Adherence
Feeling fat is strongly associated with disinhibited eating behaviors (eating in response to emotional distress or external stimuli) and perceived hunger, but NOT with successful cognitive restraint (successful dieting).
Feeling fat is linked to how you eat when you are stressed or distracted, and how often you feel hungry, not to how well you follow a diet plan. If you feel fat, you are more likely to eat in response to emotions or external cues, and to feel intense hunger. Focusing on 'successful dieting' metrics may not address the underlying feeling of fatness.
Feeling fat was significantly related to a tendency to eat in response to external stimuli and emotional distress, and to feeling strong urges to eat. A subscale measuring successful dieting behavior was not found to correlate with feeling fat.
Why this rating
Study 2 used a validated eating inventory and hierarchical regression, showing significant relationships with disinhibition and hunger.
Source
Psychological and behavioral correlates of feeling fat in women
Ruth H. Striegel‐Moore et al. · International Journal of Eating Disorders · 1986
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