Are you one of the many who believe you could be thinner if you only had a stronger willpower?
Please wake up. ‘Willpower’ and ‘weight’ just don’t correlate. Not by a long shot.
Willpower is a just a replenishable, highly overrated resource that gets used up way too quickly. In fact, blaming the lack of it for not losing weight is like betting on the wrong horse and setting yourself up for failure, knowingly, from the word go.
Here are some reasons you shouldn’t be relying on willpower:
It is Not Under Our Control
Here’s a thought: what if I asked you to hold your breath for 10 minutes? Even if you badly wanted to, you’d fail miserably. Not because you lack the willpower to do it, but because the body isn’t designed to do so! (Unless, of course, you’re a yogi and have mastered control of bodily functions beyond the regular realms.)
Think about this in terms of our weight issues too. If you tried to starve yourself and completely denied your body the foods it wanted, your body won’t be able to pull it off – because it isn’t designed to do so.
That is why we manage to follow fad diets, mono diets, starvation regimes, etc., for a few days (perhaps a few weeks if particularly desperate) – and then it all falls flat.
Biology Takes Over
Now our willpower might work in certain other parts of our lives (like not buying another dress or willing oneself to complete that presentation in time for appraisal), but when it comes to stopping eating – it just doesn’t.
That’s because when we diet, our body’s survival mechanism takes over, metabolism dips to a severe low, and the body finds a way to run itself on fewer calories. And then, however less we might eat, the body manages to store some as fat. This then plays on our mind and kills our resolve – along with the last vestiges of our willpower.
Terrible cycle this one!
Hormones Turn Anti
In our body there are hormones that are supposed to help keep us full but when we begin losing body fat, their amount dips. Meanwhile the hormones that make us feel hungry, surge. So our appetite returns with a vengeance.
And in front of pure, carnal hunger NOTHING stands a chance – certainly not willpower.
The Environment is Against Us!
(This one should make you feel better.)
The social milieu is against us. Everywhere you look, you see messages about junk food – food that is definitely not designed to keep us thin. These are almost like an alternate news stream, cruel and relentless.
Like the unending SMS-es on cricket match days (the latest gem I received was one admonishing me for deigning to watch a match without ordering pizza!). Like the full page print ads for the biggest-ever burger. Like the radio jingles that peddle happiness via a bottle (aerated, no doubt). Like the hoardings with actresses biting into photoshopped ice cream...
Who stands a chance against these? Certainly not our willpower (strong or weak be damned)!
Guilt Messes it up Further
When we mess up (read: go scavenging through our hidden stash of junk food) what do we do? We get busy whipping and scourging our already flagellated self esteem, and with lightening speed negative thoughts like ‘I can’t do it’, ‘I am a lazy buffoon’, ‘I have no iota of self control’… take over. This throws us further into the bottomless pit called guilt, which obviously damages more than helps.
The Damage is Too Deep
How can willpower alone fight against your spoiled rotten taste buds, skewed brain chemistry, messed up hormones and lowered metabolism – all a result of years and years of eating wrong?
We are addicted to fried, sugary, processed foods… so just willing the addiction away is downright silly. You need to naturally reset all the factors and once that happens your body will again begin listening to your commands.
Because here’s the irony: willpower comes into play only when you don’t depend on it too much.
(Kavita Devgan is a weight management consultant, nutritionist, health columnist and author of Don’t Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People.)
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