I recently read in an Op-Ed piece by John Tierney on willpower in the New York Times. According to the article most people fail at reaching their goals because they lack the willpower, which was previously known more as a metaphor for restraint. However, willpower appears to be an actual form of mental energy that’s powered by glucose in the bloodstream and gets used up when you use it for self-control. Tierney writes the following:
The result is “ego depletion,” as this state of mental fatigue was named by Roy F. Baumeister, a social psychologist at Florida State University (and my co-author of a book on willpower). He and many of his colleagues have concluded that the way to keep a New Year’s resolution is to anticipate the limits of your willpower.
One of their newest studies, published last month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, tracked people’s reactions to temptations throughout the day. The study, led by Wilhelm Hofmann of the University of Chicago, showed that the people with the best self-control, paradoxically, are the ones who use their willpower less often. Instead of fending off one urge after another, these people set up their lives to minimize temptations. They play offense, not defense, using their willpower in advance so that they avoid crises, conserve their energy and outsource as much self-control as they can.
I suppose this might be part of the explanation of why I’ve been feeling like an exhausted sloth of late because I have been battling (and losing) temptations, not exercising enough, and feeling in general an overall blahness.
Two of my problems of late have been not sleeping well and having the urge to nosh all day long and fill myself with cars (bread and pasta). From my post, To Sleep, Perchance to Dream, we know what leptin and ghrelin will do to appetite. And that’s what been occurring—I’m tired and it feels like I want to live in the kitchen pantry 24/7.
Each morning, I wake up around 6:30, it’s dark and cold, and even though I swear that I will get up that morning to go to the gym, I just turn over and sleep for another two hours. Then when I get up, I promise myself to go at 4:30. When that times arrives, I make another excuse and it’s usually because I am tired.
My health is good, but every night I’m woken because of hot flashes or because the person I share this cottage with has his share of health issues and rises frequently to use the bathroom. Once he’s up so is the entire household. But while others tend to fall asleep quickly, I’m awake for at least 45 minutes.
To write this post, I fought the urge for a second cup of coffee. I’ve avoided taking naps so I can sleep better in the evenings, but today I know I won’t make it to the gym, if I don’t get at least an hour of shut eye.
Four hours later….
Well, no gym today, but I am back in the land of the living and, hopefully, tomorrow will be back to getting on track.
{ 0 comments }
Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant
