Try a Willpower Cleanse Instead of a Diet

No powders, No supplements, No costs.

Photo by Trang Doan from Pexels

What if you could improve your health, your productivity, and your mood without expensive supplements, powders, juicing, pre-made meals, or meal replacement bars? What if you could boost your quality of life in the next 30 days — regardless of whether you lose weight in the process?

The truth is, most intentional weight loss plans do not work long-term. If you’re one of the many Americans who give up on their weight loss goal, you didn’t fail — your diet did.

What if you ditch the restrictive New Year’s Resolution diet (which, let’s face it, if you’re like most Americans, by January 20th, you already have), and try something that has the power to change your life long-term?

First step: shift your thinking from losing weight and instead focus on gaining nutrition.

This 30-day Willpower Cleanse, based on research and personal experience, will help you do just that. Instead of focusing on shrinking your body, you’ll work on developing the power of your mind. Yes, it will take effort (just like everything that’s worth doing.) But it won’t take over your life. And not only will you potentially lose a few pounds in the process, more importantly, you’ll gain insight on what habit-forming strategies work best for you.

In 2017 I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. I needed to change my health and daily routines immediately and permanently. As part of that journey, I started reading a few books about behavior change to learn what really works.

Flash forward two years and I ended up reading over 50 books on health, sleep, physiology, psychology, neuroscience, weight loss, and more. Then got into the research papers and interviewing researchers. I launched a company and started collaborating with UC San Diego on projects. I recently started working with the US Air Force and Army on nutrition and human performance.

Our research has one clear goal: how do we stick to goals over the long term? Or the flip side: How do we not quit?

Will this plan be different than any other self-improvement plan you’ve tried in the past? Yes, first it starts with your brain… and your brain chemistry.

If you’ve ever failed to meet a health goal (or any goal) in the past, your brain may have been a big factor. Specifically, the “executive function” portion has a lot to do with accomplishing goals.

Executive function is just a fancy way of saying self-control. Housed in your brain’s frontal lobe, the center for executive function is responsible for all things organizing and planning. When you do the things your future self will thank you for (think contributing to your Roth IRA) instead of giving in to an impulse (late-night online shopping, anyone?), you have your executive function to thank.

The bad news is, our executive function gets depleted over the course of a normal day. Factors including lack of sleep, increased cortisol, low blood sugar, dehydration, and even a cluttered workspace can wreak havoc on your brain’s control center. As Daniel Kahneman outlines in Thinking, Fast and Slow — our brain toggles back and forth from rational thinking to spontaneous actions all day long. Some have compared this to having both Spock and Homer Simpson running our brains. The challenge is there is no warning when we switch from one to the other — it always feels natural.

The good news is, you can create habits and routines to bolster your brain’s executive function, which supercharges willpower and your ability to reach your health goals. I can’t promise you’ll lose weight but if you commit to the plan, there’s a 100 percent chance you will learn something about yourself that you can use in the future.

You currently spend some % of the day with Spock in charge of your brain and the remaining % with Homer in charge. All of the research we use has the goal of increasing the % of the time during the day with Spock in charge — by protecting and supporting the brain.

The 30-day Willpower Cleanse below is the result of synthesizing all that information and distilling it down into the steps you can actually take to change your brain, your willpower — and your health. I mention a few key books/papers along the way and list others at the end. (Note: links to books on Amazon are affiliate referral links)

And before we begin, we are talking about realistic and healthy goals. Not quick crazy goals. This is not diet-culture. This is nutrition-culture.

Here’s how:

1. Find Your Purpose

Your “why” is what’s going to keep you motivated on the days you just don’t feel like it. Identify a goal that matters to you, then ask yourself “why” until you can’t ask why anymore to find the real meaning.

For example, suburban mom Lucy wants to lose 15 pounds. Why? Her knee hurts when she’s running and she’s hoping weight loss will reduce or eliminate the pain. Why does she want to be able to run pain-free? She could play soccer with her daughter. Why does she want to play soccer with her daughter? So she can spend more quality time with her daughter and create more memories.

While the surface goal is weight loss, her deeper — and more motivating goal, or purpose — is to spend more quality time with her daughter to create more memories.

Adjust that process as needed to define your own purpose. Don’t skip this step. It’s crucial for many reasons but here’s a powerful one: The average craving lasts about 10 minutes and then disappears. During these 30 days, when you have a craving I recommend you think about your purpose first and then decide what to do. You may decide to wait it out, eat a healthy snack, or eat an unhealthy snack. But starting that process by thinking about your purpose will interrupt your existing patterns and habits.

Pro-Move: Take 5 minutes each morning to think about your purpose in whatever “format” works for you. Examples: while walking, praying, drinking coffee, in the shower, or meditating. The point being - make it a routine that works for you.

2. Find Your Motivation Style

Are you extrinsically or intrinsically motivated? Simply put, about 50% of people need a buddy or coach to be successful with a health program. In fact for these people — if they don’t have a buddy or coach their chances of success are statistically lower. If you are one of the folks that need a buddy or coach, reach out to one when you finish this article or join an online community. If you are not sure, take a free willpower personality quiz here.

For the other 50%, a buddy or coach helps but you also have the ability to do this solo. It is critical that you know which group you fall in. Neither is better or worse — they both have pros and cons.

3. Follow the “Three a Day” Rule

For the next 30 days, eat one raw carrot, celery and apple each day.

There is a lot of science that supports this strategy, just a few factors:

• Feeling satiated keeps our mood lifted and boosts willpower. Hunger pangs or low blood sugar initiate a cascade of chemicals in our brain that reduces executive function. The carrot, celery and apple have tons of fiber that is digested slowly over longer periods of time. Proactively avoid being hangry.
• The fiber taking up stomach space will potentially make eating smaller meal portions easier.
• Ok let’s just say it — a lot of Americans are constipated and don’t know it. The fiber every day on this cleanse helps to clean us out. (Note, for the record it is possible to have a daily bowel movement and still be constipated).

Following this strategy won’t just add hydration, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to your diet. It will also help you learn about yourself and how you create habits. Experiment with different ways of getting your three healthy snacks to see what works best for you. And then apply those lessons to other habits you want to implement.

In other words, use this challenge to learn about yourself and what “habit structures” work for you. Same time every day? Mix it up and eat at different times? Eat as snacks or with meals? Schedule it in your calendar? Habit stack it with another habit? We are all different so part of this is purposely trial and error for your own learning.

And if carrots, celery, and apples don’t work for you due to allergies, taste preferences, or another reason, feel free to substitute them for another fruit or vegetable.

For your meals — increase the “quality” of what you eat by 10%. Figure out what that means for you and your habits. It should include reducing processed foods and sugar during the 30 days. Whole-grain carbs are not bad. Whole-grain carbs are satiating which is good (keep you full longer). Processed carbs are bad.

Notes: You can do this while intermittent fasting. In fact, this will help the fasting. Conversely, if you have never tried a new health routine before and want a simple one, do this: for dinner fill half your plate with salad/veggies and half with whatever you want.

4. Move Your Body

I could write all day about the most effective workout for weight loss — but I don’t need to. The truth is, it’s incredibly simple. The best activity for weight loss according to The Diet Fix by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff is the one(s) that you will do over the long term. The main benefit of movement is not burning calories — it is the mood regulation that happens when your brain releases hormones like serotonin, which naturally happens when you maintain an elevated heart rate. And that mood boost keeps you coming back for more, making it easier to stick to your goals.

If you have a routine that works for you, keep doing it. If you haven’t yet found an activity you enjoy enough to keep coming back to, try reframing your approach. Instead of thinking of movement as depleting your energy, think of it as something that restores your energy. If you just don’t “feel” like getting started, the quickest, easiest way to change that feeling is… to get moving. Try telling yourself you’re going to walk for five minutes and if you aren’t interested in continuing at that point, you can turn around and return to your home or office. Chances are, you’ll be energized and want to keep going once you hit the five-minute mark. And if not — you at least got ten minutes of activity into your day.

If you still haven’t landed on a “favorite” type of workout after experimenting with several, keep experimenting until you do.

For those of you already in a good groove with a favorite exercise consider turning it up a notch. Research shows engaging in three or more different types of activity per week has extra benefits.

Pro-Tip: Schedule your movement breaks or exercise sessions on your calendar. If you just can’t bring yourself to do it when the time comes, instead of skipping it entirely, simply downgrade and do something shorter or more gentle.

Establishing or maintaining the habit is just as important, if not more important than the exercise itself. In other words, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The 15-minute walk you actually do is always better than the 45 minute HIIT class you put off until tomorrow.

Think of your brain as a pet dog. (I know, stay with me here.) Just like dogs, brains need to be “walked.” And like a dog, when you give your brain a chance to run around (or lift weights or swim or dance), you make it happy — and it will reward you.

Pro-Move: Doing weight training is one of the best long-term strategies for pretty much everything. If you haven’t done it in the past, don’t be afraid to learn.

4. Cut out Alcohol (yes, completely) for 30 days.

Drinking is another topic I could write about all day. Instead, I’ll leave you with this: If you’re over 40, even if you only drink casually, you could probably stop drinking and lose weight even if you didn’t use any of the other strategies.

Sounds intriguing… but impossible, right? These books will blow your mind — and make it easier to stop drinking than you ever imagined.

• This Naked Mind by Annie Grace
• Easy Way to Stop Drinking by Allen Carr

And just like having a buddy can help you stick to a workout plan, a partner can offer crucial support in this area as well.

By no means am I discounting the fact that these strategies won’t work for everyone. If you are struggling with an addiction or suspect that you are, do not wait to seek help. Join a support group or research the new wave of apps that help such as Less.

In 2021 it’s cool to ask for help.

Pro-Move: Don’t drink calories, period. Instead of substituting your alcohol with juice or soda, try seltzer, lemon water, coffee, or tea. Simply cutting 200–300 calories a day by not drinking any calories will move the scale with minimal effort.

5. Schedule Breaks

This one isn’t about scheduling downtime (although that’s helpful, too) — it’s about doing it mindfully. For five minutes a day, take a pause to focus on your goal. Think of it as a “reboot” for your brain. Let your brain chemistry settle down.

You can do this in whatever way will help you “reset” your mood or focus. It might be repeating a mantra in your head or doing breathing exercises. It could be taking a break to go for a walk or stopping to look up and stare at a goal you’ve written down on a post-it note. Don’t like to meditate? Neither do I. Going for a walk with some downtempo beats works better for me. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it helps you put your attention back on your goal.

And sometimes, a “social mindfulness” break is what’s needed. Tons of research shows that social connections reduce stress and increase mood. Both of those outcomes will boost your executive function and willpower.

Pro-Move: Watch some YouTube videos about breathing exercises and start that learning journey if you haven’t already.

Defense: If you find yourself having a negative thought relative to staying the course over the for 30 days try this: isolate the thought you’re having and ask yourself the question “is this particular thought helpful to me at this moment?”. If the answer is no, think of a thought that is more helpful at that moment. And then go read 10% Happier by Dan Harris which is both insightful about mental health and fun to read.

6. Prioritize Sleep

As Dr. Mathew Walker outlines in Why We Sleep, research shows that if you aren’t getting enough sleep your chances of losing weight go down by as much as 90%. The main reason is that when you are sleep deprived your prefrontal cortex is not working at full power. And that is the part of your brain that is in charge of sticking to your goals. Don’t get enough sleep and it shuts down…at which point your chances of eating donuts go way up. Homer Simpson is running the show. Your willpower is chemically compromised.

Also — for some people being hungry and being tired feel the same physically and mentally. For these people, it seems natural to eat when tired (thinking they are actually hungry but are not).

Get a sleep app, eye-pillow, weighted blanket, or whatever you need to sleep. Let your family know that sleep will be a priority for you over the next month.

In Closing

As Dr. Kelly McGonigal describes in The Willpower Instinct, when asked how many food decisions they make in an average day, the most common response is “roughly 20”. But in fact, we make about 200 food-related “micro-decisions” every day. 90% of them are instantaneous and largely based on what we have done in the past.

The goal of this plan is to change about 25 of those 200 micro-decisions we make every day. Not all of them but some of them. It is easier to make those changes when our brain is at full strength.

You will notice your attitude about this program going up and down throughout the 30 days. That is completely normal.

Focus on finishing. Focus on the skill-building. Focus on purpose.

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To learn more (and keep you engaged in the process), I highly recommend the following books:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• The Willpower Instinct by Dr. Kelly McGonigal
• This Naked Mind by Annie Grace
• Easy Way to Stop Drinking by Allen Carr
• The Diet Fix by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff
• The Hungry Brain by Dr. Stephan Guyenet
• Why We Sleep by Dr. Mathew Walker

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