Why Sugar Cravings Aren’t About Willpower
We hear about the importance of willpower all the time. Popular culture suggests that great achievements are impossible without massive amounts of it.
But the truth is — that’s not what research shows. The book The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan presents the science beautifully: willpower is a limited resource. It gets drained by all kinds of things throughout the day, even everyday chores. The more tired we get, the less willpower we have — until it runs out completely.
Anyone struggling with sugar cravings knows this feeling well: you resist all day… and then cave in at the eleventh hour.
To actually address sugar addiction, we need to look beyond willpower. It’s about a complex mix of physical and psychological factors.
On the physical side, your diet plays a big role. That doesn’t mean you have to cut out sugar entirely. The WHO recommends keeping sugar to about 5% of your daily calories, but the real trick is avoiding those big blood sugar and insulin spikes. One simple tip? Don’t start your day with sugar. And when you do have it, eat it mindfully — ideally after a proper meal, not on an empty stomach.
On the psychological side, there are two key areas to work on:
· how you respond to your thoughts in the moment, and
· how you handle cravings when they hit.
ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) is a big part of my personal framework, and in my course, I share the specific tools and strategies from ACT that helped both me and my husband.
Feel free to join my course if you’d like to explore what worked for us. But for now, start by rethinking how willpower really works. Whether you have more or less of it than others, it’s not a reliable strategy for long-term change.
Even if you manage to “push through” a few sugar-free days on willpower alone, you probably know by now — it doesn’t last. It’s like building a house of cards.
What you need are easy-to-implement, practical tools that lead to sustainable change. Not a short burst of control followed by a long downward spiral.
So don’t keep repeating the same things that haven’t worked before. As Einstein said:
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Learn from your past. Try something new. Hopefully, this blog encourages you to find a way that works for you — whether that’s on your own or with my support.