Lifestyle Choices

Behavioral psychologists begin with the notion that eating behavior is learned and maintained as a result of interaction between you and your environment. And their definition of environment includes everything around you—people, events, things you see and respond to. These psychologists are not very interested in deep-seated motives for compulsive eating and they acknowledge that there is nothing you can do to change your genetic inheritance. But what you can do, they say, is to get to grips with overweight by looking at it as a voluntary disorder brought about by habit and environmental stimuli (remember how the habit of eating at certain times or the sight of food triggers hunger in overweight people). Change your environment, they say, and you will alter your habits and your eating patterns so you lose weight and keep it off.

Although the behaviorists tend to be somewhat simplistic in their approach, they emphasize quite rightly that the woman who wants to lose weight has to take responsibility for herself. It is a down-to-earth approach that offers a lot of help to dieters. It gives you things to do that help break through unconscious eating habits, and makes use of all that is known about overweight people and the triggers that spur them to eat. It also teaches you that you can have control over your own eating instead of letting it control you. And for many women who have long struggled with the battle of the bulge, finding this out also makes them aware that they have control over their own lives—a kind of magic wand that gives them entrance to all sorts of places and pleasures they never thought possible.

Behaviorists dismiss the idea that willpower is an important part of weight loss. They claim that a lasting change in your food habits is brought about not by willpower (the “should I or shouldn’t I eat that delicious-looking pastry” syndrome) but by awareness of your behavior patterns and conscious decisions about how you can change them for the better. Here’s how to put their techniques into practice.

Step One: Take a Look at Where You Eat

Most overweight people are stimulated to eat by external factors such as the time on the clock, the sight of food, or habits such as always having a snack when the television is on. So the first thing you need to do is limit the number of places you eat and cut out other activities such as talking on the telephone or watching television while you are eating. This eliminates much unconscious eating right away. It also forms new habits so that instead of being reminded of food every time you turn on the television or pick up the telephone, you will simply carry out these activities on their own. And it eliminates the cook’s tasting of foods that can add many hidden calories each day.

So: Decide to eat in one room only.

Decide to eat in one place in that room only (such as at the table).

Decide to do nothing else while you are eating.

Step Two: Take a Look at What You Eat

Every woman has her favorite temptations. The shops are full of them, fattening goodies that manufacturers have cleverly produced and packaged to be eaten at first temptation. Convenience foods like pastries, cakes, and cookies and other snacks are a constant source of temptation for women on a weight-loss diet. Not only that, but most of them are nutritionally inadequate and only rob you of the space you need to take in more complete foods that provide you with everything you need for lasting health and beauty. So when you head for the market, make a careful list of what you will buy and then stick to it. Do not keep temptation foods in the house and you will not be faced with the problem of having to resist them. Another helpful tip is always to go shopping just after a meal. Studies of women’s food buying habits show that they spend almost 20 percent less on food when they shop after a meal than when they shop on an empty stomach. When you are at home, let the sweet-toothed members of the family stick to their desserts at mealtimes while you have your own, and do not leave high-calorie garnishes such as mayonnaise or sour cream on the table at all. Finally, after meals, be sure to empty all the leftovers directly into the garbage can or compost heap so you are not tempted to pick at them.

So: Decide to eliminate high temptation foods from your shopping, table, and cupboard.

Step Three: Consider How Your Food Looks

It matters. Research has shown that the overweight woman is strongly affected by her visual contact with food and it is important to take care how your food is served and prepared. One researcher, Richard E. Stuart, a behaviorist psychologist and adviser to Weight Watchers International, carried out an interesting experiment with plate size. He asked one group of women to serve measured amounts of food on small plates while the other group served exactly the same amounts on ordinary dinner plates. Seventy percent of the women in the small-plate group reported a feeling of greater satisfaction than those in the large plate group, even though all the women knew how much food was there all along. Researchers have also found that more satisfaction is felt (and therefore the need to eat to excess is reduced) when food is attractively served.

So: Decide to use small plates.

Decide to use measured quantities of food.

Decide to make your food look as attractive as you can.

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