Weight Loss Doesn't Take Willpower, But Steadfast Resolve To Make Smart Choices

I was talking with one of my co-workers yesterday morning and she invited me to come to a social event in the fellowship room where they would be serving lots of muffins and fresh lattes. Of course, she is fully aware of and knows about my 180-pound weight loss on the low-carb lifestyle in 2004 and quickly caught herself in mid-sentence almost apologizing for even saying anything about the muffins.

My reaction to her is the same one I give anyone who offers a high-carb food for me to eat. Here's what I say:

"I really appreciate you thinking of me, but I haven't eaten any sugary products like that for nearly three years since I started my low-carb lifestyle. Thank you again for your hospitality, but I don't want to gain my weight back so I had better say no."

At this point, most people are appreciative of my position and tell me how much they admire my consistency with staying on the low-carb plan. In fact, my co-worker said something to me I've been meaning to talk about for a while, so I will expand upon it a little further in this post:

"Jimmy, you have the most incredible willpower I think I've ever seen in anyone!"

I smiled, nodded, and thanked her for the compliment because I knew she meant it with all sincerity. But the fact is my ability to resist tempting sugary, high-carb foods like muffins and doughnuts has nothing to do with "willpower." I wrote about this idea somewhat in my book as well.

Although my "rat poison" mantra was very helpful when I first decided to stop eating sugar early on in my low-carb program, now I credit my steadfast resolve to make smart choices about what I allow inside of my mouth for helping me keep my weight under control. There is a BIG difference between "willpower" and this "steadfast resolve to make smart choices."

Up until I began my recent "30-In-30" Low-Carb Weight Loss Challenge where I am now attempting to lose 30 pounds over 30 weeks (I've lost five pounds in just the first two weeks already!), I had started making some pretty stupid mistakes here and there that weren't very smart at all. No, I wasn't secretly gorging myself on chocolate cake (EWWW!) in a back room at work somewhere or sneaking a Big Mac and French fries from McDonalds (GAG!) on the way home from work. It was a lot more subtle than that.

For example, when Christine and I would go out to eat for dinner over the past six months or so, we would order our meals and I would make mine low-carb by usually getting meat and salad entrees. But then the server would bring this great big basket of hot dinner rolls just out of the oven with butter slobbered all on top of them making them look all shiny and place them right in front of me. I could hear these melt-in-your-mouth rolls calling out to me, "Eat me, Jimmy, eat me!"

Rationalizing in my mind that they're not sugar and I'm only going to have one or two (admittedly, I'd sometimes even have three or four! YIKES!), I would eat them and not really feel that guilty about it either. But when the scale started moving up every so slightly, I knew these little sneak-a-cheats were not very conducive to my low-carb lifestyle. That's why you should never lose your focus or your purpose for low-carbing especially once you hit the weight maintenance phase of your low-carb lifestyle. It's too easy to get used to bad habits and start gaining your weight back.

Does this mean I will NEVER have the dinner rolls again? I get that kind of question asked a lot about chocolate cake and other sugary desserts as well. The answer is no, but I'm making much better choices for myself now that are wiser decisions in the long run for me. I have to constantly reevaluate in my own mind whether eating that roll or cake is going to be worth the price I have to pay when I step on that scale (which I am a big believer in doing every single day for personal accountability!). Because of that, the answer 99.999% of the time will be to politely decline. I'm usually glad that I did!

If I had this great willpower over food, then how did I ever get to the point where I weighed over 400 pounds? If willpower was the only way to resist temptation and prevent weight gain, then I'd still be that morbidly obese man I was a little more than 2 1/2 years ago very likely tipping the scales at over 500 pounds by now. Thankfully, I found the ability to say "no" to those things that I know I shouldn't have as part of my healthy lifestyle anymore. This isn't something to bemoan, but instead should makes your wanna jump for joy because it is a lesson the vast majority of people are unwilling to implement in their own life.

Weight loss--and I mean long-lasting, meaningful weight control--is not dependent on any kind of inner ability to wish you didn't want to eat that chocolate cake ever again. That would go against human nature and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to your face. But your commitment to a healthy lifestyle dictates whether you choose to eat that cake or not. For me, I choose to pass on the cake and would rather have a bowl of blueberries and cream instead. Plus you'll feel better knowing you've made the better decision which not only benefits your physical body, but your emotional stability as well.

Resolve today that nothing will stand in your way of attaining the success that you deserve to have happen with your weight loss goals. Don't rely on some mystical strength or "willpower" you hope you will have when the temptations confront you. Be ready for them ahead of time and make up your mind RIGHT now how you will handle them. Be smart and make healthy choices so you can see the weight loss success you so desperately desire in your life. YOU CAN DO IT!