The End of Overeating

This weekend we stopped by Borders closing sale to see if there were any bargains to be had.  A trade paperback on an end cap caught my eye -- The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, MD.  The cover was catchy, decorated with a big slice of carrot cake and an artful bunch of carrots, but it was the title that really grabbed me.  Ahh, if only!

Skeptical, I picked it up and discovered Kessler served as commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration under two presidents as well as serving as a medical school dean at Yale and the University of California, San Francisco.  I flipped through it and found it pleasingly readable but also full of compelling facts and stories.  And he admitted he tackled the subject because he fought with overeating himself.  Sold!

I cracked the book open on Sunday afternoon and read on the sofa while Eli buried me under a pile of blocks and cars.  I read all evening even though it meant I never turned on my computer all day.  I read in stolen moments the next morning and then finished the book during Eli's nap.  I think I've been waiting for this book for a long time.

Kessler starts of by defining what he calls "conditioned hypereating" and then gives personal experience stories along with a brief tour of relevant scientific studies concerning how the brain forms patterns of cue > urge > reward > habit.  Some individuals, he theorizes, are more sensitive to salient food stimuli than others.  Next, he shifts gears and examines the food industry's recent (last three decades) focus on creating "hyperpalatable" foods that are "layered and loaded" with the triumvirate of sugar, fat, and salt.  He discusses common commercial cooking processes and additives, explaining that much commercial food these days should be seen as "adult baby food."  He then makes a strong case for why willpower and self-deprivation can't work long-term for conditioned hypereaters.  The great news, though, is that he did a lot of research to pinpoint skills and strategies to help.  He offers light at the end of the tunnel.

I think what excited me is that I've been reading back through old journals, trying to figure out how my first weight loss success came together but also what stressors later broke it down again.  After reading Kessler's book, I feel he's hit the nail on the head with so many aspects of American eating and weight loss, but I also feel that my recent instincts (the whole Persistent Elephant project) have been moving me in the right direction.  My desire to get organized is indeed what I need to be doing, according to Kessler.  It is a process of becoming self-aware and making a game plan for healthy living.  And some of the "touchy feely" books I'm interested in?  Kessler's wording is different, but stress-reduction and changing your inner-dialog about eating are keys.

What a relief!  In fact, there was one sentence in the book that brought an automatic flood of emotion when I read it:  "Conditioned hypereating is a biological challenge, not a character flaw.  Recovery is impossible until we stop viewing overeating as an absence of willpower."  (pg. 206)

I love this book.  I underlined whole sections and scribbled in notes.

The End of Overeating:  Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite
David A. Kessler, MD
NY:  Rodale, 2009.  256 pp.  (329 pp. with notes and index.)

Have you read any books that really helped you?  Magazines, movies, websites, etc.?  Please share!