Where does he say...?

[oolala53]

Does anyone know where Reinhard talks about how weak our will power is, or something like that? Where he says something about how we can't depend on it for too much? Is it in print or on a podcast? I participate on another board where the members are always wailing about how they start the day with good intentions and then end up eating compulsively by the end of the day or in the evening. Then they use that as a reason to feel like a failure. They seem surprised that they still want to eat when they told themselves in the morning not to. I want to refer them to the info on how we can't depend on will power, though of course we will have to exert it at some point. I've talked a lot about how these urges and routines are just habit rearing its head and they will have to muster the oomph to say no a few times when it's hard. I'm finding it odd that they expect something else to happen, though, as if by just thinking it, the urges will go away. It makes me realize I have learned a lot these past few years.

[NoelFigart]

The whole book talks about willpower and the fact it is limited all through it. (I have the Kindle version and there are 13 instances of the word willpower used) He talks about it in support of being strict about the diet to put your habits on automatic without needing willpower to test them, he talks about how since willpower is limited, using it to build sustainable habits is a good idea, that it starts out fairly weak and that each time you use it to build habit, it gets stronger...

Lots of stuff. Sorry I can't quote exactly, but the Kindle software doesn't allow for copy and paste, and I'm not choosing to type it all out.

[oolala53]

Thanks, NF. I was afraid of that, but maybe I'll mark my book up and type in the quotes judiciously on different days.

[Eileen7316]

Compliance with rules requires willpower, and willpower is a very limited commodity. A good system of moderation will utilize this resource efficiently by focusing on building habits: semi-automatic behaviors that require little willpower to maintain once they've been established.

Was that what you're looking for? It came from the home page.

[Blithe Morning]

You could go to the www.nosdiet.com and CTRL F for will power and other terms you are looking for. That should give you a start.

[oolala53]

Does that work with a Mac? I'm not very adept with my laptop.

[wosnes]

Does that work with a Mac? I'm not very adept with my laptop.

If you hit command F a box drops down with a spotlight where you can search whatever term it is you're looking for on that page.

[reinhard]

I did a quick "command-f" on my pdf of the book and here are some quotes I turned up:

from page 14

The No S Diet gives maintenance its proper focus.
It does this by treating weight control as a mental
problem, not a physical one. It focuses on incentives
and enforceability, on leveraging limited reserves of
willpower to build sustainable habits. The simple, natural,
unobtrusive behaviors it prescribes soon become
automatic. Unlike most diets, which get more and more
insufferable as the gimmick ages, the No S Diet gets
progressively easier. Instead of fighting against bad eating
habits or pretending they don’t exist, you develop
good eating habits, which soon start to carry you along.
Ask yourself if you can imagine staying on a particular
diet for the rest of your life. If not, don’t bother
starting; it’s a waste of time and will.

from page 98

The divide between normal days (N days) and S
days is a very natural one, and it jives well with the
way society is set up. Most of us work during the week
and not on weekends and holidays. It’s a powerful,
preexisting, externally supported rhythm that the No S
Diet and other good habits can tap into. The No S Diet
asks only that you think of rules and routine when
you are already in that frame of mind, when you’re
also engaged in the rules and routines of working life,
and it lets you relax when you are already relaxing. It
demands that you comply only when you’re best prepared
to comply and doesn’t make any demands of you
when it would be most difficult, a very effi cient use of
your limited reserves of willpower.

from page 103

It’s easy to misdiagnose excessive S days as a problem.
What you do on N days is much, much more important,
and the (relatively) free and enjoyable S days are critical
to that. You have only so much willpower, and it goes a
lot farther on N days. Be careful that your S day worries
aren’t an excuse to overextend yourself and fail.

from page 119

The basic case for strictness is that it builds habit
faster. If you are strict, your appetites learn quickly
that it’s not worth testing the boundaries all the time.
Your habits are like children. If you are not strict or if
you are inconsistent, they’ll constantly be testing, seeing
how far they can go, and you’ll actually wind up
having to use more willpower to resist them. So paradoxically,
strictness makes it easier. It’s being lenient
that’s hard.

When you’re strict, there is no decision to be made, no
wrangling, no “can I? can’t I?†You’re pre-disapproved,
so forget it and move on to something else. The prohibition
passes from something merely rational to something
reflexive. It becomes automatic and easy.

from page 171

I’ve often thought that gradually progressing to one
S at a time might be a good way to become a full No S
Dieter. For example, start with no sweets for a week,
then add no seconds the next week, and then move on
to no snacks the next week (or go even more slowly and
give each S the full magic habit-building 21 days). That
way you could build willpower and habit in incremental,
easy-to-achieve baby steps. But I should warn you
that, logical as this sounds, I’m not aware that anyone
has successfully done it. I think the trouble is that even
the full No S Diet is slow in terms of yielding measurable
results, and lack of patience is an even bigger problem
for most people than lack of short- term willpower.

from pages 172-173

I’ve already mentioned some of the purely nutritional
side effects of the No S Diet: Without explicitly addressing
these issues, you’ll consume fewer refi ned carbs,
fewer trans- fats, and relatively more nutrient- dense food.
But there are side effects that go beyond diet altogether.

By setting your willpower up to succeed, and succeeding a little bit every day, you build up general purpose
willpower. Willpower is like a muscle; doing
the No S Diet is like working that muscle out with 50
pushups every morning. Once your No S habit is firmly
in place, you can reallocate that general-purpose willpower
to other tasks.

Contrast this with the effects of the repeated failures
of willpower associated with mainstream yo- yo
dieting, which won’t just leave you fat but less fi t to do
anything else.

[oolala53]

Thanks, Reinhard!