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November 2003: Why diets make you crabby
Welcome to this month's issue of the Inner Brat newsletter. What is
the inner brat? It's the seemingly irresistible, impulsive force inside
every one of us, that makes us say and do things we later regret. Bad
habits, problem tempers and other self-defeating behaviors and thoughts
are products of the inner brat.
A voice inside you screams, "I want it!" or "I can't stand it!" or "Why
me?!" Sound familiar? That's your inner brat. You can't get rid of
it completely, but you can learn to tame it.
This free monthly newsletter, written by a clinical psychologist with
over 28 years of experience, explains how the inner brat works, and
presents tips for putting you in charge of your inner brat.
To read past issues of this newsletter, visit
http://drwallin.com/newsletter/
NOTE: The inner brat is NOT a psychiatric diagnosis. If you are having
difficulty just getting through the day, this is more than just your
inner brat. In this case you are advised to consult a mental health
professional.
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Written and Published by:
Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
Author, "Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide to Transforming Self-defeating
Behavior"
http://www.innerbrat.com
Copyright 2003 Pauline Wallin. All rights reserved.
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Welcome to the November, 2003 issue of the Inner Brat Newsletter.
Welcome, new readers. If you enjoy this newsletter, please forward it
to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. All they need to do is
to send a blank email message to innerbrat-subscribe@topica.com.
If you have comments or questions, feel free to email me at
.
IN THIS ISSUE
> Why diets make you crabby
> Inner brats in the news
> How have you tamed your own inner brat?
> Inner brat tip of the month:
> Distribution information
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Why diets make you crabby
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If you’ve ever been on a diet you know the feeling of irritability that
sets in after a few days. Nutrition experts have attributed this
feeling to a physical state of deprivation, such as low blood sugar or
dehydration.
While these conditions do have a definite effect on mood, they don’t
tell the whole story. Consider the fact that you are not ALWAYS crabby
when hungry or thirsty, even though your body may be in a state of
deprivation.
Diet-related crabbiness stems not just from your body’s physical state,
but also from mental fatigue. As you know, it takes concentrated
effort
to change your eating habits. That effort uses up mental strength,
which gets depleted.
According to psychological research by Dr. Roy Baumeister and his
colleagues, mental strength operates similarly to physical strength.
Suppose, for example, you’ve just spent the afternoon moving furniture.
By the time you’re done, you don’t have much strength left to play
tennis.
In the same way, when you’ve spent the day exercising self-control with
food, you don’t have much strength left for controlling your behavior
in
other situations. Thus, you’re more likely to snap back at someone,
lose your patience easily, or overreact to minor frustrations.
** IN INNER BRAT TERMS, HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS:
~ You start off the day feeling OK, determined to stay on your diet.
This takes some effort. If you’ve been used to having a donut or sweet
roll for breakfast, it requires effort to eat something different.
When
you turn on the TV or radio you’re confronted with food ads designed to
make your mouth water. It takes effort to ignore these temptations.
~ While you’re trying to ignore the food ads, your inner brat notices
every single one. It nags you in the back of your mind: “I want that .
. . I must have it.” Your inner brat’s nagging intensifies the
cravings. You become involved in a struggle between short-term
gratification (your inner brat) and your long-term goal of losing
weight. This, too, takes effort.
~ As the day progresses and you continue to resist old eating habits,
your mental strength is gradually depleted. This makes it harder for
you to keep the lid on your frustration or control your temper. In
other words, your inner brat gets the better of you.
~ It’s no coincidence that most people end up overeating later in the
day, when their mental strength is at its low point. By this time it
seems like too much work to resist, so you give into your cravings.
Is it any wonder that most diets fail? But all is not bleak. You can
train yourself to increase your mental strength. To some extent, the
mind works like a muscle. After a period of rest, mental strength
regenerates itself. For more on this, see the January, 2003 Inner Brat
Newsletter, “The Good News and Bad News About Self-control.” You can
read it here: http://drwallin.com/newsletter/pw-03-01.shtml
Also, see my Inner Brat tip of the month (below) for hints on how to
manage your moods during a diet.
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In my book, "Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide to Transforming
Self-defeating Behavior," you can read more about how to change bad
habits.
There are 4 ways to buy this book:
~Visit your local bookstore
~Order online from my web site, http://www.innerbrat.com
~click here to go to Amazon.com: http://shorterlink.com/?I5P5U1
-You can also order by telephone directly from the publisher (503)
531-8700. Ask for the "Friends and family" rate to receive a discount.
#############################################
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Inner Brats in the News
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In a case of “trick-or-treat rage,” a man was arrested after
vandalizing
a house on Halloween night. His son had complained that the woman at
the house had not given him any candy. The man and his son confronted
the woman who claimed that she had given the boy candy. The father then
smashed a bird feeder and threw a pumpkin through her window.
=========================================================
A case that reached the Nevada Supreme Court was finally dismissed. A
woman had been a passenger in a car that smashed through a homeowner's
cinder block wall, and landed in the flower bed. She claims that her
injuries were caused by the homeowner's negligence in placing the
flower
bed in the wrong place.
=========================================================
A man shot his attorney outside a court house. He was reportedly angry
because the attorney and the court-appointed manager of his trust fund
would not release money to him for surgery. He had previously
threatened the trustee. The whole incident was captured on videotape
by
news photographers who happened to be there at the time.
=========================================================
For more stories about brats in the news visit my website
http://www.drwallin.com/news.shtml
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How have you tamed your own inner brat?
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Read stories of people who are working on taming their inner brats.
Contribute your own story. You can remain anonymous. Go to:
http://www.drwallin.com/innerbrat_contrib.shtml
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Inner brat tip of the month: Manage your moods while dieting
***********************************************************
Dieting uses up mental strength. When you’ve been vigilant in
monitoring your food intake, you have less strength left over for
controlling your behavior in other areas of your life. Here are some
tips for minimizing and dealing with bad moods while dieting:
1. Conserve your mental strength. Be selective in taking on
unnecessary stressors.
2. Stick to a routine as much as possible. This reduces the number of
decisions you have to make, and thereby saves mental energy.
3. Set up your environment so that you avoid temptation:
~ Don’t keep junk food at home or in your desk at work.
~ When food-related TV commercials come on, change the channel.
~ At the grocery store avoid the aisles that hold snack foods.
Your inner brat will try to talk you out of this. Don’t listen. The
less you come in contact with reminders of your old eating habits, the
less you will need to draw on your mental strength. In these kinds of
situations, the old saying, “out of sight, out of mind” is truly
applicable.
4. Watch out for negative self-talk. If you find yourself thinking
“This is awful” or “I can’t stand this” you will only magnify your bad
mood. Instead say to yourself, “OK, so I’m not at my best. Just wait
it out for a little while longer.”
5. Take responsibility for your mood. If you do get irritable, avoid
picking arguments. If necessary, involve yourself in a solitary
physical task, away from other people. Your bad mood will pass, you’ll
keep your inner brat under control, and you’ll emerge on the other side
with additional strength.
Until next month,
Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
http://www.innerbrat.com
DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION: This newsletter may be quoted, reprinted, or
forwarded to others as long as the content is not changed and the
subscription, copyright, and contact information is included. If you would
like to post this newsletter on a website, please contact me for
permission at
NOTE: The content in this newsletter is for informational purposes
only. It is not intended as a substitute for personal consultation with a
professional, or as any type of psychological service.
Copyright 2003 Pauline Wallin. All rights reserved.
