Head First

FOOD REWARD 🍰🍿🍦🍫
 
Food reward is such an interesting concept and explains some of the reason why our cravings and our motivation for food are so linked to external and internal factors.
 
🧠Dopamine is commonly known as the reward chemical in the brain, however it’s also involved in motivation. Interestingly, it’s produced when we expect a reward (not just when we get a reward).
 
😋 What happens is that when the brain thinks a reward might be coming, it increases our motivation to engage in the behaviour that gives us the reward.
 
 
🤤Think about all the times we’ve linked watching a movie with chocolate or popcorn!
 
🍫 And then if we plan to watch a movie (after all our previous associations) we start thinking ‘Oh I’d love some chocolate and popcorn’ and we seek it out.
 
🧠 This is a (very simplified) example of when we pair a trigger/cue with a behaviour/reward.
 
💜The interesting thing is that we can pair the reward with internal and external experiences. For example, we might have that same drive for food when we feel emotional. We might have it when we go out for dinner with friends. We might have it when we see an advertisement.
 
🧠The triggers in these cases make our brain expect a reward, and this stimulates motivation to engage in the rewarding behaviour!

One of the challenges is trying to find a replacement behaviour to give us a reward instead of rewards solely coming from food. The reason it’s difficult is some foods are carefully manufactured to be highly palatable and rewarding! It can be difficult to compete with for other rewarding behaviours.
 
Does this explain all of our eating behaviour?
 
Absolutely not!
 
This is one part of why we eat the way we do.
 
This is a simplistic, Instagram friendly version of what is an incredibly complex, and still not fully understood, area.

I hope you find it as interesting as I do!

PSYCHOLOGY ISN’T ONLY MENTAL HEALTH DIFFICULTIES

This comes up so often when I talk to people who are trying to make changes.

🤔“Have you considered going to a psychologist?”

🤬“I don’t need a psychologist. There’s nothing wrong with me…”

An understandable response given that psychology has always been thought of as just mental health. However, psychology also covers much more than mental health.

🤯Psychology explains how and why we eat (and not just in eating disorders).

Psychology helps explain why we sometimes make really helpful decisions and sometimes make really terrible decisions.

Psychology can support people making changes, even if they don’t have a diagnosis or mental health issue. Why?

🏃‍♂️Because sometimes when we want to change a behaviour, we actually need to change something else like our psychology, our environment, or even how we interact with our friends and family.

I meet people SO OFTEN who tell me they know what they should do to change, but they don’t know how to do it and they don’t know why they can’t change.

⁉️Psychology helps us with exactly this! Explaining WHY we do certain things and identifying what needs to change.

There’s such negative connotations to saying “you should see a psychologist” but not to see a doctor or nutritionist or physio.

I’m just saying, maybe most of us could do with a psychologist and not because we have a mental health difficulty!

Just something to think about ☺️

LEARNING TO COPE WITH EMOTIONS

We first learn to cope with emotions as a child, through a process called co-regulation.

👩‍👦Generally, a parent or caregiver creates a safe space for the child to feel an emotion, while regulating themselves. Through this process, the child learns that they can feel difficult things and express them safely. They learn that emotions are okay to feel and express. They learn that after they feel a difficult emotion, it can be okay.

🤔However, if we don’t have a safe environment to express ourselves, what can happen?

❤️‍🩹We might learn that emotions feel unsafe. We might learn that emotions are scary, or wrong, or that we should do anything to stop feeling them.

❤️‍🩹This can lead us to use some unhelpful coping strategies, including food but also alcohol, drugs, shopping, s*x or scrolling social media. Anything to avoid or distract from those challenging feelings.

The process of learning to feel your feelings is a difficult one, but one that is (in my biased opinion) a worthwhile one.

If you haven’t learned to express emotions yet, it’s not too late! You’re not doomed!

As always, the best way to learn these skills is with a good therapist. If you can’t access that, there are some great online resources that might be helpful 🙂💜

WHY DO I EAT LIKE THIS?

As part of my research, the topic of self-blame came up. It was really interesting to me that when people had an understanding of why they might eat like they do, the self-hate sometimes reduces.

Because the reason WHY you eat like you do is never to do with being lazy, or without willpower or without motivation. It’s never that there is something “wrong” with the person.

Often our experiences can shape how we interact with food.

I needed to shed some light on some common factors that impact how we eat, that are not our fault. In fact, we often have very little say in some of these factors.

⚠️Why we eat the way we do is often very understandable and typical, when we learn about the context.

❓For example, if you came from a family that struggled to regulate emotions, will you have learned how to manage emotions well? Maybe not. Maybe you might use food (or something else) instead. Very understandable and not your fault. In fact, good job for finding a way to cope in the absence of learning.

❓If you experienced people commenting on your weight, and valuing you for fitting the thin ideal, might you try and restrict food in order to feel valued? Certainly possible.

I really hope post this can explain some of the “why’s” behind our eating! So swipe left to read ☺️

Feel free to share if it’s helpful and let me know what’s not included!

IMPROVING BINGE EATING WITHOUT THERAPY

So first off, I would always be an advocate of getting the appropriate support where possible. However, therapy isn’t accessible for a lot of people.

If you’re someone who can’t afford therapy for whatever reason, some of these steps might be helpful.

I think it’s also important to remember this is not a comprehensive list of everything you need to do to address binge eating! Some people might need to focus on other things that could be best supported with a professional, but these steps could be a start point.

❗️If you do want to address binge eating and have the resources to access support, I’m running a 6 week course with Registered Dietitian Maeve Hanan to explore emotional and binge eating.

❗️You can sign up through the link in my bio.

INTUITIVE EATING & PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Intuitive eating is an approach originally developed by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in the 90’s. The model is weight-neutral, meaning it doesn’t focus on weight at all, and is focussed on a set of principles to help people pay attention to internal hunger/fullness signals, while challenging harmful ideas and beliefs about dieting and body image.

It is not a weight loss approach or diet.

A recent review of the research has found that intuitive eating has many psychological benefits and this post outlines those principles.

Some of the improvements worth noting are

✅ Improved body image
✅ Reduced binge and emotional eating
✅ Improved psychological well-being

These improvements (and more) have been shown in clinical and sub-clinical populations.

If you have any questions, please leave them below or use the Q&A box on my story ☺️

WHAT IS EXCESSIVE EXERCISE?

“Excessive” exercise isn’t always defined by a specific number. We can help identify what excessive is by reflecting on how exercise impacts our lives.

Swipe through the slides for more details.

Some of these things include:

1. When we neglect other areas of life because of exercise

2. If it becomes distressing or stops being enjoyable

3. If it causes distress when it’s not completed

4. If it causes physical harm or physical health issues

5. If it is used as punishment or used to manipulate your body.

As always, if you’re worried about your exercise, please get in touch with a professional for support and guidance.

@ Dublin, Ireland