We've all been there...the day starts strong, we have a healthful breakfast, then work is busy and stressful, on the way home it takes every fiber of our being to resist the Dunkin, the 7/11 and the ice cream shop. And that internal dialogue begins. It's like the angel and the devil on each shoulder. Which one wins often comes down to willpower. But as Jenn says willpower is actually a lot less about our emotional strength and a lot more chemical than we ever realized. And particularly interesting for us, there's actually a Catch 22 of weight loss and willpower. It's true! Listen in for everything about what depletes our willpower and everything we can do to replenish it plus how best to use it. This is a not-to-be-missed episode! 

Outline:

• Welcome back & catch up with Darlene
• Intro today's topic
• Define "willpower"
• Source for this episode: Willpower by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney
• How to think of willpower - a muscle, a cup
• 2 key factors to understand about willpower
• What depletes it
• Resisting desire
• ego depletion - the anterior cingulate cortex
• Stress
• Doing too much - multitasking, list of resolutions
• To-do lists & tracking in your head
• Low blood sugar - judges, diabetics, the Catch 22 of weight loss & willpower
• Being a man
• PMS
• Lack of sleep
• Not keeping our agreements with ourselves - self trust
• Decision fatigue
• The heat of the moment
• Signs we're getting depleted
• What strengthens/replenishes willpower
• Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
• Eating/glucose
• Breakfast
• Sleep
• Setting & reaching goals, connect small goals to big goals
• Self-awareness
• Accountability - tracking, public declarations, our communities
• Focus on habits
• Realistic goals
• Consequences & rewards
• Charity & generosity
• Distraction
• High level thinking
• To-do lists
• Clear, strict, unambiguous rules
• Orientation toward the future
• Kids' willpower & self-esteem
• Gamification
• If/then statements
• Knowing your cues - internal vs external, our communitites
• Postponed pleasure ploy
• Dieting & willpower
• Counterregulatory eating
• The goal
• 4 steps to improve willpower 

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Quotes:

"You have willpower. You are incredible! Being overweight does not mean you have weak willpower." - Jenn Trepeck

"You don't suck. There's nothing wrong with you! Think of willpower as a muscle that can be fatigued."  - Jenn Trepeck

"Willpower is a muscle that can be strengthened, a cup that can be refilled."  - Jenn Trepeck

"Researchers found people spend 1/5 of their waking hours resisting desires." - Jenn Trepeck

"Knowing you can strengthen the willpower muscle is a weight lifted; you're not doomed!" - Jenn Trepeck

"Change your socks. Make your bed. Eat breakfast." - Jenn Trepeck

"Distraction helps us exercise willpower." - Jenn Trepeck

"What matters for willpower is exertion, not outcome." - Jenn Trepeck