Psychiatrist Reveals Why We Cheat on Diets and How We Can Stop

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 13, 2005

Psychiatrist and author Dr. Anthony J. Burlay reveals several factors effecting a dieter’s decision to eat foods outside of their diet plan in his article “Why Do We Cheat on Our Diet and How Can We Stop?” With the number of overweight and obese at pandemic proportions, according to Dr. Burlay, a dieter’s ability to stick to their plan is vital to stem the growing burden obesity places on our nation’s health and finances.

Knowing the negative consequences of cheating on our diets, almost every dieter does it, sometimes so much so that they see cheating as part of their diet. Dr. Burlay says some of the factors effecting decisions to cheat include:

• Morality

• Emotions

• The need for immediate gratification

• A diet plan’s lack of variety

• Our need for snacks and desserts

• Daily weighing

• Special occasions

• Conformity

“These are powerful factors in making day-to-day food choices,” says Dr. Burlay. Regarding foods as “good or bad” has a significant impact on how we feel about ourselves after cheating, Dr. Burlay says. Attaching morality to foods and using food to curb unwanted emotions, a practice especially common among women, are often the most difficult cheating triggers to overcome. “Society bombards us with ideas that certain foods are ‘bad,’…we grow up getting lollypops to help us feel better after we fall down. Despite this, dieters can change the way they think about food,” he says.

Other factors can also be overcome with a little effort. Changing from daily to weekly weigh-ins can keep a dieter from heading down the cheating path, as can planning for unexpected situations such as seeing free samples of your favorite cake, or that office party or weekend get-together.

“Remove the commonplace notion of ‘cheating’ as a benign entity and realize these are active, moment-to-moment decisions. This change in thinking can go a long way to help you reach your weight loss goal,” says Dr. Burlay.

The full text of Dr. Burlay’s article is available at http://www.foundationdiet.com/dietcheaters.htm

About Anthony J. Burlay M.D.:

Board Certified in General and Addictions Psychiatry, Dr. Burlay received his Bachelor and Medical Degrees from the University Of Maryland. He is the author of “The Foundation Diet: Your Body Was Designed to Eat,” (Zen-Fusion Publishing, $22.95) a plan which focuses on helping dieters change the way they think about the roll of food in their lives. He developed “The Foundation Diet” after losing and keeping off over 50 pounds. “The Foundation Diet” is available at major book retailers and Amazon.com. Find out more information at foundationdiet.com.

Media: An Adobe PDF press kit and high resolution, print quality graphic of The Foundation Diet dust jacket (file size 3433286) is available for download at http://www.foundationdiet.com/media.htm. For other inquiries, including interview and article requests, please contact Candice Pascal.

###