The more decisions you make, the more your willpower is exhausted.
Humans make an average of 35,000 decisions every day, no wonder we become exhausted!
What should I have for breakfast? Yogurt? Do we have enough yogurt? Do I need to go to the shops? What else do we need? What are we having for dinner? Wait… what’s for breakfast?
Every single decision you make uses more and more willpower. Hence why at the end of the night when our brains are spent we have nothing left. “Chocolate? Sure!” Hit me with that dopamine 🙋♀️
Familiar?
It makes sense that the fewer decisions we make, we will have more willpower “saved up” for the times we need it.
This is why a routine can be so valuable!
When you have a routine where you do roughly the same thing every day, you’ll eliminate much of your decision-making. This doesn’t mean that you have to be rigid with every minute of your day, but rather you give your life and day some structure.
Some ideas to create a routine:
Wake up at the same time
Lay your clothes out the night before
Meal prep to eliminate food decisions
Go to bed at the same time
All of these little processes become instinctual and before you know it they require no effort and you will have more energy to make wise decisions at the end of the day 💪
How do you create structure in your day?
Something that usually stops us in our tracks with our goals, is when we think about how big the task is.
When you think about losing weight, it can seem so out of reach.
Instead, just think about showing up.
Doing something is better than nothing.
The more you do something, the easier it becomes. The better you get at it the more progress you’ll make.
In the gym, consistency is showing up when you need to and doing the reps and sets you need to for the day.
At first, it takes an effort, then each week you repeat the practice and it becomes your routine.
Every area of your life will just come down to being consistent over and over and over again.
All you have to do is just got to show up and put in the effort.
Day after day, whether you feel like it or not. That’s keeping your promise to yourself!!
How often do you get cravings?
What do you usually crave?
We often crave similar foods at similar times.
No one is ever “craving” a bag of carrots
We usually crave foods that are high in sugar and salt.
If you’re working towards weight loss, here are some tips for managing cravings;
- Self-talk
If you are in a calorie deficit, you are choosing to go without certain foods to lose weight. The important thing you need to remind yourself is that you are CHOOSING to forgo these foods.
The language you choose may determine whether you make a choice to support your goals or work against them. When you remind yourself that you’re CHOOSING not to give in to your cravings v.s saying, “I can’t have this” it empowers you.
- Eliminate the temptation
Human brains are generally lazy, we choose quick and easy options. By not having the foods you usually crave in your home, you’re avoiding the mental battle. It’s when we have the temptations in our house that we have a higher chance of giving in.
These may be two simple tips, but they go a long way to keep you on track!