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5 Things That Drain Your Willpower

Willpower. We all seem to want more of it. And often times, we think other people have more than we do. But! We’re here to tell you that not’s actually the case. In fact, we know you have a willpower master down deep inside; she just might take a little finding and busting free. Because willpower can be used in a variety of ways — ways that are sometimes, but not always, related to your health and fitness goals. Read on for five total drags that we most commonly see draining your willpower. 5 Things That Drain Your Willpower 1.…

The post 5 Things That Drain Your Willpower appeared first on Fit Bottomed Girls.

abel, Abel James, activated charcoal, alcohol, Anxiety, binge, booze, breathing, cake, chai, cheesecake, chocolate cake, christmas, cocktail, comfort food, cook, cookies, count calories, delicious food, eating, eggnog, Emotions, Exercise, failure, family, family drama, fasting, fat burning, fat burning chef, Fat-Burning Recipes, Fat-Burning Tips, fatburning, feast, Featured, flourless, food trigger, gluten free, grain free, guide, guilt, Health, healthy, high-quality, holiday meal, holidays, home-cooked, hot chocolate, keto, lean, low carb, low-sugar, meats, meditation, mindful eating, overindulge, Paleo, potatoes, pumpkin pie, real ingredients, Recipes, recover, restrict, restriction, rolls, santa belly, satiety, secret, self control, stay fit, stay lean, Stress, stressful, Sugar, thanksgiving, The Wild Diet, traditions, treat, Treats, triggers, veggies, walk, water, whipped cream, why, wild, wild diet, willpower, wine, workout, Workouts

Complete Idiot’s Guide To Burning Fat During The Holidays

You can enjoy food, holiday traditions, and family while maintaining your fitness goals. Learn how to eat, drink and be merry this holiday season without packing on the pounds.

altruism, bpa, BPS, ego depletion, Exercise, farmers, Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, Health, injury, mindfulness, phthalates, plastics, willpower

FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD: Plastics are more dangerous than you think, farmers are in crisis, and mindful people feel less pain

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week plastics are more dangerous than you think, farmers are in crisis, and mindful people feel less pain.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

The problem with all the plastic that’s leaching into your food – Excellent (and terrifying) recap of the dangers of plastics, especially for children and male reproduction. This should be common knowledge, please share with people you love. (Vox)
BPA replacements in plastics cause reproductive problems in lab mice – p.s. BPA-free plastic isn’t any better. “The researchers showed that, if it were possible to eliminate bisphenol contaminants completely, the effects would still persist for about three generations.” (ScienceDaily)
Is the Second Farm Crisis Upon Us? – This is so sad and so important. Our current food system is not sustainable, not just to our health and the planet’s, but to the farmers as well. (Civil Eats)
Exercise, Eat Well, Help Others: Altruism’s Surprisingly Strong Health Impact – Things to think about while trying to improve your health. (Scientific American)
The Myths of Mindfulness – I love all the scientific references in this article. (Greater Good Magazine)
Starting up or heading back to a fitness routine? Here are tips to prevent overdoing it. – It’s really easy to injure yourself by jumping into an exercise routine that’s too intense for your fitness level. Not to mention it’s too hard and likely to lead you to early burnout. Be reasonable, start slow. (Washington Post)
Why your desk job is so damn exhausting – Some hypotheses on where our motivation goes when we’re doing hard mental work (I would include dieting in this category). (Vox)
‘Mindful people’ feel less pain; MRI imaging pinpoints supporting brain activity – I also learned from this article about a validated short mindfulness survey you can take to gauge your baseline mindfulness levels. Cool stuff. (ScienceDaily)
FARM STAND TOMATO SAUCE – Last call for summer tomatoes! Make some sauce to save some for winter. (Dishing Up the Dirt)

What inspired you this week?

alcohol, apples, childhood, coconut oil, Emotions, Exercise, habits, Health, industrial food, meat, mushrooms, placebo, Saturated Fat, willpower

FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD: Mushroom tea isn’t magic, a little alcohol probably won’t kill you, and diet impacts women’s wellbeing more than men’s

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Reminder: I’ll be at the Fireside conference Sept 6-9 in Canada, and doing a live podcast on stage with the venerable Yoni Freedhoff. Would love to see you there!

This week mushroom tea isn’t magic, a little alcohol probably won’t kill you, and diet impacts women’s wellbeing more than men’s.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

A Daily Drink Is Almost Certainly Not Going to Hurt You – A more sober (wink wink) interpretation of the big heath news this week. (The Atlantic)
How coconut oil went from health food to “poison” – I can’t even believe we’re still having this discussion. Coconut oil is fine if you don’t ingest it like a crazy person. (Vox)
There’s not enough evidence that mushroom tea is magic – On the flip side, no foods are magic either. (Washington Post)
Need More Self-Control? Try a Simple Ritual – This is interesting, although I wouldn’t recommend trying anything so pointless as a long-term strategy. Build your habits consciously and make them meaningful for best results. (Scientific American)
The Jordan Peterson All-Meat Diet – And a nice counterpoint for not making your food choices too meaningful. (The Atlantic)
Diet has bigger impact on emotional well-being in women than in men – Fascinating. I’d love to learn more about this and how it might work. (ScienceDaily)
Cardio exercise and strength training affect hormones differently – It doesn’t surprise me at all that the benefits of cardiovascular exercises and strength training exercises would be physiologically different. Keep this in mind when you’re trying to justify leaving one of them out of your habits. (ScienceDaily)
How You Felt About Gym Class May Impact Your Exercise Habits Today – The subtle psychological nudges that happen in your childhood have lasting consequences for your behavior as an adult. It’s important to be aware of these, and if they’re holding you back to work on overcoming it. (NY Times)
The Long, Monstrous Reign of the Red Delicious Apple Is Ending – Hahahahaha–that headline. Can’t remember the last time I ate a red delicious apple, or any industrial apple from the grocery store for that matter. Speaking of, apple season is finally beginning at farmers markets here in the northern hemisphere. I’m so excited. (NY Times)
Lime & Blistered Peanut Coleslaw Recipe – Wow! Want. (101 Cookbooks)

bonito flakes, ego depletion, Exercise, food safety, hangry, Health, hunger, kids, microbiome, probiotics, Psychology, Salmonella, sedentary, umami, what-the-hell effect, willpower

FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD: How to increase self-control, the science of hangry, and exercise vs standing

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week how to increase self-control, the science of hangry, and exercise vs standing.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

You Have More Control Over Your Self-Control Than You Think – In the field of psychology there has been some debate over whether ego-depletion (here we usually call it The What-the-Hell Effect) is real. My view has always been that it is real, but the experience of the willful effort you exert (aka willpower) is subjective. In other words, you have a lot more willpower to do things when you don’t consider them hard or a chore. New research is showing that reframing the effort you exert can indeed give you more “willpower,” by helping you think about it differently. This is why I encourage you to shop at the farmers market. When you’re excited about vegetables, healthy eating doesn’t feel like a diet. (Psychology Today)
Exercise vs. Standing? You Probably Need to Do Both – Makes perfect sense to me. I always find it remarkable how quickly exercise has a positive impact on health. This study design was only four days long. (NY Times)
Want Your Child To Eat (Almost) Everything? There Is A Way – Obviously all kids are different, but also whole cultures do this better than we do. (NPR)
Are you really you when you’re hungry? – Interesting stuff. Even though they don’t explicitly say it, they imply that mindfulness around your emotions can mitigate this effect. (ScienceDaily)
Bonito Flakes Are a Gift From the Umami Gods – Truth. (Lifehacker)
How Fake Nutrition News Hurts Us All – Please, please be skeptical when you see a sensational health headline. And please don’t share articles online unless you have good reasons to believe the content is true. (Quick and Dirty Tips)
Is your child old enough to cut herbs? Crack eggs? Grate cheese? An age-by-age guide. – How fun! (Washington Post)
Dozens sickened in new multistate salmonella outbreak, this time traced to pre-cut melons – Ugh. This is a pretty big outbreak including Whole Foods, Costco and Walmart, so be careful. Pre-cut fresh produce doesn’t seem worth the risk anymore. (Washington Post)
Will Probiotics Ever Live Up to the Hype? – Most people view probiotics and the microbiome way too simplistically. There isn’t just a pill that’ll fix your gut. You still need to eat lots of vegetables and fiber, avoid processed foods, etc. But probiotics do have the potential to help. (The Atlantic)
Sprouted Brown Rice & Parsley Tossed Salad – I’d use cherries instead of grapes this time of year, but looks delish. (Spice and Sprout)

What inspired you this week?

Anthony Bourdain, Health, laziness, procrastination, Psychology, self-compassion, willpower

FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD: The food community loses a hero, laziness doesn’t exist, and mussels test positive for opioids

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week the food community loses a hero, laziness doesn’t exist, and mussels test positive for opioids.

Sorry this week is a little New York Times heavy. Personally I am happy to purchase subscriptions that support publications doing excellent work, and I encourage everyone who can afford it to do the same. It’s more important now than ever.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

Anthony Bourdain, Chef, Travel Host and Author, Is Dead at 61 – I was devastated this morning to hear of the loss of Bourdain. For many of us who write about food he seemed to be living the dream, traveling the globe for the best of what the world has to offer. But we never really know the pain that can be someone else’s daily reality. RIP Tony. (NY Times)
Laziness Does Not Exist – Incredibly important. There are always reasons you aren’t doing things you’re “supposed” to be doing. Address those reasons and unlock the elusive motivation that already exists within you. (Medium)
Why You Should Stop Being So Hard on Yourself – To follow up on the above article, it doesn’t even help you to beat yourself up about it so work on stopping that too. (NY Times)
Why Rich Kids Are So Good at the Marshmallow Test – What is interesting about this is that the willpower trait seems to be learned through culture. To me that implies it can be learned in other ways as well. (The Atlantic)
How to Increase Your Chances of Having a Long, Healthy Life – Speaking of culture, what US state would you guess has the healthiest residents? (NY Times)
A Matter of Taste: Can a Sweet Tooth Be Switched Off in the Brain? – Fascinating. Fun fact: Kay Tye, a scientist quoted in the article, studied with me at UCSF and is an amazing breakdancer. (Scientific American)
The Midlife Tuneup – Great advice. Not too different from a book I know of that came out about 5 years ago. (NY Times)
Diet and cancer risk: the latest research evidence – FYI what you eat isn’t only about heart disease, diabetes and looking good in a bathing suit. (Food Politics)
Bingeing on food can turn into a serious disorder. Here are ways to head off an episode. – Excellent resource for anyone who struggles with bingeing. (Washington Post)
Mussels off the coast of Seattle test positive for opioids – I know there’s a joke about partying in Seattle here somewhere, but this is just too sad. (CBS News)
Weight Training May Help to Ease or Prevent Depression – Cardio tends to get all the attention on the mood boosting front, but weight training seems to be just as good. And with shockingly few weekly sessions. (NY Times)
Savory Farmers Market Oatmeal – Who says breakfast has to be sweet? (Foraged Dish)

What inspired you this week?

bingeing, food moralizing, habits, Nintendo, podcast, Psychology, rewards, scarcity mentality, triggers, what-the-hell effect, willpower

How To Stop Yourself From Nighttime Bingeing

“’This will be my last ice cream ever’ is a thought I have had so many times I’m embarrassed by it.” – Paul

Late night bingeing is an especially tough habit to break.

You repeat the same destructive behavior over and over, knowing it’s wrong, but stopping feels impossible because it doesn’t seem like something you can control. Rationalizing the behavior becomes second nature, and you don’t see a way out.

This is Paul’s story. Paul knows his bingeing habit is the reason he is overweight. His late night episodes alone in the kitchen are something he looks forward to, but also wants to stop.

It doesn’t matter if it’s celery sticks or potato chips, it is the act of being able to eat as much as he wants–with no one around to judge him–that’s such a relief and so rewarding.

Sometimes behavior patterns like these can be changed by identifying and avoiding your triggers or finding an alternative outlet for whatever it is your brain is craving. But, those solutions are only useful after you’ve unraveled why you are using this behavior as a source of relief in the first place.

Today I help Paul find his “why” so that he can find peace and enjoy indulgences without regretting or overdoing them.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

How To Stop Moralizing Your Food Choices (Foodist Podcast)

How To Stop Moralize Your Food Choices 2 (Foodist Podcast)

The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss

Nintendo Switch

Super Mario Odyssey

Thinking Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Listen:

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Show details (links don’t work on mobile devices):

2:51 – Paul has a habit of binge eating before bed.

4:48 – It’s not a hunger issue, how to tell.

6:05 – The “What-the-Hell Effect” struggle is real.

6:31 – Paul has plenty of other healthy habits, so his bingeing episodes are most likely the reason he isn’t losing weight.

7:30 – The trigger? Paul needs a reward at the end of the day.

8:25 – The only person who knows what your triggers are is you.

8:50 – Rest and enjoyment are essential for a healthy life.

10:13 – Food moralizing also fuels Paul’s commonly leads to bingeing.

11:27 – How food moralizing works.

13:58 – Specific locations can trigger bad habits.

14:46 – It’s good to know what your triggers are, so you can recognize and avoid them.

16:20 – Food moralizing is a Jedi mind trick played on yourself.

18:23 – There can be multiple factors involved in undoing a bad habit.

19:56 – Question your assumptions.

20:16 – Paul doesn’t feel sick or physically bad after bingeing, it’s more the guilt that behavior this is why he’s overweight.

26:56 – When Paul indulges in front of other people he feels judged and embarrassed.

29:45 – It’s less likely that you will overindulge if you are actually enjoying your food.

30:03 – The scarcity mentality can also lead to bingeing.

32:13 – Recognizing your limiting beliefs gives you the ability to redirect your behavior.

33:12 – What is missing in your life that you are trying to fill with this behavior?

36:40 – Classic thought patterns of binge eaters.

41:33 – Find a powerful motivator that makes you want to stop.

45:52 – Find an alternative form of relief and indulgence.

47:55 – How to break a habit.

48:33 – Are you a fundamentally flawed person if you binge?

51:52 – How to make a lasting behavior change (Darya’s method).

55:14 – Is it helpful to think of bingeing as an addiction?

If you’d like to be a guest on the show, please fill out the form here and tell us your story.

Abel James, aging diseases, bike, biochemistry, body chemistry, body transformation, brain fog, Brain Health, burn fat marathoner, chemistry, cleveland clinic, clinical studies, cutting edge nutritional research, dietary protocol, disease-free, doctor, doctor yourself, doctor’s advice, dr terry wahls, dr wahls, fat burning man, Fat-Burning Tips, Fibromyalgia, future of healing, healing brain, healing with food, how to reverse ms, interview, Interviews, lifestyle, lifestyle changes, literature, marathon, marathon training, medical research, mountain bike, ms, multiple sclerosis, neurologist, occipital neuralgia, pain, pain management, Paleo, paleo supplements, parkinson's, parkinson’s disease, podcast, Podcasts, Primal, progressive degenerative disease, progressive ms, progressive multiple sclerosis, real food, real food nutrition, reverse degenerative conditions, reverse disease with food, scientific literacy, Supplements, ted talk, terry wahls, terry wahls ted, terry walhs, terry walls, terrywahls, the fat burning man show, the wahls protocol, videos, vitamins, vitamins from food, wahls protocol, wahls warriors, weight lifting, whole food supplements, willpower

Dr. Terry Wahls: The Wahls Protocol, How to Reverse MS & When to Question Your Doctor

This show features the incredibly inspiring story of Dr. Terry Wahls, a clinical professor of medicine, author, and living testament to the power of healing your body with real food. A few years ago, Terry was sentenced to a tilt-recline wheelchair with progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Today, she bikes to work, speaks all over the country, and teaches others to reverse degenerative conditions.

Aging, alcohol, calories, Exercise, food history, food safety, gmo, habits, Health, heart disease, oil, public health, strength training, willpower, Women

FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD: Willpower is overrated, alcohol isn’t healthy, and the downside of posting calories

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week willpower is overrated, alcohol isn’t healthy, and the downside of posting calories.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday.Sign up now to join us!

Too busy to read them all? Try thisawesome free speed reading appto read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomatoand theSummer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

Why willpower is overrated – This might be the best article on willpower I’ve ever read. My favorite line —>”And structuring your life is a skill.” (Vox)
American Nostalgia on a Bun – Interesting look at the appeal of fast foods and, inevitably, diets as a product of American culture and values. (The Atlantic)
It’s time to rethink how much booze may be too much – I’ve been avoiding posting about this study until I found a reasonable analysis of it. Thanks Vox for finally providing one.
Will calorie counts on menu items do more harm than good? – OMG someone is actually thinking about psychology in public health. Be still my beating heart. (Washington Post)
When Is It Safe to Eat Salad Again? – This is so depressing. Shopping at farmers markets is a great way to get around this sort of nonsense. (NY Times)
To Slash Your Risk of Heart Disease, Keep Moving – Unfortunately this headline doesn’t even hint at what’s new and cool about this study: that exercise can vastly improve health outcomes even when you have a genetic predisposition to heart disease. (NY Times)
Should You Eliminate Oil from Your Diet? – In the real world it often does more harm than good. (Scientific American)
Study highlights need for strength training in older women to ward off effects of aging – Last I checked there were at least one or two women who read this site and care about aging well. (ScienceDaily)
Are G.M.O. Foods Safe? – This question is one of my pet peeves. Safe for human consumption is not at all my concern about GMO foods. I’m more worried about soil depletion, ecology, pesticide use, and increasing the power of Big Ag. I hope one day we can have grownup conversations about this stuff, but I’m not holding my breath. (NY Times)
Curried lentil, tomato and coconut soup – What a simple and wonderful way to use some basic pantry items. (Arthur Street Kitchen)

What inspired you this week?

bingeing, habits, limiting beliefs, podcast, Psychology, self-care, triggers, willpower

What to Do When You Stop Dieting and It Backfires

“I’ve felt the option is either cake or not cake. And so then how do you start a habit to NOT do something?” – Mindy

Mindy was excited when she found Summer Tomato. The thought of being able to lose weight without counting calories or going on another strict diet was a revelation.

Right away she bought a pedometer to make sure she was getting enough steps each day, stopped counting calories and started focusing on cooking Real Food for herself and her family. But as time passed Mindy wasn’t losing weight with her new healthstyle, she was gaining.

Mindy was hoping that giving up dieting would automatically end her cravings for sweets at the end of the day, but it didn’t and without trying to restrict herself she started eating more than ever. Now she wonders if it’s even possible for her to stop. In fact, when she reached out to us she asked if it would be possible for her to keep her bingeing habit and do something else to lose the extra pounds.

In this episode Mindy and I examine her current habits and triggers to help her recognize that there is actually a third path available. One that doesn’t require her to give up sweets, but does help her find a healthier alternative to regular bingeing.

It’s difficult to believe that you can lose weight without restricting your eating if the only thing you’ve ever done instead is overeat. Finding the solution takes some experimentation, as well as recognizing and reframing your limiting beliefs so you can imagine yourself taking a different path.

Related links:

MyFitnessPal

Mindful Meal Challenge

Oak – Meditation & Breathing app

How to Turn Theoretical Health Goals Into Practical Habits – Foodist podcast

Listen:

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