I was reading this interesting article, thought I'd share the main argument points (thoughts from a psychological article from an academic database):

- Coping with distress requires cognitive sources.

- For restrained eaters (i.e. dieters), regulating food intake is a controlled process and, as with any controlled process, it is effortful and requires a lot of time and attention (monitoring food intake, calories, etc).

- Restrained eaters invest more cognitive resources in regulating their eating than do unrestrained eaters.

-Consequentially, cognitive capacity restrictions should affect the eating behavior of restrained eaters more than that of unrestrained eaters.

-Factors that interfere with cognitive control are therefore assumed to impair the regulation of eating in restrained eaters BECAUSE these factors decrease their ability to monitor their food intake.

-All strong emotions, distressful or pleasant, are likely to be distractive.... ANY experience that distracts individuals while they are eating palatable food is likely to lead to overeating among restrained eaters.

I felt this article gives an interesting, to the point, hypothesis about the common problem of gaining the lost weight again. Of course the article goes on to prove its hypothesis.... but that post would be entirely too long.

Most of us could say - "I don't know exactly when or how I gained the weight back..."

Well, as this article points out - it can happen in good or bad times. Really, any event that comes up and requires our cognitive effort. I am not posting this argument to present a 'bleak' view of weight loss and weight gain. This article is not presenting any brand-new ideas.

But, it is an eloquent, more objective way of stating a problem most of us have encountered and complained about on this forum. I really believe that knowing these more objective studies will help us all to rationally think about weight gain and hopefully help us to prevent it as much as is possible in the future.

Bonnnie, that certainly seems to describe my own experience. I prepare income taxes during tax season, and the last one was nightmarish for me. The result was definitely "impaired regulation" of my eating, as well as in other areas.

It's good to know what such studies come up with--but because this pressure takes place on a non-conscious level, just knowing about it may not help one counter the pressure. Obviously I clearly knew what I should be doing, eating, etc. But there came a point under stress where that knowledge didn't make any difference to what I was doing.

Thanks for sharing this!

Jay

The transition from being focused on eating correctly (counting calories, measuring portions, etc) to naturally becoming focused on other events in our life, as they require our energy is, according to this article, unconsciously made.

I enjoyed reading this article because I have always been a bit heavier when I am really happy. This real happiness then turns to unhappiness due to the weight gain. This is a vicious cycle.

I think we all need to brainstorm our way out of these dilemmas. We are equipped with the knowledge that we will always naturally shift our focus (shift our energy) away from dieting. There is a real reason for this; it is not because we are 'weak' or we were 'bad'. We will then later shift our focus back to dieting.

I suppose I am really interested in brainstorming more 'external mechanisms' that we can put in place now, that will work for us even when we are not in 'conscious eating' mode.

For example, maybe extremely patterned eating (not a lot of variety) is the key. Maybe I could eat the exact same bowl of oatmeal every morning, with the exact same ingredients. This habit will become so ingrained, that even when I am not focused on what I eat, I will naturally pour approx. the same amount of oatmeal.

While I am a fan of a variety of foods, maybe that is a downfall for me. Maybe I should focus on really ingraining a habit of what I eat (still allowing all fruits and vegetables). The habit will take over for me when I am not focused.

I really just wanted to post this because I want us to see gaining back the weight as a somewhat natural process, we don't need to blame ourselves or get upset with ourselves.

The more we know about this natural process, the greater the possibility that we can find a way to control it. I absolutely hate it when people mention that silly statistic about the extremely high # of people who gain the weight back (only 5% keep the weight off in the long run?) - then, people talk about how scared they are, constantly, to gain it back.

Lets just be honest and say, each one of us will probably gain some of the weight back when something in life takes up the majority of our cognitive energy UNLESS we start seriously discussing external factors that we can set in place to do the work for us when we are literally unable to do it.

That's the dream of science, isn't it? And as someone who is trained as a scientist, I've come to see that maybe the idea of controlling natural processes isn't the way to go. Natural processes have been at work for millions upon million of years, whereas the human mind has only been around for what? maybe 600 thousand at most? So, are humans really smart enough to mess with natural processes?

But I digress.

I don't like the idea of eating the same thing, every day, all the time, even though my breakfasts pretty much are like that. Yes, I know how much 1/3 cup of cereal is in a bowl. But that's not where my difficulty with eating lies. And besides, it's natural to want variety in what one eats. It helps ensure getting a variety of nutrients.

I find that I do well if the only foods in the house are the "safe" foods. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I don't live alone, and my partner likes foods that I tend to overeat if I get started. In the past I've been pretty good at telling myself they are "not my foods," but under stress, as you mention, I reach for them. And, it seems that in the last many months, I can stay on my weight-loss level of eating for 2-3 weeks (I am up above my goal weight at present), but any longer than that and I can't keep it up. That "restraint" gives way.

Interestingly, I am also a recovered alcoholic. I have not had a drink in 23 years. That, I think, is different--I'm not a "restrained drinker," I'm a NONdrinker. I could never be a restrained drinker--I have no interest in limiting myself to just a drink or two (or three or four). It's all or nothing, and I've opted for nothing.

But food is different, obviously.

I'm not sure how many folks you'll find here who want to discuss this. For one thing, the most successful people and the least successful people tend not to stick around. For another, it is a scary topic, as you noted! And, it's easy to come up with simplistic answers. Just decide you're going to do it, and do it. Yeah. OK.

Right now the "external mechanism" that I would find helpful is an electrical shock every time I reach for a high-calorie snack food!

Jay

So far, we've come up with eating the same thing everyday OR electric shocks. Hmmm.

I really like your observation that the "most successful people and the least successful people tend not to stick around here". That's quite interesting.

Well, I am far from science (empirical science)- I am currently doing work in philosophy and psychoanalysis. Both fields have not really opened up to weight issues. I suppose it is my belief that we must start talking about problem in new ways to understand it .... but I'm not very good at the solution part.

One of the problems that I encounter when people discuss this problem on the forum is the 'personalness' of the matter. Gaining weight back is entirely not personal and we need to start addressing it more objectively. True, you may need to 'get your emotions in check' to stop gaining weight.... but I would rather be aware of the fact that my brain does not really have the energy and/or want to deal cognitively with my weight AND other issues.

Since I know that, I feel maybe I need to brainstorm more possible ways to deal with my problem.

Also, your point about alcoholism is interesting: that it is all or nothing for you. I was thinking about it and wondering if food was so dynamically different, namely, your partner is bringing in the foods on your "nothing" list, you are then eating it "all" (not really everything )

Are humans able to control natural progresses? If I said no, then that would mean everyone here is wasting their time. I think I will refrain from answering that question!

While I am far from knowledgeable about psychology, I have a couple thoughts to contribute . . .

Not necessarily. While I believe that the obesity epidemic may be related to natural processes and desires (being hardwired to like fatty and sugary foods, etc.), I think that much of it is due to modern society. Working at a desk for 8 hours a day, sitting in front of the TV, eating at fast food places, 24/7 access to food -- those are not natural processes in my book. I would bet that if you took all the folks on 3FC and dropped them down on farms in 1800, MOST (not all) would not become obese. So rather than trying to counteract a natural process, we are trying to counteract something we have been societally conditioned for. I don't know that that makes the problem any harder or easier, but it's something to think about.

I'm not sure that this is true. We have some evidence of unsuccessful people, because people often return to 3FC and say, "Oh, I gained back all the weight, here I am again." But we don't have any evidence to indicate that extremely successful people don't stick around because we don't follow people's progress once they leave the site.

As for eating the same thing every day, this is kind of a mixed bag. Yes, I eat the same breakfast every day. I use a 1/2 C measure to scoop out my oatmeal, so even if I am extremely distressed, there will still be 1/2 C of oatmeal in my bowl. Even when I'm stressed out, I continue to cook the same healthy recipes because I only have healthy recipes in my file. However, the problem for me at least is the time BETWEEN meals. Free food in the break room, bake sale for charity, snacking, these are the things that make me gain weight when I'm stressed out. I don't think habit can really prevent that.

I would guess that the best way to prevent/counteract the problem of your brain not being able to handle two things at once might be some form of cognitive behavioral therapy. I wonder if any of the Beck Diet Solution folks would like to weigh in on this? That is the only CBT diet program I know of.

So many people start out here and then disappear after a few weeks. Many, many! We don't know what happens to them. Maybe they gave up on trying to lose weight after a short time, but we can't say for sure.

We don't track the highly successful ones who stop posting, but I do know a couple of them.

Of course, what I said was "TEND to." We do have successful people who have stuck around, and many who are trying again and again. But as you said, bonnnie, eventually other things in our life besides weight loss get our attention again.

In my mind there's a difference between saying humans are unable to control natural processes (which wasn't my phrase anyway), and implying that the goal of learning about a natural process would be to control it.

I didn't have to learn everything there was to know about alcoholism to decide not to drink anymore. All I had to do was observe that if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck....

Gosh, no food is on my "nothing" list. (Well, except for clams, oysters, and scallops, because I'm violently allergic to them! And also to soy protein, though it's not so severe. But that's a different matter.) So it's not that my partner brings "personally forbidden" food into the house, it's that at times I am unable to restrain myself with portions of certain foods.

Portion control is often successful for me. (Lately, not so much. ) One of my strategies involves pre-portioning out foods, so that a container has a single unit serving in it. That way I tend to avoid going over the portion I want to eat. When the container is empty, I'm done. Lately... well... I go beyond one container... and then the strategy can backfire, because it's too tempting to eat the entire second container with some sort of "round number" notion.

Some foods just don't come into my house, with my partner's agreement. One of these is ice cream. We just go out for it if we want it, rather than having it sitting there in the freezer. It sings a siren song to me, but not to my partner.

I like what you said, Jessica (paperclippy), about social conditioning. If you watch TV, there is at least one pizza ad every half hour. They always show happy, THIN people eating huge slabs of pizza dripping with cheese. And that's just the pizza ads--not to mention the fast food burgers, chicken, whipped ice cream drinks, upscale restaurant chains where a single plate of food may contain 1200 calories, and so on.

Also, snack time is definitely problematic for me, and I don't even work in an office with lots of coworkers bringing things in.

Jay

Thank for for sharing this info, Bonnnie! It is very interesting! I agree that I personally need to apply a certain amount of time and attention to my food and exercise choices to maintain and that if I slip into the default "standard American lifestyle" I will regain. I'm also a very busy person with lots of kids, pets, a busy (and emotionally draining yet satisfying job), a DH, and a house to keep up with. I have lots of things pulling on my rather limited cognitive, time, energy, etc., supplies. So one thing I have found to work well is to adjust circumstances to set me up for success. I use things outside of myself to help me reach my goals.

For example, I schedule my time at the gym. Having it on my schedule makes it more likely I will get there versus leaving it to some nebulous happenstance. "Lifting weights at 3 pm" happens, "Lifting weights sometime today or tomorrow" doesn't. Other stuff inevitably comes up and pulls my mind, energy, and time away from my original plan.

I also try to set myself up for success by not only NOT having unhealthy foods around, but by having healthy foods around. Like Glory says, every knows an apple is a healthy snack. The knowledge is not the hard part. The hard part is having an apple available when it is time for a snack. Sometimes the difference for me in actually cooking a healthy dinner is having the ground turkey defrosted or not having it defrosted. A clean, well-organized and stocked kitchen helps me meet my nutrition goals.

I think this can be applied to many aspects of life. Factors that interfere with my cognitive awareness/ability/resources/depths can interfere with many parts of my life, and it is good to have a reminder that awareness of this can help us meet our goals.

I think it is a balance of awareness and habits, too. That may sound contradictory, but after a couple of years, there are some things that are automatic. A few months ago I started a thread about "Maintenance Behaviors that We do Very Well." One of my behaviors is a healthy breakfast. I just don't eat junk for breakfast any more, ever. I don't skip breakfast either. I have 4 breakfast variations that I eat. I measure my oatmeal like Jessica. I have a quarter cup measure that I keep in the oatmeal bin, and I put 2 flat scoops in my bowl when I eat oatmeal. Good days, bad days, stressed days, happy days, if I eat oatmeal, it's 1/2 cup. Having the scoop in the oatmeal sets me up for oatmeal success.

I got a Spam email this morning with an offer of a 24 pack of Cola. I don't drink Cola. As I deleted it, I thought, "Why would they send that to me? I don't drink Cola." Of course, I don't need any of the penile enlargement products either, so it's not as if the spammer individualized the ad for me.

But again, no soda is a habit for me.

So I have some habits, some awareness, some accountability, and faith that my behaviors drive my success.

Thanks again for the thought-provoking thread.

midwife, I like everything in your post! I like the idea of balance between habits and awareness. I'm also a big fan of scheduling, although sometimes that just goes to pieces on me...

I guess one possible sticky point would be... sooner or later, that ground turkey is not going to be thawed. Who knows why? Car wouldn't start, got up late, forgot... Doesn't matter! The "cognitive resources" were elsewhere.

What is the strategy when the ground turkey is not thawed? That will make a difference.

- Toss up one's hands and order pizza?
- Quick-thaw the turkey and eat a little later?
- Look around the kitchen for alternative good choices?

Jay

Haha! I was going to run at DD's volleyball practice, but the car didn't start, so I had to deal with that instead of running. So I'll run today. But, how did you know?

When I'm in a serious food jam: eggs over spinach and beans. Works every time. I always have those items around. Or Subway. Or, say I do veer from my plan due to chaos....I get back on.

I have Plans B, C, and D.....

Wow, great post. Thanks OP. I think we've seen this phenomenon over and over--life happens and the diet or "restrained eating" goes out the door.

But knowlege is power and if I can incorporate some of the things midwife said I can at least limit the damage.

And the most important thing, get back on....

BTW I like the phrase restrained eating--it sounds so positive.