Jane Ogden describes the “what-the-hell effect” in The Psychology of Eating, as overeating following a period of attempted undereating. The overweight and dieting character, Phoebe, from Eve Eliot’s novel Insatiable gives us a veracious look at how cunningly a woman can lead herself to a what-the-hell effect episode.
Phoebe: “I will be thin. I will be thin. I will be thin.” Tomorrow, she promised herself, I will eat only a bagel, I will tell my parents that I have an upset stomach, and I’ll skip dinner. Instead of eating lunch at school, I will drink only two glasses of water and then go to the library. At dinner, I’ll tell them I’m eating at a friend’s, and go for a walk.
Phoebe binges later that day…
The what-the-hell effect is a direct result of get-skinny-quick dieting, poor self-confidence and poor self-trust. The what-the-hell effect causes the downfall of several people aiming to break negative dieting habits.
Author Evelin Sullivan reveals in The Concise Book of Lying that alcoholics and self-sabotaging dieters have much in common. Like alcoholics, dieters
use minimal effort to “short-circuit” their knowledge about dieting with a burst of illogical “reasoning.”
Phoebe’s impatience with her body short-circuited her common sense and erased all the rules of successful dieting. As many dieters can empathize, Phoebe wants to be skinny now. Not two weeks from now, and certainly not three months from now, but NOW! What’s more, and ironically enough, she does not trust herself to lose this weight fast enough.
This rush makes Phoebe desperate, and desperate people can do stupid things like promise to starve themselves for three days hoping to become skinny.
When the results Phoebe expects don’t materialize, she panics, loses track of her goal, and gives in to her doomed-to-fail, stress-laden diet.
Here’s how to avoid and handle the what-the-hell effect:
Only use a diet that educates you about how your body works. Agree to lose weight slowly. Don’t beat yourself up for overeating. Acknowledge that you overate and that you are still a lovable, worthwhile human being. Then, get back on course with your diet.