I really like eating and as a result, a few years ago I gained some extra pounds (the BMI scale might have suggested I was obese ;)). Over a year ago I lost a load of weight (10kg) and I’ve managed to keep it off since. My diabetes and other health issues went with the weight and I’m feeling good.
My secret is no surprise – I ate less food! (especially the bad kind).
Experts say that when it comes to losing weight, diet is more important than exercise – I’m too lazy for the gym so that works for me. But, most diets only tell you what to eat or how much to eat – they don’t stop you from wanting to eat more or wanting to eat the wrong kinds of food. I wanted to actually be happy eating healthily and eating less food, to keep the weight off for the rest of my life. So, instead of following whichever fad diet is in fashion, I tried to solve the fundamental issue by understanding why we eat too much. Here are ten reasons and not all of it is our own fault.
- Evolution – from when we lived in caves and hunted for food, our brain is hard wired to seek out food to keep us alive. It sends out reward signals making us feel good when we eat (particularly energy dense foods – fats, carbs and sugar). Today we don’t need to hunt because we have easy access to more food than ever. But our brain still gives us reward signals. We feel good when we eat and so we keep eating. In my case I kept eating more chicken wings and donuts than any one should.
- Bad beliefs – we store subconscious ideas in our brains which define our relationships with food. These come from our upbringing, culture, experience, TV ads…. They can be unhelpful beliefs like: I need to feel full up and satisfied when I eat; I can’t just have a salad for lunch; one more wont hurt; I should be able to eat whatever I want, when I want; I need chocolate. These ideas have a strong influence on our food choices without us even realising it. So they can make it harder to stop eating too much.
- Sugar – sugar is bad for many reasons but we love it. Sweets, cakes, donuts, chocolate, fizzy drinks …. It makes us feel good, but it gives us no nutritional benefit and sends our bodies on a dangerous roller coaster. What quickly goes up must also come down. When this happens we actually crave more food and become more hungry, even though we just ate something. Even sugar free things with artificial sweeteners are bad, because they mess with our brain. Our body over compensates because it is expecting sugar, so we still get hungry. It’s difficult to stop at one biscuit because sugar is addictive. Too much sugar is so bad for you it can ruin you liver in the same way as too much alcohol. If you want to eat less you really need to cut it out the sugar.
- Water – some of us do not drink enough water. This leads to dehydration. When it’s severe it feels bad, as anyone with a hangover will tell you. You can live for days without food, but not without water. Lack of water plays havoc with your body and mind. The brain sends out similar signals for mild dehydration and hunger, and they can easily get mixed up. So sometimes you think you feel hungry, when really you need to hydrate.
- Fatigue – many of us live hectic lives and get lower amounts of good quality sleep and rest than our body actually needs. Without sleep we can make poor food choices because our brain is not functioning well. It sends out signals that you need energy, which we interpret to mean food or drink. So we crave energy dense foods like carbs and fat. As a recent father of screaming babies I can confirm that junk cravings are part of sleep deprivation and it’s difficult to control these urges when you are tired. What we really need is a bit of rest.
- Emotional support – some of us have a dangerous emotional dependence on food. If we are feeling down, stressed or even just bored, some of us turn to food for comfort and happiness to feel better. This is feeding your emotions. This is dangerous because when you are emotional you are using a certain part of your brain which is quite powerful and then it is difficult to use will power to stop yourself. So it could be hard to stop yourself eating even if you wanted to. It’s not an easy to fix, but increased awareness of what causes your cravings is an important step.
- Food business – selling you food makes people a lot of money. They are very good at exploiting our basic need to eat and make us spend and eat more than we really need. They use sugar, salt, fat and chemicals to make food taste better and activate our brains reward centre so we want to eat more. They even do this in so called health foods. They have emotional adverts showing you how happy you would be if you ate or drank their products. They ask you to “go large” even though it is clearly bad for your health in the long term. All of this gets into your subconscious and can lead to bad food choices.
- Mind tricks – sometimes your brain can play tricks on you. For example if you eat the same amount of food on a larger plate you feel less satisfied because visually you think you are eating less food. If we don’t have a sufficiently balanced diet, our brain will send out signals as cravings for certain types of food which contain nutrients our body needs e.g. spinach for iron. Most of us however don’t understand these signals and just feel hungry. It’s the same reason that pregnant women have unusual cravings (just a bit more exaggerated).
- Bad genetics – some of us have unhelpful genetics and hormones. Some people have low levels of a hormone which tells them when they are full up, so they end up eating more than they need. Others have unhelpful genes which means they are constantly hungry. So it can be science’s fault why we find it hard to stop eating.
- We just love food – who doesn’t like good food. it’s one of life’s great pleasures. It can bring people together. It’s something to look forward to. It can create great memories. It’s something to enjoy.
It might seem like you have got everything stacked against you in your quest to eat less, lose weight and be happy. Have faith people, it can be done.
Our brain defines our relationship with food – it’s important to understand how the brain works and how it could be impacting your eating so you can find some strategies to deal with it. Because until you change your thought processes about food and eating, it is unlikely that you will be able to stop eating too much in the long term. Ideally, you need to change your behaviours and habits for the rest of your life.
An awareness of how the brain works is essential to changing your life forever.
Along with this awareness you need a good dose of commitment to change my life forever. Motivation is great in the short term but you can easily lose it. Commitment is much deeper and helps get through the difficult times.
It can be done. Understanding how your brain works and using that awareness is not always easy, but it’s easier than sheer will power alone. Sign up for my free email course where I tell you more about my story and what I have learned which has helped me lose weight and change my life. Hopefully it can help you too.
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