This week, I introduce a “Best of” series. We want to make it easier for people to access the free information we put online when they’re searching about topics like food addiction and sugar cravings, so we’re redoing some earlier vlogs with the right tags so they can be found online. When we asked our Bright Lifers about the vlogs that mattered most to them, this week’s vlog was at the top of the list. It answers the question, Why is it a bad idea to think ‘one bite won’t hurt…’? So check it out—our number one fan favorite vlog of all time.

The Research Behind Intermittent Reinforcement

Intermittent reinforcement is related to a simple question: how do we create a peaceful brain amidst the unhealthy food environment that surrounds us? How do we create a brain that won’t hound us to eat that stuff?

Think about when your brain is endlessly saying, “Please, can I have some food? What about now? Can I, please? Can I have some now?” Almost like a little kid begging for candy.

To understand what’s happening, you need to look back at research in the 1920s through the 1950s by scientists like B.F. Skinner. They would outfit a box with a lever that delivered a food reward when pressed by a rat. Their experiments helped us learn a lot about reinforcing behaviors.

What Happens When You DON’T Give in to Food Cravings?

Pressing the lever for the rat is like your brain asking, “Can I have some food now?” and dropping the pellet is analogous to eating the food. The brain says, “How about now?” and you give it food. And this is repeated, with food as the reward. That’s called a fixed delivery schedule. The brain wants food; you give it food. That’s how I lived much of my life.

But then imagine you go on a plan like Bright Line Eating, where the brain asks for food, but you say “no.” How long does it take for extinction to happen? Extinction is a psychological term that means the disappearance of the behavior, the nagging—resulting in peace. It gives you a brain you can take anywhere and not have it suggest, “Can I have that food?”

Scientists learned that the best way to bring about extinction was to use the process we’ve outlined above. It’s as if the rat, who is used to getting food when it presses the lever, suddenly doesn’t receive a reward. If that happens, it presses the lever a bunch of times and then stops. That’s like the brain of someone who comes to Bright Line Eating and follows the plan. They quickly have peace.

How Cheat Days and Cheat Meals Sabotage You

But here’s another scenario: someone learns to say no to the brain and introduces extinction. But then they start including exceptions. They may think, I’ve been so peaceful, surely I can deviate a little bit and still keep my peace…

That’s called a variable schedule of reinforcement. This means that you give in, once in a while. This is the schedule that casinos use. You pull the lever, and maybe it’ll pay out and maybe not.

This type of plan creates a brain that will continue to hound you even if you say “no” time and time again. It still thinks there’s a chance you’ll pay out.

It’s like a rat that sometimes receives food when it presses the lever. It presses and presses, and then receives a reward. The rat will press the lever a hundred times without getting food if it gets a reward once in a great while. Eventually, all it takes is one pellet of food for it to press the lever thousands of times.

That’s the danger of the variable reinforcement schedule. You don’t know when the payout will happen, so the brain keeps pressing you. It is resistant to extinction and to peace.

Creating Peace with Bright Lines Around Food

What’s the solution? Get back on the plan, and ride out the cravings that are likely to continue for a longer time, because you gave in a few times.

If you come into Bright Line Eating and you stick with the plan? Then peace will come quickly. And if you’ve created a monster by giving in here and there, it means it’ll take a longer period of vigilance to get back to your peace.

Those who stick with the plan and avoid deviating have an easier path. I’m not one of them. But I’ve gotten a peaceful brain back. So it’s possible. It takes a fair bit of effort because of intermittent reinforcement, but it’s doable.

Intermittent Reinforcement was originally published on September 23, 2020.