Willpower And Sticking To Our Diet

[T.H.]

I heard an interview today with a co-author of a book about studies on human willpower, and seriously, the first thing I thought was: celiacs could totally use this stuff. The book is called: Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Baumeister and Tierney

Here were the things I thought were very interesting for all of us struggling with sticking to our diets, with eating what we should, taking our vitamins, all that good stuff.

1. Willpower is supposedly a finite resource, essentially. The more you use your willpower to cope with one thing during a day, the less you have to cope with things at the end of the day. This can be willpower used in anything: studying, keeping yourself from yelling at the kids when you want to, cleaning the house when you don't want to, resisting eating a piece of toast that's on the counter - it all uses it up.

2. How much willpower we have seems to be something we can increase. They had some techniques, but they said anything you try to do for a while that you have to think about carefully can help build up your willpower reserves. Something silly like speaking with no contractions for an hour would do it, for example, or meditating.

3. People have more willpower when they have enough food - glucose levels seem pretty critical. If we're hungry, our willpower drops significantly.

4. Sleep also affects willpower a lot, so getting more of that is crucial, too.

I just couldn't help thinking of all the times the temptation to cheat on the diet is the strongest. When we're at the store and I'm hungry, or it's at the end of the day and we're at someone's house where they have different food and I've been dealing with stressful things all day. My experience totally tracked with this book.

But I thought they had some good suggestions. To make sure you have had enough to eat if you are going into a situation where you'll need to use your willpower a lot (like a restaurant or a family dinner where there's lots of gluten). To get enough sleep. And to try and plan a day around a 'high willpower' event, if needed. If, for example, we knew we needed to get through Thanksgiving dinner without cheating, we might avoid dealing with a few of the most annoying relatives beforehand, so we don't use up our store of willpower on them, and then run out when it comes to the food.

...I think I'm going to be doing a LOT of exercises to increase my willpower, LOL.

[Jestgar]

...I think I'm going to be doing a LOT of exercises to increase my willpower, LOL.

Not me. I'm heading straight for the chocolate and counting on the glucose factor to see me through.

[pricklypear1971]

Not me. I'm heading straight for the chocolate and counting on the glucose factor to see me through.

Lol. Sounds like me.

I have to admit, though, I have not yet been tempted by a piece of cake, etc. The DH, coupled with neuro problems from gluten and high sals food additives keeps me straight. There isn't a food on this planet worth losing my mind over. And I say that quite literally.

[Lisa]

I was never tempted in my first couple of years being gluten free. It all just happened in the last 2 years (after 8 years previous to that) that it has all come back at me to haunt me. Simply can't find a gluten free chocolate cake that will satisfy my craving

Oooh, oooh... have you tried Pamela's Chocolate Cake Mix. It's a little more dense than "regular" cake mix, but...in my opinion, BETTER! I get raves when served to my "regular" friends.

AND yes.... many of us need little or no motivation to stay on the path that makes us well.

[love2travel]

I was never tempted in my first couple of years being gluten free. It all just happened in the last 2 years (after 8 years previous to that) that it has all come back at me to haunt me. Simply can't find a gluten free chocolate cake that will satisfy my craving

I've never tried mixes or commercial but I do rather like this decadent flourless truffle cake...

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Cakes are easy to convert to gluten-free. I have a mean recipe for a 3-layer chocolate cake with ganache and buttercream if you are interested, too.

[eatmeat4good]

Oh my God that cake looks delicious!!

Hey Love2Travel?

Can you make a dairy free, egg free version of that?

I know, I know....

No, I can't have it...but I'm saving the recipe for the day I want to test both dairy and eggs. It would be perfect to challenge them both!

[pricklypear1971]

Oh my God that cake looks delicious!!

Hey Love2Travel?

Can you make a dairy free, egg free version of that?

I know, I know....

No, I can't have it...but I'm saving the recipe for the day I want to test both dairy and eggs. It would be perfect to challenge them both!

What about a plain truffle??? I know you don't do milk but what about using soy milk or another fat substitute like palm oil or ghee to make a truffle??? Naturally egg free.

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[New Community Member]

Good words about will power!! Concerning the gluten free diet, so far so good. I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, so I do my best to stay away from gluten. I've only been gluten-free for 3 weeks. I'm sure when you start feeling healthy again, the temptation to eat gluten is much stronger. I can't wait to be feeling healthy again.

Speaking of cakes, I'm on a lactose and gluten free diet so I tried "Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Dreams Chocolate Cake Mix" and it is delicious!! Chocolate is my favorite so I was glad to find it! The Cherrybrook Kitchen Chocolate Frosting can be bought with it. Neither require eggs! I even used water, instead of butter, for the icing and it turned out great. So if you're looking for a good chocolate cake, I highly recommend it!