The GreatDebate: Does Liking or Disliking Food Affect Weight Loss or Gain?
Many people have strong feelings about whether liking or disliking food affects weight loss or gain. Some say if you enjoy eating, it will make you gain weight, while others say if you don’t like what you eat, it won’t matter if you eat healthy or not, because you won’t stick to your plan and you will end up gaining weight. With so many differing opinions on the subject, it can be difficult to determine which side is correct.
How I
Learned That Food Has To Taste Good
It’s a fact that food has to taste good for us to eat it. There’s a catch, though—we don’t all agree on what tastes good. A 2005 study published in Physiology & Behavior looked at how likeability and satiety affect food intake and weight gain. The results showed that participants who liked their meals ate more of them but didn’t gain any more weight than those who disliked their meals. This means liking your food doesn’t necessarily mean you should eat less of it, but also that disliking your food doesn’t mean you should force yourself to finish every bite just because you paid for it.
Convenience
Foods Can Be Healthy
Convenience foods, such as frozen dinners and packaged snacks, are often overlooked in a weight-loss diet—and with good reason. While these foods often have less fat and calories than their traditional counterparts, they’re typically high in sodium and devoid of nutritional value. That being said, convenience food isn’t inherently evil—if it helps you lose weight by giving you an easier alternative to cooking your own meals, so be it. Just remember that eating convenience food will never replace a healthy balanced diet. And don’t forget to read the labels! The Center for Science in the Public Interest found that some convenient options aren’t any better for you than a fast-food meal. For example, while Subway touted its sandwiches as healthy choices, CSPI discovered some of them were no better for you than Mcdonald's! When shopping for convenience foods, make sure to read nutrition labels carefully; try avoiding products with excessive sugar and saturated fats.
Take the
Time to Find What Works for You
No two people are exactly alike. Some of us want to count calories, while others don’t bother. Some of us spend hours at the gym each week, while others can barely spare half an hour. To find what works for you—and what doesn’t—it’s important to understand your biology, psychology, and habits better than anyone else. In other words, you need to know yourself to understand how food affects your weight loss/gain, whether it does or not! If you don’t have a good grasp of these three factors, no diet will ever work. You can learn more about them here.
Quality
Counts
Whether you like your food or not has little effect on weight loss and gain. After all, if you don’t like broccoli but decide to eat it anyway because it’s good for you, are you going to have a balanced diet, feel satiated and full after eating it, and be in a good mood? Not likely. Thus, dislike of foods doesn’t affect one’s weight, but what does matter is quality. If you do find yourself disliking a particular food, try finding ways to incorporate it into meals that make you enjoy it more (like pairing broccoli with cheese sauce). And remember that there are plenty of healthy foods out there that can help with weight loss; many people say they hate vegetables but love salads—which just shows how much variety there is when it comes to healthy eating.
Watch How
You React To Not Liking Something
When researchers tracked blood flow in individuals who disliked specific foods, they found that although areas of participants’ brains associated with reward showed increased activity, regions associated with gustatory pleasure did not. This suggests that even if you like a certain food, it’s possible to dislike it so much—for any number of reasons—that your brain won’t register that you’re eating something enjoyable. Eating and enjoyment are two different processes for our bodies; liking something doesn’t guarantee we enjoy it. If you don’t feel satisfied after a meal, try to figure out why before blaming yourself for overeating. It could be that your body isn’t responding well to what you ate, or maybe there was too much salt (or not enough fiber) in what you consumed.
Embrace
Your Hunger
If you ask most dieters what they’d change about their eating habits, they’ll likely say I wish I didn’t get so hungry. Research suggests that if you dislike a portion of food and ignore your hunger signals, you are more likely to overeat it to be rid of it. In other words, when we think we don’t like something, we tend to eat more of it—but when we like something, we tend to eat less. So instead of trying to force yourself to enjoy everything on your plate (which is not only unrealistic but also sets you up for failure), try embracing your hunger and using it as an indicator of when you should start thinking about moving on from a particular dish. For example, let’s say you ordered sushi for lunch; after taking two bites of tuna roll, you realize you just aren’t into it. Rather than forcing yourself to finish all three pieces just because you paid good money for them, simply put down your chopsticks and move on with your day.