Saturday, June 16, 2007

willpower is overrated

I knew I was right! Willpower is totally overrated! After eating a plate of brownies for dinner, I was reading Shape magazine, while enjoying a bag of Twizzlers, and I came across an interesting study. Apparently, the people at the Journal of Consumer Research did an experiment that proves my theory.

"Two groups of people were asked to write down any thoughts they had in six minutes; one was told not to think about a specific image (in this case, a white bear). Afterward, individuals in both groups went shopping with the same amount of money. Those who had been required to exercise self-control spent nearly three times as much as those allowed to think freely. The lesson: "Your willpower is limited," says study author Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota. "It's hard to exercise control in more than one major way at a time."

So, there ya go. Just one more reason to live it up and not feel guilty about eating the plate of brownies. It will keep money in the bank!

1 comment:

Imcombobulated said...

That makes so much sense. I, personally, also have trouble with anything as soon as I think about trying to control it. For example, when I try to limit what I eat I feel hungrier and am more likely to overeat than if I were not seeking to limit. The moment I started tracking my food consumption with Weight Watchers, I gained weight. Because I ate more. Not that I'm big. So I say screw it. I'll buy what I want and eat what I want. I am neither an overspender nor an overeater, so I'm fine.

Now I want some brownies...