Where has my willpower gone?

We tend to believe that a failure of willpower - when we are trying to give up overeating, or smoking, or doing an unappealing task like cleaning someone else's car - is a failure of character. It is not.

Willpower (also called self-control and referred to in academic texts as ego) is always in very short supply. Even making a small decision or making a small effort depletes it. (Known as ego depletion.) Roy Baumeister and colleagues identified that willpower relies on a supply of glucose to the brain. That is one of the reasons you shouldn't go food shopping when you are hungry - you will just load the trolley with all those things you are trying to avoid!

It also means that when you are trying to do things where willpower or self-control are needed, such as trying to change your eating behaviour, you need to be sure you are not also doing something else which takes your energy. So don't try to lose weight at Christmas, because you will be faced with so many opportunities to eat and drink that your self-control gets depleted. And if you have a big task to achieve, that will use up your supply of willpower.

So, if you wish to focus on changing your eating behaviour, then make small changes - little and often. That way you limit the choices you have to make and your willpower will not be overwhelmed.


www.carolinebrowntherapy.com