Self-control is a limited resource, and what this means for your diet

counting_kilojoules

Everything I've heard in recent years has been that ego depletion or the idea that self control is a limited resource is probably not true or at the very least not the whole story. I also don't think it's the best way of thinking about things (if you believe that you only have so much self control it can be easier to make excuses for yourself).

I think the experiment is kind of weird anyway. I don't see how it takes a lot of self control not to eat biscuits that aren't mine. Smelling delicious biscuits being cooked would be distracting though, especially if I wasn't eating them, which might have an effect on any task I was asked to do.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/cover_story/2016/03/ego_depletion_an_influential_theory_in_psychology_may_have_just_been_debunked.html
https://www.livescience.com/56490-new-science-of-willpower-ego-depletion.html

lemurcat12

counting_kilojoules wrote: »

I think the experiment is kind of weird anyway. I don't see how it takes a lot of self control not to eat biscuits that aren't mine. Smelling delicious biscuits being cooked would be distracting though, especially if I wasn't eating them, which might have an effect on any task I was asked to do.

Yeah, I think that's a potential flaw in the structure of the test.

My sister lived with me for a while and had a bunch of stuff I didn't eat (by choice), and it really never crossed my mind that it was tempting me, since it was her food and it would have been super weird for me to eat her food. If I were in a room with cookies but it was made clear they were not for me/everyone, and I was focused on being there for a task, I don't think I'd think about wanting the cookies. (I might think "wow, need to go have a cookie when this is over!")

ninerbuff

Agree. Almost all 90% failures at dieting was because change was too extreme and couldn't be followed for a year or more.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

tomteboda

ninerbuff wrote: »

Agree. Almost all 90% failures at dieting was because change was too extreme and couldn't be followed for a year or more.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Sign me up under that one. I lost 60 lbs at age 19 within 6 months (225 - 165 lbs , 5'11" at the time). How? Rigid adherence to SlimFast. Very rigid. After I went off the diet drinks, the mere THOUGHT of drinking another or being that hungry all the time would send me diving straight for food.

Honestly, counting calories would've been far, far, far better and turns out to be way less traumatic in the long run.

joelrivard

Two things on self control:

If I cheat early in the day then I will lose all control for that day but if I eat clean all day and especially if I've worked out as well then it's easy to eat clean for the remainder of the day.
If I eat clean for one day then I get more motivation on the 2nd day and once I put a week of dieting in I really get fired up.
After so many months go by and I start to see abs or veins that's it, I'm hooked like a crazy person. You'll see me eating carrot sticks at the movies.

What can break me or anyone however is skipping meals and letting your blood sugar go really low. It's not a matter of control at that point, your brain releases emergency starvation warning chemicals that compel you to eat junk food.