There’s an interesting body of research suggesting that constantly thinking about your weight—tracking, obsessing, checking, comparing—can actually make it harder to lose weight.
It’s paradoxical, but true: repetitive dieting is rarely an effective long-term solution to unwanted weight gain.
The reason isn’t your lack of willpower. It’s cognitive load. When your brain is tied up worrying about how you look or whether you’re doing “enough,” that mental effort eats up the bandwidth you need for self-regulation. If your head is full of noise, it’s a lot harder to make clear, measured decisions. Willpower has nothing to do with it. In fact, trying too hardmay be what’s making it harder.
One study found that dieters performed worse on tasks that required focus—especially when food cues were present (Green et al., 2005). Another showed that excessive body monitoring (called “body surveillance”) increases stress and reduces cognitive performance (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997).
We also know that stress—especially from internalized weight stigma—can elevate cortisol, a hormone that promotes fat storage and makes metabolic regulation more difficult (Tomiyama et al., 2014).
Luckily, you’re not screwed. You just need a better approach.
Focus on what matters: internal cues.
Breaking the dieting cycle starts with breaking restriction. In today’s diet culture, everything has been taken off the table: no carbs, no fat, no sugar, no beans, no... food?
No, no, no.
Restriction creates hyper-vigilance. It amplifies mental noise.
Instead of fixating on what to cut out, shift toward saying yes—yes to foods you enjoy, yes to the internal experience of eating.
If you want to get over a mental block, you need Jedi mind tricks.
You need to master your mind.
Start by eating slowly.
Notice what happens when you try.
Set reminders so you actually remember to try.
And yes—eat whatever you want.
Enjoy it.
This isn’t the one magic solution. There’s also:
• How you talk to yourself inside your own head (your internal dialogue)
• How you see your body
• Whether you move with intention, consistently
• Stress in other areas of your life
• Whether you're financially secure—or constantly worried
• The foods in your kitchen
• Your cooking skills
But eating slowly is the one thing everyone can practice, regardless of context.
It’s food yoga.
A meditation.
It’s simple, but not easy.
Which means it’s worth doing.
And when you do—notice what comes up…
and keep practicing.
