We’ve all fallen to the temptation of eating something we know is high in calories or unhealthy.  This loss of self-control has actually been an active area of research investigation.  In fact, researchers indicate that when faced with a choice between giving in to temptation and sticking to our goal, individuals actually experience a mental conflict.  As a result of this conflict, we apparently develop compensatory beliefs that help us to reduce that conflict.  These compensatory beliefs typically involve telling ourselves that the negative consequence of giving in to temptation can be overcome by doing something in the future to make up for it.  This could be something like telling ourselves that we’ll eat even less than normal later or that we’ll increase our exercise level temporarily to make up for those extra calories in which we just indulged.  Unfortunately for most of us, we tend to forget to eat a little less or find it too inconvenient to exercise for an extra 30 minutes.  Over time, this can lead to a failure to achieve our weight loss goals.  In fact, studies have shown that the more compensatory beliefs a dieter has, the less likely it is that they will reach their weight loss goal.  In many cases these compensatory beliefs come into play after already having indulged.  For example, we might decide to skip dinner after realizing that we had a really large meal with dessert at lunchtime.  Or we might feel obligated to eat at a party and decide to make up for it a later time.

New research suggests that we also make these rationalizations BEFORE we actually indulge in the poor dietary decision.  In this new study, dieters were given a choice between Cookie A (labeled as “high calorie [385 calories]”) or Cookie B (labeled as “low calorie [47 calories]”.  Study subjects were asked to sit down in front of the two cookies and think about how they might taste while deciding which one they would eat.  They were also asked to complete a questionnaire about their thoughts while making this decision.  To make their decision more difficult, the study volunteers were told that other volunteers said the high calorie cookie was delicious and that the low calorie cookie did not taste very good.  When faced with this choice, 9 out of the 21 volunteers (43%) chose the high calorie cookie.  Analysis of the questionnaires showed that subjects who considered eating the high calorie cookie spent a lot of time thinking about how they would compensate for eating it.  This suggests that many of use rationalize indulging in poor food choices by intending to make up for it later and that we often make these rationalizations before ever eating the indulgent treat.

If we follow through with our rationalized intentions and walk that extra mile or eat a little less at another time, the indulgent behavior might not prevent us from reaching our weight loss goals and provides us with a little extra flexibility in our diet plans.  However, many of us don’t follow through with our plans to compensate for treating ourselves.  Over time this can derail our diet plans and make reaching our weight loss goal much more difficult.  So when you find yourself contemplating a poor dietary choice, even if it is delicious, take a moment to ask yourself (1) if you have a plan in place to make up for this indulgence and (2) will you actually follow that plan.

Reference:

Kronik I, Knauper B.  Temptations elicit compensatory intentions.  Appetite 2010, doi:10.1016/j.appet.2009.12.011