Yes, I agree. I strongly suspect it’s the main reason why exercise is useful for weight loss. It doesn’t burn many calories but it makes you start thinking about yourself as someone who cares about his level of fitness.
So when you are faced with a tempting plate of nachos, you can think to yourself “I am a fitness buff and fitness buffs don’t put that kind of junk into their bodies.” From a logical perspective it’s a silly argument but it does seem to make it easier to resist that kind of temptation.
Further to this post, I was just reading a story (unverified) about a Jewish girl who had a problem with late night snacking on dairy desserts like ice cream and wanted to lose weight. The way she solved the problem was by eating a small piece of meat in the evening, making it non-kosher for her to consume ice cream.
If this is true, it seems to me a good example of the use of identity to fight akrasia.
Yes, I agree. I strongly suspect it’s the main reason why exercise is useful for weight loss. It doesn’t burn many calories but it makes you start thinking about yourself as someone who cares about his level of fitness.
So when you are faced with a tempting plate of nachos, you can think to yourself “I am a fitness buff and fitness buffs don’t put that kind of junk into their bodies.” From a logical perspective it’s a silly argument but it does seem to make it easier to resist that kind of temptation.
Further to this post, I was just reading a story (unverified) about a Jewish girl who had a problem with late night snacking on dairy desserts like ice cream and wanted to lose weight. The way she solved the problem was by eating a small piece of meat in the evening, making it non-kosher for her to consume ice cream.
If this is true, it seems to me a good example of the use of identity to fight akrasia.
http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3196007/Langer_ExcersisePlaceboEffect.pdf