How to lose weight without willpower

I’m not one who depends on willpower nor do I recommend anybody else rely too much on willpower. The reason for that is because willpower leaves a void. In other words, willpower is all about “what you’re not going to do.”

Fine! So you know what you don’t want to do, but my questions are, “what will you do? What can you do?”

You need to have an answer ready because if not, you can and will do what you were doing before. That leaves you right back where you started.

Forget about willpower. Lose weight by establishing some positive habits.

1. Energized! Energy, positive energy, will take you much farther than willpower. Creating energy is not as hard as it sounds. Music works for me. I just need to hear a song with a strong beat and I’m instantly energized. Some people like to give themselves a pep talk. Maybe you get your energy from a cup of coffee – it doesn’t matter. Just approach your project to weigh less with positive energy. Energy is more powerful than willpower.

2. Maintain your Positive Attitude! There is attitude and there is fattitude. Attitude is looking at your weight management behaviors with the perspective of how you’re making your life better. It’s feeling excited to see the little changes and successes both on the scale and with other non-scale measures. A bad attitude, I call it a fattitude, will make you hate what you’re doing because it requires change and that’s uncomfortable. It will make you ungrateful for any progress, because you’ll never be satisfied. It’s never going to be what you want. Keep the right attitude and you’ll never need willpower.

3. Find your Passion! The research proves it. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to find your passion. It may be a passion for cooking healthier foods or exercise or it may be completely unrelated to eating and exercising. Pursuing and sharing your passion is an effective way to find joy in life and manage emotions without eating. Passion beats the heck out of willpower.

4. Be coachable! A coach approach is extremely forceful way to be successful with weight loss. Weight loss is not without obstacles and challenges. Asking for help is smart, especially when you reach out to get help from somebody who’s been where you are, and who’s where you want to be. If you ask for help, be prepared to accept it. Don’t waste time finding reasons why the coaching isn’t going to work in your particular case. Trust your coach and do your best to do put the suggestions into practice. Willpower may work temporarily, but coaching makes you stronger.

5. Be prepared! If you don’t have it, you can’t eat it. True, if you have no ice cream in your house you can’t eat it. That’s not being prepared. If you’re craving ice cream and it’s not there you can’t eat it, but what might you eat instead? Being prepared is necessary both mentally and physically. Be prepared by learning how to handle cravings. Be prepared by having food on hand that you can enjoy with flexible restraint. Knowing how to handle an ice cream craving allows you to have it the house and to enjoy it without overindulging. Willpower can fail you, but preparedness never will!

 

 

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.