The Zen of Calories

Part Four: Willpower vs. Barrier

A to B

Were we to believe Nike, it is simply a matter of “Just Do It.”

This looks good on paper, and even better in the commercials — but of course, all those Nike hard-bodied models have long since arrived at B (or never left, more likely).

However, when A is 300 pounds and B is 150 pounds the commercial Just Doesn’t Do It for you, and quickly at that. In fact, it can seem an insurmountable task, not made simpler for having accumulated a dozen or more failed attempts that now gang up to “prove” to you how impossible this all is.

Still, the not-so-healthy you at A knows that you, one way or another, must arrive at B, come what may. Remaining at A is not an option. Your doctor tells you so, those who love you tell you so, you tell yourself so (over and over). Yet, B seems at least 5,878,630,000,000 miles (a light year) away; the far side of some very impressive — and impossible to climb — mountain range, say the Himalayas.

And then we have the pessimists who maintain that you just cannot get there from here. One useful thing to know about pessimists, though: they tend to lie.

The Mathematics

I like mathematics. I like the preciseness of it, the don’t-argue-with-me-ness of it. It is also unemotional. And it is not a bad idea to bring an unemotional yardstick to a subject like weight loss, which as you know is a subject that can get very emotional indeed.

And this is the mathematical truth:

If you find yourself at A, to reach a distant (or hard-to-climb) B you must either raise your willpower or lower the barrier.

In other words, either grow exceptionally tall, or grind down the Himalayas — or, of course, some of both.

Willpower

Willpower comes with a nice string of synonyms. Among them: determination, resolve, resolution, iron will, strength of will, strength of mind, self-control, self-discipline. Pick any of them, it will serve well.

And willpower itself is defined as: a combination of determination and self-discipline that enables somebody to do something despite the difficulties involved (Encarta). Indeed. Well-put.

And when it comes to weight loss, willpower is that quality you acquire by deciding that few, if any, things are more important than your health; that few things, if any, are more important than arriving at B.

The Barrier

The main barrier to arriving at a distant weight-loss B is hunger.

Look back at previous attempts. Willpower and enthusiasm alone can carry you for days, perhaps even weeks, until it rises, this raw, uncompromising thing in search of sustenance, louder and louder, this hunger.

Willpower buckles, determination evaporates, justifications work overtime to make shutting the beast up (with pizza for example) the absolutely right thing to do. Were there no such thing as hunger, long-term weight loss would simply be the proverbial walk in the park.

A Helping Hand

When the body is starved of either nutrients (such as vitamins, minerals, and amino acids) or energy (in the form of calories) it lets you know, and in no uncertain terms.

It’s probably impossible to accurately break down the percentages when it comes to physical craving for nutrients vs. physical craving for energy (i.e., calories) — and this will most likely vary from individual to individual as well. But let us, for argument’s and simplicity’s sake, say that fifty percent of physical hunger is a call for nutrients and the other fifty a call for calories.

Now, to lose weight — which is what you’re working on — you need to cut down on calories, so there is little hope of pacifying the beast in that department, leaving nutrients.

And here is the good news: you can supply the body with calorie-free nutrients and so reduce hunger cravings by perhaps as much as half. And if, at the same time, you step up your willpower a fraction, to at least a little taller than the remaining hunger, you will in fact succeed. There is no doubt about it. You will succeed like many others have succeeded before you, like so many others are succeeding as we speak.

Appetite Suppressants

A word. Appetite suppressants, such as caffeine or amphetamines, do not actually reduce physical hunger, they reduce hearing. Your body still pleads, screams, and begs, you just don’t hear it.

Hearing is a good thing. Stay away from chemical suppressants.

© Wolfstuff