Why do people overeat.

patentguru

Everyone on MFP trying to lose fat strives for a calorie deficit, i.e. more calories burned than eaten. In general, you must burn 3500 calories to lose one pound of fat. To lose one pound of fat a week, you must eat 3500 less calories than you burn during week no matter the type of food. I hope we all agree on this.

Now WHY can't we all easily eat a 3500 calorie deficit for the week. I have heard many sarcastic comments on these boards that is merely "willpower"- you simply choose to eat too much. Thus, I would like to get feedback on what "willpower" means to you.

My understanding regarding willpower. We eat for varied reasons- feel better, stress, energy, hunger, whatever. We must have 'willpower" to overcome these reasons. There are two ways to do this:

1. Increase "willpower" (difficult).
2. Reduce reasons for eating (easier).

The hardest reasons I find to overcome with willpower for me are hunger and energy level.

Looking at my food diary, I believe the biggest cause of hunger is blood sugar level too low caused by insulin reducing the blood sugar level too quickly. Thus, I try to go lower carb or lower glycemic carb. This is why I believe low carb diets and low glycemic diets are easier during fat loss stage. However, I have also been successful losing fat with higher carb diets by timing when I eat the carbs.

What is your view?

(This thread addresses the fat loss stage only, not long term maintenance or mass gain. Of course we all want a balanced diet in the long term.)