I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about mini eggs this month. I’m sure fully 50% of my clients have “confessed” to overindulging on mini eggs over the past few weeks, sometimes multiple times per day.
Sound familiar?
So WTF is wrong with you? Why do you wake up every morning with a mini-egg hangover vowing to resist those ovalesque demons and then attack your kid’s Easter basket like a rabid dog every night?
OK, it might not be mini eggs. Maybe you’re powerless in the face of snack crackers. Or trying not to drink wine every. single. night. Or trying to will yourself out of the house for an evening fitness class just one night per week.
What’s wrong with you? Nothing. Nothing is wrong with you.
WILLPOWER DOESN’T WORK.
Willpower, or decision making ability, is a faulty mechanism. It gets fatigued like a muscle. It lets us down. It does what it can, steering you toward a chicken salad at lunch, keeping you from screaming in public when you get bumped on the subway for the 18th time that morning, and helping you power through dinner & bath when you’d really rather hide in your closet with your phone. Your willpower works all day long.
Kinda like you.
And at the end of the day, or when faced with temptation, that willpower is just too tired.
Kinda like you.
You are not a failure because you eat mini eggs. You are not a failure because you flop in front of Netflix instead of doing some squats & stretches at night. You are not a failure because you feel depressed after flipping through another women’s fitness magazine.
Relying on willpower is setting you up for failure.
BETTER THAN WILLPOWER.
If you want to change your life, the first and simplest step is to change your environment.
Quite simply…
Throw out the mini eggs. (I know, that sounds painful, but they’re no more wasted making your tummy sick than they are in the trash.)
Place your foam roller & a towel out on the coffee table before dinner so it’s there to remind you afterward, during TV time.
Unsubscribe to negative social media that makes you feel inadequate.
Stock your fridge with easy-to-grab healthy snacks.
Put your workout clothes on as soon as you come in from work.
Book a weekly early morning walk or jog with a neighbour so you can’t blow it off.
Those mamas who seem to have it all together, who seem to pack their lunches from home and get in their workouts most days, and care for themselves so well, those mamas don’t have better willpower than you. They just know better than to rely on willpower.
Set yourself up so you barely have to rely on willpower at all.
Change your environment and the influences on you, and you will change your life!
If you feel motivated to change, comment below and tell me ONE THING you’re going to do to set up Future You for success next week, to kick off your spring fitness goals with planning instead of white knuckle willpower. I can’t wait to hear your plans!
xo
D.
P.S. If you think this kind of mindset and nutrition coaching is exactly what you’ve been looking for to finally reach your health & fitness goals, click here to find out about my life-changing nutrition & fitness training — all online, all totally personalized to you, and totally affordable on that mat leave budget.