“You should just eat less” says your spouse or friend, or a nosy stranger/coworker whose advice you didn’t ask.
The truth is that portion control is really just a part truth. Yes, if you want to lose weight, you need to eat smaller portions, but that’s just like telling an alcoholic that “you should drink less.” It’s not quite that simple.
Original source: here.
Let’s draw a comparison between an alcoholic and a food-a-holic. The alcoholic drinks because they have a biochemical imbalance forcing them to drink. This isn’t a matter of willpower. It’s a matter of poor biochemistry. There’s a difference between just liking the odd glass of wine or a beer, and actually being addicted to it.
Likewise with the food-a-holic. There is a biochemical imbalance that causes this person to eat more than they should.
You see, your body doesn’t crave calories. It craves nutrients. If you’re eating food that is high in calories, but low in nutrients (like McDonald’s, for instance), your body isn’t getting the vitamins and minerals it needs to signal your brain that it’s had enough. So you continue eating.
However, if you eat foods that are low in calories (relatively speaking), but high in nutrients (like vegetables, eggs, liver, etc.), you do get the nutrients which tell your brain that it has met its quota of nutrients.
How do you identify biochemical imbalances? With our clients, we use a combination of a thorough, 321-symptom questionnaire, as well as blood work (though blood work is not always necessary), but without knowing your biochemistry specifically, the low-tech way to do it is to use a high-quality multi-vitamin (I emphasize “high quality”). Companies like Metagenics, AOR, Thorne, Genestra, Inno-Vite, Progressive and Platinum make high quality multi vitamins (and I’m sure there are others that I just didn’t list here). Companies like Centrum, Jamieson and Kirkland don’t.
And by the way, I have no financial affiliation with any of these companies.
If you’d like more personalized help figuring out your specific imbalances, you can apply to work with us here.
Other Reasons for Overeating
So yes, there are biochemical reasons for overeating. But there are also others. Like behavioral/environmental.
There are certain thoughts that go through a person’s mind, frequently way “below the surface.” In other words, you don’t consciously think those thoughts, but they are there.
For instance, in people who overeat, there is a fear of going hungry.
Another hidden attitude in people who overeat is that just a little piece of (fill in the blank) won’t make a difference. When in reality, it makes a difference. Wrong attitude.
Yet another hidden attitude is if the number on the scale goes up, you completely throw your healthy eating to the wind, and go back to your old (unhealthy) way of eating.
And the last hidden attitude that I’ll mention in people who overeat is the feeling that it’s “not fair” that someone else can eat whatever they like, and you can’t. Well you’re right. It isn’t fair. But what are you going to do about it?
These are all attitudes that are very much under the surface, but must come to conscious awareness, and be dealt with. Something that we definitely help our clients with, and again, if you’d like some help with that, you can see if you qualify to work with us by clicking here.
