Episode 102

Willpower Won't Power

Published on: 14th July, 2021

We've all been there...the day starts strong, we have a healthful breakfast, then work is busy and stressful, on the way home it takes every fiber of our being to resist the Dunkin, the 7/11 and the ice cream shop. And that internal dialogue begins. It's like the angel and the devil on each shoulder. Which one wins often comes down to willpower. But as Jenn says willpower is actually a lot less about our emotional strength and a lot more chemical than we ever realized. And particularly interesting for us, there's actually a Catch 22 of weight loss and willpower. It's true! Listen in for everything about what depletes our willpower and everything we can do to replenish it plus how best to use it. This is a not-to-be-missed episode! 

Outline:

  • Welcome back & catch up with Darlene
  • Intro today's topic
  • Define "willpower"
  • How to think of willpower - a muscle, a cup
  • 2 key factors to understand about willpower
  • What depletes it
    • Resisting desire
    • ego depletion - the anterior cingulate cortex
    • Stress
    • Doing too much - multitasking, list of resolutions
    • To-do lists & tracking in your head
    • Low blood sugar - judges, diabetics, the Catch 22 of weight loss & willpower
    • Being a man
    • PMS
    • Lack of sleep
    • Not keeping our agreements with ourselves - self trust
    • Decision fatigue
    • The heat of the moment
  • Signs we're getting depleted
  • What strengthens/replenishes willpower
    • Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
    • Eating/glucose
    • Breakfast
    • Sleep
    • Setting & reaching goals, connect small goals to big goals
    • Self-awareness
    • Accountability - tracking, public declarations, our communities
    • Focus on habits
    • Realistic goals
    • Consequences & rewards
    • Charity & generosity
    • Distraction
    • High level thinking
    • To-do lists
    • Clear, strict, unambiguous rules
    • Orientation toward the future
      • Kids' willpower & self-esteem
    • Gamification
    • If/then statements
    • Knowing your cues - internal vs external, our communitites
    • Postponed pleasure ploy
  • Dieting & willpower
    • Counterregulatory eating
  • The goal
  • 4 steps to improve willpower 

Links:
Become a Member
Connect with us! FB Page & Private FB Group & Jenn's Instagram
Take the free Weight Loss Profile, Jenn will send you a Menu Plan

Quotes:
"You have willpower. You are incredible! Being overweight does not mean you have weak willpower." - Jenn Trepeck
"You don't suck. There's nothing wrong with you! Think of willpower as a muscle that can be fatigued."  - Jenn Trepeck
"Willpower is a muscle that can be strengthened, a cup that can be refilled."  - Jenn Trepeck
"Researchers found people spend 1/5 of their waking hours resisting desires." - Jenn Trepeck
"Knowing you can strengthen the willpower muscle is a weight lifted; you're not doomed!" - Jenn Trepeck
"Change your socks. Make your bed. Eat breakfast." - Jenn Trepeck
"Distraction helps us exercise willpower." - Jenn Trepeck
"What matters for willpower is exertion, not outcome." - Jenn Trepeck

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About the Podcast

Salad With a Side of Fries Nutrition, Wellness & Weight Loss
What to eat and when to cheat! Let's decipher between all the “diets” out there. You know what to do but it itsn't working. In fact, your diet could be making you fatter.

Ever wondered if cryo-freezing your fat cells would really work? Should you try acupuncture? A hypnotist? If you do, how do you know if someone’s good?

Salad with a Side of Fries is the podcast that will answer all these questions and more! Talking wellness and weight loss for real life, because most of us are going to drink, eat out, skip the grocery store and who wants a life without fries or dessert?! Host Jenn Trepeck’s expertise as an optimal health coach, in practice for over a decade, along with experts in various modalities will clear up the myths, mis-information, bad science and marketing to reveal the truth of HOW TO EAT and HOW TO CHEAT!*



*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This podcast, its content and guests are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

About your host

Profile picture for Jennifer Trepeck

Jennifer Trepeck

“My passion for nutrition and helping others stems from “kicking my food issues” with my own weight management saga.” ~ Jenn

I believe that the greatest accountability is paying it forward! That’s why I teach the nutrition education we are all supposed to know but no one ever taught us, along with the science behind food, fitness, and health.

After I graduated from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, I founded Better Life Now LLC while working full-time in hedge funds. In 2019, I took my practice from side-hustle to full-time self-employment and launched my podcast, Salad With a Side of Fries. On the show, we offer science-based tips and tricks for how to achieve wellness and weight loss for real life – because who wants a life without fries or dessert?!

Topics we tackle on the podcast include debunking fad diets, food myths, misinformation in marketing, bad science, and general nutrition. I encourage guests whose expertise is different from my own focus on weight management to bring their unique, fact-based perspectives to talk about subjects they are educated in and passionate about.

Due to my decade-long experience of working with clients, I have gained insight into the health and food industry and the how-tos of building a business.

Some specific health and wellness topics I can speak to include debunking fad diets, exposing the BS we are fed by the food and diet industry, how the people around us can positively and negatively impact our health journey, and shifting mindsets in order to overcome inappropriate barometers of success to instead achieve happy, healthy, and meaningful change.

On the subject of business, I can help you by teaching my critical pieces every entrepreneur should know, how to make your side-hustle into your full-time job, ways to sustainably achieve success without burning out, contemporary networking, and how to prioritize wellness while pursuing your projects.

When I find some free time, I’m typically working out at Physique57, discovering hidden gem restaurants in NYC, or traveling to spend time with friends and family.

I’d love to have an in-depth conversation with you, whether it’s leveling up in business or debunking food myths!