Oprah is one of the most successful people of our time. She’s an actress, television host, author, CEO, and philanthropist. For a person to achieve the extreme amount of success Oprah has achieved, it takes a tremendous amount of willpower. Willpower is an attribute that most people deem important for success in weight loss. So why does a person like Oprah, who has such great willpower struggle with her weight. In the book Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, authors Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney call this the ‘Oprah Paradox.’
The Oprah Paradox: Even people with excellent willpower have a hard time controlling their weight. The paradox aims to lead by example with someone we all know and can be inspired from and relate to.
Baumeister and Tierney discuss the paradox by listing the biggest reason why dieters fail, which is what they call the ‘Dieter’s Catch 22.’ The Dieter’s Catch 22 is an idea that in order to not eat, a dieter needs willpower. However, in order to have willpower – a dieter needs to eat. Willpower is increased with carbohydrate (glucose) consumption. So to increase willpower, a dieter has to eat. When we go on harsh diets, we deprive ourselves of what we need to stay motivated.
How to Preserve Willpower
Design Your Environment
Baumeister found that people with the best self-control are the people who aren’t relying on willpower daily. They design their environment so they don’t have to make tough choices. Minimizing the need for willpower like this allows you to use your willpower in times of emergency; like when your co-worker unexpectedly brings donuts to the office for everyone. The easiest way to design your environment for success is getting rid of all of your unhealthy foods and making healthy foods visible.
Planning in Advance
When you make a food choice when you’re hungry or tired, the choices are going to often be unhealthy. Planning and organizing your meals in advance is a much better strategy. This will eliminate decisions.
Obstacle Identification
Obstacle identification is when we think in advance about how to deal with specific obstacles as they arise. A study conducted by Webb & Sheeran found that journaling in advance about overcoming barriers improved participants’ success with difficult, self-control tasks. At the beginning of each week sit down and write down three potential obstacles for the week and then come up with three solutions for each obstacle.
Baumeister, R. F., & Tierney, J. (2012). Willpower: Rediscovering the greatest human strength. New York: Penguin Books.
Webb, T.L & Sheeran, P. (2003). Can implementation intentions help to overcome ego-depletion? Journal of Experimental Psychology, 39, 279-286. Implementation Intentions.
Kommentare