I find the premise and what I could gather from the description of the experiment interesting, but not conclusive of anything.
I do think that "self control" is complicated (and could site a lot of research from undergrad and grad psych classes). There was also an experiment in which children were give candy and told not to eat it before they were given permission. Some of the kids had the candy sitting in front of them, some were given techniques to help them wait. The chidren that had the best control were those that were given something to do.
It's a lot easier to have self-control, if you make it easier not to rely on only self-control. It's easier to avoid eating an entire gallon of ice cream, if you buy none or buy one of those 4 oz cups individually rather than stock the freezer with six different varieties.
Willpower is part of the solution, but it's not the only part.
I think it is an interesting perspective. We talk a lot on here about the "click" and the move to determination vs. the fleetingness of motivation. I'm the same person with the same strengths and weaknessed when I am living very healthy as when I am making choices that are detrimental to my health. Am I a strong-willed person with some times of weakness? Or am I a weak person with times of strength? I guess mainly I am human.
In nursing theory, there is a lot of discussion of the concept of resilience...how do people approach challenges and make it through to the other side....We all have coping strategies and for me, food is an unhealthy coping strategy. I too have had long days of being in control and on top of everything to have my self-control dissolve in front of food. The types of food influence my behavior, as does my level of tiredness, stress, hunger, and thirst. Sometimes I am stronger than those influences and sometimes I throw in the towel.
I feel like this whole thing is the ocean. Sometimes I am riding the swells, going up and down with them, in rhythm, without much struggle. And then there are times I am out of rhythm and the waves crash over my head, I kick my feet and struggle to keep my head above water, gasping for air and trying to fight to get back to where I rise when the water rises and float down when it floats down.
To me, this whole thing is such a process. I don't have all of the answers for myself. I know what works and what doesn't, but I don't know why I still make the choice for self-destructive behaviors. Maybe counseling would help. The support here most certainly does.
Midwife stole the words out of my mouth (although I would have never been able to express it so eloquently as she did). The analogy with the ocean it absolutely perfect.
I think I am a person with a lot of will power. But - the will power does not work the same way in all aspects of my life. For example, when I do something with hands (as in the process of creating something) I can be a perfectionist and completely anal and I will make myself redo stuff over and over until it is perfect or until I know that I have reached the level of perfection that I was capable of [i.e. it is not 100% perfect but I gave it my all and I know I cannot make it better]. Watch me install a floor, apply a wallpaper, sew a dress. It simply HAS to be JUST SO.
Sadly, when it comes to food, my will power is not so strong. Like midwife said, there are days when my in sync with the flow and it is going fine, and then all of a sudden not only I struggle to keep my head over the water, I start to drown. Sometimes it takes me a while to pull myself up by my bootstraps and start the process all over again.
I find it so much harder right now, when I have been struggling with plantar fasciitis for 3 months already and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. It seriously limits my exercise options and when I don't exercise (or not as vigorously as I used to) I will power (wrt food) is getting weaker and weaker and I feel how easy it is to fall back into the vicious cycle of feeling down -> eating -> feeling more depressed -> eating some more -> ad libitum.
