Progress and Set Backs: Willpower

Am I at 100% compliance? No. Am I beating myself up? No. Am I giving up and just saying oh this day is shot I already screwed up...? No. Is this progress for me? Yes. In any other diet endeavor I've tried it seems the urge for carbohydrates and sweets is much greater than my desire for compliance. With this came the usual binge on "insert something tasty and sweet here" to the later feeling of remorse and then saying oh what they heck I already messed up why continue? I know what to eat, at what times to eat, and what I should think, and how I should act and react based on what I choose. Knowing and doing are very different creatures. Willpower is yet another. Listening to a brief segment on NPR yesterday I heard the word "willpower" and turned up the volume. The guest had written a book on willpower and how, as a society, our willpower has dwindled due to abundance and excess that surrounds us everyday. While I was only able to listen for 10 minutes I came away with some very important insights: 1) we innately do not have willpower & 2) we can employ the use of tools to train and strengthen our willpower.
Here, I will remind you of some tools that will help us all with our compliance.
1) Remove all bad foods from your sight of vision and easy reach; if they are in your house and you know where they are you WILL find and EAT them. Hint: I located a one inch square of brownie in the freezer this evening; and yes.... I ate it! (these are the times one wishes their memory was not photographic).
2) Have a plan. If you do not shop for healthy foods, and schedule your meals for the day or week and stick to it= you will get hungry/desperate/and lose all willpower. Another example: this Tues. for me. Had my Athletic Greens at 5:30am; had a great protein and coffee shake at 7:45am; got busy at work and stayed until 2pm. The plan was to leave at 12 or 12:30 to go home and cook. I got home at 2pm and cooked my nice egg, broccoli, and green salsa concoction but wasn't satisfied... and felt stressed. Picked up Grant at school and drove promptly to Lone Star? to pick up a container of cake doughnuts!!! I ate 5 (they were small). Did I feel defeated? Yes. Did I give up on the day? No. For dinner I fixed a nice salad and called it an evening.

Today: think about ways that you are improving your health and lifestyle by making a commitment with this challenge. Learn that this is a process and that one cannot change overnight. Understand that one mistake need not lead to another. Relish in the fact that you are open to change by doing something positive for yourself. Realize that even those that appear to be strongest have kinks in their willpower.

Starting on Day 2

I started this diet yesterday and felt myself in a fog most of the day.... really made me realize how addicted to carbohydrates I really am. Did a workout in the afternoon and honestly felt as if I were going to keel over! My body was screaming: Where is my quick energy source? I'm not used to utilizing fats for my workouts. I've been extremely thirsty which is an added benefit as I actually want to drink a ton of water and it feels good quenching my thirst. Woke up this morning and honestly felt great. My face, eyes, and hands were not puffy and my stomach was much flatter than normal in the morning before a BM ;) The eating part has not been too difficult as I have quite a bit of veggies on hand from my first pick-up at Urban Acres and I always keep plenty of cans of tuna, salmon, and turkey on hand because I know I should eat them (but rarely opted to in the past and ended up having a FAT peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead). Upon waking I mixed a T. of Athletic Greens with a big glass of water and drank while I was getting ready to head to the club a little before 6am. Also this morning I went to Cafe Brazil between clients and grabbed a big cup of black coffee and another extra cup. Once in my office I poured half of the coffee into one cup and kept half in the other and added one scoop of vanilla protein powder to each cup of coffee and drank both for my first breakfast at 7:15am. My next meal at home at 10:45 consisted of two cups of steamed broccoli, 2 eggs, and 3 T. of this amazing gluten free fresh green salsa from Central Market. Am actually feeling stuffed right now but so craving a piece of bread with peanut butter. Will drink more water instead. Planning on making a huge salad with greens, can of salmon, tomatoes, olives, and some good gluten and sugar free dressing (don't worry about the fat!!! when going low carb. eating good fats will help keep you satiated). I will probably follow it up with a handful of nuts. Also planning on mixing up another shake with just water to sip on while training tonight and will fix something warm for dinner like a piece of chicken and some mixed veggies. Planning is the key to making this work. Getting hungry can lead us down the path of grabbing an easy carb and gluten filled packed product that will derail our progress. Happy dieting! Please comment and let us know how you are feeling.