We all have a desire to eat food. That normal desire literally keeps us alive. It is our brain functioning in a normal way. When we try to cut back on food to lose weight without addressing the issue of desire, we actually increase our desire for food. And because we know that our willpower runs out, this approach is not sustainable–simply to cut down on food without work on our emotion of desire.
The desire is created with our thoughts and is reenforced by dopamine. When we eat whole, non-processed foods, we are rewarded with a healthy does of dopamine and this satisfies our hunger signals. This is the normal part that keeps us alive.
However when we eat processed and/or concentrated foods (such as processed sugars and flours), we get un unnaturally high release of dopamine, signaling our brain that this item is essential for survival. We end up with much more desire that we need to sustain life because we now overdesire that food that gave us the reward. This is why it feels like you might even die if you don’t eat the food you’re craving. Because your brain (your lower primitive part) has deemed that chocolate brownie sundae “essential for survival” and the bowl of berries as just “somewhat nice to have,” based on the amount of dopamine that is released.
We also create some of the overdesire with our thoughts. Such as:
- I want that.
- I deserve that.
- That will taste amazing
- I will feel better if I eat that.
When we reward this with the food, that increases the desire as well. We have created and rewarded our desire so often that it becomes unconscious and automatic to eat the desired food when the thought arrises. It’s a loop that must be interrupted.
This is what I teach you during our coaching sessions. I teach you how to interrupt that loop and decrease your desire for food that isn’t fueling in your body. I want junk food to be there and for you not to desire it.
Listen friends–not overeating is the easy part. You just don’t pick up the fork. You just don’t go in the kitchen. I know you’re saying hey now! that is the hard part! I always want more so it’s hard to say no!
Here’s the deal: what’s difficult is to feel your emotions instead. What’s difficult is to actually feel desire and not answer it. The hard part is feeling the emotions instead. It’s actually harder to go in the kitchen, find some cereal, find a bowl, get the milk out, find a spoon, pour the milk without splashing it on the counter in those dumb little cereal craters (you know the ones!). . . As opposed to sitting on the couch and doing nothing.
The hard part is the unanswered desire. The hard part is sitting on the couch and feeling desire and not answering it by going for the cereal. Especially when you are feeling the overdesire from having rewarded that pathway over and over again in the past.
The feeling of overdesire is why coaching is the missing piece of your weight loss puzzle. I help you know what to do with those emotions. I help you to know what’s causing the emotions. I help you feel the emotions instead of putting food on top. I know that sounds like no fun. It’s way more fun to follow the latest celebrity cleanse and drop 10 pounds in 2 weeks.
But you’ve been there. You’ve tried that. And you still aren’t at your natural weight. Try adding coaching. You’ll be amazed.
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