Appetite for Destruction
Do you think that sticking to a diet is all about willpower and dedication? Well, not so, according to a study printed in the February 2010 issue of Appetite and posted on Science Direct. While motivation and dedication play a role in diet adherence, diet complexity matters more in whether you will stick with it.
The researcher team, lead by by Juta Mutta, found that people were more likely to stick to diet that was simple and laid out menu plans and recipes like Brigitte, the German diet program. They compared two diet plans, the German recipe plan and Weight Watchers points plan, in a sample group of 390 participants. Perceived rule complexity was the strongest factor in whether the participants stuck with the program.
"Even if you believe you can succeed, thinking the diet is cognitively complex can undermine your efforts," said Mata, now a professor of psychology at Stanford University.
Mata added that dieting is more than just in your head and relies on environmental factors, such as removing the cookies and other snacks from the pantry, as well as choosing a diet plan that will work for you. Should you decide to choose a plan that's more complex, evaluate the diet rules before beginning to make sure it's plan you can stick with. If it requires doing a lot of calculations and monitoring, you may give way to the complexity after a while and "fall off of the wagon."
This is where many dieters resign themselves to failure. In addition, the researchers said that the longer you can stick to your diet plan, the more likely you are to be able to maintain the weight loss in the future.
What about me?
In truth, I've never liked diets that made me think too hard. I've always liked plans that were pretty much laid out for me. And I've done the best when I have sample menus to go by. So, for me, there seems to be something to this research. What do you think?
"Even if you believe you can succeed, thinking the diet is cognitively complex can undermine your efforts," said Mata, now a professor of psychology at Stanford University.
Mata added that dieting is more than just in your head and relies on environmental factors, such as removing the cookies and other snacks from the pantry, as well as choosing a diet plan that will work for you. Should you decide to choose a plan that's more complex, evaluate the diet rules before beginning to make sure it's plan you can stick with. If it requires doing a lot of calculations and monitoring, you may give way to the complexity after a while and "fall off of the wagon."
This is where many dieters resign themselves to failure. In addition, the researchers said that the longer you can stick to your diet plan, the more likely you are to be able to maintain the weight loss in the future.
What about me?
In truth, I've never liked diets that made me think too hard. I've always liked plans that were pretty much laid out for me. And I've done the best when I have sample menus to go by. So, for me, there seems to be something to this research. What do you think?
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