The Best Diet For Your Personality

If you're serious about losing weight, you need to find a diet that works with--and not against--your personality quirks and behavior traits.

A diet that is effective for your sister or best friend may not work for you. It's not your metabolism or muscle and carbs or protein that's to blame. It's your lifestyle and individuality. For a diet to really work, it has to be a permanent change in how you eat so it had better mesh with the way you live. One diet does not fit all.

No one knows that better than Dr. Robert Kushner, medical director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Wellness Institute in Chicago and co-author with Nancy Kushner of "Dr. Kushner's Personality Type Diet." He told USA Today, "It's behavior patterns, habits, quirks, and moods that determine the ability or inability to succeed" at weight control.

Kushner's plan: First, figure out what it is about your personality that keeps you from reaching your perfect weight and then give constant--as in lifelong--attention to the food you eat and the exercise you do. His book features a series of personality tests to help you assess your individual behavior traits. "Most diet books miss the boat when it comes to getting one's weight under control for life," he explains. "Being overweight is a multi-dimensional lifestyle problem; it's not just about the food."

Some of the eating behavior categories identified by Dr. Kushner:

Can't-Say-No Pleasers: They are generally good-natured with a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to family, co-workers, and volunteer causes, but they don't take care of their own health.

Unrealistic Achievers: They are typically very successful in their work and home lives, but no matter how much weight they lose, it's never enough. And that makes them frustrated and discouraged.

Nighttime Nibblers: They load up on calories in the evening.

Unguided Grazers: They eat without structure or planning and choose the food they eat based solely on convenience and accessibility, rather than real hunger.

Convenient Consumers: These folks mostly consume food that is packaged, bagged, microwaveable, and frozen. That means it's also higher in fat, sodium, and calories and lower in fiber than fresh home-prepared foods.

Fruitless Feasters: Mmmm...meat and potatoes. These cavemen and cavewomen shun nutritious, low-calorie fruits and vegetables and feast on roast beef and tater tots instead.

Mindless Munchers: They eat in response to "cues," such as commercials or vending machines.

Hearty Portioners: This is the "clean-your-plate" crowd. If they can see the food, smell the food, or reach the food, they're going to eat the food.

Deprived Sneakers: They put on quite a show, eating "good-for-you" food in public and then sneaking the "bad" stuff in private.

Figure out what ties you to the refrigerator and you can loosen the leash and lose weight.

Back to Rob Roy’s Health and Food Page

Back to Rob Roy’ main homepage