It’s the final weigh-in and tension is high. The contestants have endured 17 weeks of intense exercise, a strict diet and even stricter trainers. They have focused all their energy on one thing: losing weight. It all comes down to this moment. What will be said when the last contestant steps on that scale will determine whether she has successfully “changed her life.” But will these changes last? Presumably, if he has successfully changed, they will. However, isn’t there more to life change than what registers on the scales? What about his self-perception? Does he really see himself as a skinny guy? Bill Germanokos, winner of the fourth season, does not. “I still consider myself a morbidly obese person inside the body of a fit person.” In fact, even though Bill now owns a weight loss company with his brother Jim and advises others on weight loss, this is still his sentiment.
So has it really changed? Well, that depends on how we define change. On the scale, it’s different, over 100 different pounds. However, the feeling he has about himself has not changed.
Well, when it comes to change, there is actually more than one way to change. However, some changes are more likely to lead to higher levels of life satisfaction than others. The change described by the Biggest Loser contestant above, as you might imagine, is not particularly related to high levels of life satisfaction. Much of the reason for this is that the change is not authentic. Since it was not generated by a feeling, the change was superimposed on the person. This is what we call a first-order change. First-order changes are changes we make because we have to, or because we convince ourselves that we do. Examples of first-order changes might be adjusting our schedule to fit a new job, learning to bite our tongues while at the new job, choosing a career to please our parents, and losing weight to meet someone else’s ideal for U.S. When we make major changes, we don’t necessarily feel like making the changes. We do them because it is more comfortable to do them than not to do them. In this way, not making the changes would have negative consequences that would be more uncomfortable than going against our feelings about the changes. Thus we learn to repress our feelings and make the desired changes to avoid these negative consequences. For example, not adjusting our lives to accommodate our work schedule would lead to financial catastrophe. On the other hand, not holding our tongues at work, choosing a particular career, or losing weight can disappoint someone in our lives and lead to rejection or recrimination. Since these negative consequences provoke more fear than repressing our feelings, we make the changes. However, we really didn’t feel like doing them, and in that sense they don’t feel natural. Instead, when they feel forced, our attitude towards them becomes resistant. What this sets us up for is a lower level of life satisfaction in the short term and a propensity to react against change in the long term. So while Bill has surrounded himself with weight loss reminders, his chances of experiencing high levels of life satisfaction are limited.
However, not all changes are forced. Some changes are generated by a real feeling about change. These are things we do because they feel natural to us. An example of this is having children. As the maternal instinct takes over, the new mother finds herself doing things very differently than she did before. She can become less rigid, more flexible and tolerant. Her need for achievement may be reduced as her need to be nurturing and nurturing takes over. Another example of this is learning a new skill and developing a passion for it. For example, as we learn to play tennis and discover that we are good at it and like the way we feel when we play, we may put aside other obligations in our life to play tennis. Both of these changes will occur viscerally, almost outside of our awareness. This is because we do not have to think about them, they are not imposed or forced on us in any way, and therefore do not require conscious effort. These changes are called second-order changes, and as you might imagine, they are associated with higher levels of life satisfaction than first-order changes. This is because we are doing things that we love. Just as the new mother loves her son, the changes in her life seem natural, the new tennis player loves tennis and therefore the changes in her life also seem natural.
So is the Biggest Loser right? Does the program generate first-order (low life satisfaction) or second-order (high life satisfaction) changes? The next time you watch the show, ask yourself: are the contestants encouraged to find things they love? Or are they trading life satisfaction for weight loss? Ultimately, the two must go hand in hand.