Is your mind playing tricks on you?

There is one HUGE problem when it comes to dieting and that huge problem is the fact that your body has a mind of its own.  Yes, that limp of grey matter which seemingly has nothing to do with your digestive system actually has a lot to say in the matter of dieting.

In fact our brain and our digestive system are extremely connected - so much so that our digestive system is the only other organ in the body that produces neurotransmitters, and your brain rules... well... everything.  Unfortunately it could be your brain that is sabotaging your heroic efforts to lose weight.

The main thing to remember is that when you start restricting your food intake, your brain literally thinks you're starving.  The physiological side of our bodies hasn't changed in 10,000 years and back then our bodies were built for famine.  Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had little say in how much or how often they would eat.  They ate what they could gather; fruits and vegetables and what they could catch and kill.  This meant that quite often they would go for some time with only what they could gather.  When they were fortunate enough to kill an animal, they would eat all of it as quickly as possible as there was no way of storing meat.  Their brains made their bodies store all the calories they could as they didn't know WHEN they were going to get the next decent meal.

Jump forward 10,000 years and if you are lucky enough to live in the western world, famine is not a problem and food is available 24/7.  However, our bodies and brains still believe they live in a time of famine and store all that they can.  This is why many diets may seem to work at first.  You reduce your calorie and/or quantity intake, you start to lose weight and suddenly a few weeks later you plateau and the weight loss slows dramatically.  This is when your brain has decided you are starving.
This starvation effect is also due to an incredible obsession with food that we generate when dieting.  A study at Rockefeller University permitted scientists to observe this in detail when studying a group of obese patients who were put on a diet while in hospital.

The patients developed some of the psychological and physiological consequences of starvation due to an intense obsession with food.  This is why you daydream about food when you are dieting.  Once the patients were allowed to go home and there was more food available to them as they were no longer in a controlled environment, they would break their diets or even binge eat resulting in them putting the lost weight back on.

This is also what happens when you are told you cannot eat a certain food.  I remember when I had my intolerance test, I was told I couldn't eat wheat.  At the time I hardly ever ate bread and my wheat intake was down to pasta only.  But the minute I was told I couldn't eat wheat, I suddenly had intense cravings for bread - something I didn't usually eat.

It is the mere fact that something - anything is prohibited that makes it all the more enticing.

The brain actually plays a leading role in dieting.  It constantly competes to control our behavior.  Those voices in your head:

"Oh go on... just one won't hurt..."

"You've been so good all week..."

"Well, now you've broken the diet and had one biscuit... you may as well eat the whole packet!"

But it isn't just the voices in your head encouraging you to eat something, the brain is also hormone driven.  Leptin, which is also called the fat hormone, is produced by fat cells and travels, via the blood, to the brain where it tells the hypothalamus how much energy is stored and available on demand.  When you have enough energy stored ready and waiting, the leptin in the brain makes food less attractive.  However, dieting and weight loss can reduces those stored energy levels and leptin levels, therefore making food a lot more attractive.  That's why it is never a good idea to go food shopping when you are hungry.

Another problem with dieting is stress.  If you are going through a stressful time, many wouldn't recommend you add to that stress by starting a new diet.  However, if your stress is due to you being overweight, then doing something about it might help.  However,  just the fact that YOU know YOU are on a diet makes it stressful.

Resisting temptation, sticking to your diet plan, keeping a food diary or having to count every calorie is extremely stressful.  And here the food obsession comes back again.  Calorie restriction actually produces stress hormones in dieters and this can lead to weight gain instead of weight loss.

There seem to be two types of eaters; intuitive eaters or controlled eaters.  Intuitive eaters are those who listen to their bodies and eat only when they are hungry and stop eating when they are full.

Controlled eaters watch what they eat and analyze what they are about to eat to see if it is ok or what consequences that particular food would have to their weight.

A study carried out by psychologists found that intuitive eaters were less likely to have a weight problem and maintained a stable weight and also spent less time thinking about food.

Controlled eaters tended to diet for longer periods of time and were more likely to binge eat for emotional reasons or eat just "because it was there".

Let's not forget willpower - or the lack of it either.  Motivation or willpower is basically what helps us stay on a diet, but that seems to be limited too.  Our bodies have their own "defended weight range" and if we eat less than our body believes is necessary for survival then it will do everything in its power to get you to eat more, this is where our reward system kicks in and we are back to hearing those voices again...

"You've been so good for days, one treat won't hurt!"

So, can you beat your brain?  Yes!  You have to retrain your brain to agree with what you are doing.  It has to understand why you need to lose weight; health reasons, etc... and you have to make the lifestyle change, not just a short spurt but a major diet overhaul as the basis of your existence.

 I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com