Why We Overeat And 10 Ways To Stop
SueGeer
Posts: 1,169 Member
One of our trainers posted this on the gym website, thought I'd share:
"The human species has been around for a very long time and as far as I know, food has too. Only in the last 100 odd years has our problem with food, in the western world, changed from having too little food available to us, to having way too much. As much as we may dislike the arduous trip to the local supermarket, in actual fact, the caloric burden of such a trip is minimal in comparison with the hardships endured by our ancestors just to obtain enough food to survive. Couple this with the ever increasing caloric density of almost all supermarket food and we start to see why it has become very easy to overeat. Furthermore, the nutritional content of modern processed food is shamefully low. When we are hungry, this is usually our body telling us we require nutrients NOT that our stomachs are empty. So a typical modern diet that is easy to obtain (i.e. barely any calories expended), high in calories and low in nutritional value, leads us to our current obesity epidemic.
We now live in a world where you can quite literally eat yourself to death… and it’s becoming frightening common. It may surprise you to know that many people who die from obesity, actually die from malnutrition. They have grown so huge that the food they eat can no longer provide enough vitamins and minerals to keep them alive. Diabetes and coronary heart disease are 2 of the biggest killers in the UK, both of which are directly linked to the overeating of poor quality food. So why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we eat ourselves to death?
The answer is evolutionary in its nature. We have developed as a species to conserve energy through a complex and highly efficient metabolic system. We use fat as a way of storing energy for later use (the average adult has enough energy stored as fat to theoretically fuel a run from the U.K. to Northern Africa and the average obese person has enough to run to the moon!). This is due to the environment in which we have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, one where food is scarce and difficult to obtain. It was of course a massive evolutionary advantage to be efficient at burning calories (i.e. use few calories for lots of exercise, not ideal for losing weight). Our appetites have also evolved accordingly. We have evolved to eat every morsel of available food to us in order to survive – and why shouldn't we? Who knows when our next meal could be?
Unfortunately, although we are usually aware that our next meal is sitting in the fridge or just round the corner at our local Chinese, each meal time, our appetites insist that we eat more than we actually require. Even those with good will power struggle to reduce their food intake in an environment where calories outnumber us about a million to one. In addition to this, foods commonly available to us are filled with artificial sweeteners and processed sugars. Sugar has been shown to stimulate similar areas of the brain as many drugs and are associated with a large dopamine response which provides pleasure to the brain – a pleasure that is often addictive in nature. Sugar will also provide a large insulin response which is a storing hormone (often fats) and prolonged excessive consumption is associated with a decrease in insulin sensitivity which leads to type 2 diabetes.
In addition to all of this, we are becoming ever more sedentary as the world we live in becomes less and less physically demanding. Desk jobs are on the increase, manual labour is in decline and there is enough on TV to last a lifetime (interestingly, one study showed that watching TV burnt less calories than sitting and doing nothing…. I guess something like ‘zombie box’ would be a more appropriate name). Physical activity (how much you do) and in particular physical fitness (how much you can do) has been shown to be the single biggest factor in the reduction of risk of death, placing higher than drinking, smoking, obesity etc.
So, our appetites are huge, the food we eat is often addictive, full of sugar and therefore fattening (sugar makes you fat, not fat – very simplified explanation) and very low in nutrition, it’s also easy to obtain without burning any calories. In our free time on average we don’t do much exercise and when we do our body is very careful not to burn many precious calories, perhaps saving it for a trip to the moon. In conclusion, we are in a bit of a pickle so here are a few tips to help:
1. Reduce your sugar intake. I cannot stress this enough. This includes sugar from fruits and drinks. 1-2 pieces of fruit a day is more than enough and don’t drink juice, it isn’t as innocent as you might think.
2. Eat food that is filling, nutrient dense and calorie sparse. High fibre, high water and high protein foods are most filling i.e. bigger food, less calories. Lean meats, fish (or other protein alternatives) and vegetables should be the vast majority of what you eat.
3. Train regularly at high intensity with intervals. Imagine your body is a car. If you drive slow and steady you will use less fuel. Put your foot down, accelerate, stop and repeat. This burns more fuel because it is less efficient. The same applies for Anaerobic metabolism (e.g. sprinting) vs Aerobic (e.g. jogging) so stop jogging and start sprinting – or some other high intensity exercise.
4. Build stronger denser muscles. This is like having a bigger more powerful engine that guzzles down fuel. Strength and high intensity training also leaves you burning calories for up to 48 hours while the body recovers (a bit like leaving your engine running. OK, sorry, enough car references).
5. Walk to the shops and carry your food home. At the very least park far away from the shop, you can also avoid expensive dents this way!
6. Always take the stairs. Always walk up escalators.
7. Walk more and walk faster. A distance covered faster burns more calories. Multiply this over the course of a lifetime and it is a significant change in lifestyle. No really, hurry up, you will live longer and spend less time dawdling. 20 minutes brisk walking a day – minimum – plus all the real training (strength training and intense cardio every week).
8. If you must watch TV, watch less and stretch or foam roll while doing so to make the time spent productive, but a recumbent bike and peddle and watch your favourite 1 hour night time show, it’s amazing how quickly the time will pass.
9. Accept that life was meant to require physical effort on a daily basis and embrace it. Think long and hard about this one.
10. Love your food but choose wisely. There is a lot of poison on supermarket shelves. Also treat yourself about once a week to a small indulgence. After all, we are only human."
Note to self.....Bookmark this on my computer, memorise it....and put it into action! :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
"The human species has been around for a very long time and as far as I know, food has too. Only in the last 100 odd years has our problem with food, in the western world, changed from having too little food available to us, to having way too much. As much as we may dislike the arduous trip to the local supermarket, in actual fact, the caloric burden of such a trip is minimal in comparison with the hardships endured by our ancestors just to obtain enough food to survive. Couple this with the ever increasing caloric density of almost all supermarket food and we start to see why it has become very easy to overeat. Furthermore, the nutritional content of modern processed food is shamefully low. When we are hungry, this is usually our body telling us we require nutrients NOT that our stomachs are empty. So a typical modern diet that is easy to obtain (i.e. barely any calories expended), high in calories and low in nutritional value, leads us to our current obesity epidemic.
We now live in a world where you can quite literally eat yourself to death… and it’s becoming frightening common. It may surprise you to know that many people who die from obesity, actually die from malnutrition. They have grown so huge that the food they eat can no longer provide enough vitamins and minerals to keep them alive. Diabetes and coronary heart disease are 2 of the biggest killers in the UK, both of which are directly linked to the overeating of poor quality food. So why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we eat ourselves to death?
The answer is evolutionary in its nature. We have developed as a species to conserve energy through a complex and highly efficient metabolic system. We use fat as a way of storing energy for later use (the average adult has enough energy stored as fat to theoretically fuel a run from the U.K. to Northern Africa and the average obese person has enough to run to the moon!). This is due to the environment in which we have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, one where food is scarce and difficult to obtain. It was of course a massive evolutionary advantage to be efficient at burning calories (i.e. use few calories for lots of exercise, not ideal for losing weight). Our appetites have also evolved accordingly. We have evolved to eat every morsel of available food to us in order to survive – and why shouldn't we? Who knows when our next meal could be?
Unfortunately, although we are usually aware that our next meal is sitting in the fridge or just round the corner at our local Chinese, each meal time, our appetites insist that we eat more than we actually require. Even those with good will power struggle to reduce their food intake in an environment where calories outnumber us about a million to one. In addition to this, foods commonly available to us are filled with artificial sweeteners and processed sugars. Sugar has been shown to stimulate similar areas of the brain as many drugs and are associated with a large dopamine response which provides pleasure to the brain – a pleasure that is often addictive in nature. Sugar will also provide a large insulin response which is a storing hormone (often fats) and prolonged excessive consumption is associated with a decrease in insulin sensitivity which leads to type 2 diabetes.
In addition to all of this, we are becoming ever more sedentary as the world we live in becomes less and less physically demanding. Desk jobs are on the increase, manual labour is in decline and there is enough on TV to last a lifetime (interestingly, one study showed that watching TV burnt less calories than sitting and doing nothing…. I guess something like ‘zombie box’ would be a more appropriate name). Physical activity (how much you do) and in particular physical fitness (how much you can do) has been shown to be the single biggest factor in the reduction of risk of death, placing higher than drinking, smoking, obesity etc.
So, our appetites are huge, the food we eat is often addictive, full of sugar and therefore fattening (sugar makes you fat, not fat – very simplified explanation) and very low in nutrition, it’s also easy to obtain without burning any calories. In our free time on average we don’t do much exercise and when we do our body is very careful not to burn many precious calories, perhaps saving it for a trip to the moon. In conclusion, we are in a bit of a pickle so here are a few tips to help:
1. Reduce your sugar intake. I cannot stress this enough. This includes sugar from fruits and drinks. 1-2 pieces of fruit a day is more than enough and don’t drink juice, it isn’t as innocent as you might think.
2. Eat food that is filling, nutrient dense and calorie sparse. High fibre, high water and high protein foods are most filling i.e. bigger food, less calories. Lean meats, fish (or other protein alternatives) and vegetables should be the vast majority of what you eat.
3. Train regularly at high intensity with intervals. Imagine your body is a car. If you drive slow and steady you will use less fuel. Put your foot down, accelerate, stop and repeat. This burns more fuel because it is less efficient. The same applies for Anaerobic metabolism (e.g. sprinting) vs Aerobic (e.g. jogging) so stop jogging and start sprinting – or some other high intensity exercise.
4. Build stronger denser muscles. This is like having a bigger more powerful engine that guzzles down fuel. Strength and high intensity training also leaves you burning calories for up to 48 hours while the body recovers (a bit like leaving your engine running. OK, sorry, enough car references).
5. Walk to the shops and carry your food home. At the very least park far away from the shop, you can also avoid expensive dents this way!
6. Always take the stairs. Always walk up escalators.
7. Walk more and walk faster. A distance covered faster burns more calories. Multiply this over the course of a lifetime and it is a significant change in lifestyle. No really, hurry up, you will live longer and spend less time dawdling. 20 minutes brisk walking a day – minimum – plus all the real training (strength training and intense cardio every week).
8. If you must watch TV, watch less and stretch or foam roll while doing so to make the time spent productive, but a recumbent bike and peddle and watch your favourite 1 hour night time show, it’s amazing how quickly the time will pass.
9. Accept that life was meant to require physical effort on a daily basis and embrace it. Think long and hard about this one.
10. Love your food but choose wisely. There is a lot of poison on supermarket shelves. Also treat yourself about once a week to a small indulgence. After all, we are only human."
Note to self.....Bookmark this on my computer, memorise it....and put it into action! :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
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Replies
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Love this.
In evolutionary terms - those who cannot control their weight and die young from obesity before having children will not pass on their genes... meaning further generations will be better suited to current conditions than we are.0 -
Nice article.
I wish more people would start looking at nutrient density rather than calories alone, but the constant "a calorie is a calorie" continues to prevail.
Same with myths like "eat 6 small meals a day", "never miss breakfast" etc etc when it's relatively recent in our evolution that we have a constant supply of food rather the "fast & feast" days of our ancestors.
I eat as nutrient dense food as possible and usually come in around 1500 cals. It does irk me a bit when I'm told I should eat more and look at the diary of someone who's been "grazing" on white bread and chocolate bars all day. :huh:0 -
PS the article looks like it could have almost come verbatim from "Marks Daily Apple"....0
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Thanks for sharing0
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I Love the way you have put this together - such and easy and fun read! Well done lady .... I disagree with you slightly on the fruits but i understand where you coming from. Fruit juice absolute no no ... basically like drinking Coca Cola!
And the car references were awesome!!! Love it!
A workout without intensity is pointless as you pointed out ....i know its wrong of me but i get a little irritated with people at the gym that are not giving it their all ... i know its harsh of me but feck, c'mon people, if you going to do it, do it right! Like people holding on the thereadmill bars when doing their uphills - wtf's the point .... ok, i went off at a tangent, where was i lol
Thanks for the lovely read10 -
Look at all the criticism of sugar and sugar in fruit!
And all those points about moving more are excellent but really have nothing to do with overeating.
An apple, banana, pear, etc has about 100-120 calories. There is absolutely no reason not to eat two or three or even 5 in a day if it fits into your general eating plan and does not blow your macronutrients. The other micronutrient provided by fruit are excellent.
There is a danger of over-limiting fruit or considering them "bad" because "sugar". This is really an issue in cultures that already eat little fruit/vegetables.
If you are interested in eating nutrient dense food, a variety of fruits can certainly be part of that.0 -
Great article.0
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Look at all the criticism of sugar and sugar in fruit!
And all those points about moving more are excellent but really have nothing to do with overeating.
An apple, banana, pear, etc has about 100-120 calories. There is absolutely no reason not to eat two or three or even 5 in a day if it fits into your general eating plan and does not blow your macronutrients. The other micronutrient provided by fruit are excellent.
There is a danger of over-limiting fruit or considering them "bad" because "sugar". This is really an issue in cultures that already eat little fruit/vegetables.
If you are interested in eating nutrient dense food, a variety of fruits can certainly be part of that.
QFT0 -
Great article, really made me think about what I eat and why I eat!0
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I LOVE this0
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Sugar makes you fat?
This isn't one of those 'insulin is the devil' things is it?
If so, oh dear.0 -
Meh on the fruit sugar thing. I ate two whole pineapples Monday and 3 bananas. So, I had a calorie surplus of 1,943 and consumed 733 calories total from fruit. If every day were like Monday, it certainly wouldn't be the sugar in fruit that would make me fat.0
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If you are interested in eating nutrient dense food, a variety of fruits can certainly be part of that.
Do agree with that. :drinker:0 -
bump0
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As I said....It's not my work. I downloaded it from the gym website. Admittedly, not everyone is going to agree with everything, but there are some good points to be noted.......nobody says it's definitely right or wrong.0
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I like the car analogies for HIIT!0
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I do most of the things on that list.. works for me!0
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Look at all the criticism of sugar and sugar in fruit!
And all those points about moving more are excellent but really have nothing to do with overeating.
An apple, banana, pear, etc has about 100-120 calories. There is absolutely no reason not to eat two or three or even 5 in a day if it fits into your general eating plan and does not blow your macronutrients. The other micronutrient provided by fruit are excellent.
There is a danger of over-limiting fruit or considering them "bad" because "sugar". This is really an issue in cultures that already eat little fruit/vegetables.
If you are interested in eating nutrient dense food, a variety of fruits can certainly be part of that.
This.
Other than that, good post about our lack of exercise and change of lifestyle.... Admittedly, it's a bit shallow on the historic side... Even in history older than 100 years, there were periods when food was relatively easy to come by and obesity actually raised its head, at least in parts of society.
To people who always think how healthy food was up to 100 years ago: I have a cookbook from 1909, and a lot of the recipes in there I wouldn't make, or only exceptionally, because they are far too rich.
For example, no modern cookbook I've ever read talked about the '7 stages of boiling sugar'.0 -
Certainly doesn't go for everyone, but tbh my biggest source of over-eating was eating out. Almost every restaurant gives you enough food to feed at least 2 adults, if not 3, and when it's sitting in front of me and I'm paying extra for a meal, I feel like I have to eat it.
The solution is to cook more at home and bring my lunch to work. Pair that with substituting low fat condiments for the 'full flavor' kind and I'm never hungry but eat half the calories, easily.0 -
Interesting read - thanks for sharing0
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I enjoyed that. You have a wonderful trainer.0
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wonderful article! thanks for posting.
I have shamelessly lifted it and will post to my blog so I can keep it and share it.
thank you for sharing!0 -
some of the points are fine...basically move more..
But the sugar thing is bogus, the poisons on the supermarket shelves eh and treat only once a week...naw that can be done everyday if it fits in your goals...
Why because a calorie is a calorie...*oh I said it* and when it comes to weight loss that is all that matters.
Fitness and nutrition come into play for health...and even those of us who say "a calorie is a calories* watch those things probably a lot closer than most users here...0 -
Bump0
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well i do all of the above on a regular basis and still overeat when I am home alone. if I am outside its not a problem but the minute i step into my house OH DEAR LORD0
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Love it. The car analogy is great!0
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Interesting post. I do agree with the bit about sugar.
Also about 2 pieces of fruit (although that is a bit of a generalisation as some fruits are nutritionally better per calories than other). Personally I tend to focus more on my veg.
Stop jogging start sprinting - yes 100%0 -
Awesome post!0
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"...We now live in a world where you can quite literally eat yourself to death… and it’s becoming frightening common. It may surprise you to know that many people who die from obesity, actually die from malnutrition. They have grown so huge that the food they eat can no longer provide enough vitamins and minerals to keep them alive..."
I am mildly acquainted with someone who is eating herself to death. She is close to 700 pounds, no longer has much mobility, and regularly eats 3,500 to 4,000 calories above what is a generous allowance of food. She eats massive amounts of sugar, white flour and fat every day. (She ate most of a dozen Crispy Creme doughnuts the other day for breakfast.) She eats no vegetables (unless you count the occasional tiny salad) and no fresh fruit. Everything she eats is heavily processed and loaded with chemicals. She is dying because she chooses to eat non-nutritive food. It is obvious that she is addicted to white flour and sugar--both substances are thought to be highly addictive by scientists who study obesity. Sad.0
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