Big changes in direction come from the rudder, not the oars.
Have you ever decided to go on a diet, and found yourself munching on a piece of cake four days after starting on your new eating plan? You know that eating cake while trying to lose weight is an irrational thing to do, but there seems to be some driving force which makes it impossible to resist.
Why is it that we typically fall off the wagon when we are tired? Why are we more likely to lapse when we are emotional after an argument? Why does our resolve seem to fade after a few days?
One answer to these questions is that we are shifting between two types of processing.
A human being is an animal designed to be as efficient as possible with the resources available. We have amazing sensory systems, but unfortunately our brains are just not powerful enough to process consciously all the information we receive. Instead, our brains use two different modes – one automatic and the other conscious – to react to changes going on around us, rather like a pilot flying a plane. We take some decisions consciously, but we can leave lots of the details to the autopilot.
The first, the autopilot, is an automatic, reliable and repetitive habit system. This system is incredibly consistent and loves regularity, which is great because it is the one responsible for ensuring that key behaviours like eating and sleeping happen on a regular basis. This makes a lot of sense: there wouldn’t be much point in having a system for maintaining essential daily behaviours which fatigued after a day or two.
The second is our amazing, highly advanced system of conscious decision-making, which allows us to think rationally and make long term plans. When you make a lifestyle change, like going on a diet, you are using your conscious decision-making.
This all sounds very academic, but actually we are so used to switching between these two modes that we hardly even notice it. Take walking, for example. Usually, walking happens on autopilot and you don’t think about how you are doing it, but you consciously override this system when necessary, for example when you stop to look for cars at a crossing.
Having these two modes – one controlling automatic actions and the other controlling conscious decisions – is a really great way of working because it allows us to focus our attention on things that need more sophisticated thought processes, for instance, conversations and planning. Most things we need to do, like remembering to eat, moving from one place to another and going to sleep at the proper times, can normally be solved by the brain using simple rules, leaving our conscious thought to focus on more complicated problems, such as how to resolve a fight with a friend.
The problem is that while our conscious decision-making can lead to better choices, this conscious decision-making system will get tired very quickly – long before your habit systems will. When that happens, your behaviour will be controlled by your habits once more and you will revert back to your lifestyle as it was before you decided to shed the pounds.
This is why preparation and making an intelligent plan is so important in successfully attaining and, more importantly, sustaining weight loss. A great deal of behaviour which appears to be based on conscious processes – your decisions and choices throughout the day – is in fact not. It’s guided by complex existing habit structures, so before we can begin making useful changes, we need to figure out what our existing habits are.
Accepting that you might not be able to “decide” your way to your goal is often the first step in making a plan which will actually work.
Lauren Hull
Better Body Group, Sevenoaks
