Once the festivities are over many people think about hitting the gym and taking out expensive memberships of health clubs. This isn’t necessarily the best weight loss initiative, according to Dr. Susan Peirce, who works at the University of Rochester. Dr. Pierce is a recognized expert in the psychology of eating.
In place of trying to burn off calories at the gym, Dr. Pierce advises Digital Journal readers to rewire their brains. This is akin to ‘healing’ the brain away from food addiction. Dr. Pierce has covered his in her forthcoming book, which is titled “Bright Line Eating: The Science of Living Happy, Thin and Free.” The book is based on sound science, covering neuroscience, psychology, and biology.
Noting that almost everyone who attempts to lose weight fails, Dr. Pierce has spent her career trying to understand the reasons for this. The basis of her research is addiction, and the way the brain becomes addicted to sugar and flour. Food addiction manifests itself in the uncontrollable craving for excess food that follows the ingestion of refined carbohydrates, primarily sugar and flour substances that are quickly metabolized and turned into sugar in the bloodstream.
The addiction is such that the brain becomes rewired in a similar way to those addicted to drugs. The rewiring involves changes to hormones and neurotransmitters, with the net effect that an insatiable hunger and cravings for sweet and starchy foods becomes a continual presence.
Dr. Pierce’s advice is to remove as much sugar and flour from the diet as possible. Her advice to readers can be broken down into the following steps:
Eat regular meals: Stick to a steady schedule of three meals a day at regular mealtimes (breakfast, lunch, and dinner .) This helps to train the brain to eat the right things at the right times.
Eat the right quantities: Often people do not receive reliable signals from their brains to stop eating when they have eaten a sufficient amount. This can be recertified through stricter portion control.
Be consistent: The more often people eat regular meals and stick to reasonable portions then the more likely they will develop the will-power to follow the best practice advice.
The reason for eschewing the gym, Dr. Pierce states, is because it often leads people to overeat after exercise.
