Welcome to the continuing diary series "Let's Read a WHEE Book Together!" This week, we're continuing with David Kessler's The End of Overeating, Chapter 37. If you're just discovering this diary series, you will find links to the previous installments at the bottom of this diary.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
The End of Overeating, by David Kessler, M.D.
Chapter 37: Reversing the Habit
As Clio2 mentioned in her diary last Tuesday, we're now in the fourth part of The End of Overeating. Part Four is titled The Theory of Treatment - after laying out his evidence for the existence of the disorder he calls "conditioned overeating," Kessler now turns to ways to deal with the temptations of hyperpalatable foods.
Conditioned hypereating is a matter of long-standing habits. Overcoming this kind of habit starts with conscious control of one's actions, but eventually new habits, more useful habits, take over. These new habits are built with repeated practice, building a track record of success.
After arguing that conditioned overeaters are all but helpless in the face of the hyperpalatable temptations offered by the food industry and rendered almost powerless by our treacherous neurological reward system, Kessler says:
A sense of powerlessness is one of the biggest obstacles to success. If you feel you have no choice but to engage in a behavior, the arousal that drives it will persist.
Great - NOW you tell us!
However, there is a four-step process that can lead to successful new habits:
- Awareness
- Competing behavior
- Competing thoughts
- Support
By awareness, Kessler means being aware of the situations and triggers that can lead to overeating. It's at the point when one recognizes a trigger or cue that one has a chance for control. According to Yale professor Matthew State,
You have to ask people to specifically pay attention so that they can begin to self-monitor. Once they pay attention, they have a capacity to extinguish the behavior.
The second component is competing behaviors, that is, alternative responses that are incompatible with the problem response. For example, if someone always stops at the bakery on the way home and orders a "dessert" with more calories than the evening meal, one possible "competing behavior" would be changing his/her commute so that the bakery is no longer on the direct way home. However, the competing behavior should be planned BEFORE the cue is likely to be encountered. In the above example, prior planning might involve reminding oneself to take the alternate route BEFORE starting the car for the evening commute - for example, leaving a note on the driver's seat in the morning.
The third step for reversing bad habits and establishing good ones is competing thoughts. By "thoughts," Kessler means verbalizations or self-talk. There's no mention of visualization or kinesthetic modes of thought (at least, not in chapter 37). How is self-talk used? Kessler says:
Our thoughts, and the language we use to express them, can remind us of the consequences of bad habits, guide us to other actions, and heighten the reinforcement value of success.
Unfortunately, I'm not certain that Kessler really "gets it" when it comes to formulating competing thoughts. His example of a competing thought is as follows:
Instead of "That pint of chocolate ice cream looks really good to me; I'll just have a few bites," we can say to ourselves, "I know that I can't have one bite, because it will lead to twenty."
What are we to make of this? It's neither a "guide to other actions" nor a "reinforcement value of success," so it must be a reminder of the consequences of a bad habit - but eating twenty bites of ice cream isn't really a consequence in itself, is it? It's more of an action that leads to undesirable consequences, such as feeling bad about oneself, or having to admit defeat to one's support group.
That leads to the fourth step: support. Having a support group can make the process of breaking old bad habits and making new good ones much, much easier. I don't think any WHEE diary regulars will find this a remarkable conclusion! For one thing, someone else's successful example can inspire us in our own efforts, even when our situation is different. We can learn from others' experiences and research. And as Kessler notes in his wrap-up to chapter 37:
...social engagement itself can serve as a "competing behavior," or substitute reward. It can also reduce the anxiety that accompanies giving up old behavior and the ambivalence you may feel about saying no. And finally, the prospect of disappointing the people you care about, or earning the disapproval of someone who is trying to help, can keep you on track.
Previous chapters from The End of Overeating:
Part 4: The Theory of Treatment
Chapter 36: Invitations to the Brain (reviewed by Clio2)
Part 3: Conditioned Hypereating Emerges
Chapter 35: The Culture of Overeating (reviewed by me)
Chapter 34: Warning Signs in Children (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 33: Nature or Nurture? (reviewed by me)
Chapter 32: Tracing the Roots of Conditioned Hypereating (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 31: Conditioned Hypereating Emerges (reviewed by me)
Chapter 29 (part 2 - emotional eating) (reviewed by me)
Chapter 30: How We Become Trapped (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 29 (part 1): Why We Don't Just Say No (reviewed by me)
Chapter 28: What Weight-Loss Drugs Can Teach Us (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 27: Overeating Becomes More Dangerous (reviewed by me)
Part 2: The Food Industry
Chapter 26: Purple Cows (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 25: The Science of Selling (reviewed by me)
(there are links to Chapters 14 through 24 in my Chapter 25 review)
Part 1: Sugar, Fat, and Salt
Chapter 13: Eating Behavior Becomes a Habit (reviewed by me)
(there are links to Chapters 1 through 12 in my Chapter 13 review)
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
January 3
Sun AM - ???
Sun PM - leevank
January 4
Mon AM - NC Dem (looking at your pecs!)
Mon PM - ???
January 5
Tues AM - ???
Tues PM - Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 38)
January 6
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
January 7
Thurs AM - ???
Thurs PM - ???
January 8
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - ???
January 9
Sat AM - kismet (calorie values of everyday food/what a week of "clean eating" looks like)
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 39)