Here's a condensed outline of our Quit Sugar Like Addicts Quit Drugs section. 

NOTE: All lessons end with links to the peer-reviewed studies they're based on. 

SECTION 1:  NATURE OF CRAVINGS & THE FORCES EXPLOITING THEM

Lesson #1 We're Wired To Overeat

Have you ever wondered why we start wanting a nibble of food and end up binging? Why do we overeat even when we don’t want to? 

Few of us intend to hit food like a linebacker, yet almost all of us end up doing just that. Why? In this lesson, you’re going to learn a surprising conclusion drawn by evolutionary biologists: We are wired to overeat.

 LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM: Get you to understand you don't binge on sweets because you lack self discipline or self-control. You overeat because you were designed to do so. 

GOAL: Set you up to understand the next few lessons-- how the conscious brain can  outsmart our instinct to overeat.

Lesson #2 Is Sugar A Drug?

We use the phrase "sugar addiction" in everyday conversation because our experience is eerily reminiscent of what we think of as drug addiction. You start eating, believing you're only going to eat a certain amount but once you start you can't stop. 

You try to get a handle on it. You try to cut down but you repeatedly fail. There's a compulsive quality to it that can start to take on a life of its own. 

Despite a strong motivation to stop you're unable to get consumption under control. But here’s a question--do scientists actually believe sugar is an addictive substance?  The answers will surprise you.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM: Understand sugar's properties encourage disordered eating (overeating, binging). That between the addictive nature of sugar and our wiring to overeat we need to put "guard rails" around the consumption of sweet foods and beverages

GOAL: Awareness that sugar ignites our instinct to overeat in a way that no other food does. This is necessary to understand the "guard rails" we discuss later.

 Lesson #3 How The Food Industry Exploits Our Instinctual Drive To Overeat

By ordering laboratory scientists to manipulate chemicals and food substances into their highest “bliss points,” food giants can knock down the natural guard rails we have to prevent overeating. 

A natural craving for cookies might compel you to eat three or four. But the way they are manufactured compels you to eat eighteen. Basically, the food industry produces food designed to make us lose control. 

And since three-quarters of the groceries we buy are processed food, we have a lot to lose control over. Here we discuss the science of how the industry makes processed food addictive. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM: Help you understand why it's so hard to control our eating around processed foods and why we have to protect ourselves from the industry’s predatory practices.

GOAL: Create a mindset shift that you can't approach eating sugary food the way you would, say, celery. Understand there are forces arrayed against you that have nothing to do with willpower and self-discipline. 

SECTION 3: HOW TO STOP BINGING OR OVEREATING ADDICTIVE FOODS

Here you’re going to learn the most effective ways to stop binging on addictive foods. Centering around what neuroscientists call "food cue reactivity" you'll find amazing tips and tricks that will prevent you from overeating.

Lesson #1: "GUARD RAILS" THAT HELP YOU EAT ADDICTIVE FOOD WITHOUT BINGING

From common sensory cues that trigger overeating to serving styles that encourage binging you'll learn how unconscious eating behaviors set the stage for a loss of control.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Awareness of particular eating patterns, habits and behaviors that contribute to a loss of control.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN: How to avoid behaviors that lead to binging and overeating and develop very specific "guard rails" that keep you safe while enjoying normal portions of addictive food. 

Lesson #2: HOW TO CREATE MORE FRICTION AROUND ADDICTIVE FOODS

Again, we cannot approach a donut the way we would an apple. Here we investigate a concept known as "friction" that's proven to eliminate or significantly reduce overeating. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Awareness of how creating "friction" around addictive foods can practically guarantee you won't overeat

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN: Dozens of tactics and strategies designed to stop you from overeating, not from enjoying food you love. They are a recognition that our instinct to overeat, the addictive properties of processed foods, and the industry’s exploitation of those properties all compel us to approach these unhealthy foods differently than we do healthy foods. 

SECTION 3: FREE YOURSELF FROM SUGAR

Lesson #1: How Habituation Got You Hooked On Sugar

Nobody starts off eating a whole bag of Oreos or drinking a 64 oz Big Gulp of soda. We start off with a little (3 Oreos, 8 oz of soda, etc.), grow accustomed to it, then need a little more to get the same satisfaction. 

Neuroscientists call this habituation (and its reinforcing partner, homeostasis). Here you'll learn how habituation and homeostasis work to create increased consumption.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how you got to your current point of sugar consumption.

GOAL: Understand that the same forces that got you to the current level of consumption--habituation and homeostasis--can be used to get you back to zero (or little) consumption. 

Lesson #2 How To Use Habituation & Homeostasis To Break Your Sugar Addiction

Here we introduce the  process Addiction Medicine uses to get people off drugs so we can apply it to sugar. It’s called “systematic discontinuation.” 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM: Understand how experts get addicts off drugs without withdrawals.

GOAL: Get a fundamental understanding of the process so we can apply the dynamics to sugar in the next lessons. 

Lesson #3 Applying "Systematic Discontinuation" To Sugar

You are going to learn the methods Addiction Medicine specialists use to get people off drugs and apply it to sugar. This is a step-by-step guide to "getting off sugar" the same way addicts "get off drugs."

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how the process works using your own problem foods you want to get off of (bag of cookies, 5 cans of soda, etc.)

Goal: Eliminate or significantly reduce (do you really want to live in a world without Oreos?) your sugar intake without feeling cheated or deprived.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN: Step-by-step techniques that bust your sugar habit and keep it busted. These techniques do not involve deprivation and they do not require willpower, self-control or self-discipline.

SECTION 4: CAST YOUR NEW EATING HABITS IN CEMENT

Quitting sugar requires the establishment of new eating habits. It isn't difficult but it does take time. You will inevitably go through periods where you'll forget what to do, become resistant or sabotage yourself in some way. 

In this section, we show you how to avoid the traps of building new eating habits by overcoming resistance, dealing with frustration and rebounding from failures. 

Lesson #1: Awareness 

Building new habits require you to pause and pay attention to what you’re thinking and doing. They require in-the-moment “sensors” that go off when you’re in the middle of a habit you’re trying to break, or a habit you’re trying to establish. In this lesson, you'll learn the art of "cultivating a witness state" so you can be more aware of what you're doing.

Lesson #2: Build "Emergency Reserves" For Setbacks

The latest studies in resilience show that a strategy called "Planning For Setbacks" dramatically increase accomplishment of goals. We'll show you how to apply this brilliant approach.

Here's a condensed outline of our Cut Your Hunger In Half section. 

NOTE: All lessons end with links to the peer-reviewed studies they're based on. 

SECTION 1:  WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HUNGER BEFORE YOU CAN REDUCE IT

By knowing what strategies the brain uses to navigate through its hunger matrix, cognitive scientists have discovered how to manipulate its circuitry and work its blind spots to aid weight loss. None of their strategies will make sense, however, without first knowing how the brain operates and that's what this section is about. 

Lesson #1 Your Brain Decides How Hungry You Are--Not Your Belly

In the coming lessons, you're going to learn how to significantly reduce your hunger by working levers of the brain that control appetite and satiety. But in order to do that you need to understand a counter-intuitive aspect about hunger: It isn’t your belly that’s making you hungry; it’s your brain.

 LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM: Understand how the brain constructs hunger and satiety--where it gets its information, how it processes it and the blind spots that can be exploited to reduce hunger.

GOAL: Prepare you for the tools you'll use to cut your appetite.

SECTION 2:  HUNGER CAN BE MANIPULATED UP OR DOWN

Hunger, according to neuroscientists, is a highly suggestible state that can be influenced by a variety of factors that have nothing to do with the emptiness of your belly. In this section, you're going to find out what they are and how to capitalize on them. 

Lesson #1: HOW YOU ARTIFICIALLY INFLATE YOUR HUNGER WITHOUT KNOWING IT

Neuroscientists conceive of hunger as "organic" or “manipulated.” In the manipulated state, it doesn’t matter whether your belly is empty or full, or whether you have a biological need for fuel. You experience hunger because somebody or something brings it out in you. Spoiler alert: Our hunger is constantly being manipulated. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how your hunger can be trained up or down as a "conditioned response" to certain stimuli. 

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN: How to avoid situations and behaviors that lead to artificially raising your hunger.  

Lesson #2: FOOD'S ROLE IN CREATING HUNGER

Food doesn't just satisfy hunger; it can CREATE it. This is one of the more eye-opening discoveries in neuroscience and it's instrumental in guiding hunger-reducing behavior. Here you'll see stunning examples of how, if you're not careful, you can use food to create hunger that wasn't there originally.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how we inadvertently use food to stoke unnecessary hunger. Example: eating breakfast when you're not hungry. You take a nibble of toast, it sparks hunger, and next thing you know you have a full breakfast. But you started off with no appetite!  Food created the hunger.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN:  Tactics and strategies that avoid conscious or unconscious manipulation of your hunger. 

SECTION 3: HOW TO DECREASE YOUR HUNGER

Lesson #1: BREAKING HUNGER ASSOCIATIONS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD

Hunger is often a conditioned response to stimuli (example: you're not hungry, you see an ad for pizza and suddenly you're hungry). Fortunately, you can use classical conditioning to break those associations. In this lesson, you'll see plenty of examples on how to do that. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand what it takes to break conscious and unconscious hunger associations.

GOAL: Create new eating behaviors that break weight-gaining hunger associations. 

Lesson #2:  THE MOST POWERFUL HUNGER REDUCTION TOOL

Memory has a huge influence on hunger and satiety. Known as "The Meal-Recall Effect," this is one of the most important discoveries ever made in our understanding of hunger. Here you'll understand how it came to be and what impact it has on your every day hunger levels. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how the brain uses memory to construct hunger and satiety. 

GOAL: Awareness of how important it is to pay attention to what you're eating so your brain can recall it when it formulates hunger levels for the next eating opportunity. 

Lesson #3 APPLYING "THE MEAL-RECALL EFFECT"

A step-by-step guide to applying this proven hunger-reducing technique. Taken directly from the methodology used in the peer-reviewed experiments, the steps are simple to understand and easy to implement.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Create strong memories of what you're eating so your brain can access those memories and influence how it perceives hunger for the next meal.

Goal: Create new ways of approaching your meals, enjoying them and "storing the data" your brain will use to perceive less hunger. 

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN: How to activate "The Meal-Recall Effect" to produce the same results achieved in laboratory settings (a 14% to 50% reduction in hunger).

SECTION 4: EXPLOITING THE BRAIN'S BLIND SPOTS TO FURTHER REDUCE HUNGER

The brain processes visual information in a way that often produces optical illusions. The psychophysicist Joseph Delboeuf made this discovery when he experimented on  optico-geometric visuals that came to be known as "The Delboeuf Illusion."  Weight loss researchers have documented its effect on hunger reduction. 

Lesson #1: WHAT IS THE DELBOEUF ILLUSION & HOW DOES IT APPLY TO HUNGER?

You'll see dramatic, visual examples of the Delboeuf Illusion--how easily your brain is fooled into thinking it's seeing something that's not there. You'll also find out how the brain perceives size has a direct impact on how you experience hunger. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand the principles of The Delboeuf Illusion and how it applies to food, hunger and satiation.

Goal: A greater awareness of the brain's blind spots that can be exploited to reduce hunger. 

Lesson #2: ACTIVATING THE DELBOEUF ILLUSION

This step-by-step plan, recommended by neuroscientists, will activate the Delboeuf Illusion and maximize the potential to reduce hunger..

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how The Delboeuf Illusion works under different circumstances.

Skills You'll Learn: How to activate The Delboeuf Illusion and eat significantly less while feeling completely satiated. 

SECTION 4: HOW THE "PORTION SIZE EFFECT" CAN BE USED TO REDUCE HUNGER

"The Portion Size Effect" is a phenomenon neuroscientists use to describe how the brain uses socially accepted portion sizes as a predictor of how much you'll eat and how satisfied you'll feel. 

Example: If the portion size gets bigger you'll eat more (even if you're not any hungrier). Scientists have figured out how to reverse The Portion Size Effect's on hunger and we cover that here. 

Lesson #1: WHAT IS THE "PORTION SIZE EFFECT?"

Succinct explanations and loads of examples you'll be able to relate to. Some of the counter-intuitive conclusions scientists have made about the steady increases in portion sizes will no doubt surprise you.

AIM:  Understand how The Portion Size Effect works so you can neutralize it in the service of reducing hunger. 

Skills You'll Learn: How to activate "The Bite Size Mechanism" produced by The Portion Size Effect, which is proven to reduce the amount of food you eat without feeling cheated or deprived.

Lesson #2 HOW TO DECREASE PORTION SIZES PAINLESSLY

Imagine being used to eating a 12 oz steak and suddenly being served 4 oz. Your startle response would go off like a howler monkey screaming against the window of a NASA rocket at liftoff.

Why? 

Because drastic cuts violate habituation's golden rule: Thou shalt not awaken the startle response. Your sensors (anxiety, the threat of deprivation) activate the regulatory powers of homeostasis which then restored equilibrium by making you even hungrier so you’ll search for more food.

In this lesson, we'll investigate why it's a BAD idea to make big cuts to your portion sizes all at once and how to do it correctly.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand that you should never measure/weigh food to find out how much you should eat. Measure to understand how much you’re currently eating so you can start the process of systematic discontinuation (tapering).

Skills You'll Learn: How to use habituation and homeostasis (tapering) to reduce the amount of food you're eating without having a panic attack!

SECTION 5: CAST YOUR NEW EATING HABITS IN CEMENT

Reducing hunger requires the establishment of new eating habits. It isn't difficult but it does take time. You will inevitably go through periods where you'll forget what to do, become resistant or sabotage yourself in some way. In this section, we show you how to avoid the traps of building new eating habits by overcoming resistance, dealing with frustration and rebounding from failures. 

Lesson #1: Awareness 

Building new habits require you to pause and pay attention to what you’re thinking and doing. They require in-the-moment “sensors” that go off when you’re in the middle of a habit you’re trying to break, or a habit you’re trying to establish. In this lesson, you'll learn the art of "cultivating a witness state" so you can be more aware of what you're doing.

Lesson #2: Build "Emergency Reserves" For Setbacks

The latest studies in resilience show that a strategy called "Planning For Setbacks" dramatically increase accomplishment of goals. We'll show you how to apply this brilliant approach.

SECTION 5: CAST YOUR NEW EATING HABITS IN CEMENT

Quitting sugar requires the establishment of new eating habits. It isn't difficult but it does take time. You will inevitably go through periods where you'll forget what to do, become resistant or sabotage yourself in some way. 

In this section, we show you how to avoid the traps of building new eating habits by overcoming resistance, dealing with frustration and rebounding from failures. 

Lesson #1: Awareness 

Building new habits require you to pause and pay attention to what you’re thinking and doing. They require in-the-moment “sensors” that go off when you’re in the middle of a habit you’re trying to break, or a habit you’re trying to establish. In this lesson, you'll learn the art of "cultivating a witness state" so you can be more aware of what you're doing.

Lesson #2: Build "Emergency Reserves" For Setbacks

The latest studies in resilience show that a strategy called "Planning For Setbacks" dramatically increase accomplishment of goals. We'll show you how to apply this brilliant approach.

Here's a condensed outline of our CONTROL YOUR CRAVINGS class. 

NOTE: All lessons end with links to the peer-reviewed studies they're based on. 

SECTION 1:  NATURE OF CRAVINGS & THE FORCES EXPLOITING THEM

Lesson #1 WE'RE WIRED TO CRAVE. AND OVEREAT.

Have you ever wondered why we start wanting a nibble of food and end up binging? Why do we overeat even when we don’t want to? 

Few of us intend to hit food like a linebacker, yet almost all of us end up doing just that. Why? In this lesson, you’re going to learn a surprising conclusion drawn by evolutionary biologists: We are wired to overeat. 

 LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM: Get you to understand you don't binge on sweets because you lack self discipline or self-control. You overeat because you were designed to do so. 

GOAL: Set you up to understand the next few lessons-- how the conscious brain can  outsmart our instinct to overeat.

Lesson #2 ARE WE "ADDICTED" TO THE FOODS WE CRAVE?

We use the phrase "sugar addiction" in everyday conversation because our experience is eerily reminiscent of what we think of as drug addiction. You start eating, believing you're only going to eat a certain amount but once you start you can't stop. 

You try to get a handle on it. You try to cut down but you repeatedly fail. There's a compulsive quality to it that can start to take on a life of its own. Despite a strong motivation to stop you're unable to get consumption under control. But here’s a question--do scientists actually believe sugar is an addictive substance?  The answers will surprise you.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand sugar's properties encourage disordered eating (overeating, binging). That between the addictive nature of sugar and our wiring to overeat we need to put "guard rails" around the consumption of sweet foods and beverages

GOAL: Awareness that sugar ignites our instinct to overeat in a way that no other food does. This is necessary to understand the "guard rails" we discuss later.

 Lesson #3 THE FOODS WE CRAVE ARE FORMULATED TO ADDICT US

By ordering laboratory scientists to manipulate chemicals and food substances into their highest “bliss points,” food giants can knock down the natural guard rails we have to prevent overeating. 

A natural craving for cookies might compel you to eat three or four. But the way they are manufactured compels you to eat eighteen. Basically, the food industry produces food designed to make us lose control. And since three-quarters of the groceries we buy are processed food, we have a lot to lose control over. Here we discuss the science of how the industry makes processed food addictive. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Help you understand why it's so hard to control our eating around processed foods and why we have to protect ourselves from the industry’s predatory practices.

GOAL: Create a mindset shift that you can't approach eating sugary food the way you would, say, celery. Understand there are forces arrayed against you that have nothing to do with willpower and self-discipline. 

SECTION 2: HOW TO WEAKEN CRAVINGS FOR UNHEALTHY FOODS

Here you’re going to learn the most effective ways to weaken or eliminate cravings for chocolate, junk food or any other unhealthy food. Centering around what neuroscientists call "food cue reactivity" you'll find proven, evidence-based techniques to liberate you from crushing cravings. 

Lesson #1: "GUARD RAILS" THAT WEAKEN CRAVINGS & AVOID OVEREATING 

From common sensory cues that trigger overeating to serving styles that encourage binging you'll learn how unconscious eating behaviors set the stage for a loss of control.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Awareness of particular eating patterns, habits and behaviors that contribute to a loss of control.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN: How to avoid behaviors that start with cravings and lead to binging or overeating. You'll develop very specific "guard rails" that keep you safe while either entirely avoiding addictive food or allowing you to eat rational portions without wanting more.  

Lesson #2: HOW TO CREATE MORE FRICTION AROUND ADDICTIVE FOODS

Again, we cannot approach a donut the way we would an apple. Here we investigate a concept known as "friction" that's proven to eliminate or significantly reduce overeating. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Awareness of how creating "friction" around addictive foods can practically guarantee you won't overeat.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN:  Dozens of tactics and strategies designed to stop you from overeating, not from enjoying food you love. They are a recognition that our instinct to overeat, the addictive properties of processed foods, and the industry’s exploitation of our cravings all compel us to approach these unhealthy foods differently than we do healthy foods. 

SECTION 3: HOW TO MANAGE CRAVINGS

Here you’re going to learn two delayed gratification techniques that cut out a tremendous number of calories while preserving your ability to eat whatever you want. How is that possible? By replacing the current framework you're using ("Yes, I will indulge/No, I will not" with a better one ("Yes, I will indulge/ No, I will POSTPONE").  

Lesson #1: THE DELAYED GRATIFICATION TECHNIQUES YOU'RE CURRENTLY USING ARE COMPLETELY FLAWED. 

A neuroscientific critique of the utter uselessness of traditional delayed gratification techniques advocated by dieting ("I'll give up this burger so I can lose weight/get healthier"). When you find out why this type of approach has a 95% failure rate you'll never use it again.

AIM:  Awareness of how useless and damaging traditional delayed gratification techniques are and why they almost always fail completely. For example, studies show that intellectual abstractions ("If I give up this burger today, Ill get thinner sometime in the future") can rarely compete with visceral emotions (the intensity of the look and smell of that burger!). 

Goal:  Convince you to give up using dieting's version of delayed gratification and embrace neuroscience's far more effective version (which you'll learn in the next lesson).

Lesson #2: NEUROSCIENCE'S PREFERRED DELAYED GRATIFICATION TECHNIQUE

This method avoids the corrosive "intellectual abstraction vs visceral pleasure" dynamic riddling traditional delayed gratification techniques and replaces it with something far more powerful. Combining mindfulness with can't lose choices, this 5-second technique was voted "favorite technique" by hundreds of our students.

AIM:  Understand the concept behind the PAUSE-RATE-DECIDE technique, why it's so powerful and the benefits it brings. 

Goal:  Instead of resisting cravings, you'll see the wisdom of tuning into them, and working with rather than against them. 

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN:  How to apply the PAUSE-RATE-DECIDE technique right before every snack or meal. 

SECTION 4: A SECOND DELAYED GRATIFICATION TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED BY NEUROSCIENTISTS

How can the French eat anything they want and not gain weight? By managing their cravings differently than we do. Our second delayed gratification technique was inspired by anthropological research into foodie cultures in France, Italy and Japan. What they found was completely counter to the dieting ethos so prevalent in the U.S. 

These cultures use pleasure, not deprivation to manage their cravings. Thus, our second delayed gratification system doesn't confront a craving with sacrifice ("Should I give up these fries so I can lose weight/get healthier sometime in the future?"). 

Instead, it confronts it the way the French do--with PLEASURE ("Should I eat these fries or wait until I can find a better version of them?")

Lesson #1:  HOW THE FRENCH MANAGE CRAVINGS--AND HOW YOU CAN TOO 

You'll see studies showing when you base food decisions on higher and higher levels of pleasure you become habituated to higher and higher levels of satisfaction. Over time you become less and less satisfied with the merely pleasurable, which is what junk food is, and insist on the mouth-watering.

And when that happens, you start cutting out junk foods, not because they’re bad for you, but because they no longer meet your minimum requirements for pleasure. THIS is how epicurean societies like the French manage their cravings and eat what they want without gaining weight. 

AIM:  Understand the epicurean mindset that  the pursuit of pleasure, not dieting and deprivation, is the path to weight loss. 

GOAL:  Convince you to give up dieting and its corrosive denial of pleasure in favor of becoming a pleasure junkie who gives up volume for quality. 

Lesson #2: TRAIN YOUR TASTE BUDS TO REJECT LOW-PLEASURE EATING

This lesson shows you how to "put your taste buds in rehab" so that you reject low-pleasure eating (a good deal of the American diet) in favor of high-pleasure consumption. Again, studies show that pleasure junkies gladly reject junk food (low pleasure eating) and wait for a high-pleasure eating opportunity. Since high-pleasure food is harder to come by you naturally eliminate a significant amount of calories from your diet. 

AIM:  Understand the importance of raising the level of pleasure you get out of food. Example: You'll get way more pleasure out of fresh-baked cookies than processed, packaged ones). 

GOAL:  Train your taste buds to reject low-pleasure foods in favor of food that sends you into a rapture, knowing it will reduce the volume of food you eat in exchange for more pleasure. 

Lesson #3: A NEUROSCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUE THAT TRAINS YOUR TASTE BUDS TO HAPPILY REJECT LOW PLEASURE EATING.

Would you sacrifice a mediocre meal for an excellent one? Would you turn down a snack that sends you into the doldrums for a snack that sent you to the moon?  Of course you would! Maximizing pleasure is a driving force of human nature --and the engine that drives this lesson.

 AIM:  Understand the concept behind the technique known as Postponement For The Rapture. It is the delayed gratification tool you'll use to adopt a new mindset: Pleasure is more important than volume. 

GOAL:  To be far more motivated by smaller amounts of high-pleasure food than larger amounts of mediocre food. 

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN:  The ability to instantly--and gladly--give up low-pleasure eating in favor of intensely pleasurable eating.  

SECTION 5: CAST YOUR NEW EATING HABITS IN CEMENT

Reducing hunger requires the establishment of new eating habits. It isn't difficult but it does take time. You will inevitably go through periods where you'll forget what to do, become resistant or sabotage yourself in some way. In this section, we show you how to avoid the traps of building new eating habits by overcoming resistance, dealing with frustration and rebounding from failures. 

Lesson #1: Awareness 

Building new habits require you to pause and pay attention to what you’re thinking and doing. They require in-the-moment “sensors” that go off when you’re in the middle of a habit you’re trying to break, or a habit you’re trying to establish. In this lesson, you'll learn the art of "cultivating a witness state" so you can be more aware of what you're doing.

Lesson #2: Build "Emergency Reserves" For Setbacks

The latest studies in resilience show that a strategy called "Planning For Setbacks" dramatically increase accomplishment of goals. We'll show you how to apply this brilliant approach.

Here's a condensed outline of our STOP OVEREATING class. 

NOTE: All lessons end with links to the peer-reviewed studies they're based on. 

SECTION 1:  THE NATURE OF OVEREATING & THE FORCES EXPLOITING IT

Lesson #1 WE'RE WIRED TO OVEREAT.

Have you ever wondered why we start wanting a nibble of food and end up binging? Why do we overeat even when we don’t want to? 

Few of us intend to hit food like a linebacker, yet almost all of us end up doing just that. Why? In this lesson, you’re going to learn a surprising conclusion drawn by evolutionary biologists: We are wired to overeat. 

 LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM: Get you to understand you don't binge on sweets because you lack self discipline or self-control. You overeat because you were designed to do so. 

GOAL: Set you up to understand the next few lessons-- how the conscious brain can  outsmart our instinct to overeat.

Lesson #2 ARE WE "ADDICTED" TO THE FOODS WE CRAVE?

We use the phrase "sugar addiction" in everyday conversation because our experience is eerily reminiscent of what we think of as drug addiction. You start eating, believing you're only going to eat a certain amount but once you start you can't stop. 

You try to get a handle on it. You try to cut down but you repeatedly fail. There's a compulsive quality to it that can start to take on a life of its own. Despite a strong motivation to stop you're unable to get consumption under control. But here’s a question--do scientists actually believe sugar is an addictive substance?  The answers will surprise you.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand sugar's properties encourage disordered eating (overeating, binging). That between the addictive nature of sugar and our wiring to overeat we need to put "guard rails" around the consumption of sweet foods and beverages

GOAL: Awareness that sugar ignites our instinct to overeat in a way that no other food does. This is necessary to understand the "guard rails" we discuss later.

 Lesson #3 PROCESSED FOOD IS DESIGNED TO MAKE US OVEREAT

By ordering laboratory scientists to manipulate chemicals and food substances into their highest “bliss points,” food giants can knock down the natural guard rails we have to prevent overeating. 

A natural craving for cookies might compel you to eat three or four. But the way they are manufactured compels you to eat eighteen. Basically, the food industry produces food designed to make us lose control. 

And since three-quarters of the groceries we buy are processed food, we have a lot to lose control over. Here we discuss the science of how the industry makes processed food addictive. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Help you understand why it's so hard to control our eating around processed foods and why we have to protect ourselves from the industry’s predatory practices.

GOAL: Create a mindset shift that you can't approach eating sugary food the way you would, say, celery. Understand there are forces arrayed against you that have nothing to do with willpower and self-discipline. 

SECTION 2: HOW TO WEAKEN CRAVINGS FOR UNHEALTHY FOODS

Here you’re going to learn the most effective ways to weaken or eliminate cravings for chocolate, junk food or any other unhealthy food. Centering around what neuroscientists call "food cue reactivity" you'll find proven, evidence-based techniques to liberate you from crushing cravings. 

Lesson #1: "GUARD RAILS" THAT WEAKEN CRAVINGS & AVOID OVEREATING 

From common sensory cues that trigger overeating to serving styles that encourage binging you'll learn how unconscious eating behaviors set the stage for a loss of control.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Awareness of particular eating patterns, habits and behaviors that contribute to a loss of control.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN: How to avoid behaviors that start with cravings and lead to binging or overeating. You'll develop very specific "guard rails" that keep you safe while either entirely avoiding addictive food or allowing you to eat rational portions without wanting more.  

Lesson #2: HOW TO CREATE MORE FRICTION AROUND ADDICTIVE FOODS

Again, we cannot approach a donut the way we would an apple. Here we investigate a concept known as "friction" that's proven to eliminate or significantly reduce overeating. 

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Awareness of how creating "friction" around addictive foods can practically guarantee you won't overeat.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN:  Dozens of tactics and strategies designed to stop you from overeating, not from enjoying food you love. They are a recognition that our instinct to overeat, the addictive properties of processed foods, and the industry’s exploitation of our cravings all compel us to approach these unhealthy foods differently than we do healthy foods. 

SECTION 3: HOW TO REDUCE OR ELIMINATE STRESS EATING

Lesson #1  Quick Mindfulness Meditations and Breathwork Proven To Stop Stress Eating

There are dozens of research studies showing that certain mindful meditations and strategic breathwork are highly effective in stopping or reducing stress eating.  In this lesson, you'll learn what they are and how to use them to maximum effect. Surprising finding: None of these techniques take longer than 5 minutes.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how investing as little as 5 minutes a day can significantly lower or eliminate overeating.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN:  How to achieve a calm, relaxed state that can prevent overeating.

Lesson #2: WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO STRESS EAT

In this lesson, you’re going to learn some simple tools you can use when the urge to stress eat comes over you. Developed out of pioneering psychologist Walter Mischel's work on "The Marshmallow Experiments," these techniques are remarkably effective at heading off a binge.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how the power of techniques like "self-distancing" and others can radically reduce urges to binge. 

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN:  How to apply these techniques to your particular situations. 

SECTION 4: HOW TO STOP THE SELF-SABOTAGE

Overeating is easy to do if you don't know how full you're getting, if you eat while you're distracted or look at your environment instead of your self-assessments to determine when we should stop eating. All of these amount to self-sabotage. In these lessons, you'll hear advice from neuroscientists on how to reverse the eating habits and patterns that keep the sabotage in place. 

Lesson #1 STOP ENCOURAGING YOURSELF TO OVEREAT

In this lesson you'll learn how "Distracted Eating" (eating while you're watching tv or scrolling through your smartphone) or "Package Eating" (eating out of a bag or box) force the brain to use environmental factors (the show ends, the smartphone battery goes out) to stop eating rather than internal satiety cues.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how the brain's ability to determine satiety (normal eating) is radically altered by unhealthy eating habits, which inevitably lead to overeating. 

GOAL:  Stop sabotaging yourself; stop doing the things neuroscientists say promote overeating.

Skills You'll Learn:  Techniques that avoid forcing the brain to look outside the body for signs to stop eating. Methods that produce the kind of mindfulness that makes overeating almost impossible. 

Lesson #2 HOW A SIMPLE MATH TRICK CAN HELP YOU EAT NORMALLY

Ever notice how often you underestimate how full you are? For example, you decide you have room for dessert so you eat it but 20 minutes later you feel STUFFED. What went wrong? In this lesson, you'll understand why we're so bad at estimating our fullness and what we can do about it.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand why neuroscientists believe we constantly underestimate how full we are. 

GOAL:  Learn how to use a simple math trick that can give you nearly 100% accuracy.

Skills You'll Learn:  How to apply this math trick at every eating opportunity--breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. 

SECTION 4: HOW TO EAT LESS WITHOUT FEELING DEPRIVED

It's possible to feel just as satisfied eating a smaller portion of food than a larger one. This might sound ridiculous to anyone used to eating Avalanche Burgers or drinking 64 oz Big Gulps, but science begs to differ.

In these lessons you'll see how easily you can start eating a lot less without leaving the table hungry.

Lesson #1  SENSORY SPECIFIC SATIETY HELPS YOU EAT LESS WITHOUT FEELING DEPRIVED.

In this lesson, we'll explain a concept called "sensory specific satiety," a phenomenon we all experience when we eat: We receive less pleasure with each bite. That's why the first slice of pizza is WOW and the fourth slice is MEH. 

Neuroscientists have proved, in dozens of studies, that sensory specific satiety can be exploited to help people eat a lot less food and feel completely satisfied.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand the physiological underpinnings of sensory specific satiety.

GOAL:  Understand its specific ability to help us eat less. 

Lesson #2  HOW TO USE SENSORY SPECIFIC SATIETY ON SNACKS--BOTH SALTY AND SWEET

Studies show that people eat less when they pay more attention to their taste buds (sensory specific satiety--the declining pleasure of food) than their stomachs (how full they're getting).

In this lesson, you'll learn how these studies were conducted and how to apply them to your own eating.  

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Learn the central tenets of these studies--"Eat until the pleasure of the flavors subside."

SKILLS YOU'll LEARN:  How to apply the gist of these studies to your own eating so you can harvest the same benefits--eating less and feeling satisfied. 

SECTION 5: HOW RITUALS STOP YOU FROM OVEREATING

Perhaps one of the most surprising findings in the neuroscience literature is the power that rituals have to stop you from overeating. In fact, the research shows that rituals are instrumental to sustained weight loss. In these lessons you'll find out why and how you can incorporate rituals in your own eating. 

Lesson #1  HOW RITUALS STOP PEOPLE FROM OVEREATING SNACKS.

In this lesson, you'll find out about a famous Harvard experiment that showed rituals can help you eat less and enjoy it more. We'll re-enact the study in your own snacking so you can test-drive the concept and see the influence rituals can have on your eating.

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand why rituals stop overeating, enhance enjoyment and create a deeper appreciation for food..

GOAL:  To incorporate rituals into your daily habits before you eat any snack.

Lesson #2 HOW TO USE RITUALS BEFORE & DURING MEALS TO STOP OVEREATING

Experts who study the role of ritual in weight loss say every meal, taken alone or with others, should have a conscious beginning, middle, and end. Here you'll find out what they are and the best rituals that fit your lifestyle. 

Please note that studies show rituals are most effective when they're fairly short, so you time-pressed folks....don't worry!

LESSON TAKEAWAYS 

AIM:  Understand how rituals are a hallmark of mindful eating and they have a long history of producing weight loss.

GOAL:  Find out which rituals (we list a lot of them) work best for you.

SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN:  Best practices for meal and pre-meal rituals to maximize weight loss, stop overeating and enjoy your food more. 

SECTION 6: CAST YOUR NEW EATING HABITS IN CEMENT

Ending overeating and binging requires the establishment of new eating habits. It isn't difficult but it does take time. You will inevitably go through periods where you'll forget what to do, become resistant or sabotage yourself in some way. In this section, we show you how to avoid the traps of building new eating habits by overcoming resistance, dealing with frustration and rebounding from failures. 

Lesson #1: Awareness 

Building new habits require you to pause and pay attention to what you’re thinking and doing. They require in-the-moment “sensors” that go off when you’re in the middle of a habit you’re trying to break, or a habit you’re trying to establish. In this lesson, you'll learn the art of "cultivating a witness state" so you can be more aware of what you're doing.

Lesson #2: Build "Emergency Reserves" For Setbacks

The latest studies in resilience show that a strategy called "Planning For Setbacks" dramatically increase accomplishment of goals. We'll show you how to apply this brilliant approach.

Weight Loss Research Studies

Informing The NeuroSlim Online Weight Loss Program

The  NeuroSlim® research team analyzed thousands of peer-reviewed studies, extracted their most important discoveries and turned them into an easy-to-follow weight loss program. 

We used over 200 academic studies to form the basis of our program. These peer-reviewed studies were conducted by leading neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists, behavioral psychologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, physiologists and Addiction Medicine specialists.

We've provided this list of citations so you can see which scientists developed the insights, tools and techniques in the  NeuroSlim® program, how these scientists came to their conclusions and which academic journals published their works. 

You can find these studies in research portals like Google Scholar, medical databases like PubMed, science libraries like the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews and academic journals like The New England Journal of Medicine

Our list of citations will help you verify our assertions and help you find out more about each subject if you want to research them further.

Here's the best part: We've provided pull-out quotes from the conclusions of each study so you can get an at-a-glance distillation of these dense scientific papers.

Here's the second best part: We've provided links to every one of the studies! This provides a tremendous shortcut, giving you immediate access to the data-rich insights you'll find in our program.

HOW FOOD AESTHETICS INFLUENCES APPETITE

Koyama, K. I., Amitani, H., Adachi, R., Morimoto, T., Kido, M., Taruno, Y., Ogata, K., Amitani, M., Asakawa, A., & Inui, A. (2016). Good appearance of food gives an appetizing impression and increases cerebral blood flow of frontal pole in healthy subjects. International journal of food sciences and nutrition, 67(1), 35–39. https://doi.org/10.3109/09637486.2015.1118618

Quote: Good appearance of food gives an appetizing impression and increases cerebral blood flow of frontal pole in healthy subjects.

Devina Wadhera, & Elizabeth D. Capaldi-Phillips. (2014). A review of visual cues associated with food on food acceptance and consumption, Eating Behaviors, Volume 15, Issue 1, Pages 132-143, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.11.003.

Quote: All together, these studies show that color can affect perceived flavor, odor, and taste intensity of foods which can then affect food intake.

Wu, C., Zhu, H., Huang, C., Liang, X., Zhao, K., Zhang, S., He, M., Zhang, W., & He, X. (2022). Does a beautiful environment make food better - The effect of environmental aesthetics on food perception and eating intention. Appetite, 175, 106076. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.106076

Quote: This research also explored the mediating role of emotion in the relationship between environmental aesthetics and food perception and found a significant mediating relationship. In conclusion, environmental aesthetics play an important role in food perception, and these findings provide insights into increasing positive food perception in daily life.

 ENVIRONMENTAL FOOD CUES AND THEIR EFFECT ON FOOD INTAKE

Suzanne Higgs, & Jason Thomas. (2016), Social influences on eating, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 9, Pages 1-6, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.10.005 

Quote: Norm matching involves processes such as synchronisation of eating actions, consumption monitoring and altered food preferences. There is emerging evidence that social eating norms may play a role in the development and maintenance of obesity.

Anita Jansen, Nicole Theunissen, Katrien Slechten, Chantal Nederkoorn, Brigitte Boon, Sandra Mulkens, & Anne Roefs, (2003), Overweight children overeat after exposure to food cues, Eating Behaviors, Volume 4, Issue 2, Pages 197-209, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1471-0153(03)00011-4

Quote: The data indeed show that overweight children do not regulate their food intake like normal-weight children do. Normal-weight children eat less after having eaten a preload and after intense exposure to the smell of tasty food, whereas the overweight children do not lessen their intake after confrontation with both food cues. They even eat marginally more after the intense exposure to the smell of tasty food.

Fedoroff, I. D., Polivy, J., & Herman, C. P. (1997). The effect of pre-exposure to food cues on the eating behavior of restrained and unrestrained eaters. Appetite, 28(1), 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1006/appe.1996.0057 

Quote: These findings suggest that restrained eaters are more sensitive and reactive to food cues than are unrestrained eaters. The food cues appeared to generate an appetitive urge to eat in restrained eaters.

Coelho, J. S., Jansen, A., Roefs, A., & Nederkoorn, C. (2009). Eating behavior in response to food-cue exposure: examining the cue-reactivity and counteractive-control models. Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 23(1), 131–139. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013610

Quote: Participants with high weight-related concerns who attended to a food cue ate more than did both those with high weight-related concerns in the control condition and those with low weight-related concerns in the attended-cue condition.

Rolls, B., Rowe, E., & Rolls, E. (1982). How flavour and appearance affect human feeding. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 41(2), 109-117.  https://doi.org/10.1079/PNS19820019

Quote: The flavour and shape of foods can affect both the amount of food eaten and the subjective responses to foods. We have found that the successive presentation of foods which vary just in flavour or shape leads to a significantly greater intake in a meal than the presentation of just one flavour or shape. 

SENSORY SPECIFIC SATIETY

Wilkinson, L. L., & Brunstrom, J. M. (2016). Sensory specific satiety: More than 'just' habituation?. Appetite, 103, 221–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2016.04.019

Quote: Broadly, they support an explanation of SSS based on habituation or stimulus specificity rather than top-down influences based on the availability of uneaten foods.

Raynor, H. A., & Epstein, L. H. (2001). Dietary variety, energy regulation, and obesity. Psychological Bulletin, 127(3), 325–341. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.325

Quote: Animal and human studies show that food consumption increases when there is more variety in a meal or diet and that greater dietary variety is associated with increased body weight and fat. A hypothesized mechanism for these findings is sensory-specific satiety

González, A., Recio, S. A., Sánchez, J., Gil, M., & de Brugada, I. (2018). Effect of exposure to similar flavours in sensory specific satiety: Implications for eating behaviour. Appetite, 127, 289–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.05.015

Quote: The results suggest that easy and continuous access to a high variety of similar unhealthy foods might have long-term effects on food consumption, and highlight a potential mechanism linking obesogenic environments with dietary habits.

Sashie Abeywickrema, Indrawati Oey, & Mei Peng, (2022), Sensory specific satiety or appetite? Investigating effects of retronasally-introduced aroma and taste cues on subsequent real-life snack intake, Food Quality and Preference, Volume 100. 

EXERCISE’S EFFECT ON EMOTIONAL EATING

Annesi, J. J., & Eberly, A. A. (2022). Sequential Mediation of the Relation of Increased Physical Activity and Weight Loss by Mood and Emotional Eating Changes: Community-Based Obesity Treatment Development Guided by Behavioral Theory. Family & community health, 45(3), 187–194. https://doi.org/10.1097/FCH.0000000000000331

Quote: Paths from changes in physical activity → mood → emotional eating → weight were significant, with no alternate path reaching significance. 

Annesi J. J. (2021). Effects of Increased Exercise on Propensity for Emotional Eating Through Associated Psychological Changes. Journal of nutrition education and behavior, 53(11), 944–950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2021.07.003

Quote: Changes in self-regulation (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.010 to -0.002), mood (95% CI, -0.011 to -0.003), and body image (95% CI, -0.011, -0.002) significantly mediated the exercise-emotional eating relationship.

Annesi, J. J., & Mareno, N. (2015). Indirect effects of exercise on emotional eating through psychological predictors of weight loss in women. Appetite, 95, 219–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.07.012

Quote: In a multiple mediation analysis, changes in self-regulation, self-efficacy, and mood significantly mediated the relationship between changes in exercise and emotional eating. 

Annesi J. J. (2020). Sequential Changes Advancing from Exercise-Induced Psychological Improvements to Controlled Eating and Sustained Weight Loss: A Treatment-Focused Causal Chain Model. The Permanente journal, 24, 19.235. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/19.235

Quote: The model presents an evidence-based explanation of the exercise-weight loss association through psychosocial mechanisms.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND EMOTIONAL/STRESS EATING

López-Cepero, A., Frisard, C., Mabry, G., Spruill, T., Mattei, J., Austin, S. B., Lemon, S. C., & Rosal, M. C. (2022). Association between poor sleep quality and emotional eating in US Latinx adults and the mediating role of negative emotions. Behavioral sleep medicine, 1–10. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2022.2060227

Quote: Poor sleep quality was associated with high EE (emotional eating) in US Latinx adults and negative emotions partially mediated this relationship. 

Zerón-Rugerio, M. F., Hernáez, Á., Cambras, T., & Izquierdo-Pulido, M. (2022). Emotional eating and cognitive restraint mediate the association between sleep quality and BMI in young adults. Appetite, 170, 105899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105899

Quote: In conclusion, young adults with poor sleep quality are more likely to deal with negative emotions with food, which, in turn, could be associated with higher cognitive restraint, becoming a vicious cycle that has a negative impact on body weight.

Barragán, R., Zuraikat, F. M., Tam, V., Scaccia, S., Cochran, J., Li, S., Cheng, B., & St-Onge, M. P. (2021). Actigraphy-Derived Sleep Is Associated with Eating Behavior Characteristics. Nutrients, 13(3), 852. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030852

Quote: Results of this analysis suggest that the association of poor sleep on food intake could be exacerbated in those with eating behavior traits that predispose to overeating, and this sleep-eating behavior relation may be sex-dependent.

Dweck, J. S., Jenkins, S. M., & Nolan, L. J. (2014). The role of emotional eating and stress in the influence of short sleep on food consumption. Appetite, 72, 106–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.10.001

Quote: The results suggest that the relationship between short sleep and elevated food consumption exists in those who are prone to emotional eating.

Annesi, J. J., & Marti, C. N. (2011). Path analysis of exercise treatment-induced changes in psychological factors leading to weight loss. Psychology & health, 26(8), 1081–1098. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2010.534167

Quote: Associations of psychological effects linked to exercise programme participation with predictors of appropriate eating and weight loss were found, and may inform theory, research and treatments.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104612

Quote: Our findings reveal that exposure to retronasally introduced vanilla aroma, and the sweet taste can induce daylong sensory-specific effects. Specifically, pre-exposure to sweet-associated aroma (i.e., vanillin) and taste (i.e., sucralose) stimuli decrease sensory-congruent (i.e., sweet), but increase sensory-incongruent (i.e., non-sweet) snack intake throughout the day. Overall, the study suggests that sensory exposure may have lasting temporal effects on eating behaviour

MEDITATION/MINDFULNESS IMPACT ON OVEREATING

Katterman, S. N., Kleinman, B. M., Hood, M. M., Nackers, L. M., & Corsica, J. A. (2014). Mindfulness meditation as an intervention for binge eating, emotional eating, and weight loss: a systematic review. Eating behaviors, 15(2), 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.01.005

Quote: Results suggest that mindfulness meditation effectively decreases binge eating and emotional eating in populations engaging in this behavior; evidence for its effect on weight is mixed.

Yu, J., Song, P., Zhang, Y., & Wei, Z. (2020). Effects of Mindfulness-Based Intervention on the Treatment of Problematic Eating Behaviors: A Systematic Review. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 26(8), 666–679. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2019.0163

Quote: This systematic review advances the understanding of MBIs (mindfulness-based interventions) as a complementary approach for problematic eating behavior treatment. Despite the variable trial qualities and some small sample sizes, this study provides initial evidence supporting the efficacy of the application of MBIs to a range of problematic eating concerns. The application of MBIs remains a promising approach for the treatment of problematic eating and merits further investigations.

Wanden-Berghe, R. G., Sanz-Valero, J., & Wanden-Berghe, C. (2011). The application of mindfulness to eating disorders treatment: a systematic review. Eating disorders, 19(1), 34–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2011.533604

Quote: Nonetheless, the current study found initial evidence supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions to the treatment of eating disorders. The application of mindfulness-based interventions to the treatment of eating disorders remains a promising approach worthy of further research.

Hussain, M., Egan, H., Keyte, R., Strachan, R., Tahrani, A. A., & Mantzios, M. (2022). Exploring the association between self-compassion, mindfulness and mindful eating with eating behaviours amongst patients with obesity. Nutrition and health, 2601060221094671. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02601060221094671

Quote: Whilst, self-compassion, mindfulness and mindful eating displayed a negative relationship with grazing and emotional eating, mindful eating also displayed a negative relationship with fat consumption and external eating. 

Li, A. C., Wong, K. K., Chio, F. H., Mak, W. W., & Poon, L. W. (2022). Delivering Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Insomnia, Pain, and Dysfunctional Eating Through a Text Messaging App: Three Randomized Controlled Trials Investigating the Effectiveness and Mediating Mechanisms. Journal of medical Internet research, 24(5), e30073. https://doi.org/10.2196/30073

Quote: These 3 studies converged and provided empirical evidence that mindfulness-based interventions delivered through text messaging are effective in improving distress related to sleep, pain, and dysregulated eating

Mindfulness, dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep, pain catastrophizing, and reactivity to food cues were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between the intervention and outcomes.

Finkelstein-Fox, L., Gnall, K. E., & Park, C. L. (2020). Mindfulness moderates daily stress and comfort food snacking linkages: a multilevel examination. Journal of behavioral medicine, 43(6), 1062–1068. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-020-00164-z

Quote: Daily stress appraisals positively predicted comfort food eating at the between-, but not within-person, level. Mindfulness moderated these effects, such that only more mindful participants demonstrated a negative association between within-person stress and comfort food eating. Results illustrate that chronic stress exposure and acute stress reactivity relate differently to eating behavior. Mindfulness and chronic stress may be key intervention targets for non-clinical groups at risk for unhealthy eating.

FOOD INDUSTRY IS MAKING FOOD MORE ADDICTIVE

Lustig R. H. (2020). Ultraprocessed Food: Addictive, Toxic, and Ready for Regulation. Nutrients, 12(11), 3401. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12113401

Quote: The food industry has engaged in similar practices, which has increased the percent of calories as added sugar (58%) in ultraprocessed foods. In fact, sugar’s allure is a big reason why the processed food industry’s current profit margin is 5% (it used to be 1%). The addictive nature of sugar is also revealed in its economics. For instance, coffee is price-inelastic, i.e., increasing price does not reduce consumption much. When prices jumped in 2014 due to decreased supply, Starbuck’s sales remained constant, owing to its hedonic effects.

Brownell, K. D., & Warner, K. E. (2009). The perils of ignoring history: Big Tobacco played dirty and millions died. How similar is Big Food?. The Milbank quarterly, 87(1), 259–294. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00555.x

Quote: Food companies have added caffeine to unlikely foods, including potato chips, jelly beans, sunflower seeds, and candy bars (Brownell, Griffiths, and Gold 2008). We also should point out that nicotine has been added to food products as well, including fruit juices, bottled water, and lollipops, although unlike the case of caffeine, here the presence of nicotine is explicitly promoted (Warner 2005). 

That such strategies tempt the food industry is not surprising, and in fact we see many similarities in the behavior of tobacco and food industry players.

Griffiths, R. R., & Vernotica, E. M. (2000). Is caffeine a flavoring agent in cola soft drinks?. Archives of family medicine, 9(8), 727–734. https://doi.org/10.1001/archfami.9.8.727

Quote: The finding that only 8% of a group of regular cola soft drink consumers could detect the effect of the caffeine concentration found in most cola soft drinks is at variance with the claim made by soft drink manufacturers that caffeine is added to soft drinks because it plays an integral role in the flavor profile. It is valuable for the general public, the medical community, and regulatory agencies to recognize that the high rates of consumption of caffeinated soft drinks more likely reflect the mood-altering and physical dependence-producing effects of caffeine as a central nervous system-active drug than its subtle effects as a flavoring agent.

Rao, P., Rodriguez, R. L., & Shoemaker, S. P. (2018). Addressing the sugar, salt, and fat issue the science of food way. NPJ science of food, 2, 12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-018-0020-x

Quote: By the mid 1900s, this trio of salt, sugar, fat took on a new psychosensory dimension when the processed food industry discovered that these ingredients could be formulated to produce a state of satiety, pleasure, and hedonia in those who consumed them. American market researcher and psychophysicist, Howard Moskowitz, termed this the “bliss point” or the point where the levels of saltiness, sweetness, and richness were perceived by the consumer as just right.

A vast array of craveable chips, dry sweetened cereals, candies, cookies, fried foods, and even spaghetti sauces became wildly popular among consumers, particularly children, and profits for processed food companies soared.

Moss, M. (2013). Salt, sugar, fat: How the food giants hooked us. New York: Random House. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4059590/ )

Quote: The 300 processed food manufacturers (pp. 213, 220) “dominate the American diet” (p. xxx), with 60,000 products in the supermarkets (pp. 27, 98), relying on salt, sugar, and fat, which “override our dietary self-control” with foods “so perfectly engineered to compel overconsumption” (pp. xix, 253, 333, 346).

ARE WE WIRED TO OVEREAT?

Wells J. C. (2006). The evolution of human fatness and susceptibility to obesity: an ethological approach. Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 81(2), 183–205. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1464793105006974

Quote: The increased value of energy stores in our species can be attributed to factors increasing either uncertainty in energy availability, or vulnerability to that uncertainty. Early hominid evolution was characterized by adaptation to a more seasonal environment, when selection would have favoured general thriftiness. The evolution of the large expensive brain in the genus Homo then favoured increased energy stores in the reproducing female, and in the offspring in early life. More recently, the introduction of agriculture has had three significant effects: exposure to regular famine; adaptation to a variety of local niches favouring population-specific adaptations; and the development of social hierarchies which predispose to differential exposure to environmental pressures. Thus, humans have persistently encountered greater energy stress than that experienced by their closest living relatives during recent evolution.

Schneider, J. E., Wise, J. D., Benton, N. A., Brozek, J. M., & Keen-Rhinehart, E. (2013). When do we eat? Ingestive behavior, survival, and reproductive success. Hormones and behavior, 64(4), 702–728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.07.005

Quote: The ratio of hormone concentrations to the availability of oxidizable metabolic fuels may generate a critical signal that schedules conflicting behaviors, e.g., mate searching vs. foraging, food hoarding vs. courtship, and fat accumulation vs. parental care. In species representing every vertebrate taxa and even in some invertebrates, many putative "satiety" or "hunger" hormones function to schedule ingestive behavior in order to optimize reproductive success in environments where energy availability fluctuates.

Higginson, A. D., McNamara, J. M., & Houston, A. I. (2016). Fatness and fitness: exposing the logic of evolutionary explanations for obesity. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 283(1822), 20152443. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2443

Quote: Selection pressure to prevent energy stores exceeding the optimal level is usually weak, suggesting that immediate rewards might easily overcome the controls against becoming overweight. The risk of starvation can have a strong influence on the strategy even when starvation is extremely uncommon, so the incidence of mortality during famine in human history may be unimportant for explanations for obesity.

Our work implies that understanding the causes of obesity can benefit from a better understanding of how evolution shapes the mechanisms that control body weight.

PLANNING FOR SETBACKS

Sharif, M. A., & Shu, S. B. (2017). The benefits of emergency reserves: Greater preference and persistence for goals that have slack with a cost. Journal of Marketing Research, 54(3), 495-509. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.15.0231

Quote: The authors offer a possible solution to this challenge: the emergency reserve, or slack with a cost. They demonstrate how an explicitly defined emergency reserve not only is preferred over other options for goal-related programs but can also lead to increased persistence.

FRESH STARTS

Dai, H., Milkman, K. L., & Riis, J. (2015). Put Your Imperfections Behind You: Temporal Landmarks Spur Goal Initiation When They Signal New Beginnings. Psychological science, 26(12), 1927–1936. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615605818

Quote: We present causal evidence that emphasizing a temporal landmark denoting the beginning of a new time period increases people's intentions to initiate goal pursuit.

Beshears, J., Dai, H., Milkman, K. L., & Benartzi, S. (2021). Using Fresh Starts to Nudge Increased Retirement Savings. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 167, 72–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.06.005

Quote: Overall, fresh start framing increased retirement plan contributions in the eight months following the mailing. Our findings represent the first experimental demonstration of the benefits of fresh start framing in a consequential field setting. 

PORTION DISTORTION

Schwartz, J., & Byrd-Bredbenner, C. (2006). Portion distortion: typical portion sizes selected by young adults. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 106(9), 1412–1418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2006.06.006

Quote: Typical portion sizes in this study tended to be significantly different from those selected by young adults in a similar study conducted 2 decades ago.

Portion distortion seems to affect the portion sizes selected by young adults for some foods. This phenomenon has the potential to hinder weight loss, weight maintenance, and/or health improvement efforts.

Raghoebar, S., Haynes, A., Robinson, E., Kleef, E. V., & Vet, E. (2019). Served Portion Sizes Affect Later Food Intake Through Social Consumption Norms. Nutrients, 11(12), 2845. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11122845

Quote: In the present research, a large number of participants incorrectly recalled the portion size to which they had previously been exposed. Participants who were exposed to (Study 1) or served (Study 2) larger (versus smaller) portion sizes had a poorer recall of the exposure portion size, which is in line with previous research indicating a general underestimation of especially large portion sizes.

Ordabayeva, N., & Chandon, P. (2016). In the eye of the beholder: Visual biases in package and portion size perceptions. Appetite, 103, 450–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.10.014

Quote: Existing evidence suggests that consumers make errors when visually estimating package and portion sizes, and these errors significantly influence subsequent food choices and intake. We outline four visual biases (arising from the underestimation of increasing portion sizes, the dimensionality of the portion size change, labeling effects, and consumer affect) that shape consumers' perceptions of package and portion sizes.

THE BITE SIZE MECHANISM

Burger, K. S., Fisher, J. O., & Johnson, S. L. (2011). Mechanisms behind the portion size effect: visibility and bite size. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 19(3), 546–551. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2010.233

Quote: In response to a doubling of the portion presented, entrée energy intake increased 26% (220 kcal; P < 0.001) and mean bite size increased 2.4 g/bite (P < 0.05).

Almiron-Roig, E., Tsiountsioura, M., Lewis, H. B., Wu, J., Solis-Trapala, I., & Jebb, S. A. (2015). Large portion sizes increase bite size and eating rate in overweight women. Physiology & behavior, 139, 297–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.11.041

Quote: Increasing portion size led to a larger bite size and faster eating rate, but a slower reduction in eating speed during the meal. These changes may underlie greater energy intakes with exposure to large portions.

HOW PORTION SIZES HAVE GROWN

Young, L. R., & Nestle, M. (2002). The contribution of expanding portion sizes to the US obesity epidemic. American journal of public health, 92(2), 246–249. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.92.2.246

Quote: Marketplace food portions have increased in size and now exceed federal standards. Portion sizes began to grow in the 1970s, rose sharply in the 1980s, and have continued in parallel with increasing body weights.

 The largest excess over USDA standards (700%) occurred in the cookie category, but cooked pasta, muffins, steaks, and bagels exceeded USDA standards by 480%, 333%, 224%, and 195%, respectively. Our data indicate that the sizes of current marketplace foods almost universally exceed the sizes of those offered in the past.

Smiciklas-Wright, H., Mitchell, D. C., Mickle, S. J., Goldman, J. D., & Cook, A. (2003). Foods commonly eaten in the United States, 1989-1991 and 1994-1996: are portion sizes changing?. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 103(1), 41–47. https://doi.org/10.1053/jada.2003.50000

Quote: Significant differences in amounts consumed were reported for approximately one third of the 107 foods examined. Larger amounts were reported in 1994-1996 by all persons aged 2 years and over and selected age/sex subgroups for several foods including soft drinks, coffee, tea, and ready-to-eat cereal.

Nielsen, S. J., & Popkin, B. M. (2003). Patterns and trends in food portion sizes, 1977-1998. JAMA, 289(4), 450–453. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.289.4.450

Quote: Between 1977 and 1996, both inside and outside the home, portion sizes increased for salty snacks, desserts, soft drinks, fruit drinks, french fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and Mexican food. Pizza portions in general decreased during this period. The size of the increases are substantial.

Mattfeld, R. S., Muth, E. R., & Hoover, A. (2017). A comparison of bite size and BMI in a cafeteria setting. Physiology & behavior, 181, 38–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.09.002

Quote: Obese participants were found to take larger bites than both normal (p=0.002) and overweight participants (p=0.017). Average bite size increased by 0.20g per point increase in BMI. Food bites and drink bites were analyzed individually, showing 0.11g/BMI and 0.23g/BMI slopes, respectively.

How To Use The Science of Acquired Tastes To Lose Weight

Wise, P. M., Nattress, L., Flammer, L. J., & Beauchamp, G. K. (2016). Reduced dietary intake of simple sugars alters perceived sweet taste intensity but not perceived pleasantness. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 103(1), 50–60. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.112300

Quote: During the third diet month, the low-sugar subjects rated both low and high concentrations in puddings as ∼40% sweeter than did the control group (significant effect of group, P = 0.01). 

This experiment provides empirical evidence that changes in consumption of simple sugars influence perceived sweet taste intensity.

Fjaeldstad, A. W., & Fernandes, H. M. (2020). Chemosensory Sensitivity after Coffee Consumption Is Not Static: Short-Term Effects on Gustatory and Olfactory Sensitivity. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 9(4), 493. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9040493

Quote: The level of decrease in bitter sensitivity is associated with coffee consumption habits. For participants without regular coffee consumption, the decrease in bitterness sensitivity after coffee consumption was even more pronounced.

Puputti, S., Hoppu, U., & Sandell, M. (2019). Taste Sensitivity Is Associated with Food Consumption Behavior but not with Recalled Pleasantness. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 8(10), 444. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8100444

Quote: Fortunately, food choice and intake can be affected by encouraging healthier choices, and after several exposures people can learn to like, for example, vegetables, fruits, and berries, rather than the preference being determined by biology.

SYSTEMATIC DISCONTINUATION

Weiss, R. D., & Rao, V. (2017). The Prescription Opioid Addiction Treatment Study: What have we learned. Drug and alcohol dependence, 173 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), S48–S54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.12.001

Quote: Patients receiving agonist treatment were significantly more likely to be abstinent from illicit opioids. Indeed, 80% of participants receiving opioid agonist treatment at both months 18 and 42 had abstained from illicit opioids in the previous month, compared to abstinence rates of 37% and 50% among those not receiving agonist treatment at months 18 and 42, respectively. 

Amato, L., Davoli, M., Minozzi, S., Ferroni, E., Ali, R., & Ferri, M. (2013). Methadone at tapered doses for the management of opioid withdrawal. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2013(2), CD003409. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003409.pub4

Quote: The studies included in this review confirm that slow tapering with temporary substitution of long‐ acting opioids, can reduce withdrawal severity.

Levin, F. R., Mariani, J. J., Brooks, D. J., Pavlicova, M., Cheng, W., & Nunes, E. V. (2011). Dronabinol for the treatment of cannabis dependence: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Drug and alcohol dependence, 116(1-3), 142–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.12.010

Quote: This is the first trial using an agonist substitution strategy for treatment of cannabis dependence. Dronabinol showed promise, it was well-tolerated, and improved treatment retention and withdrawal symptoms.

Benowitz, N. L., Dains, K. M., Hall, S. M., Stewart, S., Wilson, M., Dempsey, D., & Jacob, P., 3rd (2012). Smoking behavior and exposure to tobacco toxicants during 6 months of smoking progressively reduced nicotine content cigarettes. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 21(5), 761–769. https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-11-0644

Quote: Nicotine intake, as indicated by plasma cotinine concentration, declined progressively as the nicotine content of cigarettes was reduced. Cigarette consumption and markers of exposure to carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as cardiovascular biomarkers remained stable

These findings support the feasibility and safety of gradual reduction of the nicotine content in cigarettes.

Garfinkel, D., & Mangin, D. (2010). Feasibility study of a systematic approach for discontinuation of multiple medications in older adults: addressing polypharmacy. Archives of internal medicine, 170(18), 1648–1654. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2010.355

Quote: Taking nonconsent and failures together, successful discontinuation was achieved in 81%.

HOW WE MAKE HUNGER ASSOCIATIONS

Hormes, J. M., & Niemiec, M. A. (2017). Does culture create craving? Evidence from the case of menstrual chocolate craving. PloS one, 12(7), e0181445. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181445

Quote: (This study shows how hunger associations can be learned as part of a new culture)

Foreign-born women were significantly less likely to endorse menstrual chocolate craving (17.3%), compared to women born to U.S.-born parents (32.7%, p = .03) and second generation immigrants (40.9%, p = .001). Second generation immigrant and foreign-born women endorsing menstrual chocolate craving reported significantly greater U.S. acculturation and lower identification with their native culture than non-menstrual cravers (all p < .001) 

Dearing, R. L., Twaragowski, C. L., Smith, P. H., Homish, G. G., Connors, G. J., & Walitzer, K. S. (2014). Super Bowl Sunday: risky business for at-risk (male) drinkers?. Substance use & misuse, 49(10), 1359–1363. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2014.891626

Quote: Analyses using multilevel modeling comparing Super Bowl Sunday to Saturdays indicated that men drank more alcohol on Super Bowl Sunday across all 3 years, whereas women's drinking was higher in only one of the 3 years. 

Neal, D. T., Wood, W., Wu, M., & Kurlander, D. (2011). The pull of the past: when do habits persist despite conflict with motives?. Personality & social psychology bulletin, 37(11), 1428–1437. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211419863

Quote: Habitual popcorn eaters at a cinema were minimally influenced by their hunger or how much they liked the food, and they ate equal amounts of stale and fresh popcorn. 

Across all conditions, participants with weaker cinema-popcorn-eating habits ate because of motivations such as liking for the popcorn.

Jansen, A., Schyns, G., Bongers, P., & van den Akker, K. (2016). From lab to clinic: Extinction of cued cravings to reduce overeating. Physiology & behavior, 162, 174–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.03.018

Quote: A translation to food cue exposure treatment is made and suggestions are provided, such as conducting the exposure in relevant contexts, using occasional reinforcement and targeting expectancy violation instead of habituation. A new hypothesis proposed here is that the adding of inhibition training to strengthen inhibition skills that reduce instrumental responding, might be beneficial to improve food cue exposure effects. 

HOW THE RATE OF SNACKING HAS INCREASED

Piernas, C., & Popkin, B. M. (2010). Snacking increased among U.S. adults between 1977 and 2006. The Journal of nutrition, 140(2), 325–332. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.109.112763

Quote: Over the past 2 decades, U.S. adults have steadily increased the number of daily snacking occasions. The percentage of energy intake from snacking occasions has increased to 24%.

Popkin, B. M., & Duffey, K. J. (2010). Does hunger and satiety drive eating anymore? Increasing eating occasions and decreasing time between eating occasions in the United States. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 91(5), 1342–1347. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.28962

Quote: Energy intake, particularly from snacking, increased for both groups in all percentiles of the distribution.

Glaeser, Edward & Shapiro, Jesse. (2003). Why Have Americans Become More Obese. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 17. 93-118. https://doi.org/10.1257/089533003769204371

Quote: Somewhat surprisingly, most of the increase in calories is from calories consumed during snacks. In calculations not shown in the table, we find that the number of snacks in the typical day increased dramatically over this period. Whereas only about 28 percent of people in 1977–1978 reported two or more snacks per day, 45 percent reported two or more snacks in 1994–1996. The average number of snacks per day increased by 60 percent over this period, thus more snacks per day—rather than more calories per snack—account for the majority of the increase in calories from snacks.

Zizza, C., Siega-Riz, A. M., & Popkin, B. M. (2001). Significant increase in young adults' snacking between 1977–1978 and 1994–1996 represents a cause for concern!. Preventive medicine, 32(4), 303-310. https://doi.org/10.1006/pmed.2000.0817

Quote: Snacking prevalence increased from 77 to 84% between 1977–1978 and 1994–1996. The nutritional contribution of snacks to total daily energy intake went from 20 to 23%, primarily because energy consumed per snacking occasion increased by 26% and the number of snacks per day increased 14%.

Kant, A. K., & Graubard, B. I. (2015). 40-year trends in meal and snack eating behaviors of American adults. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 115(1), 50–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.06.354

Quote: The 24-hour energy contribution of snacks reported between lunch and dinner, and other snacks not bracketed by consecutive meals increased for the population. The decline in the percentage of Americans reporting each main meal and all three main meals is also reflected in the declining contribution of each main meal (except breakfast), or all three main meals to 24-hour energy intake, with a corresponding increase (3–5%) in energy from snacks beginning around 1976–80.

GHRELIN LEVELS (hunger hormone) ARE LOWEST IN THE MORNING

Espelund, U., Hansen, T. K., Højlund, K., Beck-Nielsen, H., Clausen, J. T., Hansen, B. S., Orskov, H., Jørgensen, J. O., & Frystyk, J. (2005). Fasting unmasks a strong inverse association between ghrelin and cortisol in serum: studies in obese and normal-weight subjects. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 90(2), 741–746. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2004-0604

Quote: Serum ghrelin levels showed a marked diurnal rhythm with a nadir in the morning (0800 h), peak levels in the afternoon, and a gradual decline during the night.

Qian, J., Morris, C. J., Caputo, R., Garaulet, M., & Scheer, F. (2019). Ghrelin is impacted by the endogenous circadian system and by circadian misalignment in humans. International journal of obesity (2005), 43(8), 1644–1649. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-018-0208-9

Quote: We reveal a strong endogenous circadian effect on AG concentrations, with higher fasting and postprandial levels in the biological evening than the biological morning. 

Carnell, S., Grillot, C., Ungredda, T., Ellis, S., Mehta, N., Holst, J., & Geliebter, A. (2018). Morning and afternoon appetite and gut hormone responses to meal and stress challenges in obese individuals with and without binge eating disorder. International journal of obesity (2005), 42(4), 841–849. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.307

Quote: Following the liquid meal, area under the curve (AUC) values for hunger and ghrelin were greater and AUC values for peptide YY lower in the PM than in the AM condition.

Scheer, F. A., Morris, C. J., & Shea, S. A. (2013). The internal circadian clock increases hunger and appetite in the evening independent of food intake and other behaviors. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 21(3), 421–423. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20351

Quote: There was a large endogenous circadian rhythm in hunger, with the trough in the biological morning (8 AM) and peak in the biological evening (8 PM; peak-to-trough amplitude=17%; P=0.004). 

OPEN PLACEBO

(How The Brain Is Easily Fooled)

von Wernsdorff, M., Loef, M., Tuschen-Caffier, B., & Schmidt, S. (2021). Effects of open-label placebos in clinical trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific reports, 11(1), 3855. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83148-6

Quote: These trials assessed effects of OLPs on back pain, cancer-related fatigue, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, allergic rhinitis, major depression, irritable bowel syndrome and menopausal hot flushes. […] We found a significant overall effect (standardized mean difference = 0.72, 95% Cl 0.39–1.05, p < 0.0001, I2 = 76%) of OLP. Thus, OLPs appear to be a promising treatment in different conditions but the respective research is in its infancy.

Charlesworth, J., Petkovic, G., Kelley, J. M., Hunter, M., Onakpoya, I., Roberts, N., Miller, F. G., & Howick, J. (2017). Effects of placebos without deception compared with no treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of evidence-based medicine, 10(2), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1111/jebm.12251

Quote: Open-label placebos appear to have positive clinical effects compared to no treatment.

Saunders, B., Saito, T., Klosterhoff, R., de Oliveira, L. F., Barreto, G., Perim, P., Pinto, A. J., Lima, F., de Sá Pinto, A. L., & Gualano, B. (2019). "I put it in my head that the supplement would help me": Open-placebo improves exercise performance in female cyclists. PloS one, 14(9), e0222982. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222982

Quote: Individual data analysis showed that 11 individuals improved, 13 remained unchanged and 4 worsened their performance with open-placebo. 

Schaefer, M., Sahin, T., & Berstecher, B. (2018). Why do open-label placebos work? A randomized controlled trial of an open-label placebo induction with and without extended information about the placebo effect in allergic rhinitis. PloS one, 13(3), e0192758. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192758

Quote: Placebos without deception can improve symptoms in allergic rhinitis. Positive expectations do not contribute to the efficacy of open-label placebos, but seem to have an effect on more global and subjective well-being (mental or emotional quality of life).

HOW COLOR CONTRAST BETWEEN FOOD AND DISH AFFECT HUNGER AND SATIETY

Piqueras-Fiszman, Betina & Giboreau, Agnes & Spence, Charles. (2013). Assessing the influence of the color of the plate on the perception of a complex food in a restaurant setting. Flavour. 2. 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/2044-7248-2-24

Quote: In summary, the findings of this study have provided evidence demonstrating a clear effect of the color (or contrast) of the plate on flavor intensity, sweetness and liking of a sweet strawberry mousse. It is possible that the color of the mousse was perceived as being more intense when presented against the lighter, white background than against the darker, black background, as a result of a visual illusion, such as contour contrast.

Akyol, A., Ayaz, A., Inan-Eroglu, E., Cetin, C., & Samur, G. (2018). Impact of three different plate colours on short-term satiety and energy intake: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrition journal, 17(1), 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-018-0350-1

Quote: On experimental days, participants ate a standard breakfast and were then randomly assigned to eat ad libitum lunch (pasta with tomato sauce and soft drinks) using white, red or black plates.The average total energy intake with red (1102.16 ± 47.12 kcal, p = 0.05) and black plates (1113.19 ± 47.12 kcal, p = 0.034) was significantly increased when compared to that with white plates (945.72 ± 47.12 kcal).

Ittersum, Koert & Wansink, Brian. (2012). Plate Size and Color Suggestibility: The Delboeuf Illusion’s Bias on Serving and Eating Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research. 39. 215-228. https://doi.org/10.1086/662615

Obese People Have Poor Episodic Memory, Which Contributes To Weight Gain

(Supporting findings about The Meal Recall Effect)

Loprinzi, P. D., & Frith, E. (2018). Obesity and episodic memory function. The journal of physiological sciences : JPS, 68(4), 321–331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12576-018-0612-x

Quote: It appears that obesity may be associated with worse memory function, with the underlying mechanisms discussed herein. 

Fitzpatrick, S., Gilbert, S., & Serpell, L. (2013). Systematic review: are overweight and obese individuals impaired on behavioural tasks of executive functioning?. Neuropsychology review, 23(2), 138–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-013-9224-7

Quote: The review suggests that obese individuals show difficulties with decision-making, planning and problem-solving when compared to healthy weight controls, with fewer difficulties reported on tasks examining verbal fluency and learning and memory.

Cournot, M., Marquié, J. C., Ansiau, D., Martinaud, C., Fonds, H., Ferrières, J., & Ruidavets, J. B. (2006). Relation between body mass index and cognitive function in healthy middle-aged men and women. Neurology, 67(7), 1208–1214. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000238082.13860.50

Quote: Cross-sectionally, a higher BMI was associated with lower cognitive scores after adjustment for age, sex, educational level, blood pressure, diabetes, and other psychosocial covariables. A higher BMI at baseline was also associated with a higher cognitive decline at follow-up, after adjustment for the above-cited confounding factors. 

We tested cognitive functions at baseline and at follow-up with word-list learning (four recalls), a Digit-Symbol Substitution Test, and a selective attention test.

Whitmer, R. A., Gunderson, E. P., Quesenberry, C. P., Jr, Zhou, J., & Yaffe, K. (2007). Body mass index in midlife and risk of Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. Current Alzheimer research, 4(2), 103–109. https://doi.org/10.2174/156720507780362047

Quote: These data suggest that midlife BMI is strongly predictive of both AD and VaD, independent of stroke, cardiovascular and diabetes comorbidities. 

Veronese, N., Facchini, S., Stubbs, B., Luchini, C., Solmi, M., Manzato, E., Sergi, G., Maggi, S., Cosco, T., & Fontana, L. (2017). Weight loss is associated with improvements in cognitive function among overweight and obese people: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 72, 87–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.11.017

Quote: In conclusion, intentional weight loss in obese/overweight people is associated with improvements in performance across various cognitive domains. (memory, attention, executive functions, language and motor speed).

Quote: It demonstrates how the color contrast between the food, the dinnerware, and the tablecloth influences the Delboeuf illusion.

One table only offered pasta in a white cream-based Alfredo sauce; the other table only offered pasta in a red tomato-based sauce.

Consistent with expectations, participants in the low color-contrast conditions overserved significantly more pasta than those in the high color-contrast conditions (182.7 vs. 140.6 grams; F(1,58) = 7.92, p <..01)

INTUITIVE EATING HELPS PEOPLE LOSE WEIGHT

Steven Hawks EdD, MBA, CHES, Hala Madanat, Jaylyn Hawks & Ashley Harris BS (2005) The Relationship between Intuitive Eating and Health Indicators among College Women, American Journal of Health Education, 36:6, 331-336, https://doi.org/10.1080/19325037.2005.10608206 

Quote: Findings provide tentative support for intuitive eating as a positive approach to healthy weight management at the individual level.

Van Dyke, N., & Drinkwater, E. J. (2014). Relationships between intuitive eating and health indicators: literature review. Public health nutrition, 17(8), 1757–1766. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980013002139

Quote: Extant research demonstrates substantial and consistent associations between intuitive eating and both lower BMI and better psychological health.

TeriSue Smith MPH & Steven R. Hawks EdD (2006) Intuitive Eating, Diet Composition, and The Meaning of Food in Healthy Weight Promotion, American Journal of Health Education, 37:3, 130-136, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19325037.2006.10598892

Quote: In general, high intuitive eating scores were associated with an increase in the enjoyment and pleasure of food, lower BMI scores, and fewer dieting behaviors and food anxieties. 

Anderson, L. M., Reilly, E. E., Schaumberg, K., Dmochowski, S., & Anderson, D. A. (2016). Contributions of mindful eating, intuitive eating, and restraint to BMI, disordered eating, and meal consumption in college students. Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 21(1), 83–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-015-0210-3

Quote: Elevated restraint was associated with increased BMI and disordered eating; elevated intuitive eating was associated with decreased BMI and disordered eating.

Bacon, L., Stern, J. S., Van Loan, M. D., & Keim, N. L. (2005). Size acceptance and intuitive eating improve health for obese, female chronic dieters. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 105(6), 929–936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2005.03.011

Quote: Encouraging size acceptance, a reduction in dieting, and a heightened awareness of and response to body signals appears to be effective in supporting improved health risk indicators for obese, female chronic dieters.

Teas, E., Kimiecik, J., Ward, R. M., & Timmerman, K. (2022). Intuitive Eating and Biomarkers Related to Cardiovascular Disease in Older Adults. Journal of nutrition education and behavior, 54(5), 412–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2022.01.010

Quote: Intuitive eating may be a key determinant of certain biomarkers and could be a viable target for interventions to help decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease among older adults.

FOOD AS WELL-BEING VS FOOD AS NUTRIENTS

Nestorowicz, R., Jerzyk, E., & Rogala, A. (2022). In the Labyrinth of Dietary Patterns and Well-Being-When Eating Healthy Is Not Enough to Be Well. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(3), 1259. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031259

Quote: People paying attention to the health aspects, pleasure and social dimension of food meaning show higher levels of FWB than people focusing exclusively on health aspects.

Boles, D. Z., DeSousa, M., Turnwald, B. P., Horii, R. I., Duarte, T., Zahrt, O. H., Markus, H. R., & Crum, A. J. (2021). Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 745950. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745950

Quote: Meanwhile, interventions targeting mindsets about the appeal of healthy eating increases in-class fruit and vegetable selection more than emphasizing the importance of eating nutritious foods.

Vaillancourt, C., Bédard, A., Bélanger-Gravel, A., Provencher, V., Bégin, C., Desroches, S., & Lemieux, S. (2019). Promoting Healthy Eating in Adults: An Evaluation of Pleasure-Oriented versus Health-Oriented Messages. Current developments in nutrition, 3(5), nzz012. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzz012

Quote: These findings suggest that the leaflets would be appropriate to promote healthy eating through 2 distinct approaches (health and pleasure paradigms) and propose that different effects on attitude could be observed from these 2 approaches.

IMAGINED EATING’S EFFECT ON APPETITE

Missbach, B., Florack, A., Weissmann, L., & König, J. (2014). Mental imagery interventions reduce subsequent food intake only when self-regulatory resources are available. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 1391. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01391

Quote: Indeed, we observed a reduction in actual food intake ranging from 20 to 25% from repeatedly imagining food intake. (Gummy bears and walnuts)

 Morewedge, C. K., Huh, Y. E., & Vosgerau, J. (2010). Thought for food: imagined consumption reduces actual consumption. Science (New York, N.Y.), 330(6010), 1530–1533. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1195701

Quote: We demonstrated that habituation to a food item can occur even when its consumption is merely imagined. Five experiments showed that people who repeatedly imagined eating a food (such as cheese) many times subsequently consumed less of the imagined food than did people who repeatedly imagined eating that food fewer times, imagined eating a different food (such as candy), or did not imagine eating a food.

How "Psychological Distancing" Helps You Stop Overeating

Wilson, E., Senior, V., & Tapper, K. (2021). The effect of visualisation and mindfulness-based decentering on chocolate craving. Appetite, 164, 105278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105278

Quote: Participants in both the visualisation and decentering conditions also had significantly lower frequencies of craving-related thoughts compared to control participants. The findings support EI theory and suggest that mindfulness-based decentering strategies may be useful for both the prevention and reduction of cravings.

Chang, B., Mulders, M., Cserjesi, R., Cleeremans, A., & Klein, O. (2018). Does immersion or detachment facilitate healthy eating? Comparing the effects of sensory imagery and mindful decentering on attitudes and behavior towards healthy and unhealthy food. Appetite, 130, 256–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.08.013

Quote: Although sensory imagery and decentering had largely different effects for preferences towards healthy and unhealthy foods, they had comparable effects on the consumption of both types of foods, serving to reduce the effects of consumption in participants affected by hunger and emotional eating.

Keesman, M., Aarts, H., Häfner, M., & Papies, E. K. (2017). Mindfulness Reduces Reactivity to Food Cues: Underlying Mechanisms and Applications in Daily Life. Current addiction reports, 4(2), 151–157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-017-0134-2

Quote: Experimental and correlational studies consistently find that the adoption of a decentering perspective reduces subjective cravings, physiological reactivity such as salivation, and unhealthy eating.

Papies, E. K., van Winckel, M., & Keesman, M. (2016). Food-Specific Decentering Experiences Are Associated with Reduced Food Cravings in Meditators: A Preliminary Investigation. Mindfulness, 7(5), 1123–1131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0554-4

Quote: These preliminary findings suggest that food-specific decentering experiences indeed help meditators deal with food desires, and thus extend the evidence for decentering effects into the domain of reward.

Palmeira, L., Trindade, I. A., & Ferreira, C. (2014). Can the impact of body dissatisfaction on disordered eating be weakened by one's decentering abilities?. Eating behaviors, 15(3), 392–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.04.012

Quote: Results revealed that decentering abilities were negatively linked to body image dissatisfaction and to the global score of eating psychopathology. Through a path analysis, the buffer effect of decentering was confirmed. The findings suggest that the ability to take a non-judgmental and accepting stance towards internal experiences diminishes the impact of one's body dissatisfaction on disordered eating attitudes and behaviours.

IS SUGAR ADDICTIVE?

Lenoir, M., Serre, F., Cantin, L., & Ahmed, S. H. (2007). Intense sweetness surpasses cocaine reward. PloS one, 2(8), e698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000698

Quote: Here we report that when rats were allowed to choose mutually-exclusively between water sweetened with saccharin-an intense calorie-free sweetener-and intravenous cocaine-a highly addictive and harmful substance-the large majority of animals (94%) preferred the sweet taste of saccharin.

Our findings clearly demonstrate that intense sweetness can surpass cocaine reward, even in drug-sensitized and -addicted individuals.

Ahmed, S. H., Guillem, K., & Vandaele, Y. (2013). Sugar addiction: pushing the drug-sugar analogy to the limit. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 16(4), 434–439. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCO.0b013e328361c8b8

Quote: Overall, this research has revealed that sugar and sweet reward can not only substitute for addictive drugs, like cocaine, but can even be more rewarding and attractive. At the neurobiological level, the neural substrates of sugar and sweet reward appear to be more robust than those of cocaine (i.e., more resistant to functional failures), possibly reflecting past selective evolutionary pressures for seeking and taking foods high in sugar and calories.

DiNicolantonio, J. J., O'Keefe, J. H., & Wilson, W. L. (2018). Sugar addiction: is it real? A narrative review. British journal of sports medicine, 52(14), 910–913. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-097971

Quote: Sugar addiction seems to be dependence to the natural endogenous opioids that get released upon sugar intake. In both animals and humans, the evidence in the literature shows substantial parallels and overlap between drugs of abuse and sugar, from the standpoint of brain neurochemistry as well as behaviour.

Falbe, J., Thompson, H. R., Patel, A., & Madsen, K. A. (2019). Potentially addictive properties of sugar-sweetened beverages among adolescents. Appetite, 133, 130–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.10.032

Quote: Thus, in this exploratory study, we sought to examine potentially addictive properties of SSBs (sugar-sweetened beverages) during a 3-day SSB cessation intervention in overweight and obese adolescents who typically consume ≥3 SSBs daily.

 This study provides preliminary evidence of withdrawal symptoms and increased SSB cravings during cessation in a diverse population of overweight or obese adolescents.

Avena, N. M., Rada, P., & Hoebel, B. G. (2008). Evidence for sugar addiction: behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 32(1), 20–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2007.04.019

Quote: Neural adaptations include changes in dopamine and opioid receptor binding, enkephalin mRNA expression and dopamine and acetylcholine release in the nucleus accumbens. The evidence supports the hypothesis that under certain circumstances rats can become sugar dependent. This may translate to some human conditions as suggested by the literature on eating disorders and obesity.

PORTION SIZE EFFECT

Rolls, B. J., Roe, L. S., Meengs, J. S., & Wall, D. E. (2004). Increasing the portion size of a sandwich increases energy intake. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 104(3), 367–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2003.12.013

Quote: Individuals ate lunch in the lab once a week for 4 weeks. Each week, they were served one of four sizes of a deli-style sandwich (6, 8, 10, or 12 inches), of which they could eat as much as they wanted. These results suggest that increasing the portion size of a food served as a discrete unit leads to increased energy intake at a single meal without differentially influencing ratings of hunger and satiety.

Hollands, G. J., Shemilt, I., Marteau, T. M., Jebb, S. A., Lewis, H. B., Wei, Y., ... & Ogilvie, D. (2015). Portion, package or tableware size for changing selection and consumption of food, alcohol and tobacco. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (9). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011045.pub2

Quote: This review found that people consistently consume more food and drink when offered larger‐sized portions, packages or tableware than when offered smaller‐sized versions.

Rolls, B. J., Morris, E. L., & Roe, L. S. (2002). Portion size of food affects energy intake in normal-weight and overweight men and women. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 76(6), 1207-1213. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/76.6.1207

Quote: Portion size significantly influenced energy intake at lunch (P < 0.0001). Subjects consumed 30% more energy (676 kJ) when offered the largest portion than when offered the smallest portion.

Kelly, M. T., Wallace, J. M., Robson, P. J., Rennie, K. L., Welch, R. W., Hannon-Fletcher, M. P., ... & Livingstone, M. B. E. (2009). Increased portion size leads to a sustained increase in energy intake over 4 d in normal-weight and overweight men and women. British journal of nutrition, 102(3), 470-477. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114508201960

Quote: The present study clearly demonstrates that the availability and consumption of large food portions led to significant and sustained increases in EI over a 4 d period.

Rolls, B. J., Roe, L. S., & Meengs, J. S. (2007). The effect of large portion sizes on energy intake is sustained for 11 days. Obesity, 15(6), 1535-1543. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2007.182

Quote: These results strengthen the evidence suggesting that increased portions contribute to the overconsumption of energy and to excess body weight.

Rolls, B. J., Roe, L. S., & Meengs, J. S. (2006). Larger portion sizes lead to a sustained increase in energy intake over 2 days. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 106(4), 543–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2006.01.014

Quote: Increasing the portion size of all foods resulted in a significant increase in energy intake that was sustained over 2 days. These data support suggestions that large portions are associated with excess energy intake that could contribute to increased body weight.

SYSTEMATIC DISCONTINUATION IN WEIGHT LOSS

Lewis K, et al. (Nov. 11-15, 2018).  T-P-3200. Presented at: ObesityWeek, Nashville, Tenn.

 https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02837211

Quote: In the taper group, caloric intake was decreased roughly 200 kcal per week for 6 weeks until reaching a level of 1,200 kcal per day for men and 1,000 kcal per day for women. After 6 weeks, both groups continued the low-calorie diet until the conclusion of the study at week 24.

The taper group experienced a significant decrease in fasting ghrelin at 24 weeks (mean, –65.5 ng/pL) compared with those in the immediate group (mean, +103.8 ng/pL; P = .03).

https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20181114/tapering-caloric-intake-may-decrease-hunger-help-avoid-weight-regain

Turicchi, J., O'Driscoll, R., Finlayson, G., Beaulieu, K., Deighton, K., & Stubbs, R. J. (2019). Associations between the rate, amount, and composition of weight loss as predictors of spontaneous weight regain in adults achieving clinically significant weight loss: A systematic review and meta-regression. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 20(7), 935–946. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12849

Quote: We observed a positive association between the rate of weight loss and subsequent weight regain. 

Lutes, L. D., Winett, R. A., Barger, S. D., Wojcik, J. R., Herbert, W. G., Nickols-Richardson, S. M., & Anderson, E. S. (2008). Small changes in nutrition and physical activity promote weight loss and maintenance: 3-month evidence from the ASPIRE randomized trial. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 35(3), 351–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9033-z

Quote: Intention-to-treat analyses showed that participants in the ASPIRE group lost significantly more weight than the standard and control groups (-4.4 vs. -1.1 and +0.1 kg, respectively), and the greater initial weight loss in the ASPIRE group was sustained 3 months after active treatment (4.1 kg).

More modest behavioral changes are capable of promoting weight loss, decreasing adiposity markers and sustaining these changes over 3 months. 

Wadden, T. A., Foster, G. D., & Letizia, K. A. (1994). One-year behavioral treatment of obesity: comparison of moderate and severe caloric restriction and the effects of weight maintenance therapy. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 62(1), 165–171. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006x.62.1.165

Quote: The VLCD subjects lost significantly more weight than the BDD subjects at all periods through Week 26, at which time mean losses were 21.45 and 11.86 kg, respectively. VLCD subjects, however, regained weight during the next 26 weeks of weekly therapy and during a 26-week weight maintenance program that provided biweekly meetings. Mean weight losses at the end of the maintenance program were 10.94 and 12.18 kg, respectively. 

HABITUATION AND WEIGHT LOSS

Raynor, H. A., Jeffery, R. W., Phelan, S., Hill, J. O., & Wing, R. R. (2005). Amount of food group variety consumed in the diet and long-term weight loss maintenance. Obesity research, 13(5), 883–890. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2005.102

Quote: These results suggest that successful weight loss maintainers consume a diet with limited variety in all food groups. Restricting variety within all food groups may help with consuming a low-energy diet and maintaining long-term weight loss.

Raynor, H. A., Jeffery, R. W., Tate, D. F., & Wing, R. R. (2004). Relationship between changes in food group variety, dietary intake, and weight during obesity treatment. International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 28(6), 813–820. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802612

Quote: From 6 to 18 months, decreased HFF (high-fat foods) variety and increased LFB (low-fat bread) variety was associated with reduced percent dietary fat consumed and weight loss.

Raynor H. A. (2012). Can limiting dietary variety assist with reducing energy intake and weight loss?. Physiology & behavior, 106(3), 356–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.03.012

Quote: Results of the investigations suggest that a prescription for limiting variety in a food group can be implemented during obesity treatment, limiting variety is associated with the occurrence of monotony, and that reducing food group variety is related to decreased consumption of that food group. 

FOOD CUE REACTIVITY

Boswell, R. G., & Kober, H. (2016). Food cue reactivity and craving predict eating and weight gain: a meta‐analytic review. Obesity Reviews, 17(2), 159-177. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12354

Quote: Suggesting that cue exposure and the experience of craving significantly influence and contribute to eating behavior and weight gain.

Overall, the present findings suggest that food cue reactivity, cue-induced craving and tonic craving systematically and prospectively predict food-related outcomes. 

Bodenlos, J. S., & Wormuth, B. M. (2013). Watching a food-related television show and caloric intake. A laboratory study. Appetite, 61(1), 8–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.10.027

Quote: Findings suggest that watching food-related television programs may affect eating behavior and has implications for obesity prevention and intervention efforts. 

Kanoski, S. E., & Boutelle, K. N. (2022). Food cue reactivity: Neurobiological and behavioral underpinnings. Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders, 10.1007/s11154-022-09724-x. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-022-09724-x

Quote: The collective literature identifies connections between heightened food cue responsivity and obesity in both rodents and humans.

and identifies underlying brain regions (nucleus accumbens, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, hippocampus) and endocrine systems (ghrelin) that regulate food cue responsivity in both species. 

Jansen, A., Schyns, G., Bongers, P., & van den Akker, K. (2016). From lab to clinic: Extinction of cued cravings to reduce overeating. Physiology & behavior, 162, 174–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.03.018

Quote: Food cue reactivity can be learned via Pavlovian appetitive conditioning: It is easily acquired but the extinction of appetitive responding seems to be more challenging.

A translation to food cue exposure treatment is made and suggestions are provided, such as conducting the exposure in relevant contexts, using occasional reinforcement and targeting expectancy violation instead of habituation. A new hypothesis proposed here is that the adding of inhibition training to strengthen inhibition skills that reduce instrumental responding, might be beneficial to improve food cue exposure effects. 

Schyns, G., Roefs, A., & Jansen, A. (2020). Tackling sabotaging cognitive processes to reduce overeating; expectancy violation during food cue exposure. Physiology & behavior, 222, 112924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112924

Quote: Specifically, the violation of overeating expectancies during exposure seems to be critical for controlled eating and should therefore be part of lifestyle interventions for obesity. 

HOW HUNGER CAN BE MANIPULATED UP OR DOWN

Boggiano, M. M., Dorsey, J. R., Thomas, J. M., & Murdaugh, D. L. (2009). The Pavlovian power of palatable food: lessons for weight-loss adherence from a new rodent model of cue-induced overeating. International journal of obesity, 33(6), 693-701. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.57

Quote: Rats consumed significantly more chow when exposed to context cues paired earlier with PF than with chow (P<0.01). This effect occurred using various cues (for example, different types of bedding or wallpaper).

Van den Akker, K., Jansen, A., Frentz, F., & Havermans, R. C. (2013). Impulsivity makes one more susceptible to overeating after contextual appetitive conditioning. Appetite, 70, 73–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.06.092

Quote: Conditioned context-induced reactivity was indeed demonstrated and impulsivity predicted increased intake in only the intake-associated context. It is concluded that humans easily learn desires to eat in intake-related environments. 

Blechert, J., Testa, G., Georgii, C., Klimesch, W., & Wilhelm, F. H. (2016). The Pavlovian craver: Neural and experiential correlates of single trial naturalistic food conditioning in humans. Physiology & behavior, 158, 18–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.02.028

Quote: Naturalistic single-trial taste-appetitive conditioning is potent in humans and shapes attentional and motivational neural processes that might challenge self-regulation during exposure to tempting foods. Thus, appetitive conditioning processes might contribute to overweight and obesity.

Petrovich G. D. (2013). Forebrain networks and the control of feeding by environmental learned cues. Physiology & behavior, 121, 10–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2013.03.024

Quote: The motivation to eat is driven by a complex sum of physiological and non-physiological influences computed by the brain.

The two components could act in concert to support the homeostatic regulation of food intake. Often, however, environmental influences rival physiological control and stimulate eating irrespective of satiety, or inhibit eating irrespective of hunger.

HOW CUTLERY SIZE AFFECTS EATING

Hollands, G. J., Shemilt, I., Marteau, T. M., Jebb, S. A., Lewis, H. B., Wei, Y., Higgins, J. P., & Ogilvie, D. (2015). Portion, package or tableware size for changing selection and consumption of food, alcohol and tobacco. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2015(9), CD011045. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011045.pub2

Quote: This review found that people consistently consume more food and drink when offered larger-sized portions, packages or tableware than when offered smaller-sized versions.

Vargas-Alvarez, M. A., Navas-Carretero, S., Palla, L., Martínez, J. A., & Almiron-Roig, E. (2021). Impact of Portion Control Tools on Portion Size Awareness, Choice and Intake: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 13(6), 1978. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13061978

Quote: Overall, 55% of studies reported a significant impact of using a tool (typically smaller bowl, fork or glass; or calibrated plate)

Specific portion control tools, mainly calibrated tableware and some eating and serving utensils, have the potential to reduce serving sizes and consumed amounts, suggesting that their inclusion as part of weight loss trials may enhance the impact of interventions on food intake and weight loss.

James, L. J., Maher, T., Biddle, J., & Broom, D. R. (2018). Eating with a smaller spoon decreases bite size, eating rate and ad libitum food intake in healthy young males. The British journal of nutrition, 120(7), 830–837. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114518002246

Quote: These results suggest that eating with a small spoon decreases ad libitum food intake, possibly via a cascade of effects on within-meal eating microstructure. A small spoon might be a practical strategy for decreasing bite size and eating rate, likely increasing oral processing, and subsequently decreasing food intake, at least in lean young men.

Wansink, B., van Ittersum, K., & Painter, J. E. (2006). Ice cream illusions bowls, spoons, and self-served portion sizes. American journal of preventive medicine, 31(3), 240–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2006.04.003

Quote: Even when nutrition experts were given a larger bowl, they served themselves 31.0% more (6.25 vs 4.77 oz, F(1, 80) = 8.05, p < 0.01) without being aware of it. Their servings increased by 14.5% when they were given a larger serving spoon (5.77 vs 5.04 oz, F(1, 80)=2.70, p = 0.10).

HOW AMERICAN DINNER PLATES HAVE GROWN IN SIZE

Van Ittersum, K., & Wansink, B. (2012). Plate Size and Color Suggestibility: The Delboeuf Illusion’s Bias on Serving and Eating Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(2), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.1086/662615

Quote: The average size of a sample of dinner plates increased increased almost 23% from 9.6 inches to 11.8 inches, since 1900. 

Nielsen, S. J., & Popkin, B. M. (2003). Patterns and trends in food portion sizes, 1977-1998. JAMA, 289(4), 450–453. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.289.4.450

Quote: Between 1977 and 1996, both inside and outside the home, portion sizes increased for salty snacks, desserts, soft drinks, fruit drinks, french fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and Mexican food. Pizza portions in general decreased during this period. The size of the increases are substantial.

Young, L. R., & Nestle, M. (2002). The contribution of expanding portion sizes to the US obesity epidemic. American journal of public health, 92(2), 246–249. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.92.2.246

Quote: Marketplace food portions have increased in size and now exceed federal standards. Portion sizes began to grow in the 1970s, rose sharply in the 1980s, and have continued in parallel with increasing body weights.

THE BRAIN’S REFUSAL TO LET GO OF BELIEFS WHEN PRESENTED WITH FACTS

Yarritu, I., Matute, H., & Luque, D. (2015). The dark side of cognitive illusions: when an illusory belief interferes with the acquisition of evidence-based knowledge. British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953), 106(4), 597–608. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12119

Quote: Cognitive illusions are often associated with mental health and well-being. However, they are not without risk. This research shows they can interfere with the acquisition of evidence-based knowledge. Our results showed that the group who developed the strong illusion about the effectiveness of the bogus treatment during Phase 1 had more difficulties in learning during Phase 2 that the added treatment was effective.

Yarritu, I., & Matute, H. (2015). Previous knowledge can induce an illusion of causality through actively biasing behavior. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 389. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00389

Quote: The results of these experiments are, in part, congruent with the idea that people's previous knowledge and expectations can determine the treatment that they give to available evidence in the assessment of causal relationship.

Barberia, I., Vadillo, M. A., & Rodríguez-Ferreiro, J. (2019). Persistence of Causal Illusions After Extensive Training. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 24. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00024

Quote: We found moderate evidence against the hypothesis that extending the learning phase alters the causal illusion. However, assessing causal impressions recurrently did weaken participants' causal illusions.

HOW THE VISUAL CORTEX INFLUENCES APPETITE

(How The Brain Is Easily Fooled)

Morrot, G., Brochet, F., & Dubourdieu, D. (2001). The color of odors. Brain and language, 79(2), 309–320. https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.2001.2493

Quote: A white wine artificially colored red with an odorless dye was olfactory described as a red wine by a panel of 54 tasters. Hence, because of the visual information, the tasters discounted the olfactory information.

Chen, Y., Huang, A. X., Faber, I., Makransky, G., & Perez-Cueto, F. (2020). Assessing the Influence of Visual-Taste Congruency on Perceived Sweetness and Product Liking in Immersive VR. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 9(4), 465. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9040465

Quote: These findings confirmed the significant influence of taste-specific visual cues on flavour perception.

Ammann, Jeanine & Hartmann, Christina & Peterhans, Vega & Ropelato, Sandro & Siegrist, Michael. (2019). The relationship between disgust sensitivity and behaviour: A virtual reality study on food disgust. Food Quality and Preference. 80. 103833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103833

Quote: The control group (n = 50) saw a piece of chocolate appear in the virtual environment on a table in front of them before being asked to take and eat it. The disgust group (n = 50) saw a dog that walked across the table and stopped halfway to produce dog faeces that looked like a piece of chocolate. Subsequently, participants were asked to eat a real piece of chocolate. In both groups, participants were given the opportunity to refuse consumption. Participants in the experimental condition were more likely to refuse consumption than those in the control condition.

Carvalho, F. M., & Spence, C. (2019). Cup colour influences consumers’ expectations and experience on tasting specialty coffee. Food Quality and Preference, 75, 157-169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.03.001

Quote: Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time that the colour of the cup significantly impacts sensory and hedonic judgements of specialty coffee.

Tu, Y., Yang, Z. and Ma, C. (2016), The Taste of Plate: How the Spiciness of Food is Affected by the Color of the Plate Used to Serve It. J Sens Stud, 31: 50-60. https://doi.org/10.1111/joss.12190

Quote: Spiciness expectations significantly mediated the influence of color on actual perceived spiciness; participants expected, and consequently actually perceived, the same food product's spiciness as more intense when served on a red plate rather than on a white plate.

HOW BELIEFS INFLUENCE HUNGER AND SATIETY

(How The Brain Is Easily Fooled)

Brown, S. D., Duncan, J., Crabtree, D., Powell, D., Hudson, M., & Allan, J. L. (2020). We are what we (think we) eat: The effect of expected satiety on subsequent calorie consumption. Appetite, 152, 104717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104717

Quote: Using a within-subjects design, 26 healthy participants had their ES for omelettes manipulated experimentally, believing that a 3-egg omelette contained either 2 (small condition) or 4 (large condition) eggs.

When ES was higher (large condition) participants ate significantly fewer calories at a lunchtime test meal (mean difference = 69 kcal [± 95% CI 4-136]) and consumed significantly fewer calories throughout the day (mean difference = 167 kcal [± 95% CI 26-309]). The results show that there was a significant main effect of time on hunger and fullness, but no main effect of 'portion size' (p > .05).

Brunstrom, J. M., Brown, S., Hinton, E. C., Rogers, P. J., & Fay, S. H. (2011). 'Expected satiety' changes hunger and fullness in the inter-meal interval. Appetite, 56(2), 310–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2011.01.002

Quote: Together, these findings confirm previous reports indicating that beliefs and expectations can have marked effects on satiety and they show that this effect can persist well into the inter-meal interval.

Danner, L., Johnson, T. E., Ristic, R., Meiselman, H. L., & Bastian, S. (2017). "I like the sound of that!" Wine descriptions influence consumers' expectations, liking, emotions and willingness to pay for Australian white wines. Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.), 99(Pt 1), 263–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2017.05.019

Quote: This highlights not only the importance of well written and accurate wine descriptions, but also that information can influence consumers' wine drinking experience and behaviour.

THE DELBOEUF ILLUSION

(How The Brain Is Easily Fooled)

Wansink, B., & van Ittersum, K. (2013). Portion size me: plate-size induced consumption norms and win-win solutions for reducing food intake and waste. Journal of experimental psychology. Applied, 19(4), 320–332. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035053

Quote: We contend that dinnerware provides a visual anchor of an appropriate fill-level, which in turn, serves as a consumption norm (Study 1). The trouble with these dinnerware-suggested consumption norms is that they vary directly with dinnerware size--Study 2 shows Chinese buffet diners with large plates served 52% more, ate 45% more, and wasted 135% more food than those with smaller plates.

McClain, A. D., van den Bos, W., Matheson, D., Desai, M., McClure, S. M., & Robinson, T. N. (2014). Visual illusions and plate design: the effects of plate rim widths and rim coloring on perceived food portion size. International journal of obesity (2005), 38(5), 657–662. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.169

Quote: The Delboeuf illusion applies to food on a plate. Participants overestimated food portion size on plates with wider and colored rims.  

Clarke, N., Pechey, E., Pechey, R., Ventsel, M., Mantzari, E., De-Loyde, K., Pilling, M. A., Morris, R. W., Marteau, T. M., & Hollands, G. J. (2021). Size and shape of plates and size of wine glasses and bottles: impact on self-serving of food and alcohol. BMC psychology, 9(1), 163. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00645-z

Quote: Smaller tableware (i.e. plates and wine glasses) decreases the amount of food and wine self-served in an initial serving.

Sharp, D., Sobal, J., & Wethington, E. (2019). Do Adults Draw Differently-Sized Meals on Larger or Smaller Plates? Examining Plate Size in a Community Sample. Food quality and preference, 74, 72–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.01.012

Quote: Overall, these findings support the concept that adult participants' estimates of dinner meal size may be shaped by plate size.

Van Ittersum, K., & Wansink, B. (2012). Plate Size and Color Suggestibility: The Delboeuf Illusion’s Bias on Serving and Eating Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(2), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.1086/662615

Quote: The results of five studies suggest that the neglected Delboeuf illusion may explain how the size of dinnerware creates two opposing biases that lead people to overserve on larger plates and bowls and underserve on smaller ones.

HOW THE T-ILLUSION AFFECTS BEVERAGE INTAKE

Wansink, B., & van Ittersum, K. (2005). Shape of glass and amount of alcohol poured: comparative study of effect of practice and concentration. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 331(7531), 1512–1514. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1512

Quote: Despite an average of six years of experience, bartenders poured 20.5% more into short, wide glasses than tall, slender ones; paying careful attention reduced but did not eliminate the effect.

Walker, D., Smarandescu, L., & Wansink, B. (2014). Half full or empty: cues that lead wine drinkers to unintentionally overpour. Substance use & misuse, 49(3), 295–302. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2013.832327

Quote: An exploratory field study shows that while wine drinkers typically poured 3.95 fl. oz. of wine into a standard baseline (10 fl. oz.) glass, they poured 11.9% more into a wider glass.

Pechey, R., Attwood, A. S., Couturier, D. L., Munafò, M. R., Scott-Samuel, N. E., Woods, A., & Marteau, T. M. (2015). Does Glass Size and Shape Influence Judgements of the Volume of Wine?. PloS one, 10(12), e0144536. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144536

Quote: Participants under-filled the wider glass relative to the reference glass for larger reference volumes, and over-filled the larger glass relative to the reference glass for all reference volumes.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE THE BRAIN TO REGISTER SATIETY SIGNALS?

Leidy, H. J., & Campbell, W. W. (2011). The effect of eating frequency on appetite control and food intake: brief synopsis of controlled feeding studies. The Journal of nutrition, 141(1), 154–157. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.109.114389

Quote: The single eating occasion led to immediate (+15 min postprandial) reductions in perceived appetite, glucose, and insulin responses followed by a gradual rise toward baseline throughout the 5-h period

Wijlens, A. G., de Graaf, C., Erkner, A., & Mars, M. (2016). Effects of Oral Exposure Duration and Gastric Energy Content on Appetite Ratings and Energy Intake in Lean Men. Nutrients, 8(2), 64. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8020064

  Quote: Mean ratings of hunger and fullness over time and their AUCs are shown in Figure 4. 

There is no reference for the time until peak satiety in the text of the paper, but there is a graph of the results that shows that peak fullness is reached in around  8 to 15 minutes.

Solah, Vicky & Meng, Xingqiong & Wood, Simon & Gahler, Roland & Kerr, Deborah & James, Anthony & Pal, Sebely & Fenton, Haelee & Johnson, Stuart. (2015). Effect of Training on the Reliability of Satiety Evaluation and Use of Trained Panelists to Determine the Satiety Effect of Dietary Fibre: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLOS ONE. 10. e0126202. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126202

Quote: Post-prandial satiety responses (satiety score in cm over time) for each test and retest occasion (See Fig 1): A, training group (n = 12); B, no-training group (n = 11).Peak satiety reached in 15 minutes.  

Leone, A., De Amicis, R., Pellizzari, M., Bertoli, S., Ravella, S., & Battezzati, A. (2022). Appetite ratings and ghrelin concentrations in young adults after administration of a balanced meal. Does sex matter?. Biology of sex differences, 13(1), 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-022-00434-2

Quote: According to the graph, peak fullness and satiety is reached in around 15 minutes.  

Gregersen, N. T., Møller, B. K., Raben, A., Kristensen, S. T., Holm, L., Flint, A., & Astrup, A. (2011). Determinants of appetite ratings: the role of age, gender, BMI, physical activity, smoking habits, and diet/weight concern. Food & nutrition research, 55, 10.3402/fnr.v55i0.7028. https://doi.org/10.3402/fnr.v55i0.7028

Quote: According to the graph, peak satiety is reached in around 30 minutes. No reference in the text. However, I think they tested in intervals of 30 minutes in between measures, so it’s possible that the maximal satiety was reached before 30 minutes (in accordance with the other studies) but that it wasn’t measured until 30 minutes so it showed a lower value).

THE MEAL RECALL EFFECT

Higgs S. (2008). Cognitive influences on food intake: the effects of manipulating memory for recent eating. Physiology & behavior, 94(5), 734–739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.04.012

Quote: Evidence suggests that manipulation of cognitions at the time of eating have profound effects on food intake and that conditioning processes, which rely on memory, are likely to contribute to these effects. There is also evidence that manipulating memory for the most recent meal affects subsequent food intake, suggesting that information about recent eating in memory is factored into momentary decisions about food consumption.

Higgs, S., Williamson, A. C., & Attwood, A. S. (2008). Recall of recent lunch and its effect on subsequent snack intake. Physiology & behavior, 94(3), 454–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.02.011

Quote:  It is concluded that the inhibitory effect of recalling foods eaten at lunch on subsequent snack intake is a robust phenomenon that is related to memory of that lunch and is moderated by tendency toward dietary disinhibition.

Higgs, S. (2002). Memory for recent eating and its influence on subsequent food intake. Appetite, 39(2), 159-166. https://doi.org/10.1006/appe.2002.0500

Quote: These results are consistent with the suggestion that memory of recent eating is an important cognitive factor influencing food intake.

Joanna Szypula, Amy Ahern, Lucy Cheke. (2020). The role of memory ability, depth and mode of recall in the impact of memory on later consumption, Appetite, Volume 149, p. 104628, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104628.

Quote: This study replicated the previous finding that written, unguided recall of an earlier meal, immediately before a snacking session, significantly reduced biscuit intake compared to recalling a meal from the previous day.

Robinson, E., Aveyard, P., Daley, A., Jolly, K., Lewis, A., Lycett, D., & Higgs, S. (2013). Eating attentively: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of food intake memory and awareness on eating. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 97(4), 728–742. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.112.045245

Quote: Enhancing memory of food consumed reduced later intake.

HOW THE BRAIN CONSTRUCTS HUNGER AND SATIETY

Althubeati, S., Avery, A., Tench, C. R., Lobo, D. N., Salter, A., & Eldeghaidy, S. (2022). Mapping brain activity of gut-brain signaling to appetite and satiety in healthy adults: A systematic review and functional neuroimaging meta-analysis. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 136, 104603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104603

Quote: The results from the systematic review revealed the modulation of insula, amygdala, hippocampus, and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) with appetite regulators, where satiety regulators were more associated with caudate nucleus, hypothalamus, thalamus, putamen, anterior cingulate cortex in addition to the insula and OFC. The two neuroimaging meta-analyses methods identified the caudate nucleus as a key area associated with satiety regulators.

Zanchi, D., Depoorter, A., Egloff, L., Haller, S., Mählmann, L., Lang, U. E., Drewe, J., Beglinger, C., Schmidt, A., & Borgwardt, S. (2017). The impact of gut hormones on the neural circuit of appetite and satiety: A systematic review. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 80, 457–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.06.013

Quote: Our systematic review suggests that the plasma level of ghrelin, the gut hormone promoting appetite, is positively correlated with activation in the pre-frontal cortex (PFC), amygdala and insula and negatively correlated with activation in subcortical areas such as the hypothalamus. In contrast, the plasma levels of glucose, insulin, leptin, PYY, GLP-1 affect the same brain regions conversely.

Ahima, R. S., & Antwi, D. A. (2008). Brain regulation of appetite and satiety. Endocrinology and metabolism clinics of North America, 37(4), 811–823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecl.2008.08.005

Quote: Neurons involved in the homeostatic regulation of feeding are located mainly in the hypothalamus and brainstem. In addition, neuronal circuits in the limbic system mediate the motivational and reward aspects of feeding. 

Abizaid, A., Liu, Z. W., Andrews, Z. B., Shanabrough, M., Borok, E., Elsworth, J. D., Roth, R. H., Sleeman, M. W., Picciotto, M. R., Tschöp, M. H., Gao, X. B., & Horvath, T. L. (2006). Ghrelin modulates the activity and synaptic input organization of midbrain dopamine neurons while promoting appetite. The Journal of clinical investigation, 116(12), 3229–3239. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI29867

Quote: Taken together, these data suggest that the mesolimbic reward circuitry is targeted by peripheral ghrelin to influence physiological mechanisms related to feeding.

Iovino, M., Messana, T., Lisco, G., Mariano, F., Giagulli, V. A., Guastamacchia, E., De Pergola, G., & Triggiani, V. (2022). Neuroendocrine modulation of food intake and eating behavior. Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets, 10.2174/1871530322666220127114326. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.2174/1871530322666220127114326

Quote: Orexigenic and anorexigenic hormones secreted from the gastrointestinal tract and adipose tissue regulate brain areas involved in eating behavior via gastric afferent vagal nerve, circumventricular organ area postrema, or transporter system.

DELAYED GRATIFICATION TECHNIQUES AND WEIGHT LOSS

McKee, H. C., & Ntoumanis, N. (2014). Developing self-regulation for dietary temptations: intervention effects on physical, self-regulatory and psychological outcomes. Journal of behavioral medicine, 37(6), 1075–1081. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-014-9557-6

Quote: The self-regulation training group was trained to use six self-regulatory skills: Delayed gratification, thought control, goal setting, self-monitoring, mindfulness, and coping. 

Results indicate that self-regulatory skills training might be as effective as dietary and physical activity advice in terms of weight loss and related outcomes.

Annesi, J. J., & Gorjala, S. (2010). Relations of self-regulation and self-efficacy for exercise and eating and BMI change: A field investigation. BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 4(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0759-4-10

Quote: Findings suggest that training in self-regulation for exercise and eating may benefit self-efficacy and weight-loss outcomes. 

Will Crescioni, A., Ehrlinger, J., Alquist, J. L., Conlon, K. E., Baumeister, R. F., Schatschneider, C., & Dutton, G. R. (2011). High trait self-control predicts positive health behaviors and success in weight loss. Journal of health psychology, 16(5), 750–759. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105310390247

Quote: Independent of baseline differences, individuals high in dispositional self-control ate fewer calories overall and fewer calories from fat, burned marginally more calories through exercise, and lost more weight during the program than did those lower in self-control. These data suggest that trait self-control is, indeed, an important predictor of health behaviors.

HOW RITUALS HELP LOSE WEIGHT

Wansink, B., & van Kleef, E. (2014). Dinner rituals that correlate with child and adult BMI. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 22(5), E91–E95. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20629

Quote: To summarize, the ritual of where one eats and how long one eats seems to be the largest driver of both adult and child BMI. Eating in the kitchen or at the dining room table and remaining at the table until everyone is finished eating were both associated with lower BMIs for parents and children. 

Lin, P. Y., Wood, W., & Monterosso, J. (2016). Healthy eating habits protect against temptations. Appetite, 103, 432–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.11.011

Quote: In our research, healthy habits protected against the unhealthy consequences often associated with reduced executive control. Habits thus can maintain healthy choices and small portions when people are not prepared to deliberate.

Tian, A. D., Schroeder, J., Häubl, G., Risen, J. L., Norton, M. I., & Gino, F. (2018). Enacting rituals to improve self-control. Journal of personality and social psychology, 114(6), 851–876. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000113

Quote: A field experiment showed that engaging in a pre-eating ritual over a 5-day period helped participants reduce calorie intake (Experiment 1). Pairing a ritual with healthy eating behavior increased the likelihood of choosing healthy food in a subsequent decision (Experiment 2), and enacting a ritual before a food choice (i.e., without being integrated into the consumption process) promoted the choice of healthy food over unhealthy food (Experiments 3a and 3b). 

Vohs, K. D., Wang, Y., Gino, F., & Norton, M. I. (2013). Rituals enhance consumption. Psychological science, 24(9), 1714–1721. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613478949

Quote: Four experiments tested the novel hypothesis that ritualistic behavior potentiates and enhances ensuing consumption--an effect found for chocolates, lemonade, and even carrots. 

Rituals enhance the enjoyment of consumption because of the greater involvement in the experience that they prompt. 

HOW PORTION SIZE INFLUENCES APPETITE

  Zlatevska, N., Dubelaar, C., & Holden, S. S. (2014). Sizing up the Effect of Portion Size on Consumption: A Meta-Analytic Review. Journal of Marketing, 78(3), 140–154. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.12.0303

Quote: A meta-analytic review reveals that, for a doubling of portion size, consumption increases by 35% on average. However, the effect has limits. An extended analysis shows that the effect of portion size is curvilinear: as portions become increasingly larger, the effect diminishes. In addition, although the portion-size effect is widespread and robust across a range of individual and environmental factors, the analysis shows that it is weaker among children, women, and overweight individuals, as well as for nonsnack food items and in contexts in which more attention is given to the food being eaten.

Rolls, B. J., Morris, E. L., & Roe, L. S. (2002). Portion size of food affects energy intake in normal-weight and overweight men and women. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 76(6), 1207-1213. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/76.6.1207

Quote: Larger portions led to greater energy intake regardless of serving method and subject characteristics. .

Rolls, B.J., Roe, L.S. & Meengs, J.S. (2007), The Effect of Large Portion Sizes on Energy Intake Is Sustained for 11 Days. Obesity, 15: 1535-1543. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2007.182

Quote: These results strengthen the evidence suggesting that increased portions contribute to the overconsumption of energy and to excess body weight.

EATING UNTIL THE PLEASANTNESS OF FLAVORS SUBSIDE

Poothullil J. M. (2005). Recognition of oral sensory satisfaction and regulation of the volume of intake in humans. Nutritional neuroscience, 8(4), 245–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/10284150500449029

Quote: Analysis of the results showed the taste condition with the lowest volumes and the fullness condition with the highest volumes (p < 0.0001) and time (p < 0.0001). Oral sensory satisfaction could be used to regulate intake of water and water-soluble foods.  

Poothullil J. M. (2009). Meal termination using oral sensory satisfaction: a study in non-obese women. Nutritional neuroscience, 12(1), 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1179/147683009X388869

Quote: These results indicate that taste satisfaction can limit meal intake in non-obese women. Taste satisfaction could be a mechanism that is used to reduce food intake to compensate for previous excess consumption.

WHAT DIETING DOES TO YOUR BODY

Dieting Increases Production Of Ghrelin, The Hunger Hormone

Sadeghian, M., Hosseini, S. A., Zare Javid, A., Ahmadi Angali, K., & Mashkournia, A. (2021). Effect of Fasting-Mimicking Diet or Continuous Energy Restriction on Weight Loss, Body Composition, and Appetite-Regulating Hormones Among Metabolically Healthy Women with Obesity: a Randomized Controlled, Parallel Trial. Obesity surgery, 31(5), 2030–2039. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-020-05202-y

Quote: After controlling for potential confounders, there was a significant increase in serum levels of total ghrelin (p = 0.048) and NPY (p = 0.041) following CER (continuous energy restriction)

Zwain, A., & Mohammed, H. Q. (2022). EFFECT OF 20-HOUR FASTING AND LOW FAT DIET ON GHRELIN HORMONE, GLUCOSE LEVEL AND LIVER FUNCTION IN ALBINO RATS MALE. Wiadomosci lekarskie (Warsaw, Poland : 1960), 75(4 pt 1), 798–802. https://doi.org/10.36740/WLek202204109

Quote:  Ghrelin levels in the blood rise during fasting and fall during eating.

Leidy, H. J., Gardner, J. K., Frye, B. R., Snook, M. L., Schuchert, M. K., Richard, E. L., & Williams, N. I. (2004). Circulating ghrelin is sensitive to changes in body weight during a diet and exercise program in normal-weight young women. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 89(6), 2659–2664. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2003-031471

Quote: Exercise training occurred five times per week, and subjects were fed a specific diet. Ghrelin significantly increased over time (770 +/- 296 to 1322 +/- 664 pmol/liter) in the weight-loss group compared with the controls and the weight-stable group (P < 0.05).

Scheid, J. L., De Souza, M. J., Leidy, H. J., & Williams, N. I. (2011). Ghrelin but not peptide YY is related to change in body weight and energy availability. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 43(11), 2063–2071. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e31821e52ab

Quote: Fasting ghrelin concentrations increase when body weight is lost and may respond to even smaller changes in energy availability. 

Dieting Decreases Production Of Leptin, The Satiety Hormone

Varkaneh Kord, H., M Tinsley, G., O Santos, H., Zand, H., Nazary, A., Fatahi, S., Mokhtari, Z., Salehi-Sahlabadi, A., Tan, S. C., Rahmani, J., Gaman, M. A., Sathian, B., Sadeghi, A., Hatami, B., Soltanieh, S., Aghamiri, S., Bawadi, H., & Hekmatdoost, A. (2021). The influence of fasting and energy-restricted diets on leptin and adiponectin levels in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland), 40(4), 1811–1821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2020.10.034

Quote: Fasting and energy-restricted diets elicit significant reductions in serum leptin concentrations.

Ahima R. S. (2008). Revisiting leptin's role in obesity and weight loss. The Journal of clinical investigation, 118(7), 2380–2383. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI36284

Quote:  Leptin levels decline during weight loss and signal to the hypothalamus to stimulate feeding, reduce energy expenditure, and promote weight regain.

Herrick, J. E., Panza, G. S., & Gollie, J. M. (2016). Leptin, Leptin Soluble Receptor, and the Free Leptin Index following a Diet and Physical Activity Lifestyle Intervention in Obese Males and Females. Journal of obesity, 2016, 8375828. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8375828

Quote: 6 M WLP (6 months of a weight loss program) consisted of diet/lifestyle interventions following ADA guidelines.

LEP and FLI (leptin and free leptin index) reductions following 6 M of WLP were achieved independent of sOB-r (soluble receptor) changes.

Dieting Slows Down Your Metabolism

Magkos F. (2020). On adaptive thermogenesis: just another weight-loss tale?. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 112(5), 1157–1159. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa262

Quote: The loss of lean body mass consisting of metabolically active tissues and organs (e.g., skeletal muscle, heart, liver, and kidneys) results in decreased RMR; the reduction in food intake invariably results in decreased diet-induced thermogenesis

Heilbronn, L. K., de Jonge, L., Frisard, M. I., DeLany, J. P., Larson-Meyer, D. E., Rood, J., Nguyen, T., Martin, C. K., Volaufova, J., Most, M. M., Greenway, F. L., Smith, S. R., Deutsch, W. A., Williamson, D. A., Ravussin, E., & Pennington CALERIE Team (2006). Effect of 6-month calorie restriction on biomarkers of longevity, metabolic adaptation, and oxidative stress in overweight individuals: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 295(13), 1539–1548. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.295.13.1539

Quote: Our findings suggest that 2 biomarkers of longevity (fasting insulin level and body temperature) are decreased by prolonged calorie restriction in humans and support the theory that metabolic rate is reduced beyond the level expected from reduced metabolic body mass.

Martin, C. K., Heilbronn, L. K., de Jonge, L., DeLany, J. P., Volaufova, J., Anton, S. D., Redman, L. M., Smith, S. R., & Ravussin, E. (2007). Effect of calorie restriction on resting metabolic rate and spontaneous physical activity. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 15(12), 2964–2973. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2007.354

Quote: Adjusted RMR decreased at Month 3 in the CR (calorie restriction)  group and at Month 6 in the CR+EX (calorie restriction and exercise)  and LCD (low-calorie diet) groups.

Martins, C., Roekenes, J., Gower, B. A., & Hunter, G. R. (2021). Metabolic adaptation is associated with less weight and fat mass loss in response to low-energy diets. Nutrition & metabolism, 18(1), 60. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12986-021-00587-8

Quote: In conclusion, in individuals with obesity, metabolic adaptation at the level of RMR during a 13% weight reduction is associated with less weight and FM (fat mass) loss in response to LEDs (low-energy diets).

Dieting Creates A Biological Imperative To Overeat (The Insurance Hypothesis)

Nettle, D., Andrews, C., & Bateson, M. (2017). Food insecurity as a driver of obesity in humans: The insurance hypothesis. The Behavioral and brain sciences, 40, e105. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X16000947

Quote: We conclude that although the IH alone cannot explain the distribution of obesity in the human population, it may represent a very important component of a pluralistic explanation.

Siahpush, M., Tibbits, M., Shaikh, R. A., Singh, G. K., Sikora Kessler, A., & Huang, T. T. (2015). Dieting Increases the Likelihood of Subsequent Obesity and BMI Gain: Results from a Prospective Study of an Australian National Sample. International journal of behavioral medicine, 22(5), 662–671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-015-9463-5

Quote: Compared to those who were never on a diet in the previous year, the odds of obesity were 1.9, 2.9, and 3.2 times higher among those who were on a diet once, more than once, and always, respectively. 

Hill, A. (2004). Does dieting make you fat? British Journal of Nutrition, 92(S1), S15-S18. https://doi.org/10.1079/BJN20041135

Quote: Yet there are prospective data showing that baseline dieting or dietary restraint increases the risk of weight gain, especially in women. Metabolic adaptations and the disinhibited eating of restrained eaters have been the most commonly cited explanations for such weight gain. Dietary restraint has also been implicated in the development and persistence of binge eating.

DIETING DOESN’T WORK

Langeveld, M., & DeVries, J. H. (2015). The long-term effect of energy restricted diets for treating obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 23(8), 1529–1538. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21146

Quote: “On average, the long-term effect of diets on body weight in individuals with obesity is modest, and the response is highly heterogeneous.”

Asher, R.C., Burrows, T.L. and Collins, C.E. (2013), Very low-energy diets for weight loss in adults: A review. Nutrition & Dietetics, 70: 101-112. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-0080.2012.01628.x

Quote: “Very low-energy diets are effective for producing short-term weight loss. However not all initial weight loss is maintained long term.”

Atallah, R., Filion, K. B., Wakil, S. M., Genest, J., Joseph, L., Poirier, P., Rinfret, S., Schiffrin, E. L., & Eisenberg, M. J. (2014). Long-term effects of 4 popular diets on weight loss and cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes, 7(6), 815–827. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.113.000723

Quote: “Our results suggest that all 4 diets are modestly efficacious for short-term weight loss, but that these benefits are not sustained long-term.”

DIETING HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH

Polivy J. (1996). Psychological consequences of food restriction. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 96(6), 589–594. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-8223(96)00161-7

Quote: Starvation and self-imposed dieting appear to result in eating binges once food is available and in psychological manifestations such as preoccupation with food and eating, increased emotional responsiveness and dysphoria, and distractibility.

Memon, A. N., Gowda, A. S., Rallabhandi, B., Bidika, E., Fayyaz, H., Salib, M., & Cancarevic, I. (2020). Have Our Attempts to Curb Obesity Done More Harm Than Good?. Cureus, 12(9), e10275. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.10275

Quote: We also found studies assessing the negative psychological and physical outcomes of dieting.

Zhang, Y., Liu, C., Zhao, Y., Zhang, X., Li, B., & Cui, R. (2015). The Effects of Calorie Restriction in Depression and Potential Mechanisms. Current neuropharmacology, 13(4), 536–542. https://doi.org/10.2174/1570159x13666150326003852

Quote: Whereas, most of the prolonged calorie restriction or severe dietary restriction, including fasting, often caused inevitable damage to neurons and exaggerated depressive behaviors.

Saha, S., Okafor, H., Biediger-Friedman, L., & Behnke, A. (2021). Association between diet and symptoms of anxiety and depression in college students: A systematic review. Journal of American college health : J of ACH, 1–11. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080è/07448481.2021.1926267

Quote: Most of the cross-sectional studies found a positive association between diet and depression and anxiety. 

PLEASURE AS A TOOL FOR WEIGHT LOSS

Cornil, Y., & Chandon, P. (2016). Pleasure as an ally of healthy eating? Contrasting visceral and Epicurean eating pleasure and their association with portion size preferences and wellbeing. Appetite, 104, 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.08.045

Quote: Unlike visceral eating pleasure tendencies, Epicurean eating tendencies are associated with a preference for smaller food portions and higher wellbeing, and not associated with higher BMI. Overall, we argue that the moralizing approach equating the pleasure of eating with ‘low-level’ visceral urges should give way to a more holistic approach which recognizes the positive role of Epicurean eating pleasure in healthy eating and wellbeing.

Vogel, E., & Mol, A. (2014). Enjoy your food: on losing weight and taking pleasure. Sociology of health & illness, 36(2), 305–317. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12116

Quote: They do not address behaviour observed from the outside but the feelings that, as a person, one may come to sense from within. They do not encourage people to put themselves under their own control but to caringly tinker with themselves, and tinker again, all the while seeking to actively and appreciatively take pleasure from their foods and drinks.

Rather than repeating the admonition, ‘mind your plate’, these professionals give the encouragement to enjoy their food.

De Ridder, D., & Gillebaart, M. (2022). How food overconsumption has hijacked our notions about eating as a pleasurable activity. Current opinion in psychology, 46, 101324. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101324

Quote: Recent research in the domain of intuitive and mindful eating underlines the idea that ‘unregulated’ eating reinstalls the pleasure derived from eating.

All in all, our review suggests that the existing focus on food overconsumption and its negative consequences needs to be distinguished from how normal levels of food consumption positively affect contentment, enjoyment, social bonds, and in the end, well-being in general.

Alba, Joseph & Williams, Elanor. (2013). Pleasure Principles: A Review of Research on Hedonic Consumption. Journal of Consumer Psychology. 23. 2–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2012.07.003

Quote: We assess three decades of research on hedonic consumption, emphasizing areas of greatest potential for future exploration. 

EPICUREAN PLEASURE IS THE PATH TO WEIGHT LOSS

Bédard A, Lamarche PO, Grégoire LM, Trudel-Guy C, Provencher V, et al. (2020) Can eating pleasure be a lever for healthy eating? A systematic scoping review of eating pleasure and its links with dietary behaviors and health. PLOS ONE 15(12): e0244292. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244292

Quote: Finally, results from 11 independent interventions suggested that strategies focusing on sensory experiences, cooking and/or sharing activities, mindful eating, and positive memories related to healthy food may be most promising. Thus, eating pleasure may be an ally in the promotion of healthy eating. 

Menneteau, U., Kureta-Vanoli, K. (2009). Le goût, un outil dans la prise en charge des patients obèses ou en surpoids. Obes 4, 120–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11690-009-0187-z

Quote: The food we eat when we are hungry gives us more pleasure than eating when we are not hungry. Eating and consciously savouring food increases the pleasure and comfort experienced with each mouthful and makes it possible to restore emotional homeostasis with less food. Working with taste with our patients helps them eat only as long as they are hungry. Eating in this way helps them achieve and maintain their weight at its set point. 

Cornil, Y., & Chandon, P. (2016). Pleasure as an ally of healthy eating? Contrasting visceral and Epicurean eating pleasure and their association with portion size preferences and wellbeing. Appetite, 104, 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.08.045

Quote: Unlike visceral eating pleasure tendencies, Epicurean eating tendencies are associated with a preference for smaller food portions and higher wellbeing, and not associated with higher BMI.

HOW GETTING MORE PLEASURE OUT OF FOOD HELPS YOU LOSE WEIGHT

Gravel, K., Deslauriers, A., Watiez, M., Dumont, M., Dufour Bouchard, A. A., & Provencher, V. (2014). Sensory-based nutrition pilot intervention for women. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 114(1), 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2013.06.354

Quote: These preliminary data suggest that sensory-based intervention can be a promising approach to improve eating-related attitudes and behaviors among restrained women, without exacerbating other behaviors such as restrained eating.

Bédard, A., Lamarche, P. O., Grégoire, L. M., Trudel-Guy, C., Provencher, V., Desroches, S., & Lemieux, S. (2020). Can eating pleasure be a lever for healthy eating? A systematic scoping review of eating pleasure and its links with dietary behaviors and health. PloS one, 15(12), e0244292. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244292

Quote:  It showed favorable links between eating pleasure and dietary outcomes and identified promising strategies for using eating pleasure in intervention strategies. 

Lemmens, S. G., Schoffelen, P. F., Wouters, L., Born, J. M., Martens, M. J., Rutters, F., & Westerterp-Plantenga, M. S. (2009). Eating what you like induces a stronger decrease of 'wanting' to eat. Physiology & behavior, 98(3), 318–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2009.06.008

Quote: Eating a highly liked food item induces a more distinct decrease in 'wanting' for food items in general and category-specific 'liking', than eating a sufficiently liked neutral food item.

Our Process

We use “cross-science innovations” to achieve our remarkable results. That’s when one branch of science applies solutions developed by other disciplines. In our case, we take discoveries in eating, hunger, and satiety by scientists outside the diet industry and apply them to weight loss.

For example, we use the gold standard in Addiction Medicine--the step-by-step process psychiatrists use to get people off opioids--and apply them to sugar.

We didn’t invent our methods; we “borrowed” them from neuroscientists, physiologists, psychologists and biologists ignored by dieting experts because it doesn’t fit their narrative. 

The mindsets and techniques we teach you come straight out of evidence-based studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. 

You can find them in peer-reviewed publications like The Journal of Neuroscience Research or The Journal of Applied Physiology.  

You can also find them in biomedical databases like PubMed® and the Cochrane Library (a collection of databases filled with high-quality, independent evidence built to inform healthcare decision-making). 

So why do you need us if you can do it yourself? 

Most studies worth following are published in hard-to-find places, communicated in hard-to-understand jargon, and conducted by multi-disciplinary scientists and researchers who don’t talk to each other. 

What are we civilians left with? Brilliant work without a cohesive narrative. Effective techniques without an actionable blueprint.

Here’s Where We Come In.

Our program puts it all together so you don’t have to. We’ve done all the research, translated the jargon, and created an easy-to-follow path.

Here’s What We Don’t Talk About.

You're not going to get recipes or meal plans. You're not going to get a list of foods to eat or avoid. You're not going to get nutritional advice. 

Hell, if you don't know the nutritional difference between an apple and a muffin you don't belong in this class.

This is not a therapy group. We will not be exploring your relationship to food, conducting weepy conversations about the comforts of mashed potatoes, or stepping on weight scales amid applause (or humiliation). 

This is not a support group; it’s a place to create eating habits that produce permanent weight loss.

OUR INTUITIVE EATING ONLINE COURSE  OUTLINE 

MINDSET CHANGE

We’ll show you how to migrate from the toxic mentality of dieting to the liberating experience of abundance. This section answers the question, “If not dieting, what?”

Aim: Replace dieting with a commitment to weight-reducing eating habits, hunger-reducing biohacks, and addiction-breaking methods.

Goal: Replace the ideology of deprivation with the animating force of pleasure.

Skills you’ll learn: How to free yourself from the diet mentality, commit to new habit formations, and stay on a mission of well-being.

REDUCE HUNGER

Because the brain has blind spots in the way it constructs hunger, brain researchers have figured out techniques that help the brain experience a 20-40% reduction in hunger.

Aim: Understand how the brain constructs hunger and how neuroscientists exploit its weaknesses and blind spots to reduce hunger.

Goal: Transfer techniques tested in field studies to real-life situations.

Skills you’ll learn: Specific behavior that results in a desire for less food without using drugs, supplements, vitamins, or fiber.

BREAK ADDICTION TO SUGAR

Can the same techniques that get people off drugs get you off sugar? Yes. You are going to learn the methods Addiction Medicine specialists use to get people off drugs. Imagine how well they work on chips and cookies.

Aim: Break the addiction/dependence you might have for sugar-laden food.

Goal: Eliminate or significantly reduce (do you really want to live in a world without Oreos?) your sugar intake without feeling cheated or deprived.

Skills you’ll learn: Step-by-step techniques that bust your sugar habit and keep it busted. These techniques do not involve deprivation and they do not require willpower, self-control or self-discipline.

BREAK ADDICTION TO SALTY SNACKS

Can the same techniques that break the sugar habit work on salt? Absolutely. The process is similar but with fairly significant differences. 

Aim: Quit salty snacks like potato chips, Doritos, Fritos, pretzels and other foods.

Goal: Completely eliminate (or significantly reduce--your choice) consumption of salty snacks without feeling cheated or deprived.

Skills you’ll learn:  The ability to choose what you want to eat vs having an addiction/habit choose for you.

MANAGE CRAVINGS

What do you when you’re faced with the opportunity to eat something delish like a burger and fries? Most of us think the options are “yes” or “no,” eat or don’t eat, deprive or indulge. But science tells us there’s a better way.

Aim: Develop a new “operating system” that guides choices, not on the exertion of self-control but the pursuit of pleasure (hint: postponing consumption until your craving is higher or there’s a better version of the food guarantees greater satisfaction).

Goal: Reduce impulse eating, understand the level of your desires, make a distinction between high, medium and low cravings, activate the paradigm and make a personal choice that feels right to you.

Skills you’ll learn: Two separate but related delayed gratification techniques that can easily wipe out 20-30% of food intake while preserving your ability to indulge whenever you want.

DEVELOP CRAVINGS FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Imagine craving broccoli as much as bear claws or pining for apples the way you pray for pizza. The scientific literature is filled with studies showing how easily people can be trained to love what they once hated. You’re going to learn these techniques.

Aim: Send your taste buds to rehab, only without pain, suffering or forcing yourself to to eat food you don’t like. 

Goal: Develop urgent desires for healthy fruits and vegetables. 

Skills you’ll learn: How to activate the sequences to healthy cravings. 

STOP OVEREATING

There are two ways to stop overeating and they both require mindful attention and a knowledge about two physiological phenomenons: Sensory specific satiety and alimentary alliesthesia. 

Aim: Understand how these phenomena work so you can use them to curb overeating. 

Goal: To “eat until the pleasure subsides” and to accurately assess your level of fulness so you know when to stop.

Skills you’ll learn: How to use the program’s charts and indicators to create the kind of mindfulness that results in eating less while enjoying more.

LESSON: WHY YOU NEED TO STOP DIETING

Research: We’ll go over systematic reviews (the gold standard in answering questions of effectiveness) showing diets have an 80-95% failure.

Leading Theories: We’ll discuss why diets have such an atrocious failure rate from a multi-disciplinary perspective: Physiology, neuroscience, biology and evolutionary psychology.  Why do the leading thinkers in these fields believe dieting is a commitment to failure?

Aim of lesson: Convince you to stop dieting.

Lesson Objectives: Set the stage for the mindsets, behavior change, techniques and biohacks that will help you lose weight permanently.

Skills For Life: Catch yourself when you lapse into diet thinking (counting calories, daily weight check, etc.).  

Recognize the harm of deprivation, dispute conventional thinking that there are foods you shouldn’t have. 

“Talk back” to diet culture (ads, articles) and course-correct when you find yourself lapsing into diet mentality (“I gotta hit the gym extra hard after this rich dessert”).

LESSON: IF NOT DIETING WHAT?

Research: How did formerly heavy people reach their healthy weight without dieting? What were their goals (hint: It wasn’t weight loss)? What does research show is the most effective direction we can move toward?

Aim of lesson: To establish the guiding principles for permanent weight loss. To replace typical but bound-for-failure goals like “I want to lose 20 lbs” with goals research shows are far more effective. 

Lesson Objectives: Establish the guiding principle, the mission, which you can measure everything against. If not weight loss, what? If not counting calories, carbs or fat, what? If now willpower or self-discipline, what?

Skills For Life: The ability to stay consistent with a mission that produces weight loss. To do so without descending into the madness of deprivation dieting.

LESSON: PLEASURE AS THE PATH TO WEIGHT LOSS

Research: Cross-cultural studies routinely show that countries placing a higher value on the pleasure they get out of food (Japan, Italy, France) are thinner, eat less, prefer smaller portions, stop eating sooner, and have lower obesity rates. The research is clear: The more pleasure you get out of food, the thinner you’ll be. What are these societies doing that we’re not? 

Leading Theories: We’ll investigate why brain researchers, physiologists and biologists believe the pursuit of a particular type of pleasure leads to so much weight loss.

Aim of lesson: Understand the scientific conception of pleasure as two distinct, but related paths. One deadends to obesity while the other creates healthy weight. 

Lesson Objectives: Create a commitment to the type of pleasure that leads to weight loss. Hint: This pleasure does not require you to give up junk food or fat bombs. 

To understand how to pursue, activate, measure and assess this particular path to pleasure. To teach you specific things you can do to maximize pleasure out of food without producing weight gain.

Skills For Life: The ability to get on and stay on the weight-reducing path to pleasure. To be able to recognize when you’re veering away from it and course-correct. To activate the specific actions and behaviors that make it possible for you to eat what you love without getting fat.

LESSON: GIVING FOOD A NEW MEANING

Research: Studies show that Americans see food as fuel so most of our conversations revolve around its nutritional value. Is this food good or bad for us? Will it make us skinny or fat? Healthy or sick? This sets up a mentality that we must eat certain foods and not others, perpetuating the cycle of dieting.

Leading Theories: Why do scientists believe our current understanding of "food as nutrients" is wrong, creating a dependency on dieting, paradoxically increasing obesity? 

Aim of lesson: Introduce a new emerging consensus among scientists about the meaning we should give to food. To create a new consciousness about food that values nutritional content but recognizes that nutrition is just one of many factors we use to decide what to eat (pleasure being a big one!).

Lesson Objectives: Understand the fat-promoting consequences of our current "food as nutrients" conception. 

For example, If you only pick food on the basis of their nutrients then you might stay away from fat and load up on carbs (which leads you to weight gain).  But what if nutrients weren't the only factors you consider when choosing foods?

Skills For Life: To operate out of a new paradigm of food that includes but is not limited to its nutritional value. This gets you out of the head-spinning confusion of nutritional fads that go in and out of style (“Eggs are good! No, eggs are bad!”). 

To gain the ability to pick and eat foods on the basis of the pleasure they provide, the happiness they bring, the emotional connections they forge, and the health they confer.

LESSON: HOW TO MANAGE CRAVINGS

Research: What does the research say about resisting temptation through willpower, self-control and self-discipline? Hint: It isn’t pretty. We’ll investigate why delayed gratification techniques based on self-disciplined are destined to fail. 

Leading Alternative Theories: There ARE Delayed gratification techniques that don't rely on willpower or self-control and we investigate them here.

Aim of lesson: Teach you two delayed gratification techniques that can wipe out 20% of your food intake without you ever feeling cheated or deprived.

Lesson Objectives: Learn the step-by-step procedures (it isn’t difficult: It’s a process that involves three words that take 5 seconds to mobilize).

Skills For Life: Use both delayed gratification techniques every time you're faced with a craving, whether it's for a meal,  a snack or a beverage. 

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