Cravings and desires work in the same way. Emotion is the key component of both – whether for temptations, an unwanted craving, or the motivation to achieve a goal. Two decades of research show that mental imagery is more strongly emotionally charged than other types of thought. And feeling something is powerful. It gets to action quicker. There is roughly a five-second window of time between a thought, an idea, or intuition, and the brain’s move to support it or kill it. Your brain cannot do both (craving and imagery) at the same time. Interrupting a craving with imagery weakens the craving. Over time using FIT can diminish a craving entirely. Vivid sensory imagery can support changes in eating behaviors, reduce impulsivity and sustain motivation.
A single session of FIT plus a booster phone call on snacking correlated with reductions in snacking and in weight loss. FIT works fast and requires much less coaching time than most interventions.