Let me guess, you probably believe that you can’t stick to a diet and lose weight because you lack willpower?
You’re not strong enough, or disciplined enough, or tough enough.
You don’t have what it takes to stick to a diet.
You don’t want it badly enough.
But That’s A Myth
People want so badly to be thin, that in a study of formerly obese people, researchers at the University of Florida found that nearly all people would rather be blind, deaf, dyslexic, diabetic, have heart disease, very bad acne, or have one of their legs amputated, before they’d choose to be obese again.[1]
Of course we want it badly enough. But most diets or weight loss programs assume that the way to lose weight is through sheer hard work. Denying ourselves food. And applying sheer willpower.
And then, when we fail to lose the weight or maintain the weight loss, it’s our fault.
It’s Not Your Fault
Well, guess what? It’s not your fault. That’s just what the diet industry want you to believe.
The diet industry want you to believe that dieting is the only way to lose weight. And when you fail, it’s not the fault of the diet, but rather your fault. But that’s just not true.
Human beings were not designed to have the willpower to deny themselves food when hungry, over the drive to eat. Your body’s number one job is to keep you alive, and it takes that role very seriously.
Your ancient ancestor couldn’t just run down to the local McDonalds or order in pizza, she had to eat whatever she could whenever she could. Your body is not going to magically overcome thousands of years of hardwiring to be able to resist food when you are hungry.
And if you’re dieting, you are very likely hungry. And when your body is hungry for food, it is going to send you signals to make you eat.
Physical symptoms might include: feeling dizzy, possibly lightheaded, your palms might be sweaty, you may get a headache.
Emotional or mental symptoms might include: irritability, indecisiveness, being unable to concentrate, and being unable to think of anything but food.
And so with the multiple options of food available to you, it’s no surprise you are not going to be able to resist if you are hungry. And eventually, you’re going to cave.
The Desire For Food When Hungry Is As Intense As the Desire of An Alcoholic for a Drink
The willpower required by overeaters to resist the urge to overeat can be so intense. Surely we can compare it to the desire an alcoholic has for a drink or a smoker for a cigarette.
Yet overeaters are considered to have no willpower, whereas alcoholics and smokers are labelled addicts with a physical problem.
Why are overeaters not seen as addicts, in the same way alcoholics and drug addicts are?
Food can, and does, cause addiction.
And when you intentionally deprive yourself of food, cravings will go up. The minute you tell yourself you can’t eat it, you will want it all the more.
Willpower Is Not An Unlimited Resource
And besides, the little willpower you might have, is not an unlimited resource.
In the year 2000, the Psychological Bulletin journal published a paper by psychologists Mark Muraven and Roy Baumeister. They observed that self-control is actually like a muscle and it weakens each day after you use it.[2]
So each day you start off with a certain amount of willpower, but each time you resist something it weakens and eventually, you can run out.
So by the time 4pm rolls around and you get the munchies, it is that much harder to resist giving in to temptation if you’ve spent the day depriving yourself of the things you really want and saying no to food over and over again.
And if you, like so many of us these days, are sleep-deprived and just not getting enough zzz’s every night, that just makes it all the harder. As when you don’t get enough sleep, your ability to resist the temptation to cravings is even lower.
The Solution?
Stop blaming yourself. And stop depriving yourself.
For goodness sake, if your body is telling you it’s hungry for food, EAT.
And it’s perfectly ok to eat whatever you want, nothing is off-limits. Just don’t do it all the time.
It’s ok to eat a piece of chocolate every day, just don’t eat the entire slab in one sitting. Which you will if you’ve told yourself you can’t have any, or you’ve stopped yourself from eating it for a few days.
It’s not what you’re eating that’s the problem, it’s how much of what you’re eating.
Chocolate, pizza, and cakes are not what’s making you fat. It’s eating more energy than you use that’s the problem.
And trying to resist your favourite foods using willpower, is never going to work.
Know This:
You are not greedy.
You are not weak-willed.
You are not a failure.
You are simply not designed to have the willpower to resist eating food when you are hungry. Millions of years of evolution have not changed your physiology, your body’s wiring.
You were designed to search out food and eat it when hungry. It’s impossible to override your body’s natural drive for food.
So stop blaming yourself. It’s a myth that if you can’t lose weight it’s because you lack willpower. It was never your fault, the diet industry is at fault.
Last updated: 06/03/2022
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