Success/Failure of dieting

• Restraint theory - Define

  Attempting to suppress or deny a thought actually has the opposite effect - making the thought more prominent
• Restraint theory - research

  • Herman and Mack - attempting not to eat or think about food leads to preoccupation with food.
  • this increases the chances of overeating therefore restraint is counter productive and self defeating.
  • Overtime, instead of weight loss, it leads to weight gain and failure of the diet
• Restraint theory - two types of restraint 


  • rigid restraints - unrealistic e.g. extremely low calorie limits
  • flexible restraints - less strict e.g. just cutting out sugar
  • Positive correlation between those who engage in rigid restraint and body fat, waist circumference and BMI
• Boundary Model - normally what we do 


  • Normally, we eat until we are full - based on a physiological limit - based on body weight set point
• Boundary model - what restrained eaters do 


  • restrained eaters - cognitive boundary - to restrain the amount they eat. Thus have two limits - physiological one and self imposed cognitive one
  • Restrained eaters try to eat up to or less than their self imposed cognitive boundary
• Boundary model - if restrained eaters go past their cog boundary

  • if they go over it, they eat beyond their physiological limit experiencing the "what the hell" effect
• Boundary Model - what if they place the cog boundary too low


  • if they place the cog boundary too low they're more likely to keep going over it often and eating a lot more.
  • With time, the physiological limit shifts to allow them to eat more, leading to failure of diet
• Eval points for success/failure of diet

  • S - supporting evidence for focusing on details in successful dieting (Redden)
  • S - support for restraint as a reason for failure of dieting (Wegner et al)
  • W - understanding relies on anecdotal evidence.
  • S - supporting evidence for the role of restraint (Wardle and Beales)
  • S - supporting evidence for the role of the "what the hell" (Herman and Mack)
• S - research support for restraint theory. Wardle and Beales randomly assigned 27 obese women - restrained diet group, exercise group or a non-treatment group over 7 weeks. Found over several assessments, women = restrained diet ate more than women in exercise and non-treatment group as predicted by restraint theory. S bc - when a diet involves restraint, can lead to over eating - plausible that restraint can lead to failure of diet. Decrease V
• S - support for Boundary Model. Herman + Mack - group of dieters and non-dieters either a high or low calorie preload. Found - non-dieters used compensatory regulatory beh and ate less during the taste test after the high calorie preload. Dieters ate more in the taste test if they had the high calorie preload than when they had the low calorie preload. S bc shows that when restrained eaters go beyond their cog limit, due to receiving the high calorie preload, they do infact exp the "what the hell" effect and therefore overeat. Plausible that this effect will lead to failure of diet. Increase V
• What does research by Redden suggest the secret of successful dieting is

  Research by Redden suggests that the secret of successful dieting lies in the attention we pay to what is being eaten.
• Why are regimental diets hard to stick to

  Regimental diets are hard to stick to bc ppl usually dislike exps when they repeat them
• How to overcome disliking repeated experiences/overcome regimental diets

  • Must pay attention to subtle food details instead of thinking of food in a generic way
  • e.g. instead of thinking of a meal as just a salad, think of it as a chicken salad on one day and an olive salad on another
• What does having a specific focus on detail do

  • Having a specific focus on detail makes the diet feel less mundane
  • Dieters are less likely to get bored and can better maintain a diet
• What is self monitoring

  In order for a diet to be successful, dieters should monitor their progress in an objective and measurable way
• Why does self monitoring help

  • Helps dieters see progress
  • Stay motivated
  • Make changes in targets if necessary
  • Gives the individual a sense of control
• Ways to self monitor

  • Food diaries
  • Keeping track of weight
  • Using other objective measurement devices
• S - support for restraint as a reason for failure of dieting. Wegner et al - white bear problem. Ps asked to verbalise their thoughts for 5 minutes. Asked not to think about white bears but to ring a bell if they did. This group thought rang the bell more than the group who were asked to think about white bears. S bc shows actively restraining thoughts about a topic leads to preoccupation with that topic. Plausible that attempting to suppress thoughts about food will lead to preoccupation with food therefore overeating -failure of fiet. Increase V of expl
• S - supporting evidence - successful dieting. Redden - 135 Ps, 22 jelly beans each, one at a time. While Ps ate jelly beans, info was flashed on a screen in front of them. G1 saw generic info about the bean e.g. "bean num 1". G2 saw flavour specific details e.g. "cherry flavour num 4". Ps asked to rate their enjoyment as task went on. Found - Ps given flavour specific details enjoyed the beans for longer. Shows that paying attention to subtle food details makes the process of eating them less mundane. Plausible - focusing on details in a diet makes it less mundane, thus leading to success. /v
• W - understanding of what leads to a success/failure of dieting relies on anecdotal evidence. Studies of dieting success/failure rely on personal accounts of individuals to justify claims about success/failure of dieting strategies. 1. self report - Ps may give answers they deem to be socially desirable to impress R e.g. may say they adhered to a strict diet when they didn't. 2. often retrospective - Ps may give inaccurate details regarding what led to success/failure of diet. Memory of Ps acts as an EV. 3. subjective perspective of what led to their success/failure of diet. Chair logic