This is the only diet I recommend

cozmik

The mind-control diet

Dieting is often doomed to failure, despite most women being able to pass an exam on the differences between Atkins, South Beach and WeightWatchers. The problem is, we don’t follow the rules we learn. No carbs after 6pm? No problem — until we’re out for dinner, on our second glass of wine and scoffing the bread basket. Everyone has a flash point that makes it hard to say no, but ultimately, resisting temptation is the key to successful weight loss.

Now research from leading psychologists has identified the parts of the brain involved in resisting temptation, and how we can use them to stop reaching for gooey chocolate cake. Leading the charge is Professor Walter Mischel, the psychologist who, in the 1960s, developed the “marshmallow test”, which demonstrated that if children were able to delay gratification, they would be more successful in later life. Mischel’s research has shown that to resist temptation, we have to shift activity away from the “hot” parts of our brain to the “cool” parts. “The mind brain has two systems: one is cool, slow and deliberate, and allows for self-control, goal-setting and willpower — the ‘no’ system, if you like. The other is hot, emotional and instinctual, and present from birth — the ‘go’ system,” says Janet Metcalfe, professor of psychology at Columbia University and co-author of a paper on willpower with Mischel.

So when you see a chocolate cake, the “hot” part of your brain reacts to thoughts of the delicious taste, and the sugar rush that you have learnt a slice will give you. Instead of giving in, what you need to do is activate the “cool” part of your brain by thinking about your goals and practising far-sightedness. Imagine the sense of satisfaction you’d get, from fitting into your favourite dress in a couple of weeks’ time, say, or from losing your unsightly tummy bulge before you go sunbathing this summer. It’s a simple strategy, but experiments have shown it is highly effective.

Perception is also important. Feasting your eyes on desirable food activates the hot system in the brain, which explains what we know instinctively: putting biscuits out of sight in a cupboard will mean you eat fewer of them. “The problem with diets is they are also full of pictures of delicious diet food, and all of this is just priming the hot system,” Metcalfe says.

Stress is another key issue. It has been shown to switch on the hot part of the brain and cause us to overeat. Daryl O’Connor, a psychologist at Leeds University, has conducted experiments showing that people under stress tend to go for high-fat, energy-dense food. “The first thing to do is to be aware of how stress changes your behaviour. Then develop an action plan to deal with it. This might involve taking healthy snacks to work or finding ways to cope better with your time and emotions.”

Brain scans have also shown that memory plays a significant role in overeating. If you habitually eat chocolate, for instance, then every time you see it, you remember the high. However, Dr Leigh Gibson at Roehampton University has found that if you give something up, far from your cravings increasing, they will actually decrease, proving that cravings result from habitually giving in to temptation. So the research is clear: if you want to be slim, fit and healthy, it’s time to take control of your mind.

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/diet_and_fitness/article6140774.ece

rubadub

Interesting. There are lots of psychological things I have heard of. People colouring food to be horrible looking, like blue mashed potato, you will eat less. Or people having photos on a fridge, maybe a dress they want to fit into, I wonder if a photo of horrible food or something horrible on the fridge would put you off. I used to eat and cook out of sheer boredom, I would also cook more than I needed so as not to waste electricity, but scoff the lot.

If hungry you can drink water and wait 10mins to see if you really are hungry, more often than not you are just dehydrated or not hungry at all.

Also use small plates so they appear like full meals. Eat with small cutlery to slow down your eating (or chopsticks!), eat and rest longer between starter, main, desert- your body needs time to register you are full, aroud 20mins I think.

My own invention would be timers on your fridge and presses, you have to press 10mins in advance before they can be opened, forcing you to wait and see if the hunger passes! But if you buy no crap in the first place you have none in the press, never shop while hungry to avoid buying snacks.

I think some study showed looking at nice food helped satisfy people, e.g. looking at pictures of cakes while eating bland beans.

cozmik

rubadub wrote: »

I think some study showed looking at nice food helped satisfy people, e.g. looking at pictures of cakes while eating bland beans.

LOL I never heard that before, must try it for a laugh.

mrsberries

rubadub wrote: »

I used to eat and cook out of sheer boredom, I would also cook more than I needed so as not to waste electricity, but scoff the lot.

.

But HOW do you stop this cycle? Like the article says, i know ALL about these diets, im currently in WW, have done a dip in diet and nutrition, but yet i eat according to my emotions. I cant seem to view food as fuel, but as a comfort or reward. Im not particularly big, just a stone overweight but cant seem to break this cycle. Did you have a Eureka moment to put an end to this boredom eating??

rubadub

mrsberries wrote: »

But HOW do you stop this cycle?

I stopped shopping so much!, so I only had so many things I could cook anyway, and do not shop while hungry or you end up buying junk on impulse. Also I switched what I would be cooking to lower calorie stuff.

The shops are only a few minutes walk from my house, so if I was hungry I would tell myself I had to go to the shop and get something as a sort of rule. Most of the time I would not bother as the hunger would pass by the time I even thought of getting my jacket, keys etc.

mrsberries wrote: »

Did you have a Eureka moment to put an end to this boredom eating??

No, I still do it, the only eureka moment was copping on I did not really have to change my eating habits, but instead change my exercise, cycling and lifting weights increased my metabolism to a level where I can eat & drink pretty much what I want and not get (too) fat.

mrsberries

Thanks for your reply. Just trying to get my head around recognising that these "hunger pangs" are not actual hunger but some other issue....am reading a book at the moment - Neris and India's Idiot Proof Diet, and they deal with the subject. Making a lot of sense

Thanks again