Willpower and Dieting - Take Responsibility!

Aug. 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Many dieters fail to follow through on their food plans and inevitably blame one culprit – willpower.  Some will argue that there is no such thing – you either make a choice and stick to it, or you don’t.  

Others feel willpower is a mystical component of ourselves guiding us in the choices we make.  You might not have an opinion about willpower, but you still may feel comfortable using it as your excuse whenever you make the wrong choice about what you should be eating.

When you are digging around in the refrigerator at 2 o’clock in the morning and wind up devouring an entire chocolate pie, it is not willpower’s fault – it is a conscious decision you made and for which you need to take full responsibility.

But with that said, you also should not attach any guilt to that decision.  Just because you hold yourself responsible for a dieting mishap, it is not any reason to beat yourself up and label yourself a failure.

Here’s an idea: from now on, when you are dealing with an inner battle between caving in and quitting and staying the perfect path to success, stop and realize that there is always a solid middle ground you can adhere to.

You want that chocolate pie, but the diet says you are not supposed to have sweets. Not at all.  Instead of using the dieter’s excuse of no willpower and eating the entire pie in just under two minutes flat, give yourself permission to indulge just a little bit. Even if it is a full slice, it would be better than eight slices.

Take preventative action by giving yourself permission to learn and make mistakes and recover.  Dieting and learning how to eat healthy takes time. As all of us have learned at one time or another, it is not a skill you will master overnight.

However, make sure that before you make any decisions (even those which mean you may steer off the dieting path temporarily), you take ample time to consider the consequences.  Do not rush into anything.

Even giving pause to your good eating habits will only help to instill them into your daily routine.  Unfortunately we are not programmed to think before we eat in today’s world.  We are usually on the go, in a hurry, or mindlessly doing other activities while we make eating decisions.  

In reality, many of us are on autopilot when it comes to eating. We have pizza every Thursday. We drive through Starbucks on our way to work each day. We can't pass up on Taco Tuesday. In a hurry? You know where all of the fast food restaurants are. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. We just have to reprogram our thoughts, just like we do whenever we need to break a bad habit.

Do not let willpower (or lack thereof) get the better of you.  There is no reason to fear failure if you are willing to take responsibility and learn from your mistakes as much as you celebrate your successes.


For more diet and fitness tips including product reviews, recipes, and helpful advice, visit www.getskinnyandhealthy.com.

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For more diet and fitness tips including product reviews, recipes, and helpful advice, visit www.getskinnyandhealthy.com.