I braced myself as I stepped on the scale, expecting a spike in my weight. I was surprised when I saw I was 193.5!!!! I dropped a quarter pound even though my fingers were like sausages! :)
I am looking forward to stepping on the scale tomorrow after the puffiness goes away! :)
I read an interesting article today about how obese people expect more pleasure from food, but get less than their slender counterparts.
In the study they showed the women pictures of a glass of water and a chocolate milkshake.
They found the heavier the woman- the more her pleasure centers in her brain were stimulated by looking at the drinks.
HOWEVER - When they actually gave the women the water or the milkshake, the obese women's brains only measured a fraction of the pleasure experienced by the slender women!
The study concluded that obese women overeat because they are not getting the pleasure they were expecting.
Ironically, the more you eat, the less stimulation the brain gets!!! You get desensitized - build up a tolerance - grow immune to the pleasure of your food!!! (Like a drug addicition!)
This causes a bad cycle of getting less and less pleasure, yet eating more and more food while trying to reach the same "high" as before.
So now what?
Maybe you already knew you were a "food addict." But unlike drugs you - can never "kick" the food habit!!
Here are some ways I have found useful to help me regain control over myself.
- Use a food journal
- Keep track of what you are eating, and find what foods trigger your over-eating so you can plan for the future.
- Eat a balanced wholesome diet
- Eating healthy really helps your body and brain to work better! You really are what you eat. Check out the lables of what you are eating!
- Give in to your Temptations
- If you "deny" yourself eventually you will snap. Avoid a full-out binge by giving yourself a small treats. One piece of fried chicken should be enough to satisfy your craving, and keep your calories in line. DO NOT OVER DOSE ON FOOD!!! Eating more doesn't help. Even after a whole pint of ice cream you'll still feel sad and hallow! Only two bites of food really count. The first and the last. You need to train your brain to get pleasure from what it gets.
- Go for Quality over Quanity!!!
- This will help your brain enjoy your smaller treats. :)
Cheers!
Jess
My calories so far today:
170 - Vanilla Yogurt
80 - 1/2 cup All-Bran Cereal
190 - Fiber One Toaster Pastry Strawberry
330 - Lean Cuisine Flatbread Melt
=======
770
That leaves about 1000 for whatever comes my way this Friday night!
5 comments:
just the other day i was thinking about how, when you "cheat on your diet" every day, it's not nearly as fun as when you only do it every once in a while. must be the same concept!
I cheat on my diet everyday, but then I just stick my finger down my throat and voila! Not that I recommend this way as a way to lose weight, but it's how I eat ice cream without guilt!
-Kelly
I ate out for dinner Wednesday and Thursday night (eeek!), and then I didn't pack lunch to take with me to work, so I went out for lunch too. But I was when I was driving down the street, none of the restaurants looked appealing. Must be similar to what the article was saying. Thanks for the article. Linda
Intersting study!
Being a scientist, of course I always look for alternate explanations.
My question is this: I wonder if the overweight women feel guilty about eating the food, and that somehow reduces the pleasure response in the brain? Since I study bacteria, I know nothing about brain physiology, so I could be totally off base.
However, I know that I feel guilt along with my enjoyment when I eat things I know are "bad". So that's the completely anecdotal and unscientific basis for my question. :-)
Aw! :( I feel so bad for Kelly.
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