Will Power and Your Diet

I don't have enough will power. That is the excuse I hear most often from overweight clients. Is it true and is there a way to increase your will power muscles and give them the strength to say "NO?" You live in a world filled with food. Everywhere you turn, you are faced with food; fast food, processed food, candy, cookies in the lunch room, vending machines, movie popcorn, events centered on foods, giant cheap bags of your favorite chips and more! It's a food lovers dream come true and it's really difficult to say "NO" to all of these food choices. Many of you made New Year's resolutions to change your eating habits and diet. Well most of you have dropped your healthy eating regime by now. You're back to your old ways, believing that you don't have the will power for success. Please do not sell yourself short. Great strategies trump will power!

Strategies to Follow Rather than Willpower!

• Develop a list of Food Substitutions for the foods that tempt you the most. There are many 100 calorie substitutions, but I would encourage you to develop healthy options that will keep you satisfied. Fresh fruit sorbet or fresh fruit mixed with Greek yogurt can be a great substitution for ice cream lovers. My Food Substitutions will be: _______________________________________________________________________.
• Practice Healthy Shopping: Do not buy foods that cause serious temptation and bring them into your home. This sets you up for failure from the start. Make one decision to avoid junk foods at the store and simply walk by your favorites. If you can't do this, then trade shopping with a friend. The foods that I will not buy to avoid temptation are: ______________________________________________________________________.
• Understand your Food History. Each of you is unique. You face food in different places. Develop a food plan that deals with where food touches your life. This will take some evaluation on your part, but is worth the effort. Many of you could change a few unhealthy diet habits and lose weight without dieting. The unhealthy food habits that I will change are: _______________________________________________________________________.
• Keep it simple from the start. If you reduce your daily calories by 500 calories per day without dieting, but cleaning up your diet, you could lose 1 pound per week. If you did this for one year, you would be 52 pounds lighter. The simple goal of one pound per week is totally doable and not overwhelming. I can eliminate 500 calories each day by: ______________________________________________________________________.

Surprisingly March is "National Nutrition Month!" It seems random, but it's a great time to make some Lifestyle Changes without dieting.