Here I am, staring at a marshmallow (at least those in the picture above).  However, all of us are proverbially staring at marshmallows all day.

I few weeks ago, I was doing some research on intermittent fasting that I am going to start in a couple of weeks.  Of course, me being me, I go right to the source for information from Martin Berkhan, a leading specialist on intermittent fasting.  I stumbled upon his post, “The Marshmallow Test” that he wrote back in 2010 (Berkhan, 2010).  I’ve linked his blog so you can read about his perspective that some of his most successful clients are very busy people and I agree with his point of view, but that has led me to do some research of my own.

Background:  The Marshmallow Experiment was a Stanford experiment designed to see when the concept of self-control is developed in small children.  The concept of the experiment was both simple and genius.

Psychologist Walter Mischel originally interviewed 16 boys and 16 girls aged between 4-6 years old in the 1960’s (this study was expanded later to include both additional children and a follow-up study on the original participants at adolescence and again in their 40’s).  Each child was interviewed alone with only a table and a chair decorating the room.  At which point, “a single treat, selected by the child, was placed on the table. (In addition to marshmallows, the researchers also offered Oreo cookies and pretzel sticks.) Each child was told if they waited for 15 minutes before eating the treat, they would be given a second treat. Then they were left alone in the room” (Batista, 2014).

What happened next was surprising.  Most children told the researcher that they chose to wait for a second treat rather than eat the first treat right away.  This shows the goal or intention of the child.  However, once the researcher left the room, some children ate the treat right away, some stared at it obsessively until they could no longer resist temptation.  Those children that did well at not eating the treat would be creative in how they would pass the time waiting.  Some children covered their eyes so that they couldn’t see the treat, others created games or songs as a way to stay busy and not think about the temptation.

Later in life, parents of the original study participants were interviewed when the children were adolescents.  Researchers found that those children who could resist temptation in the Marshmallow Experiment were more likely to have higher SAT scores and a lower BMI than the children who could not easily resist temptation.  Lastly, “a 2011 fMRI study conducted on 59 original participants—now in their 40s—by Cornell’s B.J. Casey showed higher levels of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex among those participants who delayed immediate gratification in favor of a greater reward later on” (Batista, 2014).

How does the study impact dieting and weight loss?

Think about it, a study empirically proved that some of us are predisposed to handle temptation better than others.  Cycles of dieting and then binge eating fits right into this scenario.  Some of us can only resist the donuts in the break room for so long, but why?  I am not satisfied with saying that I am heavy because I have no will power or grit, far from it.

I found an amazing article, “The Marshmallow Test for Grown-Ups” written in 2014 by Ed Batista and published in the Harvard Business Review (2014). In it, Batista discusses how sugary options in our caveman years would have equated to a piece of fruit that would have been rare and calorically valuable in a hunter-gatherer situation.  In fact, our brains developed so that we would get pleasure from eating sweet, high calorie foods so that we would eat them in a time when those food options were scarce (Batista, 2014).  Now, thanks to the agri-food industry, we are surrounded with high calorie food options with an outdated brain genetically adapted to get pleasure from those types of food.  No wonder I have a hard time turning down a chocolate brownie.

How can technology sabotage our healthy eating and fitness goals?

The food portion of the article did not surprise me, these are things that I had heard before on other platforms.  However, the article went on to discuss that as adults, we face the “Marshmallow Experiment” a million times a day.  From deciding what to eat, when to work, how to work out, how to spend our time or money, we are always faced with a temptation…..and that temptation might even be access to new information.

As a teacher, I know that every time we are presented with new information, our brains have to put that information into a schema (which is basically categorizing it based on our beliefs and prior experiences). So what happens if we are constantly bombarded with new information?

According to Batista, “not only are we constantly interrupted by alerts, alarms, beeps, and buzzes that tell us some new information has arrived, we constantly interrupt ourselves to seek out new information. We pull out our phones while we’re in the middle of a conversation with someone. We check our email while we’re engaged in a complex task that requires our full concentration. We scan our feeds even though we just checked them a minute ago. There’s increasing evidence suggesting that these disruptions make it difficult to do our best work, diminish our productivity, and contribute to a feeling of overwhelm” (Batista, 2014)

My opinion:

Now, you know what I know and I had to take a little while to digest it all.  So back to Martin Berkhan’s suggestion that busy people can be some of the most successful in the gym and with an eating program (Berkhan, 2010).  I agree that is a reasonable assumption based on the fact that busy people will be more likely to ignore both the food temptations and technology temptations and that will help them focus on their goals.

As for my opinion, I think that three very important things can help you reach your weight loss/fitness goals that we can learn from this study.

1) Follow a flexible eating plan if you feel the need to “diet” (I really hate that word).  If you never, ever have a small treat, then you are more likely to fall into a restrict then binge eating pattern that will do you no good.

2) Take a break from technology.  Have times where you will “unplug”.  I am not saying for an extended period of time, because let’s face it, we live in a world of work emails and conference calls that our livelihood depends on. However, unplug for dinner or before bed, or some other time that you can relax with your family and allow your brain to digest and process all the new information from the day. I think that a technology break may also help you sleep better, but I have no proof about that.

3) Know yourself.  Think back and be realistic or even ask your parents, would you have resisted the marshmallow or would you have eaten it right away? I would like to think that I would have resisted the marshmallow, because I can be very competitive and goal oriented, but who knows. Once you know yourself and what would trigger your temptation, you may be able to devise a personalized plan tailored for you to reach your goals.  Remember that we are all human and be kind to yourself.

Sources:

Batista, E. (2014). The Marshmallow Test for Grownups. Harvard Business Review,1-5.

Berkhan, M. (2010, January 15). The Marshmallow Test. Retrieved August 08, 2017, from http://www.leangains.com/2010/01/marshmallow-test.html