WILLPOWER AND DIETING

Being a part of InteKai has given me the opportunity to see hundreds of individual weight loss efforts. Everyone starts motivated but eventually time tells how manageable or how challenging their journey will be. But in all of this, the big question is what will make a diet work?

What makes a diet work?

The absolute fact is most calorie negative diets work for weight loss, once you stick with it. Some are easier or harder, some slower or faster, but here are the important factors; some diets are safer with more balanced nutrients and some are more potentially risky with nutritional extremes.

The InteKai engine is designed to promote steady fat loss with minimal plateauing / stalling. BUT, does everyone do well? Of course not.

What goes wrong?

Firstly, the lack of proper guidance and knowledge. Here is a common example of where the lack of knowledge can fail us. Although we repeatedly tell members to choose water, members often get distracted by the popular culture, gym culture and influences. Case in point, sports drinks. So many times members chose to have sports drinks instead of water on the way or at the gym. The fact is there are 39g of sugar in one 20oz bottle of regular Gatorade, 56% more than the daily safe allowance of sugar intake from the World Health Organization.

However, would one remember and maintain the choose water rule? What would reduce this distraction, this difficulty, this struggle which we are continually reminded is very real?

Motivation

The answer on the tips of many tongues would be motivation. Interestingly, I have seen that motivation, more specifically negative motivation, is a highly fluctuating force. When you are 400lbs you are highly motivated to get away from that weight, staying strictly on plan. Eventually you are 270lbs, still obese but certainly feeling much better about yourself, your possibilities, clothing, going out in public. However, your “get away from 400lbs motivation” begins to lessen. It was strong enough to keep you away from the chocolate and pizza and whatever tempts you but what now? Now you begin to test the things you miss and the weight is creeping back on; relapse!

Of course we can have positive motivation. Where do I want to get to and how do I want to live? It’s less about what you are running from but more about what you are living to be. Your positive motivation is embraced and refined to be enjoyable. Your bad relationship with foods and eating is over.

Self-Control and willpower is useless

I can already hear the objections. Not completely useless, yes, that is true, but in the long run, useless. Self-Control in dieting is a drain on your emotions and if you are an emotional eater or a comfort eater

you know that maintaining self-control is like holding a 50lb weight up over your head. Eventually you will be worn down.

Will power, similarly to the negative motivation, is more like WON’T power. It’s more about telling yourself what you will not do and less about what you want to embrace.

Self-Control and willpower, is in every way fighting yourself. Stop fighting with yourself. Sometimes succeeding and other times failing creates internal battles. Failure creates a negative feedback often sparking surrender or worse, binging.

You have to move away from will power based discipline and move to understanding, and making a decision for your health, as you would for a close friend. Create a lifestyle of discipline. A good example of this may be vegetarianism where there is no internal craving for meat. I’m not saying you should become a vegetarian but simply gain an understanding of healthy choices and fulfilling those choices.

Stop identifying as someone who feels to act on your cravings and every feeling of hunger. See yourself as someone who may feel the old habits inside of you, but comfortably embraces healthier more fulfilling behaviors. This mindset will keep you from becoming like a feral creature for your every craving and temptation and will create an indomitable commitment to your healthy lifestyle.