I just received a great comment from Lori, on my post about Food Willpower.
I have struggled with weight for years now and have just lost the willpower to even try. I think a big problem for me is getting motivated to exercise. I actually would love to do it but doing it by myself is depressing. We live way too far from town to join a club or even meet up with other people. I just wish I was close enough to at least one health conscience person that could get me motivated. Maybe when we move in the future (which is a secret so shhhhh) I can be more active with the community and neighbors.
I didn’t mean to be UNinspirational, just venting I guess.
I think you should remove any unhealthy food from your home and fill it up with fruits, veges, whole grains and get rid of the sodas! That will make a huge difference. This is good for you and your family. That will give you more willpower to make healthy choices when choosing a snack. Good luck David!
This would be great, except I can always just go to the store and get more unhealthy food. It doesn’t really address the issue of willpower, and unfortunately, being out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind when it comes to cravings for things like my favourite beverage, Root Beer.
The world is filled with unhealthy food. Every restaurant, every grocery store, and pretty much every event all have some healthy food somewhere. You can’t avoid junk food and so it comes down to learning moderation, and learning willpower. Both are very hard things. Both are things I really struggle with all the time.
If it was as simple as making sure there are only fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator, I think I would have been a little thinner a long time ago. Sure, having more healthy things on hand will help, but I almost need to tell every clerk in this city to not to sell me the bottle of Barq’s Root Beer that I walked twenty minutes in the rain to get.
She does bring up a great point about having health conscious people around you as a support system, and that’s something I will be covering soon.
Tags: advice, convenience, junk food, root beer, Week One
One of the things I would suggest is writing down everytime you eat something in a food journal along with the calorie and fat content. Forcing yourself to write down what you just ate and looking at how unhealthy it is can sometimes be a deterrent. It’s like admitting you did something wrong.
It works for some people - not everyone - but I’ve found that trying it recently has really made me cut back on having a coke or eating a quick, unhealthy snack - I don’t want to write it down and look at it - so I just don’t do it.