Willpower―how can I have more?

When you begin a weight loss diet plan, you have good intentions. What you need is a way that lets you go from your good intentions and leads you all the way to finally being a weight loss success story. It is simply too iffy to rely on willpower alone for your dieting support.

The best way to accomplish your weight loss goal is by planning out and rehearsing what you will do when you are faced with obstacles, frustrations, and temptations that threaten to topple your best diet willpower. This is called making implementation plans, which are plans for those moments when you are in danger of blowing it. The more positive and specific the plans are, the better.

For example, say you are going out to a restaurant for dinner. Instead of telling yourself beforehand “I won’t order dessert at the restaurant”, try this: “When we are all looking over the dessert menu, I’ll see if there’s a nice fruit dish offered. If I don’t see one, I’ll ask the waiter or waitress if I can order something like that off the menu. If there’s no possibility of this, I’ll think about the strawberries and low-call whipped topping waiting for me in the fridge. I’ll look forward to having that for dessert as soon as I get home.”

This is the kind of strategy that gives you strength to stick to your weight loss diet plan. It specifies in detail the steps you will take in a given situation. Utilizing a plan such as this enough times will make it a new automatic action. It will run off without conscious effort on your part, the same way your old behavior of ordering the biggest dessert did. This is one of the best weight loss solutions: gain self control over high risk eating situations and stick to your diet. It will save your willpower.”

© 2007 Maria’s Last Diet