Resistance reminders: Dieters reduce energy intake after exposure to diet-congruent food images compared to control non-food images

Dieters' long term goals to lose weight often fail in the short term due to hedonic temptations. Restrained eating coupled with disinhibition can lead to overconsumption when highly palatable foods are available. In contrast, it is predicted that exposure to diet-congruent food cues remind dieters of their long term diet goals and prompt short term regulation of food intake. To test this prediction, a between-subjects study involving female dieters (n = 26) and non-dieters (n = 41) was conducted with brief exposure to diet-congruent or neutral non-food images (23 ms) before a tempting snack. Subsequent diet-cognitions using a lexical decision task and intake of tempting snacks were measured. Results showed that dieters exposed to diet-congruent images consumed less energy than dieters exposed to control images. In addition, high restrained high disinhibited participants reduced energy intake after exposure to diet-congruent compared to control images. There were no differences in dieters' reaction times to diet words across conditions in the lexical decision task. The results suggest that diet-congruent cues might act as effective reminders to limit intake in those most vulnerable to food temptations. Future research should examine the efficacy of such cues for longer term weight control.