Food-lovers, rejoice! Enjoying the food you eat can actually help you stick with your diet. According to a new review in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, the trick is focusing in on the things you love about healthy fare, not just about splurges.
A team of researchers from the University of Toronto, Texas A&M University, and the University of Aberdeen reviewed a slew of studies on motivation and found that, contrary to popular opinion, self-control doesn’t just run out at a certain point (like when the dessert tray makes a pass by your table). Instead, giving in is a sign that you just haven’t learned to find pleasure in the necessary activities of life. In the case of dieting, that would be healthy eating.