Why You Can’t Rely on Willpower to Lose Weight
Key Takeaways:
The CICO model suggests that willpower is all an individual needs to lose weight. However, a commonly overlooked fact is that the CICO model is imperfect because not all calories are processed and absorbed the same way.
According to the dual intervention point model, non-motivation-related factors influencing weight loss include biological mechanisms and environmental influences.
Biological mechanisms the body employs to prevent your weight from falling below the lower boundary include increased hunger signals, increased fat storage, decreased physical activity, and enhanced food reward sensitivity.
Environmental influences that may impede your weight loss efforts include your food environment, eating behaviors of friends and family, and stress levels.
You might view failure to achieve and maintain weight loss (framed by many as a straightforward matter of “calories in, calories out” or CICO) as a sign of weak willpower. But here’s the truth. Successful weight loss hinges on more than just motivation.
This article explores:
Why simply relying on willpower to lose weight won’t get you optimal results
Two crucial non-motivation-related factors that influence weight loss success
A key thing you can do to (finally) lose weight safely, healthily, and sustainably
Why you can’t rely on willpower to lose weight
According to the CICO model:
If you consume more calories than your body needs, you gain weight
If you consume fewer, you lose weight
Ultimately, it suggests that if people were diligent and methodical about tracking every calorie consumed to ensure it falls below their daily energy expenditure, they’d surely lose weight and keep it off over the long haul. So … why does research show that most people regain more than half of their lost weight within two years, and more than 80% of lost weight by five years?
It’s not that they “lost motivation” for calorie tracking; instead, it comes down to two primary things.
The first is that the CICO model is imperfect.
Very briefly, not all calories are equal. How much of a single calorie the human body absorbs can differ within an individual because of factors like their current physiological state (e.g., are they sleep deprived?) and the food’s macronutrient profile, and between individuals because of factors like body composition and age.
Motivation and weight loss: not the full picture
The second is that there are non-motivation-related factors that influence weight loss success.
To expand on that, we’ll have to bring in a weight regulation theory called the dual intervention point model. It proposes that your natural body weight has an upper and lower boundary. The idea is that these two points act like a “safety net”.
Biological mechanisms
If your weight approaches the upper or lower boundary, your body will fight to keep you within that preferred weight range by activating various biological mechanisms. More specifically, relating to the purpose of this article, the hormonal and metabolic adjustments that happen when your weight falls below the lower set point include:
Increased hunger signals: Your body produces more ghrelin (the “hunger” hormone) and less leptin (the “satiety” hormone). This double whammy creates the perfect storm for increased hunger and an overwhelming desire to eat, causing an intense drive to seek out food, especially ultra-processed, calorie-rich ones.
Increased fat storage: Because your brain interprets a drop in fat stores as a sign of potential starvation, it’ll try to reverse this by storing a larger proportion of the food you eat as fat. Insulin sensitivity may also increase. This means that when you eat, your body is more likely to convert consumed carbohydrates into fat for storage rather than using them for immediate energy.
Decreased physical activity: Research shows that your body enters something like an “battery saving” mood in a calorie deficit, lowering your daily non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) levels. For the uninitiated, NEAT refers to the calories your body burns from your non-exercise-related movements throughout the day. Examples include walking, cooking, and even fidgeting. So, when your weight falls below the lower set point, you might move less throughout the day without even realising it, decreasing your total daily energy expenditure. This makes sticking to a calorie deficit trickier.
Enhanced food reward sensitivity: The brain is wired to derive pleasure from eating. Specifically, food intake activates reward pathways in the brain involving dopamine receptor signalling. When your weight falls below the lower boundary, these pathways may become more sensitive, potentially leading to more intense food desires, especially for high-calorie foods (especially sugary or fatty foods) which are known to trigger a significant dopamine release in the brain.
Environment
What if your weight falls between the upper and lower boundaries, yet you struggle to lose weight? Once again, it might not be that you lack willpower to lose weight. Instead, the dual intervention point model suggests that your environment may also be a contributing factor:
Food environment: According to a 2021 cross-sectional study analysing the food environment of American households, researchers found that in households where it was easy for people to access high-calorie foods like chips, chocolate, sodas, and candy, the more likely it was for them to have poorer diet quality. On the other hand, households with more fruits and vegetables available had a much better diet quality and were far less likely to be overweight. So, think about your food environment — is it possible that high-calorie snacks and treats are too accessible in your household?
Another aspect of your food environment to be mindful of is the availability of healthy food around your neighborhood and workplace. To make dining out more weight-loss friendly, here are guides on finding healthy food in Tanjong Pagar, Raffles Place, Bugis, and Chinatown.
Eating behaviors of family and friends: Eating is an activity strongly influenced by social context. There is strong evidence that people eat more when eating with friends and family, relative to eating alone. Research also shows that we tend to copy the eating patterns of those around us, so our diets are often similar to those of our family and friends. Interestingly, there’s evidence that if an individual has a friend who develops obesity, their own risk goes up by 57%. Meaning? The unhealthy eating behaviors of your family and friends may be impeding your weight loss efforts.
Stress: Under high stress? High cortisol (the “stress hormone”) levels can increase cravings for sweet, high-calorie “comfort foods”. In this study, for example, researchers exposed participants to stressful situations and found that those with high cortisol reactions ate more calories and sweet foods than those with lower cortisol reactions. As for why, some evidence shows that fat- and sugar-filled foods can help dampen stress-related responses and emotions. Beyond instigating overeating via high cortisol levels, stress could also hurt your weight loss efforts by hurting your motivation to work out (which lowers your daily total energy expenditure) and impairing your sleep (which increases ghrelin production while decreasing leptin production).
Getting professional help is not cheating
Bottom line? Relying on willpower to lose weight is a losing battle.
In fact, you don’t have to go at it alone. You may find weight loss easier with the help of a specialized weight loss:
Doctor: In addition to screening (and treating you) for medical conditions that can make weight loss difficult or even lead to weight gain, a doctor can prescribe weight loss medications, which, depending on the exact medication, facilitate weight loss by modulating appetite and satiety, improving insulin sensitivity, or interfering with fat absorption.
Health coach: A health coach can help you optimize your eating habits and lifestyle, ensuring sustainable, long-term weight management based on your unique lifestyle and preferences.
For those seeking an “all-in-one” weight loss program that provides the expertise of a specialised weight loss doctor and health coach, check out NOVI Optimum Plus. NOVI Optimum Plus combines a doctor consultation (video or in-clinic), weight loss treatment with free delivery, and an ongoing personalized digital health coaching that provides you with the medical and emotional support you need throughout this journey.