don't eat... don't eat

Jongfaith · November 2012

Just watched a interesting psyc experiment where they hooked a kitten up to some electrodes and then to a button. They then told women one at a time don't press the button and don't kill the kitten. EVERY SINGLE WOMAN DID!

No they didn't really killl the kitten but the simple repeated montra of don't push the button, don't kill the kitten, was enough to drive every person to do it.

Fascinating, to compare that to my weight loss goals. Don't eat this... Don't eat that. I may need to reword my self talk to something more positive to keep my goals in mind. I guess the rebellious child in us all will do the unthinkable if repeatedly told not to.

Just food for thought:)

LelliAmi · November 2012

That's sickening..I can not believe people would actually fall for that reverse psychology crap.

On another note, I keep reading that if you tell yourself "I don't eat that" instead of "I can't eat that", it works waaaay better.

moxette · November 2012

Brilliant! And SOOOO right!

gmallan · November 2012

Interesting... possibly explains why the 'I'm on a diet, you can eat this, you can't eat that, you can only eat this at certain times, no carbs after this time...' doesn't work. This is the longest I've ever stuck to a healthy eating calorie restriction plan and also the only time I haven't used an all or nothing approach. Interesting...

zoegator · November 2012

Wow! That is really interesting! Sort of a reverse psychology type of thing..?

Either way, I always go by the belief that I can eat whatever I want, in moderation. I don't say the words "don't eat ___" !

emd528 · November 2012

That's really interesting! And I feel like it's true to my own personal experiences with weight loss. As soon as I say, "I can't eat any more calories today", I immediately want to stuff my face. Telling myself I can't do something or that something is forbidden makes it that much harder to resist.

You're right, I feel like a better approach is to allow yourself to do things, and to think about things in the positive sense- "My body is so full, and even though I am allowed to/could eat more, it's not something I want/feel like doing".

Thanks for sharing!

shrinkinginQualicum · November 2012

Woo, that's powerful stuff. "I don't want you going out with that long haired hippie freak". No wonder we were all dating the bad boys.
So we need to work with thinking about what we can eat.

DebbieLyn63 · November 2012

Perhaps with age comes wisdom, but I seem to be past the age of wanting to do something I'm not supposed to do.
I am an adult. I can do whatever I want to do, but I know that every action has consequences. If I eat over my goal, I will slow my progress.

I had pumpkin pie for dinner tonight. I was exhausted, wasn't hungry for real food, knew I had the calories left and made the decision to eat the pie. My joints, who don't really like it when I eat sugar, will probably tell me about it tomorrow. But I took that chance when I decided to eat the pie. I did stop before I finished it when I no longer wanted it, and gave the rest to my hubby. He likes pie.