Why are diets so hard to stick to?

A public health researcher at the University of Buffalo recently looked into the question of why follow through on diets is so difficult.

He found that maintaining a diet is a "thinking" event requiring planning, scheming, will power, etc. which are all cognitive skills.

But follow-through on a diet requires good "feelings" in  order to be successful. If one doesn't enjoy the foods in a diet, the diet will fail. A successful diet needs to have a very strong emotional component. If the "thinking" and the "feeling" of a diet are not congruent, the health change will fail.

So the key issue, in designing a new diet, is much more than what's healthiest to eat....but also what are the most enjoyable as well as the healthiest foods to eat. 

Why should we play more?

There are reasons why playing is psychologically good for us.

1) Having fun eases tension and helps creativity. A study done at Northwestern University found that people could solve problems easier after watching comedy.

2) Happy emotions are generated after play, and help people become unstuck and therefore more productive in life.

3) People laugh more while playing and it is now commonly known that health improves with laughter.

4) Play brings us in the present moment, which is also called "flow" or mindfulness, Pleasure is greatest when not regretting the past or worried about the future.

5) Play brings us closer to other people which is a basic need for all humans.

What is my motivational style?

The work of Tamara Lowe states that our brains are hard-wired for motivational styles. Her work is based on 8 years of research on over 10,000 people.

I've included her test for you to try. Self-awareness is the corner stone for making change. The better one understand oneself the easier it is to achieve.

Here's her test for you to try.

Are there ways to improve self-control?

Yes, there are ways to improve self-control.

A main way to maintain self-control is in how we think.

Psychologists have also found that self-control is strongly linked to successful behaviour, higher self-esteem, better interpersonal skills, and better emotional responses.

Dr Fujita from Ohio State University studied ways to improve self-control and came up with the following 3 ways of thinking:

1) Global processing: Those focusing on the big picture (the forest rather than the trees) found self-control easier. For a person wanting to improve diet, this might mean to focus on the goal of good health and how each individual decision about what to eat contributes (or detracts) from that goal.

2) Abstract reasoning: Those focusing more on the end rather than the means. For someone wanting to stick to exercising this might look like focusing on the vision of ideal physical health, rather than the details of the exercise.

3) High-level categorisation: Those focusing on why they were doing something rather than how. This might look like breaking a project into stages and focusing on the goal/why of each stage, rather than specific task of that stage.

The researchers found that those able to stay in touch with the big picture were better able to:

• Avoid instant gratification.
• Make a greater investment to learn more about their health status.
• See temptations as beer & TV as negative (ie distracting from health/exercise).   

How can I plan to sustain my motivation to change ?

Many people think motivation magically arrives and is sustained by itself. The truth is that the more thought and planning we put into a new goal, the greater the possibilities of it's achievement are.

It makes good sense to commit to the techniques of sustaining motivation. Click here for a worksheet on Planning for Sustaining Motivation.  Download the sheet and take notes as you read this.

One Goal: Many of us take on too much at once. The best way to make a lasting change is to focus on one goal at a time. Put all of your change energy on this one goal, until it becomes more of a habit. Focus on one goal at a time.

Inspiration: To be inspired means to feel mentally or emotionally stimulated to do something. The more stimulated you feel, the stronger your chances of success. Many of us go to motivational speakers or read stories of successful people to nurture our inspiration.  Stock up on sources of inspirational material to keep you going as you pursue your goal. Use this as your bedtime reading as you continue to work on your goal.

Passion & Excitement: This is a tad different than inspiration. Once stimulated to make a change, we also have to create enough energy to continue with it. One very good way is to visualize success, visualize as often as possible, make a vision board, talk to others who are excited for you. Find a way to keep this energy going. See it, smell it, feel it, hear it.

Anticipation: Looking forward to the day you start working on the goal will help build energy and motivation.  How do you feel when looking forward to a party, or a trip, or a nice dinner out?  You can generate this same feeling of anticipation when planning to start a new wellness goal. Mark a date a week, or two, in advance and spend that time preparing for the big day.  Make sure you plan all aspects of implementing your new goal.

Advertise: Post your goal. Make a simple sign of only a few words, and put it all over your house or office where you will be reminded of your focus. Get creative. Use pictures, words, email reminders, anything will do as long as it helps build your excitement.

Public Commitment: Hold yourself accountable by making public statements to friends, family, community. It's much harder to back down knowing others are cheering you on. Find or even create your own support group.

Daily Thought:  Find a way to remind yourself daily of your goal. Do one small thing everyday towards your goal. Send yourself email messages.  Get friends to take turns phoning or texting you.

Support: It's much more diffucult achieving a goal alone. Make sure you have people you can call on if you're feeling discouraged or unmotivated. Make these arrangements ahead of time. It's best to find a support group or system to help you sustain your motivation.

Ebb and flow: It's normal for motivation to come and go. Don't give up if feeling discouraged. All of the planning you are doing will help sustain you during the times of ebb.

Benefits: The painful or uncomfortable aspects of  change are much easier to think about than the benefits. Train yourself to focus on benefits. Post lists of the benefits throughout your home or office. Create some way to help you remember the reason why you are wanting this change.

Positive Thinking:  Watch your thoughts and notice if you are going towards negative thinking.  Take the negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Affirmations can help. Post-its can help. Snapping rubber bands on your wrists can help. Be creative. Have fun.

Start Small: When setting your goal make sure it is small enough to be manageable. Your coach will make sure your goal is well articulated using the SMART system. It's too easy to get overwhelmed by lofty goals, and then just give up completely.

I know some of the above points can be overlapping, but it makes sense to tease out every aspect of your new goal, so that should the going get tough....you have backup already prepared.

There is nothing wrong with finetuning your plans as you go. You may have new ideas,  find better ways of support, or need to rethink the goal. Remember there's always a Plan A, and a Plan B, and a Plan C.

Why don't exercisers crave their workouts despite "runners high" ?

Why is it that many have to force themselves to work out, even though exercise releases feel good hormones such as dopamine and endorphines? A UBC researcher (Matthew Ruby) recently asked the same question and surveyed numerous gym members to find out.

People are generally bad at predicting how they'll feel in the future.  The early unpleasantness of exercise causes a short-sightedness so that people tend not to focus of the future "high" of working out, but remain reluctant due to the initial discomfort.... and therefore often forgo their exercise commitment.

So how can this research be useful for those wanting to step up their exercise program?  First of all, to focus only on the good feelings that come later in the routine. Secondly, to rearrange the routine starting with  favourite exercises.  Both these strategies can increase motivation to stick to the routine.

What's the best way to commit to a goal?

It's relatively easy to get distracted from our goals mainly due to lack of commitment. People don't commit to goals they don't expect to achieve. Psychological researchers (Oettingen et al., 2001) found that the most effective way to force people to decide whether their goals were achievable was to contrast the positive vision of the problem solved with the negative aspects of their reality.

The "contrasting technique" seems to work because people don't like inconsistencies between what they have, with what they want. There's something about focusing on this difference either confirms that achievement is either possible or not. If not, they let the goal go. If achievement seems possible, commitment follows.

The other two goal attainment techniques
1) positive visualization of problem solved, and
2) dwelling of negativity of the present

were not as effective as combining the two.  Psychologist call the process of  combining incompatibilities as  cognitive dissonance.
This mental contrasting makes people ask themselves if the goal is really something worth pursuing.

Here is a goal committment worksheet to help you work through the process described above.
    

What is intrinsic motivation?

Motivation is the drive which pushes people to take action. The stronger the motivation the stronger the intention to follow through with decisions. Action is always preceded by motivation

There are 2 types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation is when drive comes as a result of some sort of inner reward, as opposed to extrinsic (outer) rewards such as trophies, approval, medals, money, rewards, etc.

Intrinsic motivation comes when someone has fun doing what they do, it makes them feel good,  they like the activity.

Too many extrinsic rewards can end up undermining intrinsic motivation.