Why My Personality Puts the Pounds On Me

Did anyone catch this article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "Is Your Personality Making You Put on Pounds?" by Melinda Beck?

I'll summarize it for you. If you suffer from any of the following personality traits, you are very likely to be overweight:

1. you are not an "easy" person, a generally disagreeable type
2. you are a night owl and/or sleep deprived
3. you are a stress junkie (you thrive on competition and deadline pressure)
4. you are a mindless multitasker, enjoying eating while doing other tasks at the same time
5. you are a giver and put other people's needs ahead of your own
6. you are a perfectionist

Why am I bringing this up here on HGK? Because I think it gets to the heart of the matter. Like the author of the article says, everybody knows that broccoli is healthier than McDonald's. So why do we have such a hard time consistently making the right decisions?

Because our personalities get in the way.

For me, I fall into category #2, 3, 4, 5 AND 6. 

That's a lotta dysfunction. But those same personality traits are the ones that got me where I am today. I just have to know when I am taking things too far.

I am a big believer in self-awareness. Not to be confused with me saying that "I am self-aware." Quite the contrary. But I am committed to working on it. Because if I don't know the reasons that I am making my mistakes, how can I ever do anything differently?

Which personality categories do you fall into? Do you see a connection between your personality and your weight issues?