Self Discipline is an Illusion.

What if the reason that fixing bad habits or changing our bodies is so hard is simply because we are fighting a lost cause? What if our nature is to be habitual and compulsive?

What if changing your body was as easy as pretending you have no willpower?



It makes sense if looked at from an evolutionary point of view. If homo sapiens had to strike a balance between calories expended acquiring food and the calories eaten, then its simple. Eat as much as possible, and do the least to get it. Be a lazy glutton. A few million years of this kind of conditioning has produced some very powerful behaviors. Behaviors that are still hard wired into our brains to this day.

Paleo nutrition guru Robb Wolf has said that the tipping point for success or failure at reversing disease and losing fat via diet change is as simple as not bringing junk foods into the house. If its available sooner or later you WILL eat it. But if you have to go to the store to get it we are too lazy most of the time.

Fighting human nature is massively difficult, and a colossal waste of energy.

So if reigning in our biology is a lost cause. What comes next? It is, we think, pretty straight forward.

Don't bring it home.

If we can't change our programing, we can change our circumstance. Clear out the cupboards, figuratively or actually. Focus your time and energy creating an environment that promotes the changes you want or prevents the ones you don't. Find a way to change the playing field.

Assume that temptation will overpower us, then remove the temptation wherever possible. That means no candy bars under the bed. It means ACTUALLY MAKING SOME CHANGE, not just pretending. But it does make the process of changing habits and lifestyle MUCH simpler.
It is much easier to avoid eating that half pound chocolate bar when its still at the grocery store!
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