How much have we evolved from the cave-men days?

One of my biggest challenges is to try not to binge in the evenings, especially if I am watching TV. It's that mindless eating where you get to the bottom and think "Oh my God, did I eat the whole bag?!!" I should probably not call it a "binge" because I had an eating disorder in the past, where my bingeing was out of control and it did not feel possible to NOT binge - it ruled my life.

When I first realized I needed to get professional help with my eating was many years ago when I was in my twenties and working in an office. I was taking the bus home from work one day and all I could think about was what was waiting for me at home: the last row of cookies remaining in the bag. When I got home I discovered that my boyfriend had eaten them - all of them! I went ballistic! I was so mad at him! Yet at the same time I realized "It is not normal to get this upset about leftover cookies!" I did forgive him by the way - and got a husband in the bargain. But I also went out and got me a therapist - and went to an eating disorder clinic.

One of the many important things I learned from the eating disorder clinic is the need to "normalize" food intake. We always spend so much time beating ourselves up when we over-eat, wishing we had the willpower to NOT binge. But what we don't realize is that it is not about willpower, it is about physiology. When we don't eat enough, or we don't eat regularly and frequently enough, our body sends very strong signals to get us to eat - and this is what is hard to ignore or resist.

Back in the 50's they (Keys et all) did an experiment on a group of men in an isolated situation - they had them on a semi-starvation diet (a diet of 1200 calories is semi-starvation for a man or a woman). Of course, as they expected, the men lost significant amounts of weight. What they didn't expect was that these men would get the drive to eat! They started reading cookbooks, sharing recipes, talking about and generally obsessing over food. Now this is not a behaviour we typically associate with men. But we know lots of women like this!

The reality is that we have not evolved much from the cave-man days, at least physiologically (or psychologically for some). So in the cave-man days, if there was a famine, the men would be given a signal from their bodies and brains telling them to go hunting - sabre tooth tigers, mastodons, whatever they could find. In the lab experiment, the men couldn't go hunting (or grocery shopping) so they found other means to fulfil their drive to "find food!" Like many women who are chronic dieters, restrictive eaters, or just "watching their weight", this obsession with food is physiologically driven. Many of us who feel cravings and urges to overeat, are getting this same signal, this physiological drive to eat - because we are not eating enough!

In case you wonder what happens to the cave-men women, while their men are out trying to "bring home the bacon"? Well they, of course, stay home and look after the kiddies, maybe pick some berries, and literally "keep the home-fires burning" - waiting for their he-men to return with the kill. But they also undergo physiological changes, mostly from a reproductive point of view. If they were to become pregnant during a famine, they may not have enough food available for them to support a growing fetus, or breastfeed a baby after delivery. So their body says "let's just stop this whole reproductive thing until we get some regular meals!" Which of course translates into putting the kibosh to menstruation AND the drive to reproduce. Whether they have snagged a prehistoric animal or not, their hubbies may not get as enthusiastic a welcome home as they might expect.

And what happened to those dieting (starving) men? When the experiment was over - they binged! Oh, boy did they binge. As their prehistoric relatives would do. Once that carcass is brought back to the cave, there would be a feast - i.e. an eating binge. And once there is food available it needs to be stored, in preparation for the next time there is a famine. And without fridges or freezers, that storage is ON the body - hips, thighs, and pot-bellies - the extra fuel tanks of the human body.

Even if a woman is not overweight, her body can still react this way, if her eating is restrictive or sporadic. She may have lower sex drive, no menstrual flow, and preoccupation with food. And when there is food to eat, the body will pack-it-on when it can. If we can eat enough, regularly and consistently, we can convince our bodies that we do in fact have refrigeration and do not need to store it on the body, thanks very much.

So rather than giving myself 50 lashes with a wet noodle (even if it is whole wheat) for foraging in the dark recesses of my cupboards, trying to find something to fulfil this craving, I will EAT. I know that I need to plan my meals so that I have the food available and eat every 2-4 hours whether I am hungry or not (I actually set the alarm on my watch to remind me). When I have done this before my experience has been that gradually those cravings, binges, and eating orgies subside, and I can think about something besides what I can't eat, what I did eat, and what I will eat next. It is such a relief to clear these thoughts from my head and free up brain-space for other things to enjoy. And my body will come to trust that I will feed it on a regular basis and it does not need to store every last calorie that I ingest, whether in front of the TV or not. There will be no more famines in my house!