Willpower. You Have It Or You Don’t?

Reading. It’s something that I love to do, so when I have a few hours on a plane, the Kindle comes out and I get to it.

This trip I finally got started on a book I have had for awhile; “The One Thing”, by Gary Keller. I am about 30% of the way through it and already I have been picked up some great nuggets.

One that fascinated me in particular was the chapter on Willpower. I like many get caught in the trap of either “you have it or you don’t”. He calls this myth “Willpower is always on will-call”.

Our experience tells us this is just not right. Sometimes I can look that cheesecake in the eye and tell it “no way”, but at others the thing is half gone before you can say “neufchatel”.

Why is that?

Well it turns out that willpower is a renewable energy – literally. Keller likens it to the power bar on your cell phone. Every morning you start with a full charge, but as the day goes on, every time you draw on it your using it up. At the end of the day you are toast. You know this to be true. For instance think about the times you are more likely to make poor choices relating to diet. If you are anything like me it’s at night, when you are drained (no pun intended) from the days mental and physical efforts.

Keller gives the analogy that willpower is like fast twitch muscle. That’s the stuff we use when we sprint or go all out on the ski-erg. It’s very powerful, but has no endurance.

But it’s not hopeless. We don’t have to accept defeat.

Did you know the food we eat can actually affect our level of willpower?

You see the brain takes up about 1/50th of our body mass, but uses 1/5th of the calories we eat. It is fascinating that the parts of our brain that regulate breathing and nervous responses don’t care if we skip a meal, but the prefontal cortex, which is responsible for focus, short-term memory, solving problems and moderating impulse control gets hammered when it isn’t fed. And even more fascinating is that the brain works much like our muscles. Feed it a low grade, high sugar and simple carb diet, and it crashes fast. But foods that keep blood sugar stable, like proteins and complex carbohydrates are the fuel of high achievers, as shown by studies that have measured task accuracy.

The bottom line is that willpower is a mental muscle that doesn’t bounce back quickly, and you literally have to “feed your mind” a healthy diet to help recover.

And maybe I am a geek, but I think it is really cool that the same food that helps me burn fat and build muscle also helps me have the willpower to make the good food choices that helps me burn fat and build muscle.

The “Circle of Life” Indeed.

Think about it. Just make sure you fuel up first.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean