America’s Addiction to Overeating

By Blair Bushong

As a personal trainer and fitness professional, I am fairly thoughtful and conscience of healthy eating and portion control. I also spend a lot of time thinking about different ways to help my clients overcome their challenges with overeating and weight loss. Recently, I was on vacation at a resort in Mexico. Most of the guests were from the USA, Canada, and Europe. By far the Americans were the largest, ate the most, and moved the least.  At dinner the portion sizes at the restaurants were smaller than what is served at a typical restaurant in the states.  On at least three different occasions are heard people complain that there was not enough food, when in actuality, the portion sizes were much closer to what we should be eating. 

I couldn’t help but wonder why our population is becoming increasingly obese? Are we conditioned to eat too much through huge portion sizes at restaurants, access to cheap and quick high caloric meals at fast food chains, and overconsumption of processed foods? Does your brain actually become addicted to these types of foods? Is it more socially acceptable to eat too much? Or more and more people predisposed to obesity?

There has been a good deal of research in the past few years that suggests excessive food intake can actually cause changes in the brain.  One study suggests that overeating can cause neurochemical dependency, especially in foods high in fat and sugar (Scientific American, March 2010). In fact, some of the same neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, released from overeating are also released after using recreational drugs (Scientific American, August 2007).  The big question is whether extreme overeating is caused by a genetic chemical irregularity in the brain or if the brain becomes conditioned and altered over time.  Just from the little bit that read, it seems that both are possible.  Last night I went to dinner with my family and I asked for a baked potato with butter on the side. The waitress brought me enough butter for about 20 baked potatoes…below is the picture I took with my phone.

My point in sharing all of this is that I really feel that the most critical piece of weight loss and management for most people, including many of clients over the years is portion control. I am not a believer in restricting any foods, but I am a believer in eating the right amount. For some people, this means they will have to retrain their brain to feel satisfied with less food, which is an extremely difficult task, especially for those who have a genetic predisposition towards overeating. The good news is that I have seen it work and it is possible to break the addiction.

Below is an interactive link for portion control that I found on webmd.com.  Please feel free to contact me for more tools and helpful information. www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate