UNDERSTANDING THE REAL REASONS FOR UNWANTED WEIGHT GAIN

Diets don’t work for one reason: we can’t stay on them. We can’t stay on them because the drive to overeat is very powerful. Sure, we can force ourselves to stick with a diet for a day, a week or a year. In fact, we can be absolutely perfect at dieting, but sooner or later we’ll relent and go back to overeating. We gain all that weight back and more. 

It’s so frustrating, so discouraging and such a waste of energy!

The whole premise of traditional weight programs is that if we just knew what to do, we could do it! We could turn away from that candy bar when we hit a low in the late afternoon and resist those salty, crunchy chips while watching television. Traditional weight loss programs are based on knowledge, insight, planning, and decision-making—all of which are processed by the thinking brain. Unfortunately, there is no significant relationship between what is processed by the thinking brain and the most primitive human drives, including the drive to eat. As long as our feeling brain is hardwired to trigger us to overeat, we’ll overeat! Our desire for food is not rational. It’s emotional! We eat when we’re very high, very low, or emotionally numb, that is lost in our thoughts, analyzing everything, and cut off from out feelings.

When our feeling brain is overloaded or out of balance, lots of things change. That’s because the feeling brain, the limbic system, is the center of many fundamental aspects of our lives. It’s the seat of emotional balance, relationship intimacy, and all those red-hot drives to go to excess, including overeating. When we’re in a state of emotional imbalance—a state we call “below the line”--a cascade of changes in neurochemicals and hormones follow. Each imbalance leads to another and taken together, these changes can foster weight gain.

There is a way to become equipped with the skills we need to rewire out feeling brain to turnoff the drive to overeat. The more moments of the day that we spend below the line, the more our appetites will ramp up. Having the tools to stay in a state of emotional balance—“above the line”—more of the time where the drive to overeat naturally fades is what will once and for all help us turn off the drive to overeat.

It doesn’t matter what triggers us to go below the line. Nearly anything can, but once there, we are vulnerable to a host of factors that make us gain weight. Let’s examine what happens when we’re in the toxic spiral and the science behind each part of it. Not all of the factors listed below apply to each person. You may prefer to focus only on the parts of the spiral that most apply to you.

*A change or loss triggers the stress response.
*Our appetite for sugar and fat increases.
*Sugar and fat make us hungrier and fatter.
*Low-fiber diets make us fatter.
*Stress causes belly fat.
*Our neurotransmitters are drained.
*Food becomes addictive.
*We stay busy-busy-busy.
*Our physical activity decreases.
*Health declines.
*Dieting makes it worse.


A Change or Loss Triggers the Stress Response
A time of gaining weight is often launched by a stress, change, or loss that sends us below the line. Although it is commonly a major life event, such as a death, divorce, or serious illness, it can frequently be a smaller change but one that hits home, that shakes us at our emotional core. For example, our cat or dog that soothed and comforted us dies, work stops being a safe place because of the threat of layoffs, or a close friend moves away. It’s usually something that shakes our world soundly or severs a major emotional artery. Then, once we’re below the line, one stress leads to another and before we know it, we’re in a state of chronic stress. Rather than the kind of episodic physical stress our bodies were designed to tolerate, we’re stressed emotionally with no physical release, and it’s chronic—there is no relief!

The hypothalamus in the brain secretes CRH (corticotrophin-releasing hormone), which travels to the pituitary gland and causes the secretion of ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone). ACTH travels via the blood to the adrenal glands, above the kidneys, and triggers the secretion of stress hormones, particularly cortisol. 

Glucose is released into the bloodstream from the muscles and liver, and fat is released from the area near the portal vein of the liver. We’re ready to take action, and the neurotransmitters respond. Dopamine and endorphin levels increase immediately. Dopamine, the “I gotta get it!” chemical, energizes us to act, while the endorphins protect us from pain. When the stress is resolved, serotonin, the “I got it!” chemical, floods us with feelings of well-being and satisfaction. At this point, both serotonin and dopamine levels are high, and we are in a state of clarity, vibrancy, and peace.

With chronic stress, however, we’re subjected to ongoing elevations in cortisol that not only favor weight gain but also wreak havoc on the body. Chronic secretion of cortisol and other stress hormones increases the risk of impaired immunity, osteoporosis, memory loss, heart attack, and menstrual and fertility problems. It also draws us further into the spiral because of the effects on insulin and neurotransmitters.

Our Appetite for Sugar and Fat Increases
Stress makes us crave oral gratifiers, only one of which is food. The food we reach for when we’re drained, anxious, or impulsive is not usually bean sprouts or broccoli but sugar and fat.

Foods high in sugar and fat have a high hedonic value, something researchers use to measure the level of satisfaction a food brings. Interestingly, fat alone is not all that palatable. We don’t think of eating a stick of butter but of having butter as part of chocolate chip cookie batter. Adding a little sugar to fat can cause cravings in even the staunchest dieter.

Similarly, the hedonic ratings of sugar alone are lower than those for the pleasure duo of sugar and fat. Sweet-fat cravings increase endorphins and give us that wonderful “pleasure response.”

Stress ramps up our desire for fat as cortisol increases the production of galanin, the hormone that raises our appetite for fat. Often the desire for fat comes after the sweet tooth has been satisfied. Eating sweets seems to prime our need for fatty foods.

Part of this pattern may reflect normal preferences that are genetically favored. We crave things that allowed our ancestors to survive. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is distributed widely in the brain, with particularly high concentration in the feeling brain. High levels of NPY increase appetite and decrease stress. NPY levels are highest in the morning, triggering quick fueling to start the day. Unfortunately, cortisol levels are also highest in the morning, so eating refined carbs (doughnuts, pastries, white bread, sugar sweetened cereals, etc.) in the morning can trigger blood-sugar lows, as insulin in more readily secreted in response to cortisol. That is why having a breakfast that contains some carbs for quick energy but emphasizes protein and healthy fats is so important. Galanin levels increase by late afternoon and evening, increasing our desire for foods high in fat, such as salad dressing, chocolate, meat, and potato chips, because fat has more staying power.

Sugar and Fat Make Us Hungrier and Fatter
A diet high in refined carbohydrates—particularly when sweets are eaten alone rather than in a meal mixed with protein and healthy fats—increases appetite. Having a candy bar prompts the pancreas to secrete an extra shot of insulin, which lowers blood levels of all amino acids except tryptophan, a building block of serotonin. When tryptophan no longer has to compete with other amino acids to enter the brain, levels of it rise in the blood. It’s easily converted to serotonin. Our mood improves, and we learn that when we’re below the line—way high, way low, or numb—eating sweets decreases stress and improves energy.

We feel better in the short term and hungrier soon thereafter. The insulin surge that follows the consumption of high-sugar foods shunts glucose into our cells, creating a blood-sugar low, which in turn stimulates hunger. We rush to respond, usually by eating more sugary or fatty foods.

The cycle continues with another surge of insulin and more hunger. Two hours after a meal, we reach for sugar again and perpetuate a cycle of sugar cravings, increased insulin levels, and blood-sugar highs and lows.

The blood-sugar roller coaster gives rise to mood problems—tension, tiredness, anxiety, or depression—and sugary foods are turned into belly fat, which increases cortisol levels, drains the brain of serotonin, and causes more mood problems. These mood problems increase stress, appetite, carbohydrate intake, and weight gain.

Sugar is not the only culprit. Often, we think we’re having carbohydrate cravings, but we may actually be yearning for fat as well. At lease 25% of the calories in cookies, candy, and cakes traditionally viewed as “sweets” are derived from fat. Foods high in fat are so calorically dense that a relaxed wrist when pouring salad dressing, an oversize chocolate bar, or that penchant for nuts—small handful after small handful—amounts to the calories our body needs for an entire meal. Plus, fats are far more efficiently metabolized than other foods. All food requires energy to be digested, but whereas the digestion of carbohydrates and protein uses up about 25% of their energy, the digestion of fat uses up only 3% of its energy. Calories that would otherwise be lost due to digestion are conserved and if not used, stored as fat.

Food Variety Fuels Our Appetite
We’re surrounded by an abundance of mouthwatering foods. A sensory center in our thinking brain—the orbitofrontal cortex—responds to the taste, texture, smell, and sight of these foods. The more visually exciting, highly palatable, and full of sugar and fat the food is, the more active the sensory center—and the more it triggers hunger.

In other words, watching television advertisements about junk food, looking at the dessert tray in a restaurant, or having cupboards full of chips, sodas, cakes, cookies, and pies triggers the hunger response.

What increases appetite is not just how appealing and delicious food is but how much variety is in the diet. The food industry is constantly inventing new products, and the more products, the more tantalized we are and the more we want to eat. Think also about a buffet at a restaurant and how difficult it can be not to overeat when there are so many tempting delicacies to choose from.

We have “sensory-specific satiety,” which means that food tastes great at first, but we become progressively less interested as we continue to eat:

*Finish the salad and we’re ready for the pasta.
*Can’t eat another bit of pasta.
*When dessert comes, however, we have a renewed appetite.

Having simple meals and whole foods is a natural appetite suppressant, but restaurants and food companies that profit from our overeating know that variety, abundance, and tantalizing presentations make us eat more.

Low-Fiber Diets Make Us Fatter
Diets high in fat and sugar are dismal when it comes to fiber. Not only have low-fiber diets been linked to obesity in population studies, but high-fiber diets have been shown to dilute calories, slow down eating and digestion, prevent insulin surges, and stave off blood-sugar roller coasters.

Each time you choose 100% whole-grain bread (it’s even better if it’s chock-full of sprouted organic wheat berries) instead of the white stuff or “brown bread” instead of the white, you’re getting an appetite suppressant in the food form. 

Here’s how it works: that fiber in the whole-grain bread travels to the small and large intestines. The gut responds by increasing the production of many hormones. Two of these hormones, PYY (peptide YY) and GLP1 (glucagon-like peptide 1), suppress appetite. By consuming refined grains, we miss out on the natural organic appetite suppressants in fiber-rich foods. 

A high-fiber diet is also likely to help prevent those weight plateaus that are the dieter’s nemesis. We’re eating well and losing weight, but then weight loss gradually comes to a halt. There are many factors that contribute to this, but one appears to be the result of a low-fiber diet. It prompts our metabolic rate to decrease because the intestines account for a quarter of our metabolic rate.

Diets that are low in fiber cause us to produce “puny stools,” because with less fiber to process, the intestines shrink. The hairs on the inside of the gut—microvilli--that absorb nutrients from the intestine are highly metabolically active. With a low-fiber diet, they become shorter and fewer, since the surface area of the entire intestine shrinks. In time metabolic rate declines, and each extra bite we eat will be more likely to go to fat. 

Stress Causes Belly Fat
Stress increases both insulin levels and cortisol. Insulin increases appetite and overeating, but it’s cortisol that tells the body where to deposit the extra fat. The more stress in our lives and the greater our genetic propensity to secrete cortisol, the more likely those extra calories are to be sent to the belly. That fat is not under the skin (subcutaneous fat) but under the ribs, where it cushions the visceral organs, such as the liver. Stress sends the fat directly to the place where it is released most easily into the blood. This increases the risk of metabolic syndrome, including hypertension, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, and diabetes.

Here is why: when there is stress, the body needs energy to prepare for “fight or flight” and cortisol draws fat from the most accessible site, which is in the abdomen. When the stress subsides, the cortisol deposits the fat back in the abdomen; with chronic stress, the ongoing oversecretion of cortisol diverts fat storage to our bellies. 

Once that fat has been deposited, cortisol inhibits its release, so more fat accumulates around our organs and we develop central obesity. That fat converts the inactive form of cortisol to the active form. In other words, the stress that got us to eat sends that extra food to a place in the body where it manufactures more cortisol. That cortisol goes to the brain and drains it of serotonin, so we have mood problems—particularly depression and mood swings—creating more stress, a bigger appetite, and more overeating!

But that’s not all. That belly fat releases pro-inflammatory cytokines, which, in turn, promote fat cells to trigger the oversecretion of insulin, leading to metabolic syndrome and diabetes. 

When we have periodic stress, cortisol increases insulin levels, making glucose more readily available in the blood for fight or flight. During chronic stress, however, cortisol signals the cells to ignore insulin. The cells become insulin-resistant, which, in turn, causes higher insulin levels and more overeating of high-fat, high-sugar foods. The ensuing weight gain creates more insulin resistance, more overeating, and further weight gain. 

As if that weren’t enough, cortisol also depletes muscle tissue, and therefore our metabolic rate further decreases—so we’re not only hungrier, we’re also more likely to gain weight.

Fat Begets Fat
Anyone who struggles with weight gain knows it’s easy to put on weight but hard to lose it. Multiple bodily mechanisms defend us against weight loss, but none protect us from regaining weight.

Being fat makes us prone to becoming fatter—not just from the psychological or social fallout of the extra pounds but also due to the biological changes created by the fat tissue, including the hormone and neurotransmitter shifts it produces.

Obesity not only triggers higher spikes in insulin levels that prompt overeating but also affects the levels of two hormones, ghrelin and leptin. These hormones rise and fall in opposition to each other, so appetite is increased and weight is gained. When calories are excessive and weight is gained, the body establishes a new, higher “set point.” Only when we can ratchet our weight down and keep it there for a long while, such as two years, are we more resistant to the body’s propensity to regain the weight.

The fat in the body functions like an organ, with its own propensities to alter hormones. The body adapts to weight gain with a multitude of changes in an effort to rebalance itself with that extra weight. Unfortunately, many of these adaptations actually prompt more weight gain:

*The gut protein that decreases overeating, PYY (peptide YY), is lower in the obese.
*Lipoprotein lipase, the enzyme that sits on fat cells and shunts fat from the blood into the cells, increases with weight gain, particularly in the presence of cortisol and insulin. The extra food we eat is more easily diverted into fat cells and stored.
*The brain adapts to obesity by becoming resistant to leptin, the hormone that tells us to stop overeating. This leptin resistance makes people more vulnerable to weight gain.

Our Neurotransmitters Are Drained

Chronic stress saps the neurotransmitters that create a sense of well-being and resilience: serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins.

Cortisol secretion depletes serotonin levels, and low serotonin levels increase appetite. That serotonin drain also increases depression, anxiety, irritability, and a hopeless neediness. When dopamine levels decline, we have less energy, and our moods turn toward dissatisfaction, boredom, and sluggishness. We’re also more impulsive. Low endorphin levels prompt negative moods, tension, and fatigue. The over effect of this drain in neurotransmitters varies considerably. Some people have a mild sense of disappointment or find themselves feeling grouchy. Others are so depressed that they can’t get out of bed in the morning. Often this neurotransmitter drain appears as emotional fragility. Any minor disappointment could bring tears. A minor slight triggers a huge rage.

This draining of neurotransmitters is not just an inconvenience but central to weight gain. Any disruption in mood can fuel overeating. For example, the bored, sluggish mood associated with low dopamine levels may trigger the need to eat for the reward or the pleasure of it. The mentality is “I want that food, and I deserve to have it!” High-endorphin eating is often celebratory: “Food is wonderful. Life is wonderful. Let’s feast!” Serotonin lows trigger eating for comfort, anxious nibbling, and eating binges. If we’re helpless, hopeless, and depressed, our energy expenditure drops to near-basal levels, affecting metabolic rate, spontaneous movement, and daily activity levels. Weight accumulates on our bodies even when we’re eating sensibly.

Food Becomes Addictive
When neurotransmitters are drained, we’re more vulnerable to developing food cravings in which the urge to eat shuts out all other urges and the urge to satisfy that need feels like inescapable pain—a survival need. Food becomes addictive, and the compulsion to eat is so strong that we can’t set limits. If we can’t get at our food, we’re depressed, irritable, or anxious.

Current research suggests that key players in triggering cravings are dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. The feeling brain gathers information from the external and internal environment and settles on a feeling that suggests a need. The feeling brain sends that information to a bundle of nerve cells in the brain called the nucleus accumbens.

The nucleus accumbens secretes dopamine to give us the impulse to take action; it can become sensitized due to stress, hormones, or genetic tendencies. Once the nucleus accumbus becomes sensitized, it is easily triggered to oversecrete. We’re easily set off, so we don’t secrete just a modicum of dopamine as well as endorphins—we overshoot our need. Or our dopamine levels are so low from genetic defects or addiction that the drive to eat is triggered by the need to return dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens back to normal pre-addiction levels. 

We get the urge to have a cookie, but we’re stuck in a meeting—a very contentious, distracting, irritating meeting! Our mind turns to the package of chocolate cookies in our desk drawer. We want those cookies more and more because dopamine levels rise based on the urgency of the need. The more the dopamine levels rise, the more the serotonin levels drop. The lower the serotonin levels—and they are low in the obese and in dieters—the more painful the cravings and the more focused we become on getting that food. The stress of the cravings triggers the stress response with its cascade of hormone changes and the anti-stress effects of NPY diminish, motivating us even more.

We can’t stand it anymore and leave the meeting to go get those cookies. We rush to our desk, rip off the wrapper, and sink our teeth into the first one. Immediately, endorphin levels rise and euphoria kicks in. Any thought about the consequences of leaving the meeting never crosses our mind. When both dopamine and serotonin are high, we feel satisfied. We can relax. All is well.

Except that it isn’t.

Eating above the line (in emotional balance) from hunger is a survival need. But in this case, we weren’t hungry. The drive didn’t come from needing to respond to body hunger. It was a desire from below the line. The normal slight rise in dopamine when we’re hungry followed by a rise in serotonin and endorphins and that feeling of fulfillment that signals us to stop eating didn’t occur. We were driven by a “craving brain” that disregarded hunger in favor of huge rushes of dopamine and endorphins that, when combined with low serotonin, created pain, discomfort, and stress. We ate to avoid the pain of a drop in neurochemicals—that is, the pain of withdrawal. 

The craving brain manifests itself when serotonin is low and dopamine is out of balance—either high or low. Serotonin is low in dieters, the obese, and binge eaters. Inescapable stress drains serotonin. Inescapable stress means experiencing a lack of control. Loss of love, chronic illness, an abusive childhood, an empty nest, a bad marriage, even weight problems can trigger feelings of inescapable stress. That stress drains serotonin, but it also sensitizes the nucleus accumbens to secrete dopamine; in fact, the secretion overshoots our needs. It also affects dopamine levels, and if our tendency is to feel depressed, our dopamine will plummet and we’ll feel sluggish. If our tendency is to be anxious, dopamine will be elevated and we’ll be overly energized, even manic.

Either dopamine-level pattern, combined with low serotonin, prompts food cravings. Although the origins of this chemical pattern may be genetic, chronic overeating is associated with imbalances in dopamine, elevations in endorphins, and low serotonin levels. One explanation for cravings is that once dopamine and the endorphins are abnormally elevated, the pain of withdrawal is so great that we eat more to prevent it. We ignore hunger cues because our focus is on one thing: alleviating the pain of the craving. 

However, about 50% of obese people have decreased numbers of dopamine receptors, which could have genetic origins. It also could be the result of overeating, because the body is adapting to the chronically elevated dopamine by shutting off some of its receptors. This is the body’s response to high insulin levels and high leptin levels associated with obesity. It decreases receptors in the fat cells and the brain, respectively. A decreased number of dopamine receptors is also seen in alcoholism, substance abuse, smoking, attention-deficit disorder, compulsive sex, and gambling.

We Stay Busy – Busy – Busy
Once we’re below the line, we are magnets for external solutions. Several of the most common ones involve numbing ourselves with excessive stimulation. This overload pumps up dopamine and endorphins and gives us a stress high. When those neurotransmitters are drained, we’re exhausted and turn to food for energy and as a reward.

Our society values busy lifestyles. Staying busy keeps us above the line, except when doing so becomes an external solution to internal distress. Keeping busy-busy-busy is often an effective way to escape our feelings, distract ourselves from any depth of emotional reflection or avoid relationship problems.

Not only does that busy-busy-busy pattern interfere with our keeping our fingers on the pulse of our inner lives, it can also affect our thinking. There are limits to our working memory and attention. We can multitask only so much!

When the mind is taxed with a high cognitive load, it compromises the functioning of the frontal lobe of the thinking brain, whose role is to guide and override the impulses and the errant drives of the feeling brain. When our thinking brain is overloaded, we’re apt to lose control and overeat. 

Physical Activity Decreases
When we’re below the line, exercise seems like either an impossible chore or just the opposite; excessive exercise may become a solution to weight problems, distracting us from addressing the issues in our lives. Mood swings can cause us to be agitated and restless. Our metabolic rate is high, and instead of gaining weight, we lose it. However, the more common pattern is inactivity. Being sedentary deprives us of the appetite-suppressing and mood-elevating effects of exercise and the opportunity to rebalance neurotransmitters and hormones, including decreasing insulin and cortisol and increasing serotonin. The higher our weight and the more belly fat we have, the more likely we are to need that serotonin to stave off mood swings and depression.

We may miss out on the increased endorphins that cause “runner’s high,” but that effect only occurs when physical activity is prolonged for more than an hour. Extended exercise can also trigger a rise in metabolic rate so that energy expenditure increases for several hours after exercise, giving weight loss an added boost. 

Heavy people generally exercise less than lean people, and their energy expenditure is lower, too, despite the fact that increased body weight results in more energy expenditure for the same activity. In addition, the heavier we are, the more prone we are to bone and joint problems. 

Mood problems contribute to inactivity, too. Depression not only leads to engaging in less physical activity, but it decreases spontaneous movements. Moreover, it results in our sleeping longer and generally being inactive. We prefer sitting on the couch to going outside. We just don’t have the energy!

Regardless of the cause of the inactivity, sitting all day and all evening causes our metabolic rate to lag and our muscle tissue to waste away, both of which foster further weight gain. Our mood suffers and the cookies in the kitchen drawer become more appealing. Instead of getting a boost in energy and pleasure from exercise, we get it from food.

Health Declines
Obesity increases the risk of a whole spate of diseases. In addition, the drive to overeat is very primitive and deep, so changes in the body have a disproportionate effect on weight. For example:

*Poorly controlled diabetes triggers overeating to prevent blood-sugar lows.
*Hypertension medication may affect sexual functioning which creates stress.
*Bone and joint problems, including repeated surgeries and recuperation times, limit physical activities.
*Antidepressants or mood drugs, if not properly monitored, can blunt feelings excessively.
*Pregnancy, menopause, or premenstrual syndrome affect mood and appetite and trigger binge eating, cravings, and weight gain.

Moreover, health problems and stress can often affect sleep, which decreases metabolic rate. During the first half of sleep, growth hormone, which increases metabolic rate, is secreted. When sleep is truncated or disturbed, growth hormone secretion decreases and, with it, metabolic rate. Also, sleep deprivation decreases leptin, which suppresses appetite and raises levels of grehlin, a peptide hormone that stimulates appetite and can trigger sensations of intense hunger. 

What we most need when we’re solving our weight problem is optimal physical vitality so we can engage in enjoyable activities that make great substitutes for overeating. When we don’t feel well, we can’t do that!

Dieting Makes It Worse
Severe dieting lowers serotonin, dopamine, and endorphin levels that can set up a rebound effect. After severe food restriction, binge eating or another substitute behavior wipes away the benefit of all our hard work. Trying to restrict what we eat in an environment in which the sights, sounds, and smell of foods are abundant is extremely difficult because of our biology. Through conditioning, the presence of delicious food triggers increases in dopamine, giving us the urge to eat. At the same time, the stimulation of the occipital lobe that triggers a dopamine release increases cravings. The sensory center in our thinking brain—the orbitofrontal cortex—responds to that sensory input by stimulating more hunger!

Rapid weight loss triggers multiple mechanisms in the body to restore its weight to former levels. Being in a starvation state prompts dieter’s rebound. For example, when body-fat stores are depleted too rapidly, leptin levels lower and turn on fat cravings. Once we’re consuming fewer than 1200 to 1500 calories per day, metabolic rate decreases. Although eating less, we’re also burning fewer calories.

Other nutrients that affect emotional balance, metabolism, and weight are often deficient. In particular, neurotransmitters are nutritionally sensitive, as they are composed of either amino acids or fatlike substances called choline that are obtained from food. When the diet is out of balance, the body limits production or activation of neurotransmitters, and mood, appetite, and thinking are affected. Similarly, vitamins, and minerals—such as vitamins C, E, and B; selenium; and iron—are required for the synthesis, activity, or storage of neurotransmitters.

Weight-loss diets are often low in omega-3 fatty acids and calcium, both of which facilitate weight loss. Our ancestors ate diets of lean meats, nuts, seeds, leaves, honey, and fish—a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids. The brain is 50% fat, and omega-3 fatty acids aid brain functioning, including compounds that release chemicals such as serotonin. 

Any diet that is rigid, that doesn’t allow for fluctuations in the intake based on hunger and for variations in the kinds of food based on personal needs, sets us up for dieter’s rebound. The solution to weight problems is to be more sensitive to our feelings and needs and any diet should reflect that priority. This is particularly true because energy needs can vary dramatically day to day, so if we stay with a rigid diet, we are apt to overindulge on some days and undereat on others. For example:

*In the second half of the menstrual cycle, women need as many as 550 calories more per day.
*The weekend athlete who plays three sets of tennis on Saturday and Sunday needs as many as 600 calories more per day than during the week.

Many of us are on the brink of information overload most of the time, and having another thing to think about—restricting food, calculating grams, and avoiding tasty foods—can overload the frontal lobe and result in abandoning restraint and binge eating.

Worst of all diets are unlikely to produce lasting weight loss. We work really hard to lose weight, only to regain the weight, then blame ourselves and feel less happy, less powerful, and more apt to reach for food for comfort.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It’s important to understand why traditional weight loss methods don’t work long term. It is so easy to step into the spiral, but it’s more important to go about the business of stepping out of that spiral. All of these issues can be addressed by learning how to retrain the feeling brain so that the drive to overeat or go to any excess fades or is turned off. 

On the day that you were born you had all of the inherent strength, goodness and wisdom you would ever need. All that you require are the tools to access them. Let us help you to acquire the skills necessary to achieve lasting weight loss. Call our office today for an appointment.

Top of the page