Guest Post: The Addictive Properties of Junk Food

We can all relate to this feeling: you’re sitting casually watching TV and all of a sudden you have an urge for a late-night junk food snack. It starts small and you tell yourself that you’re not really hungry, that you really don’t need anything else to eat tonight. Then it gets stronger, almost as if the potato chips are screaming at you from the pantry. Ultimately you give in, finish the bag of chips and promise yourself that this won’t happen tomorrow. You may attribute this behavior to a lack of self-control… but did you know that these cravings have an evolutionary component and, in some cases, junk food manufacturers have actually exploited these properties to make them more addictive?

Before we go into the science of junk food addiction, let’s define what I’m talking about when I say “junk food.” Basically, junk food is a food that is high in fat or sugar and low in other nutrients like vitamins, minerals and fiber. Examples could be potato chips, ice cream, pastries, etc.

Now let’s go back to a time where there wasn’t a fast food restaurant on every corner and humans spent most of their days hunting and gathering food. In this era, there was a type of reward system that developed in our brains when we did things to encourage survival. For instance, a neurotransmitter called dopamine was released when we ate, creating a feeling of pleasure throughout our bodies. This let us know that what we were doing was good and encouraged us to keep doing it. Food that was high in fat provided more calories and long-term energy storage and food high in sugar was dense in short-term energy. These types of food were some of the most important for our survival so they released even more dopamine and made us feel even more pleasure.

Today, even though the average American is not at a loss for calories we still have this reward system, causing us to choose higher fat and higher sugar options. Unfortunately, we are no longer choosing foods in their natural state that also have vitamins and minerals and fiber. Instead we are choosing processed food that is actually manufactured to be higher in fat and sugar so that it releases extreme amounts of dopamine in our brain and creates an almost addictive state.

These junk foods cause a hormonal response in our bodies, which causes us to gain fat and ultimately leads to diseases like Type 2 diabetes. Moreover, although high in calories, most junk food is void of other essential nutrients. So even though we may be eating more food than our bodies need, we are starving our bodies of the important vitamins and minerals that keep us healthy.

Remember, your love of junk food didn’t happen overnight so don’t be too hard on yourself if it takes time to break. Focus on choosing foods that make you feel good long-term rather than foods that just give you the initial dopamine rush. You’re going to do great at making healthier choices and quitting your junk food habit!

Guest post provided by Tara Coleman. Tara is a nationally recognized nutrition expert, educator and spokesperson. Visit her website taracoleman.com
Tweet

Confronting the reality

Recently I posted about overweight and obesity. I wrote what the extra weight was doing to our overall health. I also pointed out that health effects of obesity were real and they were dangerous, because the health subject is often avoided by overweight people.

We prefer to avoid subject of what the extra weight is doing to our overall health. Many of us are reluctant to discuss our weight face to face with doctors. We are ashamed of our weight and how we have let body get out of control.

I understand that confronting obesity can be an embarrassing topic. We need to be kind, supportive and non-judgmental.

I know that when we are overweight or obese, the last thing we want to do is confront the reality of our size but it’s important that we do. It has to be done so we could break through denial and confront the reality of the present situation – the reality of our size and weight.

The issue will not go away and the longer we postpone, the greater damage our unhealthy food choices and unhealthy eating will cause.

Being overweight or obese is a major health emergency that requires your immediate action. Not surgery, not administration of weight loss drugs, but an immediate change in your diet. 

No matter how bad your diet is, no matter how much excess weight you’re carrying around, no matter how many food related mistakes you've made in the past, you can start fresh now.

You can embark on a new way of living today.

How? By following healthy eating. Changes that you can start to make right this minute can turn your unhealthy diet to a health-boosting, life-saving gift that you give yourself.

Yes, you can do that, you can turn your life around. Tweet

New life resolution

I am not setting goals for a New Year. I am (and have been) setting goals for a new life. A healthier, happier, more fulfilling life. It's about recognizing what I value, what a quality life means to me, and how to align my daily activities to achieve these.

It is not about the New Year. It is about a whole new life, a continuous journey.

Set new goals if you are motivated to do so, but know that those goals will not be stopping points, but just resting spots where you can enjoy your new place in life, reassess your plan and set off in a new direction.

Happy 2015, and here's hoping it is the start (or continuation) for a whole new (or even better) you! Tweet

Fear is my strong motivator

You may not feel that being overweight or obese is a problem to you. So, you may have little motivation or desire to lose weight. Or perhaps, you may be good at rationalization that nothing works. That is fine, so long as you understand the health risks. Your wake-up call will come in the form of the massage from your doctor.

In my case nothing motivated me until the moment, when in May 2010 the doctor informed me that there might me something in my heart and mentioned possible methods of treatment (surgery). He added that losing weight might make the procedure less likely.

That immediately got me motivated. Correction. It got me extremely motivated. I was determined to do anything that is humanly possible to lose weight. The fear of surgery was strong and effective motivation for me.

I am a positive minded person and strongly believe in using positive approach in influencing other people’s behaviors, whether it is raising children or managing subordinates. But no positive motivator was strong enough for me to lose and keep the weight off previously.

I do not wish anybody to get to the point that fear would have to motivate you to lose weight. Be smart now and use other people’s “experience” in this area. The plaque that builds up inside our coronary arteries can’t be removed. Once the buildup of plaque occurs, it stays there. Over time, plaque hardens and narrows our coronary arteries. Heart disease is currently the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.

I want to include a positive message to everybody struggling with their weight: it can be done and there are ways to make it easier. Weight loss can be achieved without exercise, calorie counting and most importantly without being hungry. 

Having received my super motivation in 2010, I quickly lost 46 pounds that summer and then kept going on a bit slower until I lost a total of 91 pounds.

Tweet

Planning what to eat in advance

Achieving weight loss is just like achieving everything else in life: success requires planning.

Preparing and cooking healthy meals after work can be very challenging. Doing so while being hungry is difficult and may not always lead to weight loss success. When I am hungry I want to eat rather sooner than later. In addition, when I am hungry I am likely to make poor food choices.

Therefore planning meals in advance can be a crucial element of clean eating based weight loss approach. Since I don’t cook I buy ready to eat grilled chicken salads and eat them five times a week. 

If the salad comes with cheese I remove the cheese. To keep salads fresh I pack and seal each salad in a separate plastic bag. Buying ready to eat fresh and unprocessed food in advance works for me very well. When I started weight loss process I used to make salads myself. It was difficult for me and I was very happy to graduate to a better way in planning and preparing food in advance.

Tweet

Psychological and social consequences of being obese

Being overweight or obese can have a serious impact on health but it is also associated with many serious physiological, psychological, and social consequences.

Carrying lots of unwanted weight causes difficulties with day-to-day living. Normal tasks become harder when you are obese, as movement is more difficult. You also tend to tire more quickly and you find yourself short of breath often.

There are additional consequences. They are related to psychological and social well-being. Consequences like social isolation or negative self-image can be very painful and damaging. More people lose confidence and are demotivated because of their weight than any other factor out there. 

Not surprising, some obese people prefer not to go out in public because they feel self-conscious or they simply cannot enjoy activities that most people take for granted.

I believe that there is more to life than spending it fretting and being depressed about your physical appearance.

Obese individuals have typically made multiple attempts to lose weight, with little or no success. Their previous attempts result in discouragement, frustration, hopelessness, and lead to helplessness about the prospect of losing weight in the future on their own.

Many people throw in the towel on weight loss because they feel deprived and hungry when they eat less. But there is another way. It is decreasing calorie intake while maintaining an adequate nutrient intake. Eating fewer calories doesn't necessarily mean eating less food.

People get full by the amount of food they eat, not the number of calories they take in. To be able to cut calories without eating less and feeling hungry, you need to replace some higher calorie foods with foods that are lower in calories. The key is to eat foods that will fill you up without eating a large amount of calories.

Being obese has a complex impact upon the individual. While health effects of obesity are real and they are dangerous, it’s the social and emotional issues associated with obesity that cause suffering and influences individuals’ psychological state.

I understand that it is a personal and sensitive issue, but when I see obese or overweight people, I feel empathy and desire to help. I write this blog and described what worked for me on ilostweightyoucantoo.com website in attempt to try to help people for whom losing weight seems to be an impossible task.

There is help available if you are overweight or obese. It is a condition that you CAN do something about. The more you know, the better you will be able to take action and do something about it.

Tweet

Why did I eat that way today?

Today I drove several hours (each way) to pick up my daughter from college and bring her home for the Christmas break. Unfortunately I used travelling as an excuse and did not stick to the Eat like Me healthy eating. 

I had pizza on the way there and pizza again while coming back. I even supplemented just eaten pizza with almonds in dark chocolate when buying coffee at Starbucks. Used my usual excuse that almonds and dark chocolate are good for heart.

I prepared myself for the trip and took apples to the car to avoid hunger, but ended up with eating only two of them. I am back home now and trying to find the answer to the WHY question. Why did I eat that way today? I think the honest answer is my arrogance. 

The arrogance that I “can afford” to have one bad day because I know how to lose weight, and the next few days will bring me back to where I should be. Unfortunately I use this rationale more often than I should. 

Just two weeks ago I wrote a post about challenges during travel. What’s wrong with me? I knew I would regret eating poorly later but I did it anyway.

Tweet