Losing weight is less about the perfect diet and exercise program and more about changing the habits that brought you to the weight you are. No one suddenly gets fat in the morning. Small but regular lifestyle changes for the worse lead to excess weight. And the same small changes in the right direction, but every day, lead to big results.
Losing weight is a bad reason to test how much willpower you have. On the contrary, the fewer attempts you force yourself to make every day, the better. That is why it is worth starting to lose weight by creating a new “friendly” environment around yourself.
People often try to “work hard” to change their habits. And while even the smallest changes may be difficult at first, you shouldn’t test your willpower over and over again. Change your environment and your behavior will change to adapt to it. And you don't have to live on willpower.
If you ask random people in a store to fill their baskets with only healthy products, most likely anyone can do it: most people know what proper, healthy nutrition means and how important it is in losing weight. Even if you believe in miracle weight loss belts and creams, you still know that you need to eat correctly. Why does everyone know what to do to lose weight, but don't do it? Obviously, knowledge about healthy lifestyle is not enough.
We want to make rational, conscious, informed choices based on logical arguments, weighing all possible options. And we believe that we make decisions using reason.
However, most of our decisions are automatic, based on templates and ready-made brain settings. Instead of slowly solving a problem step by step based on information analysis, the brain saves energy and selects an answer from patterns that have formed and become fixed once.
Most of us will strive to finish the ordered portion, even if we have not been hungry for a long time. We often eat more when we are doing several things at once. If you start snacking while watching a TV series or social media feed, you may find yourself with an empty bag or bowl and wonder how this happened? Your attention was elsewhere, so the meal went on autopilot. If we constantly eat large portions, very soon large portions will seem “normal” - and we will regularly overeat.
Setting up a “friendly environment” that helps you is the foundation. What is usually considered the main thing in losing weight is proteins, fats, carbohydrates, calories, etc. - is also important, but someone may never get to this point, because they will break the diet after a few days due to the fact that their whole life has turned into a struggle.
In general, when it comes to organizing a healthy diet, here is the golden rule: make a healthy lifestyle convenient and less convenient - what is stopping you from losing weight.
Do not keep sweets, chocolate, cookies at home
Don't keep inflammatory foods in your house. You will definitely not win in the fight with yourself if something harmful keeps catching your eye and makes you think about how you want it and how you can’t have it.
At 10 pm, when you're sitting comfortably on the couch to watch a TV series, it will be much more difficult to motivate yourself to get up and go to the store when you want something sweet. Let laziness do the work for you, making it more difficult and inconvenient to “get” sweet/bad/high-calorie foods.
What to do if you don’t have the willpower to lose weight (5 strategies that work)
Strategy 1: Avoid Unhealthy Food Temptations
This is the best prevention of overeating and excess weight gain.
The most effective action in this regard is to remove such (unhealthy) food somewhere out of your life. This step will save your nerves and strength, because as soon as such food comes into your field of vision, you immediately have to fight.
I used this strategy wherever I could. My supermarket (close to my house) has a baked goods and prepared food section. When you go home hungry, those smells... I avoided these two departments, knowing that I did not have the willpower to fight these temptations.
I understand that for most people this step is somewhat difficult. It is especially difficult for women who need to prepare food for all family members to resist temptations.
But still, if you have a sincere desire to lose excess weight, take note of this strategy.
Here are my two examples of using it:
- I learned to cook food without tasting it;
- I go to the store with a list of necessary products.
So, the first strategy is to try to remove all temptations from your environment.
But the truth is that you cannot completely avoid temptations...
Strategy 2. Learn to distract yourself
When you come across something very tasty to you, the last thing you should think about is that this food is strictly prohibited for you and you should under no circumstances eat it.
In such conditions, you really can’t do without willpower. It is a trap! Have you noticed that what we think about, even in a negative way, attracts our consciousness. So it is here. As we continue to think about forbidden foods, we will feel that our thoughts will stimulate our appetite and the temptation will increase.
In addition, at this moment we turn on the “victim” in ourselves and this turns our life into a real hell.
Therefore, it is better to focus on something else that is important, pleasant and emotionally attractive to us.
For example, when I went to dinner with friends (with goodies, of course), I concentrated on conversation, pleasant communication, trying to take my mind off food.
What else could be a distraction?
- Creation;
- Upcoming vacation;
- Nice day;
- Thoughts about your loved one, mother, child, dog;
- Music, etc.
Create your own distractions. And here, too, there are little tricks: distractions must be invented in advance and they must be changed periodically. Because addiction develops. And at some point failures may begin...
Strategy 3: Become aware of foods that whet your appetite.
It is very important. When such products appear in your environment, you will be ready to turn on strategy No. 1 or 2.
For example, I care about sweets. I always felt like I couldn't resist them. Moreover, whenever I start eating them, my appetite only intensifies.
But appetite is our desire for tasty food, and not the feeling of hunger. A true feeling of hunger is a physiological reaction to a lack of calories, microelements, and water.
When such products appear on your table, you must learn to consciously stop, be aware of your feelings and desires.
There is no need to be afraid that you have these feelings. You need to live with them. They don't need to be suppressed. Awareness of them will make it easier for you to give up foods that cause them.
Also, try to have foods on hand that not only will not harm your weight, but will also help you lose excess weight.
Strategy 4. Move
Really. Just move. I'm not sending you to the gym. You will be surprised if you start walking 3 times a week for half an hour.
Strategy 5. “STOP”
I described this strategy in my weight loss story.
Sometimes you still need to be able to say “STOP.” And out loud. Tell yourself strictly and categorically “STOP” when you feel you need it. This action interrupts your eating behavior. Dear friends, I know for sure that this works. Yes, the quick result is not described here. But here are real, working weight loss strategies that will help you lose weight without resorting to willpower.
For those who were able to finish reading - video motivation for losing weight.
I wish you successful weight loss.
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Tags: effective weight loss
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Discussion: 2 comments
- Sophia:
October 17, 2021 at 10:59 pmJust thank you. I'm sitting here freaking out right now. I don’t have a problem with taking medications that affect hormonal levels, but I’m tired of dieting , and trying to eat right leads to CONSTANT stress and breakdowns. It’s even more difficult because in my family both parents have completely different nutritional principles, so in life there is always the temptation to eat flour and sweets. Lots of flour and sweets. After every breakdown I hate myself more. In a fit of despair, I simply typed the phrase into a search engine: what should I do if I’m tired of dieting and have no willpower? Thank you. Thanks for the article and advice. I will be distracted, I will avoid the bakery and candy aisles, I will cook myself healthy meals and find healthy snacks.
Answer
- Arina:
March 9, 2021 at 6:42 pm
I liked the recommendations. Although a nutritionist helped me at one time. This made my life a lot easier!)
Answer
Make preparations
Set aside a few hours on the weekend to make preparations that will save time during the week and relieve you of the desire to eat something high in calories. Vegetables: wash them, cut them and put them in the refrigerator. Store meat in portions, raw or cooked, in the freezer. Prepare the cereals for several days at once and package them in portions.
Reality and expectations
In order not to break down, initially prepare yourself for the fact that there is no such thing as instant weight loss. All these express diets are a difficult test for the psyche and body, which does not end well.
There is a very useful formula. According to research, the most correct and safest weight loss is minus 1 kg per week. So determine for yourself a figure for exactly how much weight you plan to gain. 15 kg? Divide by 4 - you will have to wait about 4 months for the result. Yes, this is quite a long time, but at the same time you will initially count on this and not expect miracles. But what a joy it will be to achieve the desired effect before the designated period (this usually happens with those who are firmly committed to reaching the end).
Through the pages of history. Of the noble ladies who went down in Russian history, Princess Dashkova, an associate of Catherine II, was the first to actively lose weight on diets. She loved to arrange fasting days for herself with water and red wine.
As you can see, losing weight at home will require a lot of effort. But, re-reading the motivators, you need to understand that they are simply necessary. Stop hiding your body in baggy sweaters and looking 10 years older than your age. Stop turning off the lights every time you undress in front of your loved one and feel embarrassed about your folds on your stomach and sides. Life without the hated kilograms is a bright, beautiful wardrobe that emphasizes the ideal figure; this is the absence of complexes and a sea of admiring glances. Isn't this an incentive to go on a diet soon?
Organize your kitchen
Make the kitchen your assistant. Keep it as clean and comfortable as possible, so you feel relaxed when you walk in there. Keep vegetables and fruits in a visible place. Use the refrigerator door to remind you of your goals, track progress, and more. Buy new utensils or devices for cooking: grill pan or wok pan, steamer, etc.
Why does your head and stomach hurt when you go on a diet?
A headache may accompany you during a diet if the diet is not suitable for you: either it is too strict and “hungry”, or maybe you do not have enough carbohydrates and sugar, because without the proper amount of glucose normal brain activity is impossible . Therefore, if you still do not want to consume sugar directly, add fruits, honey or dried fruits to your diet.
Many of those losing weight admit that headaches haunt them for the first 3-4 days, then the body gets used to being content with less food, and the pain and dizziness go away.
Any diet for weight loss does not have a good effect on the functioning of the stomach, and many of those losing weight also complain of periodic pain in the stomach and intestines. The gastrointestinal tract may hurt when losing weight due to:
- too abrupt transition to limited nutrition;
- too little food;
- non-compliance with diet, too long intervals between meals;
- if the amount of food varies significantly from meal to meal;
- if there are contraindications to the diet or stomach diseases, even in their infancy.
More daily activity
Park farther from home or work and walk part of the road, at least in good weather. Get on city bikes. Do not use elevators and escalators - at least walk downwards. Make yourself an “extra 10 calories” rule: consider any need to go somewhere or do something as an opportunity to spend those extra calories and the benefits that they, added together throughout the day, can bring to your figure. Training in the gym is only an hour, so daily activity outside the gym is very important.
Where to start losing weight
How to force yourself to lose weight and exercise? The most difficult thing is to start, and just the right beginning is very important in the entire further process. First, determine your BMI (body mass index) to understand how many extra pounds you have from a medical point of view. Then soberly assess your own shortcomings and decide how you will get rid of them.
- Set yourself a goal of how many kilograms and by when you need to lose them. Please note that this goal must be realistic and achievable. Healthy weight loss involves losing up to 2-3 kg per month.
- Warn your loved ones that you are losing weight and ask them to support you so that they do not offer you harmful products and do not interfere with your loss of weight.
- Count the calories you eat per day . Keep a diary where you will write them down.
- Increase the amount of protein in your diet, but reduce fats and carbohydrates.
- Try to drink more clean water.
- Eat little by little (200-250 grams of food at a time) and often enough (5-6 times a day).
- Be sure to play sports (this point will be discussed in more detail below).
Reward yourself for small results, but not with food. Think of something else, for example, you can please yourself with a stylish new thing or another purchase.
