Here is how focussing more on your brain and less on your diet will give you the results you wanted
We all want that excess fat gone from the belly, lose those last 5 kgs or even a whopping 20! And in order to do that, have you noticed how much brain effort we use daily to make 'healthy food' choices?
We all know that kale and broccoli are healthier than those cookies. But when we are tired, it becomes doubly difficult to satisfy ourselves with broccoli.
Why?
Because our brains also run on overdrive! Making choices again and again and again, throughout the entire day;(decision fatigue)
which shirt to wear to work | which show to watch | how much lunch to eat?
We are relying on will power to make 70% of our diet choices, to help us reach our goals. We use will power to stick to our diets, stick to our workouts and also stick to 2 glasses of wine, amongst a few. However, will power is limited. Because will power, at the end of the day, is just a muscle. Exactly like any other muscle that you overuse, this muscle also gets tired. And..
Tired brains make tired choices!
Our brains are so used to making tired choices over and over, that its now become a habit.
For example, you upload a picture on Instagram. When you get a like on that picture, for that millisecond you feel a dopamine rush. It is your brain's reward system flushing your body with reward hormones, that make you feel happy! Whenever we do an activity that makes us feel happy, we are training ourselves to repeat that activity again so that we feel the same dopamine rush again. This is how habits are formed.
Activity---> Dopamine Reward ----> Feel Good ---> Repeat Activity
When your brain is habituated to receive pleasure and excitement from certain activities, like sky diving or going for a movie or eating that cookie, it will seek similar experiences over and over again. Especially when it's tired. Especially when the brain doesn't want to use its brain anymore!
Thats why, your tired brain will reach out for that cookie (at the end of the day) much more easily than a fresh, recharged brain (in the morning), where you haven't still depleted your will power and decision-making reserves for other decisions throughout he day.
That's why, for long-term weight loss, stop being completely dependent on will power to make healthy food choices and instead re-train yourself to build healthier 'habits'. Start exploring what foods are healthy that you actually enjoy, which physical activities you actually find pleasant?
Also, habits take time to break and re-build. So don't get overwhelmed trying to accomplish 10 new things at once. Take one step at a time, one habit at a time. Let us say, start with a simple breakfast like a smoothie bowl or poha & sprouts where you don't have to use your decision-making power so early on in the day that it gets fatigued by evening!
To learn how to break this restrictive eating loop, create healthy habits and build an awesome long-term lifestyle, check out my blog articles!