Smorgasbord Syndrome

I read about the term ‘smorgasbord syndrome’ in a leading leisure magazine; it was part of a book review of ‘The Good Enough Diet’ (Wrightbooks).

According to the authors, we tend to overeat when there is variety. Variety is not the spice of life when it comes to eating. A buffet spread or smorgasbord can be threatening to your weight watching, since most people like to partake in a bit of everything. Since I have paid for it, they reason, why not eat everything I can? So, we witness weightwatchers anonymous weigh in with plates piled high with food. In the same book, the authors conclude that occasional bouts of incidental exercise, like stair-climbing or walking to talk to colleagues may be ineffective.

In watching your calories, predictability may be more useful in that we tend to eat less of that which is familiar. The economic law of diminishing returns asserts that subsequent servings of the same meal leads to reduced interest through time. We can learn to hate our favourite foods – really. People do develop phobic responses to a certain food when they suffer gastrointestinal distress. A bad stomach leads to fearful responses associated with the same food. It is akin to ‘guilty by association’.

Leadership Lessons: Do you take more on your plate than you can handle? Do you have too many irons in the fire? How aware are you of impending burnout? Do you push compulsive and impulsive work behaviors on others?