I saw this great story on Mark’s Daily Apple the other day. It was all about why people don’t give up the foods they like even when they know they’re unhealthy. It was interesting reading but it didn’t really answer the bottom line question, why do people eat when they know they shouldn’t? Forget specifics like why do people still eat gluten or carbs or whatever the bad nutrient of the week is, why do people overeat in general? Why do we load up on the calories when we know better? Even more importantly, how do we stop this from happening?

This is a problem that I wrestled with quite often. Even these days, after losing all the weight, feeling so much better, feeling healthier and being happier, you can put me in front of a Sizzler’s all you can eat steak and shrimp buffet and, 13 plates later, I’ll be regretting my poor decision making skills. How many of you have done the same thing? How many times have you told yourself, “today is the day I start eating healthier” only to find yourself at noon time scarfing down a big mac, fries and a milk shake? It’s odd, even though we know we shouldn’t and even though we felt so resolved and strong when we made the promise to eat better, we still find ourselves eating crap only a few hours or days later.

Enter The Economist

Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist at Duke University. He studies why people make irrational decisions in fields such as finance, politics, ethics and health. By the way, if you’re interested, I would highly recommend that you pick up his book, Predictably Irrational, it’s fascinating reading and highly entertaining.

One of Ariely’s most interesting experiments was around decision making when we’re excited. The experiment in question actually revolved around sexual decision making but it’s quite applicable to our own overeating issue. In the experiment, Ariely asked a group of subjects to make decisions regarding their sexual preferences. He then asked them to make the same decisions while they were in a state of arousal. Surprisingly (or not, depending on how honest you are with yourself), people made bad decisions when excited. For example, people who said they would never be willing to have unsafe sex were more than willing to do so when excited. What’s the point? The point is making a decision while excited is a bad idea. This applies to food just as much as it applies to sex.

Make The Decision Now, Not Later

When I’m at Sizzler’s staring at a plate of shrimp, my brain is not thinking about health. Well, let me correct that, a portion of my brain is thinking about that but another portion is overriding it with the thought of “MORE SHRIMP NOW!!!!” Remember, we evolved in an environment where food was scarce. It makes sense that our brains are extremely motivated to get more food at all costs.  Eating as much food as possible was a survival instinct, and like most instincts, it’s extremely difficult to override. So the point at which you find yourself eating too much is already too late to make a good decision.

The trick is making the decision ahead of time, before instinct takes over. For example, Ariely recommends keeping a condom with you if there’s a chance you’ll be having sex. That way you don’t need to think too much about getting one and there’s less chance of your basic instincts overriding your better judgement. In other words, it’s easier to fight your instinct for “SEX NOW!” when the condom is in your pocket as opposed to when it’s two rooms away. This is similar to leaving your credit card at home when you go to the mall. You make the decision not to spend ahead of time as opposed to when you’re all excited about buying something you can’t afford.

How Do We Apply This To Food?

I’ve found several very good ways to apply this method to food:

• Tell my friends ahead of time that I no longer want to go to buffets – This means they don’t suggest them and I don’t get excited about them. In essence, I’ve made the decision not to go to buffets ahead of the actual decision point when I might be excited about unlimited food. I’ve done the same with fast food by the way.
• When I go out for lunch, I take a single 5 dollar bill with me – It’s very hard to overeat on 5 dollars. At best, I’m going to get a small sandwich or maybe a taco or two. Without a credit card or more cash, I’ve made the decision to not eat too much in advance, before being faced with a cornucopia of unhealthy choices.
• At home I don’t keep any readily accessible foods – Food at home needs to take a while to prepare. That keeps me from making a stupid spur of the moment decision to eat a whole bag of Doritos. Instead, I keep ingredients, or things that need to be prepared to be edible. That way the instinct for “FOOD NOW!” fights with the instinct of “IM LAZY!” and laziness usually wins. ::
• Don’t go to the kitchen – This is silly but effective. If you’re like me and work in an office environment where free food is available in the kitchen, how about minimizing the time you spend there? For example, I brought a large water bottle to work. I fill it in the morning and it lasts me all day. This eliminates at least two or three water trips to the kitchen, which makes me less likely to snack on the free candy available there.

These are all examples of ways in which you can make the right decision ahead of time. By doing this you lower the odds of being overwhelmed by the “MORE FOOD NOW” instinct and regretting your decisions.  Remember, it’s not shameful to make a bad decision when excited, it’s just human instinct.  Instead of resolving to “be stronger” just “be smarter” and out think your instincts in advance.

Happy Eating!

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Thank you to whoever shared a link to 60 in 3 on facebook.  The publicity was greatly appreciated and I hope your friends enjoy the articles.