willpower. it's more than the story you tell yourself

Willpower is not black or white. You don’t ‘have it’ or ‘not’. It combines a complex of multiple of things.

So what is willpower?

• Willpower combines your ability to be interested and engaged in novelty
• Willpower combines your attentiveness to environmental cues around you 
• Willpower combines your sense of internal principles, your sense of self 

What’s your inner dialogue when it comes to willpower? It could be “I really suck at exerting my willpower and I am a total failure” or it could be “I am iron clad and unflappable.” The story that you tell yourself about your willpower is critical. 

We all have willpower, no one is a ‘failure’ and can’t control themselves.

Instead of thinking in a blanketed, negative way about yourself recognize the areas in your life where you do have excellent willpower. It could be your attention and focus to your work, it could be the amount you dedicate to read, it could be drinking enough water, walking every day, cooking dinner 4 nights a week, or getting to sleep around the same time every night.. All of these require consistent effort which is exerting that ‘willpower muscle.’

Each of these obviously have varying degrees of effort, but there is still effort involved. Look at how you mentally apply yourself to tasks you are successful at to help guide you to gaining more control over situations where you feel your willpower fails you. 

Instead of telling yourself you have no willpower, change the story you tell yourself to: “In some situations I have trouble being decisive or being uncomfortable."Everything is a skill that can be tackled in segments. Just like learning a language, building physical strength or running long distances we start small and build upon it consistently to get results. 

By recognizing this you can look at that particular habit or activity that you struggle with and begin to break it down into smaller pieces. Work on those pieces one step at a time, to develop new habits and break old habits to support your goals. 

Working on habits, not willpower will get us moving closer to our goals. 

The importance of understanding protein, fat and carbohydrates for weight loss

It is time to ditch the calorie counting and start thinking about your macronutrients

Before I started on my educational journey into the world of health and fitness my only knowledge of macronutrients was the food pyramid, looking at the back of nutrition labels and reading ‘health’ magazines. I grew up in the era when margarine replaced butter, boxed cereal replaced fresh eggs for breakfast and ‘fat free’ reigned. 

In my mind it was all about total energy. 2000 calories or less per day. How many calories I burned would determine how many more calories I would allow myself. My obsession with having a slim physique made me think that with fat being the most calorie dense food then the logical thing would be to try and eradicate it as much as I possibly could from my diet. 

I had no idea that these 3 macronutrients are broken down differently in the body, elicit varying hormonal responses and in turn effect metabolism and all round performance.

The very basics on calories 

Protein, carbohydrate and fat make up the 3 key macronutrients. In very basic terms, macronutrients are what our body needs for survival. Each of these provide the body with energy, or calories to enable growth, metabolism, repair and other body functions. While each contain calories, the amount does vary.

Carbohydrate 4 calories per gram

Protein 4 calories per gram

Fat 9 calories per gram 

Note: Alcohol is not a macronutrient, yet is another source of calories at 7 calories per gram.

The truth is that a calorie is not really a calorie. A calorie from fat versus a calorie from protein or carbohydrates is broken down and utilized at a different rate in the body. This is a great article on Huffington Post where Dr Lustig succinctly describes why all calories are not created equally. 

The low fat craze of the 90’s that still seems to stick did not take into account that the breakdown of these nutrients requires varied amounts of energy from the body. This will elicit different hormonal responses which could be from the type of food, the quality and of course the individual. How could 100 calories of fresh vegetable be the same as 100 calories of french fries? When you think about it, it makes no sense! As individuals we are all different and for some more carbohydrates may be tolerated well, where for others a higher protein and fat ratio will yield better results. Genetics, lifestyle factors and diet history will all play a role.

Where to go from here?

If you have been doing the same thing with your diet for some time and you are not getting results, then it is time to look a little closer. Start thinking about each meal in terms of the three macronutrients and knowing what, when and where sugar is creeping into your diet. 

1. Where is the protein? Are you eating unprocessed animal products or more processed meats?

2. What kind of fat are you eating? Are you eating good quality monounsaturated fats, e.g. from nuts, avocados, seeds and cold pressed oils such as olive oil? 

3. How much and what type of carbohydrate are you consuming? What is the vegetable to processed carbohydrate ratio? For example vegetables versus pasta, quinoa or brown rice? What type of refined carbohydrate are you eating? e.g wild rice or jasmine rice?

4. What sugars are you eating? Candy or sweets? In coffee, soda, milk products or juices? 

Looking at your meal in terms of macronutrients can be a bit of an eye opener….. And I am just scratching the surface here. Check out the Precision Nutrition calorie control guide as a good starting point for constructing a better plate.

Sources:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fix-a-broken-diet

http://www.phillearney.com/nutrition/its-not-about-the-calorie/

http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/Anatomy/your-digestive-system/Pages/anatomy.aspx

Winter Fitness Strategies to Manage Indulgence

Thawing freezing fingers and toes in a cozy bar with a big glass of red, or racing home to snuggle up on the couch with a big bowl of pasta and a cozy blanket has a powerful pull during cold winter days. Days off exercise can quickly lead to weeks off and suddenly the fitness discipline and diet regime you worked so hard to cultivate earlier in the year has evaporated. Finding balance in New York winter can be difficult and requires a little extra dedication and planning to compensate for the cold. 

Get Moving

Weather permitting, walk wherever you can. Pick places to eat that are further away for lunch, walk to a further subway stop, take the stairs. Go out shopping rather than buying online. Incidental exercise counts. Purchasing a personal exercise tracker such as a Fitbit is one way to keep an eye on your daily baseline activity. 

Make Time to Workout

A few days away from your routine can easily slip into a few weeks off. Set yourself realistic goals and schedule your weekly workouts ahead of time. Pack light exercise equipment such as skipping ropes when traveling. Plan your gym days and honor that time as you would a business meeting. If you are feeling unmotivated or find your workout is getting stale, schedule time to attend some of the classes offered at your gym or book sessions with a personal trainer to give new energy to your workouts and to help keep you accountable.

Lift to Stay Lean 

Pick up those weights to maintain muscle tone, not just for definition but to keep your metabolism stoked. When you can get to the gym, utilize that time to work those big muscles which will help you burn more calories, build tone and reduce body fat. Think deadlifts, squats, lunges, pull-ups and rowing.

Mix in Cardio 

Enjoying more decadence than usual? This is a great opportunity to amp up your cardio workout routine to effectively use all that extra energy. Your muscles use sugar as fuel so when a little too much indulgence takes place use it wisely by applying yourself to some challenging workouts, such as High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) which torches calories to help stave off that unwanted fat.  The great thing about HIIT workouts is they can be done in a limited amount of space with little to no equipment. So even if the weather outside sucks you can still get something done!

Get a Handle on Your Eating and Drinking Habits 

Don’t let one bad food choice or decadent meal be the catalyst for an entire day or week of overindulgent eating. Balance your big meals out with healthier choices and make it a priority to drink purified water. Not just a glass here and there, at minimum half your body weight in ounces per body weight per day. If you are hitting the caffeine and cocktails then you are going to need even more to help hydrate and flush out the system. 

Build in Detox Days

Include some short detox days in between indulgent days. After an indulgent weekend carve out time during the week to cleanse the body. Eat lots of leafy greens, rehydrate with purified water and herbal teas. Add anti-inflammatory herbs and spices to soups, salads and juices such as ginger, mint, cilantro, parsley and turmeric.