Willpower is fine for short-term diet progress, but long-term healthful eating success requires planning and preparation. In the past, falling of the diet wagon was frequently blamed on a lack of willpower, but new research indicates that trying to will your way to long-term success rarely gets the job done. Willpower is finite, and when you’re stressed, tired or even bored, you can easily hit the limit in terms of “I will not eat that brownie. I will NOT eat that brownie. I WILL not eat that brownie…”-type thinking.
So if willpower isn’t the key to success, what is? It actually comes down to planning ahead, making smart choices and keeping yourself motivated. Here are some tips to get you started down that path:
- Try to eat at regular intervals and at the same time every day. This will keep your appetite from raging out of control when there’s nothing around but a fatty, sugary, or salty treat.
- Never go to a “food event,” like a wedding or party, hungry. If you do, you will most assuredly head down the wrong path – the one with all of the cake, of course.
- If you’re going to be around decadent, high calorie foods, whether it be the local PTA cake sale or your mother’s house for dinner, decide ahead of time how many items you will sample, then stick to it. For example, allow yourself four sample or two full portions of your favorite dish – and don’t go over.
- Eat mindfully. If you take the time to think about and enjoy every morsel of food you put in your mouth, you’ll naturally put in less.
- In the event that you have gorged yourself on a not-so-healthy meal, don’t beat yourself up for a lack of will power. Instead, forgive yourself and simply move on.
Keep these five steps in mind, and you’ll find it easier to systematically stay on track for better nutrition to fuel your 2-Day Walk.
