Someone finally asked the big question! Here it is, "What would be your #1 suggestion to someone who needs to lose weight but doesn't seem to have the willpower to stop eating so much?"
Can you relate? Just raise your hand...
My #1 tip for someone in the situation this reader described would be to stop relying on willpower as your main weight-loss strategy. Will-power is a short-term strategy, destined to fail -- unless you pick up additional better strategies to replace it with as you go. Relying on will-power to convince yourself of something you're not convinced of is simply not effective.
What should you do instead? I have a couple of suggestions. Depending on your situation, one may work better than the other.
1. Explore your reasons for continuing to eat after you know you've had enough. Once you really understand why you're doing what you do, you can come up with another plan. There are several common reasons for overeating past the point where you know it's time to stop.
- Waiting so long for a meal that you're ravenous & can't feel when you're full.
- Eating for comfort or reward.
- Eating because everyone else is and it looks good.
If you can identify your own patterns, you can create strategies to get past them. Flip back to the July 19 & 20 posts for tips on behavior change.
2. Explore your inner conflict between your desire to eat more than you need and your desire to lose weight. You want two things that conflict with one another. Choose the behavior that goes with the one you want more. Recognize that you will not get the result that goes with option #2 by choosing the behavior that goes with option #1. Remind yourself of your priorities frequently.
Flip back to the post of July 28 for more on keeping your enthusiasm for a project. In that post, I refer to a story about "Wally's Widget Wonderland." Each and every subscriber to my Healthy Living Update gets a copy of that story within a few days of signing up - absolutely free. Got yours yet?
Elizabeth Eckert can help you explore how simple everyday choices create health — or undermine even the best of intentions. With a background that ranges from energy medicine to structural bodywork to developmental psychology, this "Stick-To-It Coach" has the experience to support you in creating the healthiest possible expression of — you!
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