Read 54 times since Monday, January 23, 2012
The vast majority of people who train do so to lose weight, and diet is easily the most important part of the process. When giving nutritional advice as a Glasgow personal trainer the thing I hear all the time is "Oh but I could not live without bread, wine, cheese, chocolate, crisps, biscuits etc". This is the first sign of food addiction and is seen before you even try to give up the problem food. Regularly using particular food to cheer you up or calm you down also indicates possible addiction. When you try to overcome food addiction it is likely you may experience some anxiety, irritability and headaches.
The three main nutritionally addictive things that negatively impact bodyweight are sugar, flour and caffeine. Addiction to flour based foods leads to a massive over consumption of things like bread, pasta, biscuits and baked treats. This leads to a surge in blood sugar and requires a massive insulin response to return blood sugar to normal levels by prioritising fat storage of excess energy. Sugar laden foods respond in the same way and include sweets, chocolate, biscuits and cakes (again!). Caffeine hampers weight loss by disrupting sleep patterns. Insufficient sleep, by quantity, quality, or both elevates levels of a hormone called ghrelin. Ghrelin is associated with the regulation of hunger and appetite. Higher levels of ghrelin lead to greater hunger, increased consumption of food and more body fat.
It is important to remember that the addiction is to the ingredient in the food, not the food itself, so if you are addicted to processed white flour and sugar your body won't really distinguish between a Belgian bun or a slice of Victoria sponge. Both will feed, and continue your addiction because they both contain the same key addictive ingredients. People often think they really love eating a particular thing because of the way it tastes. It is more likely that if they are addicted to a base ingredient their brain is simply using your senses, in this case taste, as an instant reward for you to get the thing it wants (the chemicals in the addictive ingredient).
While there are many possible reasons leading to someone's food addiction, mental or physical, and while these need to be addressed, the only way to overcome the addiction is to reduce exposure to the addictive food. This can be done in three ways, substitution, reduction and elimination. Substitution involves swapping a similar food that is less detrimental to your waistline, for example choosing fresh fruit over sweets to avoid the highly processed sugar they contain. If you prefer savoury snacks like crisps you should switch to nuts to get a more natural snack that does not spike blood sugar and force insulin levels up.
Reduction requires that you gradually reduce the amount of the addictive food you consume without triggering cravings. Switching from 3 sugars in your tea to 2 for a couple of weeks, then 1 before finally going without any is a good example of reduction. Elimination is simply that, cutting the offending food out of your diet completely. This is referred to as going "cold turkey" and is the biggest shock to your system because you are suddenly withholding the addictive substance from your body. Your body will rebel, normally producing some kind of withdrawl symptom like headaches or feeling quite agitated. These fade with time and normally the worst is past in the first few days. This may be the most unpleasant method but it may also be the fastest and most effective. Iain Smith (MPhil/CSCS) owns Standout Gym, an independent warehouse gym in Glasgow, focusing on weight loss. He offers small group training as an affordable alternative to Glasgow personal training. Iain is a former international decathlete with 17 years coaching experience. www.standoutgym.com.
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