Often times we treat things like drug and alcohol addiction seriously, but what about Food Addiction? During our workout journey with your favorite or current program (like T25, INSANITY, or P90X3), there may be times where life stress, concern, disappointment, or other factors finds you digging through the fridge or pantry for a sweet treat.
But why does this happen?? Why do we sometimes have a hard time and fall back into bad eating habits or “comfort foods?” I’ll be explaining that in today’s video along with the details below in the post. Check them both out!
Food Addiction – The Brain Reward Center
After suffering through some symptoms of food addiction myself, I did a ton of research. What I found is that our brains are wired to provide rewards when we overeat. Especially things like the high fat and sugary foods. When these things are consumed, our brain releases:
DOPAMINE
Dopamine is a pleasure chemical that functions as part of the brain’s reward center. Think about it like we are caveman. In times of famine and fasting, the pleasure of eating lots of calories and food to survive were critical. Our bodies are programed to reward us when we eat a lot to survive periods of famine.
The only issue is, today we tend to have an overabundance of food options. Even worse than that, high fat, high calorie, supersize foods are tempting us every day.
Steps to Control Food Addiction during our Workout Journey
Please note that I mentioned “during our workout journey”, as that is a key in this post. If you are someone who is not active and is suffering with food addiction, please contact a local help center as they can do a great job helping you succeed.
I have found a few steps to control any chance of food addiction. My old desire of getting EXCITED about food (cheeseburgers, cakes, cookies, and more) no longer exists to the full extreme that they once were.
Now that we know that DOPAMINE is the chemical that is released based on reward, we can use that knowledge to control our eating (and our abs!!).
Step #1 – Control Stress and Disappointment – This is sometimes harder to do than say, but stress will have us raging for the big ice cream bar or Hershey’s Chocolate Bar in an instant. Instead of just “getting over it”, find other pleasurable activities to release dopamine versus overeating or eating bad foods. Some options for alternative dopamine release include:
- Exercise (yes, that releases a fair amount of dopamine! Get one of my Challenge Packs if you don’t already have a program).
- Sex (Yep, getting it on releases a surge of dopamine!)
- Comedy on TV (Laughter is the best medicine – it works here too!)
- Socializing (talk to a good friend, or group, or our Team Sweet Life community).
Step #2 – Find Alternatives – Find alternatives to your sweet and salty “cheat meals”. I have always been, and will always be, a believer in Shakeology. I drink it daily, and breaking it down to $4.33/day sure beats that $5.00 Starbucks or $7.00 McDonalds meal. Other alternative options are:
- Clean Eating Snacks – when you are hungry and a bit stressed, eat a clean snack from my list of good options (and yes, Shakeology is considered a clean meal).
- Can I Eat that Donut? – Learn how you can eat some “cheat meals” without ruining your weight loss efforts. Please note that this does take self control and tracking it with something like MyFitnessPal
Always focus on taking your fitness journey seriously. Be committed 110%, and I promise it will pay off! When you feel that food addiction and dopamine needs are on the rise, find the alternatives and avoid the food that will throw you away from your results!
If you found this valuable, share it with others! If you have questions, feel free to comment below and let’s chat!
Yours in Success,
Coach Bob