FOOD FINESSER
Motto = ‘Everything
in Moderation’
The Food Finesser is someone with very few
if any foods that cause them to lose control (avg. # trigger foods reported
=.73 vs. 2.77 for the sample as a whole), and perhaps as a consequence
reports being about 9.1 pounds closer to their goal, 11.3 pounds thinner on
average, and is more satisfied with their current weight (54.6% at least
somewhat satisfied vs. 30.7% of others).
There is some evidence that the Food
Finessers ability to “naturally” regulate intake of most foods
that cause others to lose control from time to time is something
either genetic or learned early in life.
They actually don’t really think about food that much, particularly
not as something that needs to be controlled.
When they want dessert they have it, but can sometimes be satisfied
with just a few bites, while at other times might have two or three because
it fits the celebratory tone of the moment.
They naturally cut back the next day without guilt or remorse.
They’re just not as hungry, so they eat less.
Their diet and weight history is generally much less frustrating and
difficult than others. Food
Finessers report having tried fewer diets than others, being less vulnerable
to yo-yoing across significant weight ranges, and less likely to have tried
a ‘New Year’s
Resolutions’ to coerce themselves into losing weight.
Food Finessers are also more likely to be
regular vitamin takers, and to reduce stress by weightlifting.
These are seen as health related tools to supplement a good life and
are a matter of course that makes sense on an ongoing basis.
They avoid fads in all of their approaches to healthy living.
Food Finessers have a distinctive
personality type as well. They
lean more towards objectivity and making more logical decisions than
emotional ones when considering important life choices
They like to think things out before they speak, and feel they are
able to accomplish more working on their own than as part of a group.
However, they combine these traits with a certain amount of intuition
and inductive logic. While
taking experience into account, they value their hypotheses and speculations
about what’s really happening more than just looking at cold facts.
Finally,
Food Finessers also are unlikely to be found in the 60+ year old age
category (whereas 22.3% of people in general are Food Finessers, only 3.2%
are over 60 years old). This
may be a reflection of better nutritional education in the schools beginning
around 1935-40.
CHOCOPHILE
Motto = “When the
Going Gets Tough, The Tough Eat Chocolate”
The Chocophile is an average or slightly
above average weight person, with average vulnerability to losing control
with most foods except sweets and chocolates, which blows them off the
charts. (Their strong point is
less than average vulnerability to purely fatty foods).
Although presently at an about average weight, the Chocophile reports
having yoyo’d up and down more so than others, perhaps because of their
intermittent vulnerability to binges with chocolate and sweets.
She has also more likely tried using the ‘buddy system’,
‘weight watchers’ or other management techniques which rely upon some
social support.
Psychologically, the Chocophile is a
compassionate, sensitive person prone to consider her emotions or gut
instincts at least as much if not more than objective facts when making
decisions. She has difficulty
saying “No” (reports more stress relief when she does, and not
surprisingly therefore experiences a lot of time pressures.
She also is more likely than others to report pressures from
financial difficulties.
Alternative relief for her stress (besides
chocolate) are the simple things in life – practicing smiling, drinking
herbal tea, appropriately saying
“no”, and learning time management techniques like breaking down and
prioritizing tasks.
FRENCH
FRIES
Motto: Yes! I DO Want
Fries With That!
In
sharp contrast to the Chocophile, the French Fry’s vulnerability to
chocolate and sweets is way below average (they are much better at
controlling sweet cravings, or else experience them less overall).
This strength is, however, outmatched by their vulnerability to fatty
and fried foods in particular, and an above average vulnerability to salty
and starchy foods. Unfortunately,
this leaves the French Fry reasonably heavier than others on average (about
18 pounds), and further from their stated weight goals (about 9 pounds)
Psychologically, the French Fry is a bit
more outgoing than others and find it easy to meet people.
They are busy people who are making fact based daily decisions on the
fly. That’s probably why they
need to fill up at fast food establishments more often than others as they
run from place to place, taking care of business and family needs. They sometimes have a short fuse and get angry about the pressures
at work and having to juggle so many responsibilities.
The
good news is, French Fries seem to respond better to classic stress
management techniques and may be able to utilize them to combat their daily
frustrations as well as their food cravings.
They report a greater number of effective stress interventions
overall, and are most notably positively impacted by learning to leave
problems at work, listening skills training and anger management.
Another great escape for them is settling down with a good book.
FOOD
FOR FUN
Motto – “I’m
bored – what do you have to eat?”
The “Food for Fun” is a person who has
become accustomed to using food for comfort, psychological energizing and/or
entertainment. So they are more vulnerable to losing control with all
classes of trigger foods. The
Fun Foodie is distinguished most by the NUMBER of trigger foods s/he reports
as opposed to any particular class of food.
Although this vulnerability seems to have caused him/her to yoyo
across significant weight ranges and s/he is somewhat heavier than the
average person, s/he has had less difficulty with his/her weight as compared
to the French Fry.
Psychologically, the Food for Fun is
compassionate, sensitive and tends to speak freely and spontaneously. S/he
will consider much more than just the cold facts when making important
decisions. The belief here is
that heartfelt concerns are important considerations. Primary sources of stress are boredom and time pressure.
(Although this at first sounds contradictory, people who are prone to
feeling bored often take on too many responsibilities in an effort to avoid
feeling bored).
Fun Foodies report WAY ABOVE AVERAGE
triggers with everything. They
say they have the most difficulty with fried and fatty foods which are so
filling, smell so tantalizing and are satisfying to them.
CARBO CRAVERS
Motto – “Pass the
Pasta Please”
The Carbo Craver takes comfort and
satisfaction with pasta, bread, potatoes and sweets, but can live very well
without fat and oil. In fact,
Carbo Cravers read labels to find the least fat grams across brands before
selecting a product to take home. It
was easy to give up fat or they taught themselves to get used to low fat
versions of favorite foods when the trend to low fat and fat free
became prevalent. Giving
up carbs, on the other hand would be quite painful and frustrating. Popcorn, pasta and pretzels make cutting the calories of high
fats so much easier and tolerable. These
foods are great tummy fillers when they feel physically or psychologically
empty.
On the whole,
Carbo Cravers report fewer binge foods than others, and are thinner than
average (about 7 pounds closer to their weight goals), have yo-yo’d less
than others, and again, are likely to be purposefully avoiding fats.
Generally speaking, the Carbo Craver is
someone who has recognized and justified his/her
vulnerability to carbohydrates, and has turned that weakness into a
strength by avoiding fats and oils, thus allowing them to effectively manage
their weight.
Psychologically, Carbo Cravers are a
little more likely to report discomfort in unfamiliar social situations
where they are a little shy about meeting people.
They would rather not travel, home is where the heart is.
They are comfortable with and tend to enjoy their own company, or
that of their cat. For stress
relief, they turn to exercise and supplementation (particularly herbal
remedies).
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* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Since the diet
personalities are easily predicted by a few short personality and demographic
questions, a web site has been built where one can take the Diet Personality
Test, and receive a customized analysis for free. Log onto www.DietTypes.com to do so. For a detailed
report of the survey which supports these personality types, click on the PRESS
link at www.DietTypes.com
Executive Solutions is a full-service international
marketing research firm established in 1984 which specializes in the latest
qualitative and quantitative research methods and counts numerous Fortune 500
companies as clients.
