Combatting the hormones that drive us to eat

(Adapted from an article by the Paleo Mom)
Did you know that if you have a history of obesity, food is actually LESS rewarding to eat for you?
There's a huge body of scientific literature showing that people with obesity or binge-eating disorder (those are not the same thing) have the same type of changes in dopamine receptors in the brain as drug addicts. Food addiction is a real thing.
You would think that food addiction means that we get an exaggerated reward response to food. Actually, it's the opposite!
It's thought that food addiction arises from opportunistic overconsumption of highly palatable foods. This then triggers neuro-adaptive responses in the brain reward circuits, completely analogous to drug and alcohol addiction, which then drives the development of compulsive eating.
But new research adds to our understanding of food addiction in a very important way. This research shows that obese people have fundamental differences in their brain reward circuits that make food intake less rewarding, less goal directed and more habitual.
So, in addition to a compulsion to eat, those of us with a history of obesity find eating to be less fulfilling and we get less enjoyment from food. We eat because it's a habit to eat. That also means that we're compelled to eat more in order to feel satisfied.
It's not known whether these changes in the brain are the results of genetics (or epigenetics) that predispose some of us to obesity, or whether it's another consequence of that initial opportunistic overeating that leads to food addiction. It's also unknown how long these changes persist after someone loses weight.
Losing weight and maintaining weight loss is fantastically complex. A variety of hormones (like insulin, leptin, ghrelin, cortisol, thyroid hormones, and sex hormones) all play a role in both weight loss and weight loss maintenance. But, these hormones can be regulated with diet choices and lifestyle.
Now, we have yet another obstacle to overcome: brain chemistry. It might be that some of us are hardwired to overeat, meaning that no matter how successful we are in losing weight, keeping it off requires a lifetime of dedication. And it may mean that "listening to our bodies” is something we can never really do. Our brains will tell us to "eat more” long after we've actually eaten enough.
What does this mean? My take on it is that those of us with a history of obesity/and or food addiction may never get to a point where we don't have to think about portion sizes, or to a point where we aren't overcome with temptation for a highly palatable food. We may never be able to eat intuitively, no matter the 'diet'.
This doesn't mean that we can't have complete success in losing weight and keeping it off – there are plenty of excellent success stories to prove that it's more than possible – but rather that the work isn't done when the pounds are shed. Maintaining a healthy weight will still require dedication, commitment and vigilance.
Whenever you start a 'diet' or 'eating plan', realize you are combatting hormones that want us to return to our previous weight. Thus, it's so important to be thinking long term in developing ingrained habits that you will be able to continue no matter what stresses life throws at you. When you lose weight, your fat cells become smaller, which means the leptin hormone is less, and it will want to lower your metabolism.....this is the reason exercise is so important in the maintenance phase; but we can't wait to exercise then, we must start now.
This article is to emphasize, yet again, that it's not 'willpower' you lack, it is an array of hormones that want us to eat and store energy as fat.
It's not easy; but you can lose weight and keep it off. Don't ever give up. Keep an awareness of portions, and be very aware of that mindless snacking we all tend to do.

You can do it… Dr. Doug