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. 

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. 

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.

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.