Environmental Control Picks Up Where Willpower Leaves Off

Jun 5, 2011

All my life I’ve wanted someone to tell me how to generate willpower and how to sustain motivation. I wish I could tell you, but I still don’t know the answer to that question, although I’ve been managing my weight successfully for several years now. What I can tell you (and this is probably more valuable) is how to no longer be defeated by your lack of willpower.

Somewhere along the line, I stopped waiting for the epiphany. Well, no, that’s not truly accurate. I’ve had epiphanies. For a while I’d be “cured”. But, eventually they would wear off and my food problem would return with a vengeance. Like everyone else, I’ve tried many different diets thinking that if I could just find the right combination of foods (high protein/low protein, high carbohydrate/low carbohydrate, high fat/low fat, only combining certain foods, yadda, yadda, yadda) then that would eliminate my food issue. While I have found that certain styles of eating do a better job than others on appetite control and energy level, no diet program, however effective at curbing my appetite, has ever made food a non-issue for me. Fortunately, I learned that some time ago and began focusing my energy on what I can change.

Two of the most significant insights I got along the way were, (1), that there are specific strategies or tools I can use to change outcomes that don’t depend on my willpower, and (2) that I am responsible for the direction of my momentum.

For example, if I put a lot of energy into stimulating my appetite: baking cookies, stopping in bakeries for coffee, eating in high calorie restaurants, or spending days preparing and cooking for a high calorie extravaganza, and not making time to exercise, then should I be surprised that I’m really psyched to overeat? On the other hand, if I spend more time exercising (despite my hectic life), trying new low calorie versions of recipes, buying fresh produce at farm stands, doing things with friends that are not about eating, then my own self-created momentum will be moving me in a direction that is motivating for weight/health management. The action I take (or don’t take) creates my psych. I am responsible. You’ve probably heard the saying, “If I take my body, then my mind will follow”.

If you are struggling, ask yourself these questions: “Where have I been investing my energy? Have I put it into stocking my home with convenient low calorie foods, picking restaurants in which I find it easy to be reasonable, taking walks, helping my children to develop good nutritional habits? Have I created an environment that supports the lifestyle I claim to want? Just what kind of psych have I been creating for myself?

Probably 80% of my ability to manage my weight is through using the specific tool of planning for and controlling my environment. I don’t care how intelligent, committed, or desperate I am – like everyone else, I’ll eat what’s there! Is it a pain in the neck to take responsibility for what food is around me? Of course it is. But not as much of a pain as carrying around the weight I would most certainly be carrying if I didn’t do it and just allowed myself to be a victim of the environment – the environment, by the way that I have often created for myself!

By taking charge of my environment, I can relieve myself of constantly fighting temptation. I can also avoid all those feelings of deprivation that invariably get generated when I continue to stimulate myself by exposing myself to foods that I had promised myself I was definitely not going to eat.

Controlling the environment can take many forms. To me it means:

My freezer is not Siberia…

Bringing my own coffee to a meeting or conference so that I never even see what “outrageously wonderful” baked goods thy have no doubt provided…

Pre-arranging to give away to my guests all but one serving of the high calorie leftovers (somehow if I keep a little stash, it is not so hard to give away the rest)…

Having a portable phone in the kitchen so that I can talk somewhere else besides the “food room”…

Stashing an individual portion of frozen yogurt in my freezer before an event to have when I come home. Then I have created an option, or bribe if you will, for avoiding high calorie desserts…

Developing a repertoire of “safe” restaurants where I always order well so that they can be “easy victories”…

Having a small refrigerator in my office constantly stocked with several low cal items – after all, it’s only fair, there is a vending machine down the hall, and that’s fully stocked…

Rarely relying on eating “on the road”…

Following a particularly indulgent day, planning the next day’s menu, and actually preparing the meals in advance so that I’ve made it easy to get right back on track…