WW (Weight Watchers) Chat #195: The Truth About Willpower

Don’t forget! The extended free Lifetime benefits requirements are still waived until the end of November BUT you will have to weigh in once between Nov 1st and 30th to receive your continued benefits.

If you are in East Tennessee we now have Wellness Check-Ins in Maryville, Oak Ridge, Powell, and at the Cedar Bluff main location.

And of course, don’t forget to use our special 10% from Simple Living Products! Go to simplelivingproducts.com, choose the air fryer you’d like, and enter code EGG10 at checkout.

Last week’s Chat #194: Plant Powered Menu has my tummy growling and some serious jealousy going on! We just finished our third week with John’s dad in ICU, Granny on John’s hip, Casey and I stretched in trying to keep KC Kitchen Center and The Fab Shop running while he’s out…there hasn’t been time for any prepping and I’M CRAVING VEGGIES!! Some of the pictures you all posted literally just about did me in, we have to find some time this week to sneak these in 🙂

Your homework this week was to find some ways to add plant based power to a meal, a day, a recipe, or even a lifetime. I wish I could mention them all, my mom #vegannana would have been so proud of you! Let’s see how you did:

Sherry was all about salads this week! For extra flavor, she added walnuts and fresh strawberries or blueberries.
Kim made a homemade vegetable soup using frozen corn, extra carrots, and mixed vegetables.
Trish was on vacation this week and still managed to prepare food and stay on plan! For breakfast she made scrambled eggs with grilled onion, sweet baby peppers, black beans, spinach, and roasted tomatoes. She served fruit, salsa, avocado, and cheese on the side.

Bravo ladies, you nailed it!

This Week’s Topic: The Truth About Willpower

Do you know what the difference is between a person with willpower and a person without it? One of the ladies in the 2:30 Knoxville Zoom meeting today hit it…or her dad did anyway. She said her dad always said (paraphrased, I had Granny, Alyssa and Dusty so I couldn’t write it down) “make it so the things you should do are easy and the things you shouldn’t do are hard”. Wow.

Willpower is not like most other things we discuss in WW. It’s not a “muscle” we can exercise and make it stronger. Willpower is really more taking advantage of things that will make you successful (make them easy) and avoiding things that will trip you up (make it hard). So how do you do that? WW Weekly to the rescue!

Create guidelines: If you want to eat more fruits and veggies, plan to wash and prep them as soon as you get home and place them in clear containers at eye level (easy). If you have to grab Halloween candy for a work party, put it in an opaque container and maybe leave it in the car so you would have to purposely go out there to get a piece (hard).
Modify Your Environment: If you like to burn candles, choose a scent that doesn’t make you think of cookies or another trigger food (easy). If the host of a party offers to send food home that will get you in trouble later, thank them and then either give it away or throw it away (hard).
Make an active choice: If you want to walk in the morning, actually set out your clothes in an easy to put on stack near the first place you go when you get up (easy). If you’re likely to check social media and forget to head out, plug your phone up near the door so you can’t grab it until you are already almost out! (hard)
Use temptation bundling: If you want to spend more time with your family but need to get some meal prep done, put on some fun music and have them join you in the kitchen for a chopping party (easy). If you find yourself couch potatoing while listening to podcasts, create a rule that you can only listen to them while standing/walking/working out (hard).

This Week’s Homework: #ihavethepower

You don’t need willpower…you already have the power! Choose one of the four ideas from your WW Weekly and create an “easy” and a “hard” idea to take back that power. Post it and tag me for your homework AND to earn your next super cool badge!

Don’t forget to do your homework #ihavethepower and tag me when you share on social media!

Instagram tag @ifyouhaveanegg
Facebook Page tag @ifyouhaveanegg
Facebook Group tag @Kelly Green Milligan
WW Connect tag @scrapnstamp2

Extra Credit: You Don’t Need Willpower!

We discussed in the first half of Chat #195: The Truth About Willpower that no one has more or less of it and it’s not a muscle you can train to be stronger. But you do have the power to make choices that will make you feel more in control!

One of my vices pre-WW was to hide and eat things that would make me feel good while they were in my mouth. The sneaking was oddly fun somehow. I almost dared anyone to catch me, and then I always…ALWAYS hated myself afterward. Did I need more willpower? Nah, I needed to love myself enough to know why I was hiding, gorging and daring witnesses to find me. I think I wanted to be caught, now I just try to get ahead of it because #ihavethepower.

Usually when I was binging it would be potato chips, french fries, raw cookie dough (I know, I’m a rebel), or uncooked brownie batter. It was oddly specific and whatever was going on determined what it would be.

My grandmother died while I watched?…entire roll of cookie dough.

Stressful day at work without time to eat?…drive thru fries.

Feeling meh?…entire bag of chips with a half gallon of skim milk.

Yep, very specific!

But 25 years later do I have more willpower than I did that first day? Nah…I just try to try to make it “hard” to do what I shouldn’t (and don’t want to!) do, and likewise “easy” to do what I should (and WANT!) to do.

I can’t cover every possible instance of emotion, celebration, desire, situation in under 30 minutes but I can hit some very important-to-me highlights here!

You can’t eat what you don’t bring home: how much willpower does it take to eat a bag of potato chips you never bought? Not much…I’m much less likely to fall into this one if I have to walk to the parking garage, get in my car, and drive to get them.
Keep a bag packed: how much willpower does it take to go for a stroll, do a quick workout, or take a buddy up on a walk if you already have a bag of appropriate clothes and a pair of shoes in your vehicle. Again, not much!
Know before you go: how much willpower does it take to avoid the point-heavy soup and salad if you already looked it up and a nice little steak with a baked sweet potato is less points. Really? This isn’t hard!
Plan a treat: how much willpower does it take to go ahead and plan a treat for the week, know when you are going to enjoy it, have witnesses and record the points ahead of time. This one is a lifesaver for me most weeks. Remember all the brownie batter I mentioned earlier? If I don’t plan a treat and know when I’m having it I will eat everything else (including brownie batter) trying to avoid the treat. Just plan the treat, make it one, enjoy it and move on! The Food City across the street from us makes the most amazing pistachio muffins fresh daily. I have started planning and purchasing one every Sunday as my “wind down” at home after the chats. I count 15 points, enjoy it with a hot cup of tea, I’m happy and I don’t start searching for strange things to eat instead. How much willpower does that take? I buy one. I eat one. It’s not hard…but they also come in packs of four. If I buy four NOW how much willpower do I need? Buy one #ihavethepower
KISS: keep it simple silly! How much willpower do I need to stay out of this entire bowl of assorted Halloween candy? Double whammy the outer bags are already open. Uh Oh….alert alert…danger Will Robinson! If I make it too easy to eat it’s going to be eaten. But what about this lovely bowl of already washed, already cut, ready to go fresh fruits and veggies. I don’t need willpower if I open my fridge and find those there are ready to go! P.S. These cute little Food Huggers are my new favorite find for KC Kitchen Center. I’m much more likely to eat the other half of each of these when they aren’t hidden in a zipper bag or container!
Keep some swaps ready in your back pocket: remember that Halloween candy? Does this mean I’m not eating any of it at all? Not at all!
- A fun size Reese’s Cup is 4SP and would take me about 2.2 seconds to eat after I popped it in my mouth. On the other hand I really like Sugar Daddys or Caramel Apple Pops…I can’t eat them fast because either one would pull my teeth out and bonus! A Sugar Daddy Junior is 2 SP, and only 3 SP for the super long lasting Caramel Apple Pop!
- This snack size bag of Reese’s Pieces on the other hand is a whopping 6 SP. Whew that would blow my budget and I’d just be grabbing another bag to drown my sorrows in pieces. Or…I could make one of my Air Fryer Baked Apples, chop up a snack bag of these and add them while it’s still hot. Add a ¼ cup scoop of vanilla Halo Top or Enlightened Ice Cream and now I have a 7 SP treat that I can savor, enjoy and not feel the least bit guilty. Need an even easier idea? Slice a banana, top with a tablespoon of powdered peanut or almond powder, add a generous squirt of caramel flavored whipped topping and sprinkle on the pieces. Tada, 7 SP banana split that will make your civilian friends and family jealous!