The What-the-Hell Effect

12 Sept

Written By Caroline Trickey

(or: “I Ate a Biscuit and Now I Live Here”)

You were doing great.
Eating well. Feeling steady.
A little smug, even.

And then… there was cake.

Maybe it started with a bite.
Maybe it was the icing. (It always is.)
Either way, something shifted.

And your brain—sweet, dramatic thing that it is—whispered:

“Oh well. What the hell. Might as well eat everything now and start again tomorrow.”

And just like that, the switch flipped.
What was once a moment became a spiral.
The biscuit turned into a blur of snacks.
The fridge became a confessional booth.

What Is the What-the-Hell Effect?

It’s not a lack of discipline.
It’s not proof you’re broken.
It’s just a sneaky mental habit.

That voice that says,

“You messed up… so may as well keep going.”

It’s like tripping over your shoelace and deciding to fall down the whole staircase for efficiency.

And we’ve all done it.

Why This Happens

Blame your brain. (Lovingly.)

Your brain likes certainty.
It prefers neat categories.
So it turns eating into an all-or-nothing game:

You’re either on track or off the rails.
Winning or failing.
Being “good” or going full goblin-mode with the Tim Tams.

There’s not much room for middle ground in that kind of thinking.

“Oops” ≠ “May As Well Implode”

But here’s the thing:
One biscuit isn’t failure.

It’s just one biscuit.

What turns it into a binge isn’t the food—
It’s the story you tell yourself about it.

“I’ve ruined everything.”
“I can’t be trusted.”
“Might as well eat now and be good tomorrow.”

Sound familiar?

That’s not a food problem.
That’s a thought loop.

Food ≠ Morality

Let’s pause on this one.

You’re not a better person because you ate salad.
You’re not a worse person because you ate cake.

Food is food.
Not a personality test.
Not a character flaw.
Not a reason to abandon yourself.

And yet, so many of us were taught to treat food like a moral scoreboard.

And when we “mess up,” the guilt kicks in… and the spiral starts.

The Antidote: Awareness, Not Control

You don’t need more rules.
You don’t need tighter plans.
You don’t need to “get back on track” with restriction and shame.

What you need is a pause.

A quiet moment to say:

“That happened.”
“I’m okay.”
“I can stop now, if I want to.”

Because here’s the quiet truth most people miss:

You can stop at any moment.
No matter how many bites in you are.
No matter how far down the snack tunnel you’ve wandered.

You don’t need to wait for Monday.
Or a new month.
Or a new version of yourself to appear with better habits.

You just need to come back now.

What To Try Instead

Notice the story.
“Oh well, I’ve already stuffed it” is just a thought. Not a command.
Interrupt the loop.
Pause. Breathe. Name what’s happening. “This is the part where I usually keep going.”
Choose something else.
Water. A walk. A reset moment. A kind word to yourself.
It doesn’t have to be dramatic—just different.
Let food be just food.
Not a test. Not a battleground. Not a crime scene.
Respond like someone you trust.
Would she panic? Or would she just… move on?

You're Not Broken

You’ve just been caught in a pattern.
A totally understandable one.
A pattern that made sense when you thought food was the problem.

But the moment you stop turning one decision into a declaration of failure—
Everything changes.

Not because you’re trying harder,
But because you’re thinking differently.

Final Thought

Next time your brain whispers,

“What the hell...”

Try whispering back:

“Actually... I’m still here. And I still get to choose.”

That’s not willpower.
That’s wisdom.

And it lives in you.

Even mid-biscuit.

References: Polivy, J., Herman, C. P., & Deo, R. (2010). Getting a bigger slice of the pie. Effects on eating and emotion in restrained and unrestrained eaters. Appetite, 55(3), 426-430.

Caroline Trickey