I don’t think anyone strives to not maintain a healthy weight, or for some to even get to that healthy weight. Most humans desire to be healthy and possess the physically attractive qualities that their society deems as attractive. A popular method of achieving this healthy weight is by dieting. “Dieting”, that cringed-at word that makes many people, think of as torturing your appetite and putting your mind and self-control to the test. But why is it so difficult for many people to diet? It is difficult because there are many factors, cognitive and physiological, that deters your efforts in maintaining a healthy weight. Even dieting, as you will soon find out, could also be a deterrent to your overall healthy weight. As mentioned, there are several factors that can be deterrents in your mission to maintain a healthy weight. But let’s start with the basics, your liking and preferences for foods. Your food preferences and food acceptance generally originate from the time you were born. First introductions of food types are likely associated with one’s culture and country; therefore we are exposed to those foods first and become accustomed to those foods over time. Because we humans are omnivorous, we can eat a wide variety of foods, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we prefer to. We tend to stick with familiar foods and avoid novel foods, a term known as food neophobia (Deckers, p.74). Neophobia is also based on survival- it protects a person from eating possibly toxic or deadly foods. However, it also comes with its consequences: it doesn’t allow one to try new things and creates reluctance in making necessary dietary changes (Deckers, p.74). From an evolutionary standpoint, the sweetness of sugar we have all come to love was only available in fruits, berries, and honey for our ancestors. Bitterness taste was more of a warning to avoid foods that may be bad and were associated with the taste of dirt, bark, and unripe fruit. According to Deckers (2014), these are reasons as to why today we still prefer sweet over bitter tastes. Also, the early exposure to sweetness to unborn babies from the amniotic fluids may have classically conditioned the unborn child to like sweet over bitter taste (Deckers, p. 75). Because of our preference for sweet [and salty, and fatty] foods, we are more likely to eat foods that contain them rather than other foods that may be more bitter tasting, even if they are healthier for us. Food characteristics also play a major role in eating and maintaining a healthy weight. Not only does the taste of food apply, but also characteristics such as the look, texture, and smell of food contribute to its appeal. Palatability is known as the food quality as determined by variety, texture, temperature, aroma, and flavor (Deckers, p. 125). Foods that are high in palatability are appetizing, delicious, and pleasing to eat whereas foods that are low in palatability are, well, the opposite. We are obviously more inclined to eat foods that have higher palatability, and we often overindulge in those foods. Studies of portion control found that students, with varying appetites and levels of hunger that were all given different amounts of food, ate whatever was given to them regardless of portion amount (Deckers, p 127). So basically, we are more likely to eat more when more is put on our plate. Often times, regardless of food’s palatability, previous experiences of food may factor in one’s preference for that food. Taste aversion refers to a strong dislike of a food’s taste, sight, or smell, because of its association with some negative experience, such as nausea or overindulgence (Deckers, p. 130). Even if the food once had high palatability, aversion will likely overrule unless it is dealt with sooner than later. Which it is best recommended to face the problem head on and to simply eat the food(s) to get over the aversion. On the other end, foods that one once did not have much preference for later enjoyed because of the mere exposure effect (Deckers, p.130). The mere exposure effect, or what I like to call the “more exposure effect”, is when the likeness of foods increases as they are introduced repeatedly. I don’t view this as much as a deterrent to maintaining a healthy weight (unless of course it is something that was exposed that is not good for you), but for more as an aid so that you can “train” yourself into liking new, healthier foods. The last main deterrent of maintaining a healthy weight is you. Believe it or not, personal characteristics play the leading role in what you choose to put on your plate, how much, how often, and in overall diet and health. According to the Boundary Model of Eating (Deckers, p. 133) and the negative feedback system, there are two boundaries that define the comfort zone of our hunger. The lower boundary is hunger and the upper boundary is satiety. Depending on our cognitive and physiological awareness, we are usually able to tell the difference of when we are hungry and when we are full. Some people are able to widen their boundaries, say when they are dieting, so that they may better control their urges and restrain from eating even when they are actually hungry. The problem with too much restraint from eating though can lead to many different problems. From binge-eating to anorexia nervosa, eating disorders are no joke and are physically and emotionally damaging. Typically when too much eating restraint is practiced, physiological forces tend to take over cognitive control and commonly, the typical “dieter” is binge-eating to make up for their previous deprivation. Overall, from what I have learned to best maintain a healthy weight is to be aware of my “boundaries”, eat varieties of foods and to serve up healthy proportions.

Deckers, L. (2014). Motivation: biological, psychological, and environmental. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc