What makes you feel out of Control? (Psychologies magazine study)

You need to write down the symbol to the answer, so you can add them up at the end.

1) On your day off work, you would rather:

* Be pampered at a spa

o Knock items off your to-do-list

^ Hit the shops

# Laze about

2) You are invited to a cousin's wedding, being held in the south of France, you think:

* What fun

o Sounds expensive

^ This will impress them at work

# Maybe I'll find a last-minute flight

3) Your sort of restaurant is:

* One with a lively atmosphere

o Any good Bistro with set menu

^ One where tables are booked months in advance

# The one across the road

4) When looking for a job, you are most interested in:

* The perks

o The career track

^ The salary

# Flexibility

5) A perfect gift is:

* Decadent

o Useful

^ Designer

# Spontaneous

6) When joining a gym, you look for:

* A fun atmosphere

o A regime to whip you into shape

^ Exclusivity

# Whatever is closest to home

7) After an argument with your partner, you are more likely to:

* Ring an ex

o Concentrate on something more productive

^ Pour yourself a large glass of wine and open a packet of chips

# Lose yourself in a favourite DVD

8) When you book a holiday, you look for:

* Excitement

o Activity

^ Luxury

# Ease

9) The quality of your life would be improved by more:

* Fun

o Control

^ Money

# Direction

10) You are most likely to be remembered for:

* The good times

o Your long list of accomplishments

^ Having it all

# Your easy going attitude

Add up the symbols, Mostly:

* You want instant Gratification. You have a tendency to indulge yourself "you can resist everything but temptation". Self control is like a muscle. If you don't exercise it regularly, you won't build up the strength to resist. You find it difficult to delay immediate gratification and tend to put off what you should be doing by spending time doing what you want. You always find a reason to defer a diet. Spending habits spiral out of control. To rein it in, recognise that self control is a choice.

o You are generally in tight control. Not one to give into temptation, your eating and spending rules tend to be severe. A goal-oriented person, any time spent not achieving your ambitions is wasted. But you can use up your self-control. A study by Roy Baumeister and colleagues illustrates this effect. participants were offered some delicious smelling chocolate cookies or bitter radishes before doing a puzzle. Those who ate the radishes gave up more quickly because they exhausted their willpower on resisting the cookies. You sometimes reach breaking point, and when you do, the "what the hell" effect kicks in. To avoid this point, set out more realistic goals. You have a tendency towards all-or-nothing thinking. A gentler approach requires less control, giving you more strength to cope in other areas.

^ Everyone has a need for security, a sense of competence and connectedness to others. When these are unfulfilled, we sometimes turn to certain habits that make us feel (temporarily) better, such as comfort eating and shopping therapy.  Those niggling insecurities are quietened by diving into puddings like mum used to make. Status-envy is sorted by spending beyond our means to bolster our self-image. Materialistic values are both a symptom of underlying insecurity and a coping strategy, albeit a relatively ineffective one. The next time you are feeling insecure, dig deep for the source. Perhaps you could keep a journal to monitor what situations make you feel most vulnerable. By putting them into writing you will gain a greater sense of control over them. Set your own standards by doing things that give you a sense of meaning and purpose.

# Unable to pay attention. People eat three times as much while watching an engaging film because their attention is focused on the movie and not what they are putting in their mouths. We are more likely to get into debt on small items that add up than on the big purchase that we deliberated over. The problem with lack of attention is that we often realise we have lost control after the damage is done. Even if we watch ourselves mid-spree, it is harder to stop once we have started. For you, heightened awareness is the key to control. Try this diet: write down everything consumed each day Monday to Sunday. For the next week eat everything that you wrote down. One study showed that when people did this, they lost weight because they had forgotten so much of what they had ate. For the next few weeks, keep a track of what you eat, how you spend your money and how you use your time. By identifying those situations where you most often lose control, you can be more vigilant.

I am # this i kind of already knew, my attention span is diabolical ;)) But I am going to try their advice and see how much difference it makes to me.

Interesting test! Mine are tied at # and ^

wow, how contradictory. I tied o and # haha I guess this makes sense, I sort of feel like I have two opposite people inside me arguing all the time.

7 o's, 2 # and a *

I admit, I am an all-or-nothing personality.  It's one of my many flaws.

I had 5 o's, 3 #s and 2 ^s.  I am very much like the o, but I definitely have moments when I lack self-control those moments really suck because I am totally an all-or-nothing kind of girl.  I guess I have to lighten up!  

Wow.

I got one #, three o's, three ^'s, and three *'s.

I WIN.

Eek .. Im * (i.e. seek instant gratification)... definitely reflects my spending habits 0:-)

I tied for * and # and OMG is it true. >_< How awful. I want instant gratification and I'm not able to pay attention to see when I've been gratified. They both have an element of "you're out of control of the situation" - which I thrive on to keep me guilt free. ^^;

But I think # is why calorie counting has worked for me thus far. I need to write down what I eat to see how much damage I did or I'll forget I had those fries. ^^;

Original Post by gibbit:

wow, how contradictory. I tied o and # haha I guess this makes sense, I sort of feel like I have two opposite people inside me arguing all the time.

Are you a pieces? ^_~

CD that's called denial ;))

Well, I'm all over the board. Go figure. 5 *, 2 o, 2 #, & 1 ^. I'll agree I am * a lot of the time.

Tied o and ^.
Sounds pretty accurate esp the o.

6 o's, 2 #'s, 2 ^'s = In tight control...My SIL always said I'd make a great drill sargeant - then why the heck can't I control my weight??  Or is it that I haven't made it a priority??? 

Original Post by tincognito:

Original Post by gibbit:

wow, how contradictory. I tied o and # haha I guess this makes sense, I sort of feel like I have two opposite people inside me arguing all the time.

Are you a pieces? ^_~

 nope, I'm a gemini...this also makes sense now

hmmm - i'm sceptical of this test - I read all the possible outcomes and they all fit me, although, according to the test, I tied between * and # - did anyone else feel the same?

5# out of 10 questions. I didn't realize it was "attention". I thought it was, like, laziness and just go with the flow, grow where you're planted. But, yeah, the eating, the spending, just little things creeping up on me, that fits.

I hope this logging of food, planning a week in advance, is going to start working soon...well it worked great! until I stopped following the plan.  It's just so easy to pick up a piece of chocolate...and another piece of chocolate...and a cookie or 2 or more...

Yes, I am usually reading or watching a video when I eat. What else would I be doing? Do people actually sit there looking at eat other while they eat? How weird.