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September 8, 2011
Have You Lost Your Willpower? Try This.
Examining the way the brain controls eating behavior in response to cues in the environment, known as neurobehavioral processes, can help with weight loss.
There are three neurobehavioral processes tied to weight loss and how much we eat:
Food reward
Your brain naturally has a strong motivational drive to find and eat tasty food. It also intuitively seeks the experience of pleasure that comes about after eating enjoyable food.
If you experience higher food cravings, especially for sweets and high-fat foods, you may have a stronger biological preference to seek reward.
Inhibitory control
Your brain also has a varied response to suppressing the urge to eat high-calorie foods.
If you have found it hard to say no to tasty treats and high-fat foods, it may be because your natural biology has more powerful urges to eat than to abstain.
Time discounting
Research shows humans have a tendency toward immediate gratification rather than delayed positive results. When it comes to decision making about food, this means it's natural to prefer the immediate pleasure of eating over the delayed health benefits of weight loss.
If you need to lose weight to improve your health, trying to follow the old rules that rely on willpower to eat less and say no to food cravings likely won't work.
Here are some strategies that specifically tackle your brain's genetic susceptibilities and the challenging environment we live in.
Out of sight, out of mind
Keep your favorite foods such as potato chips and soda out of your house, car and work. Choosing to do this helps prevent the mesolimbic dopamine system in the brain from getting sensitized to seek reward.
If you love vending machine junk food or baked goods at the coffee shop, try leaving your cash at home. Bring only a credit card to work to decrease junk food consumption.
Make a list
Another strategy that helps to avoid sensitizing the brain's reward system is to make a list before going to the grocery store and follow it strictly.
Alternatively, shop online or go with a buddy who can help you stick to your plan.
Minimize eating out
Most people find it hard to leave extra food on a plate or to dish up appropriate servings at an all-you-can-eat buffet. These environments challenge the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is responsible for inhibitory control.
If you're at a restaurant you know serves big portions, ask for half your meal to be served and the other half to be boxed for lunch the next day. The trick here is to be sure you do this when you order rather than hope to leave half to take home.
Go near versus far
To help you manage the challenge of time discounting, try using a nearsighted focus on your nutrition goals; it will serve you better than focusing on long-term goals. For example, focus on how many servings of veggies you ate today, rather than your long-term goal to lose 30 pounds.
Posted by Lisa at September 8, 2011 6:05 AM
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