Weight Loss Basics -- Willpower vs. Barrier

(Third in a Series) A to B
If we are to believe Nike, it is simply a matter of “Just Do It.” Looks good on paper, and even better in the commercials—but of course, all those Nike hard-body models have long since arrived at B (or never left, more likely).
When A is 300 pounds and B is 150 pounds the commercial simile “Just Doesn’t Do It” and quickly at that. In fact, it can seem an insurmountable task, not made simpler for having accumulated a dozen or more failed attempts to “prove” how impossible it is.
Still, the not so healthy you at A knows that you must arrive at B, come what may. Remaining at A is not an option. You doctor tells you so, those who love you tell you so, you tell yourself so (over and over). Yet, B seems at least 5,878,630,000,000 miles (a light year) away. The other side of some very impressive mountain range, say the Himalayas.
Some pessimists maintain that you cannot get there from here. Pessimists tend to lie.
The Mathematics
I like mathematics. Mathematics is so unemotional. And it well behooves us to bring an unemotional yardstick to a subject like weight loss, which can get quite emotional.
And this is the mathematical truth:
To reach a distant B you have either to raise your willpower or lower the barrier.
In other words, either grow very tall, or grind down the Himalayas—or, of course, some of both.
Willpower
Willpower carries a nice string of synonyms, among them: determination, resolve, resolution, iron will, strength of will, strength of mind, self-control, self-discipline. Pick any of them, it will serve well.
And willpower is defined as: a combination of determination and self-discipline that enables somebody to do something despite the difficulties involved (Encarta). Indeed.
And when it comes to weight loss, willpower is that quality you acquire by deciding that few—if any—things are more important than your health; that few things are more important than arriving at B (for more information, see the previous article in this series: Weight Loss Basics — An Investment In Health).
Barrier
The main barrier to arriving at a distant weight-loss B is hunger.
Look back at previous attempts. Willpower and enthusiasm alone can carry you for days, perhaps even weeks, until it rises, this raw, uncompromising thing in search of sustenance, louder and louder, this hunger.
Willpower buckles, determination evaporates, justifications work overtime to make shutting the beast up (as with a huge pizza) the absolutely right thing to do. Were there no such thing as hunger, long-term weight loss projects would be proverbial walks in the park.
A Helping Hand
As covered in more detail in the next Weight Loss Basics article, when the body is starved of either nutrients (such as vitamins, minerals, and amino acids) or energy (in the form of calories) it lets you know, and in no uncertain terms.
A percentage breakdown of physical craving for nutrients vs. energy is probably impossible—and most likely varies from individual to individual—but let us, for simplicity’s sake, say that fifty percent of physical hunger is a demand for nutrients and the other fifty for energy.
Now, to lose weight you need to cut down on calories, so there little hope of pacifying the beast in that department, leaving nutrients.
And here is the good news: you can supply the body with calorie-free nutrients and so reduce hunger cravings by perhaps as much as half. And if, at the same time, you step up your willpower a fraction, to at least a tad taller than the remaining hunger, you will in fact succeed. There is no doubt about it. Like many others have succeeded before you, like so many are succeeding as we speak.
Appetite Suppressants
Appetite suppressants, such as caffeine or amphetamines, do not actualy reduce physical hunger, they reduce hearing. Your body still pleads, you just don’t hear it.
Hearing is a good thing. Stay away from chemical suppressants.
The multiTRIM Diet
All diet plans—except for the outright fraudulent ones, and be warned: they abound—have as their goal for you to burn more calories than you consume.
Possibly the most sensible plan we have seen in recent years is the multiTRIM diet which supplies all needed nutrients to maintain health and ease hunger in a fifteen calories meal-replacement drink.
A multiTRIM Journal
A friend recently set out to shed 143 pounds over 18 months with the help of the multiTRIM diet. A blog-record of her journey can be found here.