The Last Supper Effect: How Restrictive Dieting Leads to Overeating

Have you ever decided or declared that the diet starts on Monday only to find yourself justifying having a second serving of mains, finishing off the bottle of wine, or having a dessert, even if you’re already overly full? 

We do this because we pre-empt the restriction to come on a diet and excessively eat the foods that we enjoy or fear going without.

This eating behaviour is known as ‘the Last Supper effect’.

The Last Supper effect: the anticipation of dieting leads to overeating

Researchers have demonstrated that the Last Supper effect is common among dieters.

A study of female university students found that participants who were expected to diet for one week ate significantly more in a taste-rating task than the control group who were not told they would go on a diet. The study demonstrates that simply planning to go on a diet can trigger overeating in restrained eaters.

Overeating is not necessarily a response to a strong liking or desire for the food being eaten. It seems that food choice and quantity are more related to not being able to eat certain foods for some time.

Eat what you enjoy rather than what’s restricted

When we drop our food rules and eat in a way that is no longer restrictive, we can discover whether we truly enjoy the foods that we have deprived ourselves of.

It may be that a food we thought we enjoyed or couldn’t control ourselves around was the result of restriction rather than pleasure.

Are you ready to ditch diets and feeling out of control with your eating?

Grab yourself a copy of Joyful Eating or download the free chapter where I discuss the many reasons diets don’t work.