Turns Out the Strictest Dieters Aren’t the Winners

By Mark J Kaylor

Turns out the people who hold the tightest line on food aren’t the ones who do best over time.

German researchers studied more than 54,000 people in a year-long weight-management program and sorted their eating styles into two kinds of restraint. Rigid control sounds like “never,” “always,” and “well, I already blew it today.” Flexible control sounds like “a smaller piece” and “I’ll balance it out tomorrow.”

The flexible eaters came out ahead on nearly every measure. They had lower body weight, reported eating less overall, binged less often and less severely, and were more likely to lose weight successfully over the year. The rigid eaters showed the opposite pattern.

It makes sense once you see it. A rule with no give turns one cookie into a broken promise, and a broken promise easily turns into the whole sleeve. A flexible boundary bends without snapping, so there’s nothing to rebel against.

The research shows a link rather than proof of cause, and later studies have generally supported it. The lesson holds either way: keep the boundary, lose the wall.

Turns out the firmest grip isn’t the strongest one.

Reference: Westenhoefer J, Stunkard AJ, Pudel V. Validation of the flexible and rigid control dimensions of dietary restraint. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 1999;26(1):53-64.