The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite

Back in college, I never gained the infamous "Freshmen 15." A main reason was because I was training 4-5 hours a day up to six times a week for field hockey. I was a solid rock. My high school jeans became tight not around my waist, but around my quads and butt because I was pumping the weights and gaining muscle.

This year I turned thirty, and I gained what I'll call the "You Gained What?!?!". For the first time in my life, I really gained a lot of weight over the winter. It all started with Thanksgiving and was just a terrible downward spiral from there. Part of my problem was, and still is, a lack of self-control with food. I tend to eat not out of hunger, but because I'm bored, sad, or tired.

I was very interested in reading Dr. David Kessler's book titled The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. Kessler is a doctor and former FDA Commission under Bush and Clinton. At one time, Kessler was also obese. He decided to investigate why America has such a high rate of obesity.

The majority of this book is incredibly repetitive. Most of the information could be summed up into just thirty pages. However, I did learn some very important lessons, which I will explain here.
1) America's food industry is out of control- Starting in the 1980s, the food industry discovered that fat, salt, and sugar sells. As a result, the majority of food today is loaded with all three.
2) Fat, salt, and sugar makes people out of control- For many Americans, there is a food addiction to these evil three. Kessler compares food addiction to cocaine addiction. Through studies, he shows that similar areas of the brain are ignited when fatty/salty/sugary foods are ingested and when there is a cocaine intake. This helps explain why I have no control around food some times...I'm just addicted.
3) The national obesity rate rose sharply around the same time the food industry got out of control- Obesity is the number one killer of Americans because it leads to other deadly diseases, such as heart disease.
4) Just say no- I am one of those people who has no will power with food. As a result, I just need to say no. Kessler mentions that the idea of "I'll just take one bite" does not actually work because it is often a slippery slope. One brownie bite tends to lead to eating the whole pan.
5) Chain restaurants and processed foods are evil- Food needs to be viewed as energy instead of a treat. Chicken wings and chips will probably not give me energy. I also did not know how chain restaurants deceivingly increase calories. For example, most fried foods are fried in the kitchen of the restaurant. However, they are also fried and then flash frozen before reaching the restaurant. This means that ALL fried foods have been double fried, which adds even more calories. Also, the nutritional value of the food is probably weakened by the adding of chemicals. Sometimes food chains pump water into chicken to make it appear healthier.

How have I done since the completion of this book? I don't think I've made huge strides, but I need to take it one day at a time. I food a website that helps people monitoring eating and exercises. It is called the Daily Burn. So far, my husband and my brother are my motivators and can monitor my process through my weight loss. We'll see what comes out of this and, perhaps, I'll have a summer that I can call "Hell Yeah I Lost That Weight!!!"