Why do I eat so much?

It’s a question we’ve probably all asked ourselves at one point or another.

After all, eating too much is what is keeping most of us from having the bodies we want.

Sure there are a lot of different answers, ones that make it sound like it’s not our fault (hormones like ghrelin and adiponectin), some that make it sound like its ALL our fault (complete lack of will power), and a bunch that are somewhere in between.

So here’s a list of 5 little known reasons why you may be eating more than you want to…some are blunt, but it may help if we finally open up and consider these as possibilities.

1 . You are thirsty - Lots of us mistake thirst for hunger.

• Quick fix - Drink some water first…can’t hurt.

2. You are covering for something – OK…honesty time…most of us eat because we need the stimulation. Think of it this way – If a person is skydiving for the VERY FIRST time, and finally makes the decision to step out of the plane the thing going through their head is not “Gee, I could really go for a muffin right now”. If you find you are constantly eating, it may be time to look at your life? Are you bored at work? In your relationship? with your friends? More stimulation may mean less food.

• Quick fix – When eating at work ask yourself “am I hungry, or bored?”, if bored is the consistent answer, instead of eating, pass the time by fixing your resume and looking for a new job.

3. You are trying too hard to be healthy - Let’s face it, if we ate ALL the foods that we’re supposed, we’d be overeating. Take your standard low calorie diet, but then add in some almond butter, some goji juice, coconut oil, maybe a organic-fair trade-wheat grass shake, and you can see how the numbers start to sneak back up on you.

• Quick fix – Ignore any lists of ’super foods’. If you do want to try a new food, replace an old one, don’t just add it in..

4. You are being mindless - Ever sit down in front of the TV with a plate full of food, then reach for the food only to find you plate empty? It might be tempting to blame the cat, but chances are you ate the food and didn’t even realize it.

• Quick fix - Don’t eat in front of the TV or Computer.

5. Your paying too much attention to your pre, -during, -and post workout nutrition – Look, I know the theories and ’science’ behind the magic that eating during your workout, our before your workout or right after your workout can cause, but if your goal is weight loss…these meals could be keeping your from reaching your goal.

• Quick fix - cut back on your ‘around workout’ meals and see what happens.

BP

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Here’s the classic way of thinking about hormones.

• We know of all the hormones in the body.
• We know what all the hormones in our bodies do.

Now here’s the truth…

We are discovering new hormones and signaling molecules every day. We are also discovering new roles for hormones every day.

It is true that your hormones regulate the functions in your body, but they do so in concert, with dozens if not hundreds acting together to cause a certain effect, and to regulate and guide that particular effect.

In this way you can picture your hormones and the roles they play in your body like a spider web…

Your Metabolism

With all the hormones working together, depending on each other while at the same time creating checks and balances that allow for an intricate design to take….This design being your metabolism.

The thought that we can decide health or a health-outcome by any one hormone is ludicrous.

Don’t get caught up in the thinking that there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ hormones in your body…It doesn’t matter if we’re talking fat loss, muscle building or disease prevention.

They all work together and they all serve a purpose.

BP

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In high school, I loved art and hated math.

Until I took geometry.

That’s when I realized that their was MATH in ART.

It wasn’t until 15 years later, when I started doing the background research for the Adonis Index that I realized there was also ART in Math.

Nowadays, numbers fascinate me, so to share my fascination with you, check out the following picture.

Not really relevant to anything Health or Nutrition, but entertaining nonetheless.

BP

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Building more Muscle.

Considering some of the things happening in the news today, I thought this was timely. Biggest mistake we make with regards to building muscle is false expectations of what is actually possible.

Hi Brad!

I read almost every article u wrote, and your view is very impressive.
But I have 1 question (maybe off topic, sorry)
You say the amount of protein is not so important, the quality of the food is not so important (ok avoid crap), 2-3 workout per week is enough to keep or build muscle.
What is then the mistake what most of the average  gym rat make?
Ok we can see some real life example like you, but every competitive bodybuilder use (or they lie) the old method (6-8 meals, lot of protein above 300 grams, lot of training, cardio everyday) and not only for the end of the preparation, but from the beginning.

Hey Wood,

The average gym rat makes the mistake of thinking they can get ’steroid-like’ growth without taking steroids, plain and simple.

I don’t think bodybuilders lie when they say they eat 8 meals a day, protein above 300 grams, lots of training and Cardio. I think this is 100% true.

I’ll even admit that this might be the right way to do things when you are on 3 grams of test a week, combined with some GH and Insulin, plus maybe a little Clenbuterol.

And, I’ll also admit that there is a possibility that even the non-bodybuilder-guys who use a “small amount of drugs” like cover models (and I suspect even before and after models), might benefit from eating this way.

I’m no expert when it come to drugs and the way they alter nutrient needs.

But for normal, non-drug using adult human beings it is your genetics combined with your training that determines how much muscle you can add, your protein intake and food quality has very little to do with it. They still plays a role mind you, just not the role that advertisers would make you think.

Bottom line: You can NOT get drug like effects from powdered protein.

BP

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This video is from 1951.

Not much as changed.

BP

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Quick ‘notes style’ post today as I need to get away from this computer and get some shopping done:

MUSCLE and your METABOLISM.

1 pound of muscle burns about 5 Calories in a 24 hour period at rest.

Not 50.

Not even 10-12 like commonly stated.

So why the confusion?

Well, if we look at the Katch-McCardle Formula (used for calculating a persons metabolic rate) we see that:

Our daily metabolic rate can be calculated as “Calories burned in a 24 hour period = 370 + (21.6 X LBM(kg))”

Which leads many of people to think that a kilogram of Muscle burns 21.6 Calories in a 24 hour period.

So a pound must burn about 10 Calories right? (21.6 divided by 2.2)

Well not so fast…

As I’ve been saying for a long time now, a pound of Lean Body Mass does NOT mean a pound of muscle.

It includes everything else in your body that is NOT FAT.

Which means this calculation includes other HIGHLY metabolic tissues like your liver, heart and viscera.

But when you are adding Lean Mass from resistance training you are not adding mass to your liver etc, only muscle mass.

And even though you have lots of muscle compared to organs they only share about 50% of the metabolic work.

Meaning, for every pound of muscle you gain through working out, you can expect about an extra 5 calories being burned at rest over 24 hours.

Bottom line – Use your diet to burn fat, because adding muscle to boost your metabolism may not work quite as well as you were told/hoping it would.

BP

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I loved the entire process of researching and writing Eat Stop Eat.

Every single minute of it.

However, There is one thing I would change…

I would have never called it “fasting” in any way, shape or form.

I would have called it “Occasional Breaks from Eating”.

Obviously, fasting is the correct term, but personally, I think this is a much better description of Eat Stop Eat.

People still think that Eat Stop Eat has something to do with prolonged ’starving’ or fasting for weeks on end.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Occasional Breaks from Eating (or for some people, occasional breaks from feasting), combined with a little bit of self-awareness trying to figure out which habits and cues unconsciously drive you to eat..that’s what Eat Stop Eat is all about.

Freedom, Flexibility, eating less and a little bit of self-discovery.

We all need to take a break every once in a while, whether its work, working out or eating.

BP

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