By Gabe Sanders Ph.D., NSCA-CSCS
The diet derailment syndrome is not a scientific term, rather a concept which most people understand all too well. The diet derailment syndrome occurs when you begin a diet and you stick to that diet for a day, a week, or even months. Then you encounter an event, a party, or a holiday gathering in which food is abundant and the food available lacks healthy options.
At this event, you choose to consume these unhealthy foods, and more often these are trigger foods. These foods trigger a brain pathway that stimulates pleasure. Once that pleasure pathway is stimulated, it is difficult to stop continuously stimulating that pleasure pathway. Insert the diet derailment syndrome, as now you want and crave more trigger foods and you give in to the pleasant sensation of these foods, thus ruining your diet temporarily or permanently.
Take a step back, you have control!
Taking a step back and looking at this process, eating trigger foods does not have to lead to long-term diet failure. If you notice, there is a key concept within this process. The most important concept is that you have control, yes, I said the word, “you!”
When dieting or eating any type of food, in the end, you are the person that places the food into your mouth. Humans have 100% control of their diet if they choose. However, the challenge is to exert self-control when eating certain types of foods and consuming proper amounts of foods.
For example, I can control what I eat most of the time, however, for some unknown reason, I have a hard time portion controlling meals that include pasta or pizza. Then the combination of both pasta and pizza would be catastrophic for me! While I joke about the combination, I know that in the end, I can control this overindulgence, it is just extremely hard, mentally because I love the taste of pizza!
“If it is meant to be, it is up to me”!
As the popular saying goes, “If it is meant to be, it is up to me!” This concept holds true in many different disciplines, but perhaps it is most true when engaging in diet and exercise regimens. You are the gatekeeper to a better, healthier you. The most effective way to start a diet is to start with your mindset and determine that you are in control. Then this diet must begin each day with the fact that you are in control. If you do have a “bad eating day” then avoid the diet derailment syndrome with positive self-talk, “I am in control of what I am going to eat!”
Article’s Sources
Vidal, Pablo, et al. “Lack of adherence to follow-up visits after bariatric surgery: reasons and outcome.” Obesity surgery 24.2 (2014): 179-183.
Berry, Michael P., et al. “Discrepancies Between Clinician and Participant Intervention Adherence Ratings Predict Percent Weight Change During a Six-Month Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention.” Translational behavioral medicine 11.4 (2021): 1006-1014.
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