You can also make better decisions and regulate yourself better with sleep.
My weakness with food is always when stress and sleep hit some critical level where I can’t look at bad food and say “that’s not worth it”. It’s strange to think/admit but I am at the mercy of chemicals in that situation. My will power is best put towards getting to sleep on time and not buying junk in the first place. I tend to lose the battle if I’m tired and there is junk around.
Here I am playing 1.5D chess with my biology, but what the hell. I’m no Jocko Willink.
Here is a test of your will power. Next time you see some junk food in your pantry, pick it up, take it to your outside garbage can, open the package, and dump it irretrievably into the container. Once you do that the first time, you switch from "The kind of weak person who buys junk food." to "The kind of strong person who has weak moments, but junk food does not define me, and I can destroy it even after I bought it."
That seems like it's a little too empowering, feels as if you're saying that as long as an addict can flush their drugs they have their addiction beat.
It could be construed that way, but it can also be a way to take a step back and remind yourself with actions rather than words that you have power over the situation. The more we take control over ourselves, the more our brains will gain the confidence and wire well for taking that initiative (at least according to what I’ve heard and read). So in that sense, it seems like it could be positive. It certainly isn’t a perfect and final solution. It requires follow through for sure.
These are nuanced and difficult things to find solutions for in any case.
It's certainly a powerful step in the right direction though. Modulating your self identity really is a strong way to start breaking down bad habits or starting good habits consistently. Besides my own experience, I think there was a thread here a while back about "getting in character" to achieve unusual results
The next time you buy junk food, the first thing you do as you get home is that you divide that junk food into two piles: That which you intend to consume today, and that which you were planning on saving for tomorrow.
Then throw the part you were saving for tomorrow into the garbage.
Now you are no longer at risk of overeating, because the excess is not there to tempt you, and you can enjoy the first pile without reservation, fear, or guilt.
I used to swim/gym around 3 years ago everyday for about 2 years. I used to sleep from 9.30pm to 7.30am because I used to be tired. Sleep used to help me recover a lot! And because I used to be asleep for such a long time, I never had time to binge watch or eat. I lost about 40kgs because of exercise, diet and mostly sleep.
Fast forward to now, I'm working in the night to match my colleagues schedule till my wife's and infant's visa arrive and I can travel to the university, this is about a timezone difference of 9.30 hours. I've never been more bloated, tired and depressed. I've also have gotten more ill, and have had a plethora or gastric issues.
I don’t have any issues with weight, but when I don’t get enough sleep I feel slightly less tired for a bit after I eat a snack. A good portion of the population also gets their caffeine fix with empty calories as well.
My weakness with food is always when stress and sleep hit some critical level where I can’t look at bad food and say “that’s not worth it”. It’s strange to think/admit but I am at the mercy of chemicals in that situation. My will power is best put towards getting to sleep on time and not buying junk in the first place. I tend to lose the battle if I’m tired and there is junk around.
Here I am playing 1.5D chess with my biology, but what the hell. I’m no Jocko Willink.