Want to Lose Weight, but Have No Will Power

Updated on November 15, 2013
M.T. asks from Naperville, IL
13 answers

I have dealt with weight issues my whole life and I am trying to lose 20 pounds and I just have no will power to stay away from certain foods. I would love any suggestions to assist me with getting to my goal weight so that I feel confident, comfortable and pleased with myself? I am currently using my fitness pal and in the past it has been helpful, but I'm finding it hard to stay on top of it. I do exercise, mostly walking and Pilates, but I'm limited because I have a back problem! I really want this but am having a hard time staying motivated and away from the bad foods.

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M.H.

answers from Atlanta on

If you're healthy, you don't crave bad foods. Don't try to diet. Try to get healthy. My husband freaked when he hit 400 pounds. He had dieted and dieted and every time he lost weight it came back with a vengeance. I told him no more. I put him on a great multivitamin that actually absorbs and the weight started falling off. He lost 60 pounds in 6 months with no real diet change and then lost 50 more when he started to exercise. He' s at his ideal weight and has kept it off for five years now.

Hope this helps!
M.

1 mom found this helpful

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❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

I love what kindness is power (Ally) said & will add:
-try to eat 3 well balanced meals a day w/2 healthy snacks (ex. apple
slices w/peanut butter)in btwn. Better for your metabolism to have
something every 3 hours to stimulate it.
-drink 8 glasses of water a day. Keep a water bottle handy in your car,
take with you on walks etc. Also, every time the phone rings, I remember
to take a drink. Use some tactic like that for yourself.
-weight bearing exercises (even light weights & pushups, planks, tricep
dips etc) @ home help
-do an exercise video at home, too
-try to load up on veggies & fruits. Always have cup veggies you can grab
like celery, mini carrots etc. Have them easy to grab so you can nosh on
them in the car when running errands
-limit your carbs. Try eating a half a sandwich or even just the lunch meat
& sliced cheese.
-remember you don't need to be perfect, just try to make healtheir
choices every time you go out to eat, eating lunch/breakfast at home
-try using ground turkey for dishes that call for ground beef, like tacos
-take bad stuff out of your house (chips, candy, sweets)
-hv a mini piece of chocolate if you have a craving or even abt 6 choc
chips to stave off your sweet tooth
-walk any chance you get. Go for fast walks in the morning when your DH
is home to watch the kids
-park farther away from the store when you go groc shopping
-in the winter walk the malls (not shopping, just fast walking by yourself)
-whenever you have something "bad", don't ding yourself just got right
back on track the very next snack or meal

2 moms found this helpful
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J.P.

answers from Chicago on

check out trimhealthymama.com

I happened to discover this site/book/facebook group by way of another facebook group for exercise. One of the moms in the exercise group posted her weightloss over a weekend and mentioned trimhealthymama, so I checked it out. I bought the book for about $20 and you can buy digital or paperback. If you are skeptical or don't have the $ for the book, join the facebook group. Many people post questions and recipes that you can take advantage of. I have lost 30lbs in 4 months. Before that I worked out for 5 weeks straight and didn't lose a pound. This is by far the best diet I've been on. It doesn't limit that much, it just limits when and how you combine foods. Instead of counting calories, you keep track of carbs vs fats per meal. Let me know if you want more information. Another thing to try is a candida supplement. Often times, our bodies intestinal bacteria overgrows and takes over the gut, makes it inflamed and the only way for candida to survive is by getting sugar or yeast. This causes your body to crave more sugar without actually needing it. I've had hypoglycemic episodes and then gotten my blood sugar tested and it was normal. That's when I started researching and found out that I had candida overgrowth. Good luck!

2 moms found this helpful

M.M.

answers from Chicago on

You should not stay away from bad foods. If you try to eliminate them, you will fail.
Instead, limit them. Choose 2-3 meals/week where you eat what you love. Allow yourself that indulgence. Then count your calories the rest of the time.

I have no better advice for you. The bottom line is you will only succeed if you want to. And from this post...you don't want to.
80% of weight loss is food intake. So working out is less important than how much goes in your mouth. But calorie reduction is a must.

2 moms found this helpful

A.B.

answers from St. Louis on

Always write down your goals. If you want to lose weight write it down and place a picture of yourself on your refrigerator.
Clean your pantry and keep only the healthy stuff (grains, whole wheat or whole grain pasta, flour, nuts,etc)
Fill your refrigerator with fruits, especially berries and bananas, kale and lettuce (no ice berg lettuce); almond milk flavoured or not (vanilla or chocolate).
Never ever go out hungry (shopping or a party) Always eat something that way you will avoid over eating.
Do not satisfy your hunger or cravings with cereal bars, that is a no-no, instead keep in your car or purse a piece of dark chocolate (not the whole bar), and your favourite fruit with a bottle of NATURALLY flavoured water (lime, lemon, watermelon, pineapple).
Prepare your own juices, vegetables taste great blended with very sweet fruits (kale, berries and pineapple, or banana, spinach and berries).
Cook for a couple of days, so you do not have the excuse to eat anything because you have no food in your fridge.
Drink PLENTY of water throughout the day. Place a big pitch with filtered water and lemon slices in it; it looks fantastic and it is great to your palate and purpose of losing weight. Green tea (sugarless)also help you to lose pounds; drink after each meal a small cup of it. If you cannot stand sugarless beverages sweeten this up with a little bit of honey (raw honey).
Do Yoga or stretching in your case is much more productive than any other exhausting exercise, you need time to adjust first otherwise you'll give up easily, and you don't want that.
Write down 4 things you love to eat (2 sweets and 2 salty, for instance), and give yourself permission to eat one of these every week (keep good portions and do it during weekends).
Think of your kids, your husband, your loved ones and place picture of them by your picture on the fridge, and think always that they NEED you, they LOVE you and you need to be healthy and happy for them and yourself, that is real happiness and it will give you motivation.
I hope this helps a bit, I know you can do it!

A. :)

1 mom found this helpful

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

i've never had any willpower. and i have no clue how to get it from someone else. part of the problem might be falling into the 'good food bad food' trap. for many people moderation is the key, ie just having a nibble of the less healthy food.
that doesn't really work for me. sugar is my biggest issue, and a taste of it triggers a monster appetite over which i have no control. so for the most part it's best for me to abstain altogether, and understand that when i do indulge i should just have a big honkin' piece of cheesecake or whatever and not feel guilty about it.
and understand that i'm going to feel sick later. and after years of this, i'm FINALLY creating some new neural pathways that say 'hey S.! do you really want to feel sick?' and can- sometimes!- walk away.
so the most important piece to figure out is how you're wired, and then work within that paradigm. you may need to keep certain foods out of the house altogether. perhaps it'll work if you keep the irresistible foods but only eat them before 1pm. i've got a gloriously slender friend who has pizza and chocolate chip cookies galore every friday night, but is very disciplined the rest of the week. it would never work for me, but she walks her talk.
most good parents study their kids and get familiar with their learning styles. do the same thing for yourself and your relationship with food. it will make developing a coping strategy more effective.
good luck!
khairete
S.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

Forget about the weight for awhile and change the whole attitude about food. Losing weight is like playing a game. You might win the one game, but then you go back and have rematches. You want to be healthy for your lifetime. So start taking each meal and snack as a healthy treat instead of sweating over this pound or that. Obviously you know what things help you lose weight, now learn to love the good foods without concentrating on weight. Think about portions. Not a diet, but a lifetime of different eating habits. It is kind of amazing when you don't feel like you are in a rut, or challenging yourself to lose weight, but if you see yourself like a car getting fuel you need. After you have tried this for awhile you might notice that without even thinking of it you are losing weight because it isn't the most important focus. You are and a lifetime of good health.

1 mom found this helpful

R.X.

answers from Houston on

Find friends who will motivate you.

My goal two years ago was to up my social life.

I rarely turn down an invitation.

I have friends who are shopaholics, exercise buffs, Christians, Muslims, etc. Whatever I need at a certain time, there are friends that I can call.

Find friends who will walk with you. Don't limit your circle to current pals. Maybe your inspiration will be a senior citizen, a young mom, or the pregnant teen dropout who lives with her parents. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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E.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

When you want it BAD enough, you'll find that will power.

It's easy to sit around, looking at gorgeous celebrities and lament the fact that you're not built that way, while noshing on a bag of chips....but until you have that done-with-being-fat-once-and-for-all moment, that's as far as you'll get.

The information is all out there. What to eat, how to work out, etc. It's not as complicated as we'd all like to think. Eat healthy food. Be active. Simple. But not until you decide that enough is enough and make that commitment to yourself. Good luck.

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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

Use delay tactics. When you want that piece of candy tell yourself you can have it but you must run up and down the steps 20x's or tell yourself you can have it after you eat a cucumber. If you are like me you won't want the candy bad enough to run up and down the steps or eat a cucumber.😊. Good luck!!!

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J.O.

answers from Detroit on

Buy what you want to eat at the store (meaning only what's healthy) and no junk...then you don't have it around! It is pretty effective.

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A.L.

answers from Las Vegas on

Try OA.. it's free and there are meetings everywhere.. Also, in program, you'll learn that it's less about will power and more about resolving the underlying issues as to why you turn to food and what are your triggers that set off in doing as such..
check out their website and see if it's a fit for you...

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J.M.

answers from Boston on

I would do a 2 week sugar detox. It helps u realize u don't need the goldfish u eat every afternoon, or whatever. Find a fun exercise too. Don't buy the junk or go to drive throughs.

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