The will is there, but the flesh is weak!

Knowing how to eat healthily is one thing. Having the determination to follow through on eating more healthily is another. Do you sometimes find it difficult to eat healthily? Do you often give in to temptation and eat unhealthy food? How can I strengthen my willpower and resist temptation?

1. Plan your meals for the next day a little. For example, prepare a pasta dish (vegetable pasta from Just Taste!). If you wait until lunchtime to decide what to eat, you will probably not choose healthy foods because you are so hungry, but rather foods that are quick to prepare.

2. Don’t leave too long between meals. Otherwise, your blood sugar level will drop too low. This also minimises your desire to choose healthy foods. The pressure to eat increases. For healthy people, five hours between meals is a good guideline.

3. For the same reason, make sure you include fibre in your diet. It keeps you feeling full for longer, which reduces those unpleasant cravings.

4. Are you familiar with the ‘ten-minute rule’? If your planning and meal intervals aren’t working out so well and you’re craving chocolate, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. This helps to reduce stress, which is often the reason why we reach for chocolate and other sweet treats. Put the chocolate or other sweets aside for ten minutes. You’ll find that you’re able to resist more often than you expected. Courage can be trained!

5. Don’t fall into the ‘what’s the point’ trap! If you eat something sweet after ten minutes, accept it and enjoy it. Feeling guilty – the ‘what’s the point’ trap – will only lead to you eating uncontrollably and excessively.

6. Humans are creatures of habit! The more often you manage to enjoy healthy foods instead of sweets, the easier it will be to establish your new (healthy) habit.

7. Also important in terms of developing willpower: it is easier to avoid temptation than to resist it. Therefore, remove sweets (or other unhealthy foods) from your field of vision.

8. Not always easy or feasible: but if possible, avoid dinner invitations from people who are indifferent to nutrition. The plate may look delicious, but the food is unhealthy. I know this can be difficult!

9. Trick your willpower with the help of ‘habit coupling’: Couple any habit with another, positive habit. For example, couple your way to lunch break with your new habit of ‘always eating a piece of fruit first’.