In Defense of Willpower

by Guest Blogger Gaby Lamprecht

I am a lifelong dieter. I know how to lose weight. It’s maintaining that I find hard. Maybe one day I can master that but for now I’ll write about losing weight.

I’ve gone from 130 pounds to 345 pounds and back again. Being overweight has cost me my gallbladder and some teeth.  I’ve been on every diet out there. I’ve gained and lost weight hundreds of times. Once I reach my goal I end up celebrating by eating! So dumb. But one thing I do really well is lose weight...

I have some unconventional and politically incorrect views on dieting. I absolutely believe in the power of willpower. Conventional wisdom says you don’t need it. They say if you follow the correct diet (whatever that is) you will lose weight. Relying on willpower will cause failure. Not true! You will need willpower every day of your diet. You’ll need it at work, where junk food is everywhere and people happily encourage you to dig in. You need it at home facing a fridge full of goodies and snacks. You need it in the grocery store faced with aisles and aisles of processed, fun and yummy food. You better have your willpower ready.

There is a doctor out there who wrote a book about willpower.  She said that willpower was a finite thing, that you can actually run out of it.  What??  NO!!!  I'm not a doctor, but no!!  That's like saying you run out of integrity.  Or honesty.  Or any other personality trait you have.  I think what she was implying is that you get TIRED of being strong, you become exhausted using willpower every day.  I get that, but you won't run out. 

You might get bored, you might want to give up, You might "feel" like you've used up all your willpower.  It's not something you can use up.  I don't believe that for a second.  If you give up, YOU are giving up, consciously.  It's your decision.  It's not that willpower has been depleted.  That's putting the blame on something other than yourself.  That's an excuse.  YOU are the one who decided to give up. Your willpower never "ran out".
 
One thing I remember from all my successful diets is that my NO voice in my head was very strong and loud.  I remember walking down the aisle at the grocery store and looking at things I shouldn't eat and hearing my NO voice saying loudly in my head "NO you can't have that".  I'm the one who nurtured that voice, I allowed it to be dominant, I encouraged it.  I also remember my voice saying something else:  "You have no choice".  It meant, I couldn't continue this way any more, I would never reach my goal by cheating, and I just didn't have a choice any more.  This worked.  It helped me walk right by that forbidden food.

I do NOT believe in a cheat day. One single cheat day, for me, will undo an entire week of dieting success. Easily. It also moves me out of my diet brain and back into my, “eat what you want” mode.

Calories count. They absolutely count. If you’re lucky enough to diet without counting calories it’s because you are instinctively eating within a healthy lower range. Those people are very lucky. I’m not one of them. I have to count calories. MyFitnessPal is a great app for this but there are others. It makes you accountable and takes the guesswork out of knowing how much you’re eating. And yes, this takes willpower.

You get to choose which diet is best. Any diet that restricts calories will cause weight loss. You decide if you want to be a vegan or gluten free or Paleo or whatever. You have to pick something you believe in and you can sustain for a long time, possibly forever. 

Stick to your plan like glue. One piece of chocolate can derail me. But not if my plan allows 9 Hershey's kisses (200 calories)!!  Again, I know that not everyone is like this and they are the lucky ones.
 
Don’t let people at work talk you into that pizza. Don’t let family talk you into that cake. Be strong!!! . Use your willpower. Make your plan and stick to it. You owe no one an explanation. You’re doing this for your health. 
 
People will say you've lost too much weight (I've actually heard this). They'll ask why aren't you eating that birthday cake in the office. They'll look at you with concern (this also happened to me when I was nowhere near my goal weight!).  There is temptation everywhere and there are people everywhere who are used to seeing you overweight.  They don't mean to derail you. They are social and eating is a very social habit.  Watch out for this!

Happy dieting! You can do this! Use your mental strength, discipline and willpower!