3 Ways to fight sugar cravings!

Emotional Eating -  Part 3

It’s not you, it’s evolution!

How many times have you berated yourself when you’ve mindlessly opened the sweet jar and gorged on loads (often all) of the treats inside?

You barely even tasted what you were eating. Possibly didn’t get any satisfaction from it at all.

So why did you do it?

If, like many of you out there your response is to turn inward and feel annoyed – remember last week’s email – read on.

We are hardwired to overeat hyperpalatable (tasty) foods!

Sugar in particular.

Now, I don’t tell this to give you the perfect excuse to overeat and blame everything on evolution… it’s not my intention to encourage you to continue compulsive eating.

But it is a reason!

Let’s go back to our ancestral past. If you’ve heard this concept before, it may be worth a revisit so that you fully understand it.

Way back in the past, before agricultural techniques were a thing, food was much harder to come by. If you wanted to eat, you had to go out and get it – hunt, pick and forage.

You didn’t just ‘pick up a few bits’ at Tesco. There was work involved.

Like a lot!

If you wanted it, you had to go out into the wilderness and get. Often at the risk of your life.

Anyway, you get the point!

Plants and vegetables were often in abundance. But if you wanted protein, that meant you had to kill. A big risk if it was a sizeable bounty.

Like a Woolly Mammoth!

But… protein was also readily available.

Meaning, you had your protein and vitamins covered. These were nutritionally dense but not a huge source of energy for the body to function.

Especially the type of energy needed that will help us sprint away from that angry Mammoth we unsuccessfully ensnared.

BTW…

Sugar is the bodies most preferred source of energy. I say preferred because it’s the easiest to break down and is utilised almost instantly – not because it’s the best.

Keeping this in mind…

Whenever our ancestors found sugar – which likely came from honey and fructose rich fruits. It would have been a massive treat.

Our bodies would recognise this as a power house for energy and these foods were not only scarce… they also had a lower shelf life. No refrigerators or greenhouses.

Remember, there was no agriculture. Crop growth was always on the whim of mother nature, entirely reliant on seasons.

So, the scarcity and short shelf life meant, in terms of evolution - That we developed a need to consume and store this energy. Because we didn’t know when we would get another top up!

The compulsion we have today to binge eat sugar is hardwired within us. It’s natural. It’s evolution. Because back then, we literally didn’t know when we would be able to consume it again.

NOW…

Once you recognise that this natural inclination to store energy is normal and that it was due to the fact that sugar was scarce – this should provide some sort of relief.

But, sugar isn’t at a premium anymore. It’s everywhere. It’s just our bodies don’t know this. Herein lies the issue.

What should you do?

There are two camps for this. Total abstinence or moderation.

The former works as you will no longer start to crave more sugar seen as you’ve stopped consuming it altogether, but it’s also not realistic and achievable for the vast majority of people.

You need to live life after all.

I prefer…

Moderation – It will need to be managed (as we will want to store energy by bingeing remember) so I advise you abide by the following guidelines to enjoy, but not gorge:

1)    Don’t eat sugary foods when you are stressed. Stress will disinhibit your eating behaviour and you’re less likely to be thinking about the consequences.

2)    Try not to keep sugary treats in the house at all. If you absolutely have to (kids) then keep in a sealed container that you cannot see into. Put it in the top shelf of the cupboard!

3)    Make it social. Never eat sugar alone. Wait until a social occasion or event. Like a birthday.

These guidelines are not to say sugar is bad, but the evidence is out there that we cannot always control our consumption.

Recognising that the body is predisposed to want to store this energy supply and because it’s no longer scarce you need to make sure to manage these triggers.

I hope this message shows you that it’s not a lack of will power or some character flaw when you binge. Its science.

But, you have to take responsibility for this and make allowances.

If you need accountability from a coach... V8 Express programme will launch on 24^th April. Limited spaces.

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Let’s conquer evolution!


Yours,

Paul