Get What You Really Want

The TRUTH behind your HABITS!

When we're trying to halt a bad habit, we usually rely heavily on self-regulation: I'll stop eating cake by turning down cake.

That strategy can work -- but usually only for a while.

Self-regulation functions like a muscle, says Marie-Josee Shaar, founder of Smarts and Stamina in Pennsylvania. Eventually, you'll find the muscle just can't perform any more self-regulation reps. After turning down cake 40 times, there's just no strength left to turn down temptation 41.

But here's the issue: You don't really want cake. You want specific biochemicals, like the pleasure-making dopamine, the cake tells your body to release, Shaar says. And you can get those chemicals by other means -- like pushups.

"If you exercise more, you lower the cortisol levels in your body. Cortisol pushes you toward high-sugar, high-fat foods," she said. "Instead of succumbing to temptation, try exercise."

If you're not in the mood for a sweat session, your other option is something a bit more luxurious: sleep.

People who are sleep deprived are usually high on cortisol, Shaar says, and have an imbalance of leptin, a hormone that regulates your hunger. Sleep can solve both of these problems, as well as curing the irritability you're probably feeling.

(Source).