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The "Will Power" Fallacy

23rd Dec 2022

The "Will Power" Fallacy

There is fallacy and the fallacy revolves around "will power." Many people will embrace a New Year's resolution around diet and exercise. They will tell themselves that this year will be different because they are highly motivated. They will look at someone like Kelly or myself and say I can do what they do, I just need the "will power" to do so.

ad diets and "will power" will simply get you back to where you started when your motivation wains and it will wane. Motivation wanes for trainers who live and breathe fitness. Habits are what you rely on when your world turns upside down. So, STOP CHASING RESULTS! Results come inconsistently and many times are correlated to an action that may or may not have yielded the result. For example, we commonly will start a training program or implement a nutritional habit and the scale does not move however in 2 weeks some results start to occur. Habits are our way of creating consistency and the side effect of consistency are results… most of the time. Some habits merely set the table for results the analogy I like is, “losing weight is like melting an ice cube.” If the air temperature is 12 degrees Fahrenheit and your new habit only raise the air temperature to 15 degrees, you’re not going to see a change in the ice cube but as you add more habits that “air temperature” will continue to rise.

My challenge to people in this group as well as my own clients is to find ONE habit to start with and this habit needs repetition, not just time to metastasize. 3-8 weeks depending on how challenging it is and how frequently you do the habit. Truly master the habit before implementing the next habit. Below I am listing the 3 categories that in my experience have the greatest impact on losing weight or gaining muscle.

SLEEP

This was not accidental why sleep is first on this list.  Whether your plan is gain muscle, lose fat or just be healthier you're not going anywhere without a solid base and sleep is that base. Studies have shown that simply increasing your average sleep by 1 hour per night will lower your sugar and carb cravings.  You'll reset your appetite, recover from your workouts or be better prepared for your workouts and your hormones (testosterone, estrogen, cortisol etc) will balance out. Ideas to improve sleep: improve sleep hygiene, get to bed earlier, improve your sleep environment, limit your alcohol consumption, meditation.

NUTRITION

Nutrition can impact your sleep, void your workouts, create other health obstacles that will impede your progress. Habits I have found that have a high return on investment: PRIORITIZE YOUR PROTEIN! Get at least 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight, limit your total daily sugar (not just your added sugar), get your green leafy vegetables. To keep yourself accountable you will need to do some level of tracking.

EXERCISE & ACTIVITY

Third category is your exercise and your non exercise daily activity. Habits I have found that have the highest impact on one’s health are 1) increasing the steps you take daily, 2) strength training 2-5 times per week and 3) metabolic conditioning 2-4 times weekly.

I cannot stress enough to NOT try to implement multiple habits at once. Habits are difficult and they will need your full attention until they are ingrained to your daily life. Good luck!