Overeating and how to end it?

I've just finished reading this book, "The End of Overeating" by Dr. David Kessler. It gave me a really good insight into why I (and many others) overeat and the way food makes us feel. It was a little hard going at first, lots of jargon to get your head around but it really does makes alot of sense. The food companies and fast food restaurants are in the business of making the consumer come back to their restaurant or eat their food again and again. They don't care if people are obese, they dont care if their food is full of rubbish and makes people ill, as long as they can sell their products and get repeat business. That's why their food mainly consists of sugar, fat and salt, the 3 most addictive properties that 'fast' food has. The book goes on to say that on a biological level our brains give off chemicals when we experience pleasure, whether it is from shopping, alcohol, exercising, food or something else, and as humans we crave that pleasure, those chemicals released into the brain that make us feel GOOD. The problem is, when you get those pleasurable and good feelings from food, you tend to go back for more and more. And THAT is exactly what the fast food industry wants! Instant gratification from eating fatty/sugary/salty food needs to change, and my first step in changing that is to find other things that give that sort of gratification, those good feelings, and that are alot healthier than eating fat/sat/sugar. Im currently thinking of what those things could be, maybe watching a comedy show on tv, reading a book, talking to a friend on the phone. Im going to work on a list that I can look at when I feel the crave of sugar or fat calling me. I'll share it when I get a few more. I really recommend reading this book though, it really makes you think about what you are putting into your body.

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go : A Breakthrough!

Last night I had a really down night, I felt rubbish and at 10.30pm I wanted something tasty, and nothing would satisfy me so I drove to Tesco ( at 10.30pm!) and bought ice cream and doughnuts and malteasers and then ate all of it. Did it make me feel better? Did I feel fulfilled and satisfied? NO! I felt uncomfortable, over full, sick and still fed up, but not more-so because I'd eaten all that rubbish! Then I couldn't sleep for thinking about it.

Our alarm clock is one which you can dock your iPhone and have it wake you up with music, and it was on shuffle. So I woke up to a song I've not heard before, called "Jump" by Gary Barlow. I woke up as soon as I heard the first bit of music and lay there listening to it and it really put into words how I was feeling. (Here are the lyrics in case you don't know the song)

Its basically about how you feel really rubbishy and down and you know what you have to do to make you feel better, to make your life better but you are too scared to do it in case you fail. And yes, you might fail but as long as you try again you will be stronger afterwards. It really touched me and made me think. Why did I 'need' to eat chocolate and ice cream last night? Well, since I still felt rubbish after I ate it, it obviously wasnt the chocolate I wanted, but I have associated feeling down/depressed/annoyed/rubbish with eating that kind of food so thats what I wanted and in my mind 'needed' to make myself feel better. I actually thought I was feeling depressed BECAUSE I was 'dieting' but that is obviously not true. So, my breakthrough this morning is to not dive straight for 'bad' food when I feel bad, but to try and dig deeper and try to find out what I actually want, what I am feeling. Its about time I sort this out and crack it before I end up putting the weight I've lost back on and more and more. Im almost 29 and I really want to sort myself out, get my weight off before I end up fat and 30!

"...maybe once or twice you’ll fall flat on your face

But when you move on you’ll be twice as strong..."