I’ve learned that I don’t have much willpower. If there is leftover birthday cake I will eat too much. If I have an opportunity to skip a workout I’ll take it. While eating too much caking or skipping a workout isn’t always a bad thing, it’s a bad thing if it always happens. So in order to stick to my good habits here are some things that I do.
Use being away from the house as a good time to intermittent fast. It’s very hard to skip the cake when it’s within arm’s reach. It’s much easier when I’m out and about. So on days when I’m not going to be around I often completely fast with the exception of some calorie free black coffee. Coffee helps suppress my appetite, but the reality is as long as I’m not near food it doesn’t matter if I’m hungry. And I’ve found that hours 12 through 14 of a fast are harder than hours 15 through 20.
Schedule workouts in advance. Now I’m lucky enough to be able to afford a personal trainer, but I think there are ways to schedule something without spending money. The key is you have to experience pain if you miss. I’ve already scheduled the expensive trainer and I’m committed to paying him for his time. An alternative would be to set up a system to send a donation to a charity you don’t like if you don’t do your workout.
Owning your business is the ultimate tool to punish or reward yourself for not doing the work or doing the work. Because of this I don’t have a lot of willpower issues when it comes to work.