snacking – Reps And The Rest

Stopping The Afternoon Snack

April 13, 2020 Joonas

Pay close attention to what happens before you reach for that snack. What is it that acts as a trigger? If you’ve eaten a proper lunch it’s probably not so much about hunger. But a deeply ingrained habit.

Is it pouring (or ordering, for you high rollers) a cup of coffee? You mustered all your willpower to have just the coffee, but the action of filling your cup with steaming black magic sets off a cascade of habits to follow.

You can’t fight the urge to dip into the cookie jar. Or that hot cross bun box in the cupboard. Or, if you do fight it, you’ll sap your willpower for the rest of the day.

The best solution is the path of least resistance. Keep the actions the same. But instead of a hot cross bun, choose a healthier alternative. Still have your coffee, still have a snack.

Start by asking yourself “how would this look if it’d be easy?” Any action in the right direction is better than no action.

Or, if you are yet to have a hot cross bun this Easter, just eat the damn thing.

Fat Loss Is Not About Willpower

September 8, 2015 Joonas

You’ve set yourself a clear goal to reach your health goal in six months. You’ve know that the biggest road block is your appetite for sweets at work. You’re motivated, committed and maxed out on willpower.
Until the first busy afternoon at work when your stress levels are through the roof. You start fancying a thought of a sweet sweet chocolate goodness. You try not to think of that vending machine loaded with chocolate bars. Or that bowl of chocolates in the break room. But no matter how hard you try the chocolate goodness creeps back in your head until it become impossible to resist. So you give in and make the vending machine sing, but only today. Because tomorrow you’re stronger, more motivated, even more committed and full of willpower.
And then tomorrow afternoon rolls around and you repeat the same cycle. Same thing happens over and over again. Why is that and what to do about it? To find an answer we have to revisit a couple of studies from the past.

…