The Word on Weightloss

Imagine this:

You’re at a cocktail party on Saturday night with your friends. You’ve had a tough week at work and you’re ready to let go a little. You’ve been looking forward to relaxing and having fun with your friends for weeks, and now it’s finally here. You eat less during the day to save your calories for later that night.

When you get to the party, you tell yourself that it’s ‘OK’ to splurge a little on food and drinks because you haven’t had a night like this in a long while. You wake up the next morning and realize just how much you consumed. Feelings of regret and guilt begin to consume you.

Have you been here before?

Temptation is single handedly one of the hardest parts to keeping up with your weight loss goals. Many of us have a weight loss goal because our powers of resistance are severely lacking.

To increase your willpower, here is some research and tips to help you understand, find and avoid temptations:

Research shows that willpower is a kind of mental muscle that requires real energy.

• In a 2007 experiment, Prof. Baumeister and his colleagues at Florida State University found that students who fasted for three hours and then had to perform a variety of self-control tasks, such as focusing on a uninteresting video, had significantly lower glucose levels than students who didn't have to exert self-control. Those with lower glucose levels are more likely to succumb to temptation because they are mentally and physically exhausted.

Fuel your brain:

This is why it’s important to eat smaller meals more often. When you starve your body the calories needed for your brain to function, in this case willpower, you’re giving up the ability to make conscious decisions because your brain is exhausted. When you eat smaller meals your literally fueling and flexing your mental muscles.

Be more aware:

We’ve talked about scales (Weighing Scales) before, but few things can keep your weight loss goal more front and center than a number you wake up to every morning.

• Regularly weighing yourself keeps you focused on where you are which helps you see the results.
• Be sure to set goals that are realistic. If you’re hoping to drop 5 pounds overnight you’re only setting yourself up for disaster. Dropping 1-2 pounds a week, depending upon your goal, is realistic.

Reward yourself!

When you reach a goal, celebrate it! When you’re working towards something and you’re excited, you’re more likely to fight temptation and sprint to the finish line.  Even small doses of pleasant emotions can quickly renew your mental muscles that increase willpower.

So the next time you find yourself facing a tough temptation, remember your goal and the not-so-guilty feeling you get when you've managed resist temptation.