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Treating Food As An Obstacle Course
Managing the Hunger Brain
The bottom line to reducing cravings begins with forging a new relationship with food. How we make food choices is a complex issue. Beyond the basic need to satisfy the brain’s hunger, some of the most important physiological factors may be those of the food itself; characteristics of taste, texture, color, aroma and temperature. Our association with food and what particular foods signify in terms of the emotions they evoke clearly has a powerful influence. If you’re going to break the crave cycle and escape your self-imposed prison of frustration and guilt associated with food, you will have to desensitize yourself to the foods you crave. In the final analysis, whether future research shows food cravings are physiologically based or psychologically based or both, targeting the desired food as the problem is a mistake. You will have to learn to kick those stubborn little urges to the curb and adopt a new, healthier attitude toward food instead of being derailed by your demonic attention combined with flimsy, limitless excuses.
Specific foods should not be labeled inherently good or bad, but rather foods that should be eaten in smaller amounts. You would be better off learning how to manage your cravings without indulging in high-carbohydrate, high-fat, salty foods.
Managing the Hunger Brain isn’t the same thing as willpower. In every Hunger Brain there lies the heart of a hyper conditioned impulsive eater. Simply intellectualizing the right behavior isn’t sufficient enough to protection one from food cues. The compulsive eater needs to develop a plan that will help prepare them for encounters with their favorite food. The implementation strategy is an awareness exercise to help redirect craving behaviors. The idea of planning gives the Hunger Brain a competitive advantage by enabling one to think through alternatives to their habitual eating patterns. When an implementation strategy is developed and employed, that will allow the Hunger Brain to better inhibit and redirect compulsive eating. A plan helps the Hunger Brain create new way of responding to food and clarifies the consequences associated with habitual behavior. Silvia Bunge, researcher at the University of Berkeley, believes the more specific the plan the easier it is for the Hunger Brain to practice the alternative actions to food cues and encounters. Practice make perfect when it comes to new behavior, new responses will eventually replace the unwanted behavior.
Create a conscious cognitive script – a new strategy for your favorite foods. Researcher Silvia Bunge, PhD, head, Cognitive Control and Development Laboratory, UCB, suggest it is easiest to follow “categorical rules,” like “I will not eat potato chips,” “ There will be no dessert or bread eaten at dinner,” “I will eat one small serving of birthday cake at the party tonight.”
Be aware of your triggers – The smell, sound, texture or taste all become hunger cues. Researcher Pamela Peeke at the University of Maryland see the biggest rise in dopamine release when people are presented with different cues. Awareness is the first step towards change. Keep a record of all your favorite foods, write them down and describe why you like them and how they make you feel. Starting to evaluate a favorite food in a new way, helps protect you from it compelling emotional draw it has on your brain.
Learn to manage stress – Stress acts as a distractor giving you permission to fall into the pattern of eating more of the foods you like. This is where comfort food got its name. Typically these favorite foods are jam packed with sugar, fat, and salt. Sadness and Anger have the greatest potential to drive a loss of control. Over time, neural pathways link the change in mood with the experience of eating your favorite food, creating a stronger urge.
Redirect your attention – habit driven responses die-hard. Redirecting your focus offers you the capability to refuse the invitation to evoke the automatic food cue. If your favorite food becomes unavailable, it affects what you think and how you act, allowing you too more easily shift your attention. For instance when you recognize a consistent pattern of behavior like stopping a Starbucks daily for a Mocha Frappuccino you can change your traffic pattern by detouring your focus.
Counter condition your brain – Change how you think about your favorite food, Philip David Zelazo of the University of Toronto, suggests altering our emotional appraisal of our favorite comfort food. Zelazo believes if we learn to view the pursuit of the undesirable food in a negative light and attach emotional significance to the unwanted behavior, it is possible to reverse the habit.
Develop a meal plan – What foods you can eat, serving size, and time of day. Focus on your short-and long term health goals.
Gauge your Hunger Brain – Eat only half of your usual meal. Wait 30 then 90 minutes and assess how you feel. Practice eating by varying the serving size of your meal till you find what works for your hunger level.
Eat foods you enjoy – I know that sounds counter intuitive but it works. The enjoyment factor must be developed around the personal likes and dislikes. Eating is complicated, it is emotional, physically, and genetic preference in our brain due to a lifetime of experiences. Whether your preference is mostly protein, complex carbohydrates, or a green tea smoothie, success and control stems from your enjoyment of the preferred and permitted food.
Exercise – Walk, run, treadmill, elliptical, stepper, and aerobic classes all can help to create new brain cells which in turn helps with working memory and the brain’s cognitive reservoir. Aerobic activity generally increased the amount of dopamine receptors.
Desirable behavior must be intrinsic in nature and have an emotional value that carries an incentive. And unless the Hunger Brain makes the cognitive shift in how it thinks, by reinforcing the benefits associated with a life “without a stimuli” verses life “with the stimuli” curbing overeating and developing self-control for the long haul is not possible. Research on craving and addiction is gaining traction.
(1) photo credit: LifeSupercharger
(2) photo credit: adria.richards
Michaelene (Mike) Conner, Wellcoach, Nutritionist and Physical Trainer holds several certifications from AFAA, ACSM, and SCW. Mike received a BS in Human Ecology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Conner was an educator and consultant in the area of Managing Organizational Change for a global consulting organization. She currently is a Wellcoach for The Capital City Club in Atlanta, GA. For information regarding her services, visit coachconner.com.
Treating Food As An Obstacle Course is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag
Modern Hippie Mag is an online resource dedicated to promoting hip, healthy conscious living and environmental sustainability. Featuring engaging articles, podcast interviews and video features, Modern Hippie Mag is “Where it’s hip to BE!”
2012-10-03 20:02:39
Source: http://www.modernhippiemag.com/2012/10/treating-food-obstacle/
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