> Results from the current multilab registered replication of the ego-depletion effect provide evidence that, if there is any effect, it is close to zero. [1]
> Taken all together, experiments conducted at 24 different labs showed no signs whatsoever of Baumeister and Tice’s original effect. [2]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion#Reproducibility_...
[1] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17456916166528...
[2] http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/cover_story...
A reservoir of easy to store for long periods of time food source is a national security issue for every state, so it tends to be subsidized everywhere.
Stable foods can be shipped and stored more cheaply.
This coupled with the native desire for salty/sweet/fat puts the modern human at a terrible disadvantage in our current environment.
This is one reason why I think that dieting advice that is simple and straightforward has the most success. Some examples:
1. Cut out all sugar-sweetened beverages. This is a pretty easy rule to follow, and even if you find yourself missing a soda or something, my recommendation is to buy something like unsweetened iced tea and then add a couple sugar cubes - you'll be likely to add much less sugar than if you buy sweetened tea.
2. Cut out any refined carbohydrates. This was certainly harder for me, but since the rule is so simple and easy to follow, whenever I got hungry for carbs I had to make due with fruits or vegetables, so I ended up eating a lot fewer calories in any case, got more of other nutrients, and eventually just got "bored" with trying to find a snack and stopped eating until my next mealtime.
Here's a shopping list for three meals, see if you can guess what they are?
1 kg apples, 1 kg other fruit in season, White unsweetened yogurt, Unsweetened granola, Garlic, 1 can diced tomato (no salt, no sweetener, just tomatoes), 1 onion, Olive oil, 150 gr dry pasta (bonus points for "integral pasta" -- don't know the translation, "pasta integrale" in Italian), Baby spinach leaves, Cherry tomatoes, Risotto rice, White wine, Broth in powder, Butter
Buon appetito.
Meal 2: Half of the white wine
Meal 3: Everything else, other half of the white wine
For protein, tomorrow buy a can of chickpeas, one of tomatoes, some spices and some basmati and make "chana masala".
In the UK I think that's variously: whole wheat pasta, wholemeal pasta, wholegrain pasta, or brown pasta.
This is key for me. My wife loves variety and so she struggles with counting calories.
I prefer simple and known-to-be-delicious, and so I know about how much each of my meals is going to affect me. I came to hate calorie counting pretty quickly, and with that I came to hate eating out, because it's the hardest to count. And I'm not yet convinced that I've ever actually counted enough calories for any meal when eating out. There's so much self-deception involved, both my own and the people who are supposedly reporting the calories, both officially and unofficially.
I can't be bothered with all that, intermediate fasting (ie having a limited window of time in which you allow yourself to eat) seems to be a great workaround that leads to calorie restriction with less of the fuss.
After a few months, you’ll know the macros in everything without having to check labels, and the shopping/meal prep becomes easy because you know the right ratios of the things you buy and you’ve cooked them many times before. If a reframing might help, consider it an investment in yourself that pays off for life.
To some extent you always need to manage your caloric intake of course - but if you exercise regularly, the occasional indulgence isn’t a big deal.
Running is quite good for this, it will tell you how things are going, far better than any scale.
I noticed that when Im not working out I have poor food choices and when I eat like crap I avoid training or it’s a lot more unpleasant than it should be.
Also training results in physiological changes that help losing fat and be generally healthy. Just make sure you’re not losing too much muscle size with the fat.