I hear voices. All the time. They call to me. They are not my friends, but they pretend to be. I am told that many of you do not hear voices like these. I can’t imagine your life, any more than you can imagine mine. If you don’t, go back to reading the Sunday paper. This is not for you.
During the Holidays, our little community of wellbuddies engaged in a discussion of holiday traditions, ideals, and stress. So many (of all three) center on food. Our buddy Sharon mentioned on Facebook that she was reading "The End of Overeating" by David Kessler. After a quick “hold” request to the library, it showed up in my reading pile a few weeks later.
Kessler does a masterful job of describing the science, and the personal anguish, of eating out-of-control. He hears those voices as well. Leftover pizza in the frig. Candy jar on a desk down the hall. Ice cream and giant pretzels at the Mall. Their voices are beautiful, and they seduce us. But they are not our friends. They override our rational minds and sabotage our best interests. Learning to tune out the voices, or at least reduce the volume, is a life-long project. Kessler tells us why. He also tells us how.
“Conditioned hyper-eating” is a technical term for our urge to obey those voices. It arises in the complex circuitry of the brain—where certain stimuli have been paired, by evolution and experience, with euphoric reward. The two are linked directly in the brain, without passing through the filter of reasoned choice. The more it is used, the stronger the connection grows. And Grows. AND GROWS. With disuse, the connection weakens. Gradually. But never breaks completely.
Scientific awareness of brain function provides an incentive to curb unwanted eating. I don’t like obeying orders from the “reptilian brain” while my human frontal lobes stand by, helplessly looking on. While awareness by itself may lead to frustration, however, it does not automatically lead to change. For change, we must meet the brain on its own terms. True, we are subject to its conditioned reflex of hyper-eating. It is also true that we can engage the power of reason and choice to build alternative conditioning, one step at a time.
Tune in next week for ideas on tuning down the voices in our heads.
Until the next time, go well.
Pam
www.wellbuddies.com
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3 comments:
Before I read this book, I couldn't understand why so many restaurants laid on the grease upon grease upon grease.
If it's hard to find healthy things at a restaurant, I try not to go there.
Anonymous #2
Great post Pam. I look forward to the continuation of this subject, and will check out the book. I have to imagine it flows over into other patterns we choose as humans too, not just eating.
I loved this, Pam. A friend of mine once shared that he was sitting on the couch late at night and in the frig - his sandwich started to call him...eat me! He wasn't hungry, it was one of the voice triggering a binge. His trick at that moment was to tune into other voices...that spoke to him of being well. I look forward to next week and hearing more. Thanks.
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