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. 

What are 10 effects of sleep deprivation?

This is based on a research subject who stayed awake for 11 days without the use of coffee or any medication.  Sleep deprivation is often used as a torture technique. Here's why.

1) Tired brains have to work harder to pump energy into the prefrontal cortex.

2) Simple tasks like dialing a phone number become impossible because of short term memory loss.

3) Long term memory becomes impaired because the brains integrates/stores  memory as experience while sleeping.

4) A tired brain can't focus or keep attention on any one thing; a tired brain is a scattered brain.

5) A tired brain can't plan or make decisions.

6) Automatic systems (habits) become repetitive which is fine if your habits are all good ones, not so good if you are trying to quit smoking or eating junk food.

7) A sleep deprived person takes more risks because a tired brain does not remember consequences or make easy decisions (see # 5)

8) When mice were studied with prolonged sleep deprivation, it showed that they had lost up to 25% of their brain cells.

9) Sleep deprivation can cuase aggression, paranoia, hallucination, mania.

10) Driving while sleep deprived is more dangerous than driving while intoxicated; this is why professional drivers (bus drivers, etc) are banned from working if they have untreated sleep apnea).

What feelings or issues lie underneath procrastination?

This question was recently asked to a group of young mothers and here are their answers.

Procrastination is:

Avoiding change because change is scary.
Feeling unmotivated or depressed.
Fear of success or failure, so better not even to try.
Not knowing how to prioritize.
Struggling with commitment.
Fear of loss, so staying the same is safer.
Fear of the unknown.
Laziness.
Lack of organizational skills.
Perfectionism.
Poor or non-existent work habits.

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.