Wanting too much, too fast screws-up dieting. Don’t compare yourself to anyone, just
the Y-O-U that you want to be.Naweko San-Joyz
A study published in the Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Letter suggests that
self-comparison invites dieting disaster. Psychologists at Williams College in
Massachusetts tested the effect of diet ads on the eating habits of weight-conscious
women while they watched a make-you-cry movie.
The researchers expected the weight-conscious women to indulge in less candy and
milkshakes when watching the movie if a slim model came on endorsing some dieting
product.
The results of this study inform infuriated Skinny Fat Chicks about how TV could
sabotage their dieting endeavors. The women who watched images of slender models
selling dieting products ate twice as much as the women who only saw ads for products
like linens and house wares.
Head researcher Jaine Strauss, Ph.D., deduced that the diet-oriented ads may have
served as painful reminders that the women had broken their diets and becoming
slimmer was all the more impossible. Thus, giving in to the what-the-hell effect
becomes more enticing for the dieting woman.
Dr. Strauss encourages you to remind yourself that having a sweet or salty snack is
not an all-or-nothing deal. The problem is that most women assume that if they have
just a tiny bit of junk food or sweets, they have “crossed the line.” Then they
succumb to the what-the-hell effect and eat the whole cake or the entire bag of
chips.
A study at the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK headed by Helga Dittmar and Sarah
Howard further stressed the effect of viewing slender models by body-conscious women.
Their findings showed undeniably that it is the thinness of the models used in
advertising, and not their attractiveness, that is problematic as far as the
reactions of women viewers are concerned. It is the thin version of the model that
led to increased body-focused anxiety among dieting women.
The media has yet another influence on the self-images of women. Dr. Stephen
Mulholland, a plastic surgeon, can accurately predict what services his clients want
based on who is on magazine covers and starring in movies. Dr. Mulholland said in
Maclean’s magazine that, “Younger people want to look done. They want to take on the
physical attributes and characteristics of the stars of the day.”
This is a sneaky way in which we bomb our dieting objectives. We compare ourselves to
others and sometimes don’t even realize we are doing it, or more importantly, we fail
to realize how these seemingly trivial comparisons impact our lives.
The comparison trap and the I’ll-never-look-like-that-so-I-should-give-up-now episode
occurs simply because we permit ourselves to misgauge time. Your diet is your diet,
and it serves to meet your dieting goals in due time.
You don’t suddenly stop going to work every day because while you are driving a
used Taurus, some other lady passes you by in a brand new Porsche. Alas, we don’t
give up on our cars, so why give up on your body?
Commitments
The National Weight Control Registry, a study of men and women who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept them off for at least a year, counsel that your best chance for success is to develop— and stick with— an eating and exercise plan you can follow over the long run.