Wonder why you don't have an 'off switch' when it comes to food?

Have you ever had that feeling, when you know you've had enough food, digested enough calories, and yet you still feel compelled to eat more? You might even still feel hungry?

And the food you want to eat isn't an apple, or some carrot sticks. You want the fatty, sugary, carbohydrate-laden foods.

If that sounds familiar, then chances are you're at the mercy of some pretty powerful processes that have started in the brain and now affect what's going on in your body.

In simple terms it all starts with stress or anxiety or worry.

When we have a stress response to anything, we produce a hormone called cortisol. It's our main stress hormone.

Eating produces serotonin and dopamine, two of our happy hormones. So eating provides temporary relief from the feeling of stress - it counters the cortisol.

Our brain likes this effect so encourages us to repeat what we've just done - eat - to get that good feeling again.

As we put on weight, which is adipose tissue that stores fat, a couple of things happen.

📌 Adipose tissue has more cortisol receptors so, ironically, as we store more fat we produce more cortisol, contributing to feelings of stress! Our brain has learned that eating counters those feelings of angst so encourages us to eat more.

📌 There is a protein in our body - leptin - that sends us signals that we are full. The more adipose tissue (and therefore fat) we have, the less sensitive we become to leptin. We don't get the "I'm full" message so easily. Simply put, we need to eat more and more to produce the feelings of satiety that leptin provides. Overeating gets into full swing.

If this sounds familiar and you'd like to be free of this vicious cycle and get back in control, have a chat with me about how solution focused psychotherapy and hypnotherapy can help.