Impulse Control, eh?

I just read this fantastic article in Psychology Today about your ‘dieting muscle’ and feel as if I have just been given a new lease on life! I’ve spent this entire past week thinking about goal-setting and achieving. Wouldn’t it just be great if this was the year that we actually followed through with our New Year’s Resolutions?! I have felt better in the last 7 days than I probably have in months. It really feels great to be back on the wagon, eating right, exercising…and my body is rewarding me in kind! If only I could hang onto these feelings of good will straight through until NEXT January. But I’ve been down this road before; I know how it goes. Three weeks from now, once my metabolism has kicked in for good and I’ve phased out my 3 ounces of carbs from my lunch, I’ll be STARVING and dreaming about eating the couch…But wouldn’t it be great if once—just once—I could actually conquer this demon once and for all? Man, that really would be nice…

Anyhow, I digress. Back to the life-changing article I just read: Basically, it states that self control is a limited resource and is like a muscle that gets depleted if overworked. Push yourself too hard, and your discipline will buckle! It goes on to explain that oftentimes when people are attacking a particular goal—losing weight for example—that they push themselves SO HARD that they are only setting themselves up for failure. Well, hallelujah! Then it carries on to say that if self-control can be depleted, then it can also be built up and offers great suggestions on things you can do in your everyday life to help ‘bulk up’ your mental muscle. Apparently, exercising restraint in other realms can carry over into dieting discipline. Isn’t that fantastic?! I was practically squealing with glee when I read the article. I was so ecstatic that I nearly woke Jane up to tell her about it, but I contained myself. (See?! I’m already on the road to success!)

So for all of you out there battling your own wars of will, here are some helpful suggestions:

* Spend a week or two avoiding alcohol (check)
* Focus on eliminating ‘um’s or other unnecessary words from your speech
* Try brushing your teeth with your less dominant hand
* Remind yourself to sit up straight
* Try not to hit the snooze button on your alarm clock

Flex the willpower muscle in everyday life and your diet/quitting smoking/exercise regimen will benefit! Go figure! My sister was also telling me about this article she read once about shaking up your routine a bit. Do you always put your toilet paper roll on the same way, or get dressed in the same order? If you always do the same thing and are unwilling to make small changes in your routine, then how on Earth do you expect to make any big changes in your life? Neat, huh? Today, I worked on breaking with routine by staying in my pyjamas all day and not leaving the house. Tomorrow, I thought maybe I'd try putting my underwear overtop of my pants and seeing how well that goes over.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some pie to eat and some backwards teeth-brushing to do...