Monday, January 14, 2013

Psychology of the Whisky Diet Game -- 187 lbs (-42) [13X]


It's tempting to think that just drinking a bunch of whisky over time will make you lose weight, but the reality is more subtle, complex, and perhaps a bit twisted. The key, for me, is distraction. In the absence of anything else, I would eat frequently throughout the day and night. Now, there are plenty of ways to distract myself from eating without alcohol, such as working, playing, exercising, drinking coffee, and chewing gum--which I do--but, without alcohol, food still manages to psychologically win out just enough to cause slow, steady weight gain until I have to go on some sort of hard-to-maintain diet. The Whisky Diet is really a game, of sorts, that gives me a distraction edge that results in gradual, easy-to-maintain weight loss.

The game has a few simple rules/strategies:

-Put off eating as long as comfortable
-Eat as little as comfortable, with as little bad carbs as comfortable
-Drink just enough alcohol to increase comfort and maintain a low BAC

Alcohol has some properties that make this game more interesting and pleasant than, say, exercise or gum. First, there is the relaxation and mild euphoria of alcohol at low BAC levels. Second, there are the effects of alcohol on weight: adding alcohol to an existing diet will not result in substantial weight gain, and replacing existing carbs with alcohol will result in gradual weight loss. And finally, there are the risks: drinking too much alcohol can lead to overeating and/or dangerous activity from loss of control, and acute health risks at more toxic levels. From this, we get the following possible outcomes for a given day:

1) Weight loss if one eats up to a normal amount of low-carb food
2) No weight change if one eats a normal amount of food or slightly too much low-carb food
3) Weight gain if one eats slightly too much food or way too much low-carb food
4) Physical, mental, or social damage from intoxication

As long as the player does slightly more of thing #1 than thing #3 on average, and generally avoids thing #4, than gradual weight loss will occur.

[+] What I Consumed Since Last Post ...

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