[Aqua671]

By the directions it says 1 scoop is a shake and 2 is a meal. Typically I wake up at 4 am and have 1 scoop at 6 am then another around 9. If I want to eat lunch I will or I have two more shakes as I feel hungry or one shake and a small meal. Sometimes I'll have a big lunch and just shakes for dinner. Using only one scoop allows me to spread out the drinks, consume more whatever-milk, and change it up as I feel. I try not to have any big meals anywhere near bed time so a shake helps me have that full and happy feeling to go to sleep. Sometimes I am over doing it and don't eat as much as I should but I still have energy and am alert. Just watch out for McFattyButt when you're out driving. I work mostly in the field so fast food was a great love of mine. Up till I researched the ingredients. They are so great and combining a huge number of harmful ingredients into a tasty little package. I carry a cooler with my whatever-milk and extra Raw Meal and a shaker cup. It helps but fighting the cravings for that 600 calorie McFrostySugarButtCoffe was a battle the first week.
They are some other supplements and such that can help but seeing my results in the mirror is enough for me to keep it up.

[Aqua671]

It's pretty expensive stuff ($48 per tub) till you do the math on the meals you replace then it's a deal. My local Vitamin World has random sales but i made a good friend there and her keeps me updated on sales. So when they have a buy one get one half off, I stock up.

[runforrest]

New to the forum so have really enjoyed reading all of your posts, it's really heartening to know that some of us have or are struggling with similar weight loss goals & aspirations. As a father of two young boys (one 5 year old & one 8 months) it was really important for me to be able to run around with them without getting out of breath. The real turning point for me was seeing just how out of shape & unfit my own Dad had actually become over the past few years, as hard as it is to admit it he had become exactly what I didn't want to end up like - this was a massive wake up call & has become the centre of my determination & focus in working hard to change my ways.

I've only had my FitBit Flex for a month, in that time I've lost my first stone (14lbs or 6.3kg), I run for 20 mins every other day & for 30 mins at the weekends, I have completely stopped drinking alcohol, have no treats in the week & keep my calorie intake around 1500 a day.

For someone who never excercised, would eat & drink absolutely what I wanted whenever I wanted I've never been as focused on my weight loss goal as I have ever before, I'm actually luvvin running now & will regularly complete a 5k run in around 22 mins which for me is good.

The morale of my story is that when my own willpower dips I purely focus on the image of what I know I don't want to become.

[divedragon]

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For someone who never excercised, would eat & drink absolutely what I wanted whenever I wanted I've never been as focused on my weight loss goal as I have ever before, I'm actually luvvin running now & will regularly complete a 5k run in around 22 mins which for me is good.

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That's good for anyone.  a 5k is 3.1 miles so you're just a touch above a 7 minute mile.  That is really good.  My best time ever in the army under 30years of age was 6 min miles.  I'm right now hoping to get back down to 8 min miles.  Of course I'm 57 now and not 25, but one can still hope.