Taken together, this research has important implications for those who are looking to lose weight. As my colleague David Robson has explored in depth in his book The Expectation Effect, denying yourself a treat doesn’t automatically mean you will be eating fewer calories overall. In fact, restraint could lead to compensatory overeating later.
What we could instead focus on, says Crum, is trusting our bodies and avoiding food descriptors that suggest deprivation, such as “light”, “low” or “reduced”. A mindset of feeling like you’re not getting enough, could actually be counteracting the work of dieting,” she says.
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