Researchers in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Psychology recently confirmed the pretty obvious: If you're overweight, you have a hard time controlling your impulses. But one surprising finding is that overweight women have a harder time with impulse control than overweight men.


The scientists were measuring decision-making skills through "delay discounting" -- whether people would rather wait longer for more rewards or get a lesser prize ASAP. In the study, the prize was money to be given all at once or doled out over several years (the reward for a cash prize is thought to stimulate similar areas of the brain's pleasure center as overeating). Heavier women snubbed future rewards and preferred the immediate prize at a rate three to four times greater than that of normal-weight women.

Overweight Men More Patient
The surprise is that overweight men don't have the same weak impulse control. It may be due to a little personality trait called "eating-related disinhibition." Apparently, women succumb to this sort of stress eating (like scarfing down all that ice cream after work even though you swore you wouldn't) way more often than men.

(scroll down for the rest of the article)

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Sigh. We think we'll just add this to our list of Ways Men Have It Easier, placing it somewhere between "can have sex without getting attached" and "can play video games or watch sports all day without feeling guilty about not picking up the pile of laundry on the floor or emptying the dishwasher."

We're thinking these findings might also have something to do with another recent study claiming heavier women get more booty than their thin sisters. Does this compulsive tendency spill over into overweight women's sex lives, making them less discerning about what -- and who -- they do? At least one science blogger thinks so.

Tell us: Does overeating make you more likely to overdo other things?


Also on Lemondrop: Test your impulse control with this gallery of gooey, delicious and decadent desserts -- could you say no?!.


1,600 Calories...and Worth It?

    Cosi Double Trouble Brownie Sundae, Calories: 1,594, Total Fat: 95 g
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    Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie, Calories: 1,600, Total Fat: 78 g
    Why have dessert when you can have novelty dessert?! It comes to your table fajita-style, sizzling in a cast iron skillet. And it's soaking in a vat of cinnamon butter. (Kind of like your heart.)

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    Romano's Macaroni Grill's Dessert Ravioli, Calories: 1,630, Total Fat: 74 g
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    P.F. Chang's Great Wall of Chocolate with Raspberry Sauce, Calories: 2,240, Total Fat: 89 g
    Well, it does have 20g of protein and we can write off the raspberry sauce as being in the fruit group, so it's sort of like salad, right?

    tresposhepreppy.blogspot.com

    Applebee's Sizzling Apple Pie with Ice Cream, Calories: 1,086, Total Fat: 56 g
    There's nothing more American than warm apple pie -- that has over a thousand calories. The ice cream melts over the sizzling sugary crust, creating a hot-and-cold classic for your piehole.

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    Baskin-Robbins Heath Bar Shake, Calories: 2,310, Total Fat: 108 g
    We like our coffee like we like our men: blended with Heath ice cream and caramel and tastefully garnished with whipped cream and pieces of candy bars.

    BaskinRobbins.com

    Mimi's Café Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie, Calories: 1,879, Total Fat: 111 g
    Why choose between pecan pie and a chocolate dessert when you can jam them both onto one plate? Plus, pecans = heart-healthy fats, right? Right? Come back here, we're having chest pains.

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    Friendly's Caramel Fudge Brownie Sundae, Calories: 1,530, Total fat: 70 g
    An Oreo brownie with five scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, caramel and whipped cream. Who could have guessed those ingredients would add up to such high digits? We blame new math.

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    Don Pablo's Chocolate Volcano Cake, Calories: 1,380, Total Fat: 77g
    (Not to be confused with the 1997 film.) Take one chocolate cinnamon cake, drop it in a pool of molten chocolate butter sauce, scoop ice cream on top and shovel into maw. Burp.

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    On the Border Chocolate Turtle Empanadas, Calories: 1,280, Fat: 729 g
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