You Are What You Eat

My latest Science of Willpower column is up on Psychology Today:

"My apologies to any PhD students reading this blog. I recently stumbled upon two studies that suggest you can get college students to abandon an unhealthy behavior if you can convince them it's what graduate students do. Apparently grad students are so uncool, college students do not want to be identified with their habits. Even when those habits include junk food and binge drinking, two mainstays of undergraduate life for many.

The studies, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, provide insight into potential strategies for public health. They also reveal how our desire to shape our self-image, and how others perceive us, lead us to make healthy or unhealthy choices."

Read the full Psychology Today post here.

On a side note, one of the studies was conducted at Stanford University, using dorm flyers warning undergrads they might be mistaken for a "sketchy grad student" if they drank too much. Having been a grad student at Stanford back in the day, I found this enormously funny. As much as the pressures to finish your dissertation might drive you to drink, I personally never met a sketchy grad student who crashed the undergrad parties. But whatever it takes to keep those undergraduates sober (enough)!

Can working out help you avoid or recover from a cold or flu?

My latest Science of Willpower column on Psychology Today is a response to a wonderful article in the NYT:

"A recent New York Times article by Gretchen Reynolds asked and answered the question: Does exercise boost immunity? The answer may surprise some, and its lessons extend well beyond the world of working out."

My Science of Willpower class starts at Stanford this Monday (still time to register, through 10/26) -- I look forward to blogging some of the interesting insights and questions that come up!

New Science of Willpower Study: The Virtue of Pessimism

Check out my latest post on Psychology Today.


"Two people are beginning a weight-loss program. One is an optimist and the other a realist -- perhaps even a pessimist. Who has the better chance of losing weight?

According to a new study from Doshisha University in Japan, it's the pessimist. People who began a six-month program of nutrition, exercise, and counseling were less likely to lose weight if they had an optimistic personality.

This at first doesn't make sense. We usually associate optimism with greater success and better health. There's plenty of research showing that optimists have stronger social relationships, are happier, and even live longer. So why wouldn't optimism help people lose weight?"........ [click to read full column]

Study: Saito, H., Kimura, Y., Tashima, S., et al. (2009). Psychological factors that promote behavior modification by obese patients. BioPsychoSocial Medicine 3:9 (in press).

After an especially good deed, are you destined to sin?

My newest article is up on Psychology Today:

After an especially good deed, are you destined to sin?
Being good can feel bad—but being bad can make you feel better.

Have you ever experienced do-gooder exhaustion? When you've done the right things for so long, you just need to indulge your inner sinner? Or when you've given so much too others that you want to save something for yourself?

You aren't alone, and this isn't a defect in your moral virtue. Researchers at Northwestern University recently published three studies that show why one good deed can prevent another....

Is your neighborhood making you fat?

I'm writing a new blog on Psychology Today called "The Science of Willpower: Secrets for Self-Control without Suffering." It will cover research on self-control, emotion regulation, stress reduction, behavior change, and health psychology--and also include practical strategies from the classes I teach on these topics at Stanford.

My first post is up!

It's about a new study showing how where you live can strengthen or sabotage your willpower.

STUDY: In Defense of Laziness

Great article on the New York Times about a study from Stanford showing that sleeping 10 hours a night improved the performance of athletes.

It's not just athletic performance that sleep improves--it's well-documented that sleep deprivation hurts work performance, emotional self-control, and even willpower.

The interesting thing about this study was how great everyone felt sleeping 10 hours a day. If you feel like you're not on top of your game, either at work, in relationships, or taking conscious control of your actions, consider resting rather than ramping up and working harder. A little laziness may refuel you!

Congratulations Part 2: IDEA Fitness Journal

This year, IDEA Fitness Journal took first-place honors in the Best Health & Fitness/Trade Publication category at the annual Maggie Awards, which are known as the “Oscars” of the publishing world.

Congratulations to IDEA! I am a regular contributor to the magazine, and the editorial staff (including Joy Keller, Kate Watson, and Sandy Todd Webster) is one of the most professional, friendly, and supportive and I have ever worked with.

The magazine is only available to IDEA Health and Fitness Association members, which can you learn more about here. The magazine stands out for its focus on cutting-edge research-- no other magazine communicates the latest "science of fitness" as brilliantly and practically as IDEA.

Below are some of my favorite articles I've written for the magazine.
The Science of Willpower. IDEA Fitness Journal June 2008.
Mind-Body Continuing Education: Facilitating Fellowship. IDEA Fitness Journal, 4(6).
Teaching Restorative Yoga. IDEA Fitness Journal, 4(5).
Mind-Body Continuing Education: Yoga for Chronic Pain. IDEA Fitness Journal, 3(6).