Overcoming food addiction and Cerebral dominance

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action."– Benjamin Disraeli

Yesterday, I talked a little about brain and food addiction and indicated that I would present some ideas on how to deal with overeating.1. Hungry: eat only when you’re actually hungry and not when you’re feeling angry, lonely, or tired. 2. When angry, verbalize what you’re angry about; if appropriate, to the person you are angry at. If that isn’t possible, speak with someone else or write your feelings down. 3. Loneliness: if possible, make plans with a friend or family member. Sign up for exercise class such as yoga.  If you are unable to get out of the house, pick up the phone and call a friend or relative. These ideas are better than e-mail as far as being connected go. 4. Tired: the best thing to do, if you can, is to take a nap for 20 to 30 minutes. Short of that, close your eyes for five minutes, or, take a brief but brisk walk. Breathe deeply to inhale fresh oxygen and to get your brain and body circulation going. Meditation can also be very helpful. Other suggestions include the following:

1. We know that stress often lowers brain dopamine and precipitates comfort food seeking behavior. So, consider exercise, yoga, deep breathing, hypnosis etc.

2. If you think you’re addicted to sugar or fat, gradually reduce your intake by eating smaller portions or switching to similar foods with lower sugar/fat intake. For example, replace high-fat ice cream with low-fat frozen yogurt.

3. Eat a healthy balanced diet; be sure to eat plenty of fiber.

4. If you’re still having difficulty get a consultation with a health care professional.

I’m not done with this topic and more information to follow.

Previous blogs have been on the subject of cerebral dominance. We know that as far as higher mathematics go, boys seem to rule because of right hemisphere (Parietal lobe) differences. On the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), boys showed a ratio of a perfect score (800) of 19 to 1 to girls. Emphasizing math and designing mentor programs for girls has reduced the ratio significantly in the last 20 years. Even though, for the last 35 years boys have outscored the girls on the math SAT by 40 points. In college, for every woman major in math there are 7 to 9 men majoring in areas such as engineering, mathematics, and computer science. Unfortunately, despite the male advantage in mathematical aptitude, smaller numbers of American men are entering these fields in recent years.

Is it possible, that in this culture, there is greater emphasis on food than just about anything else? Are we out of balance? Are the priorities misplaced? As a people, are we becoming less healthy? What can we do about it? It seems that more are more people should do something different than what they’re doing now. For boys, it seems that less go to college and as a consequence smaller numbers are going into mathematical fields even though that is strength for males. As Benjamin Disraeli indicated, action or doing doesn’t guarantee happiness however, what are you going to accomplish by non action or non doing?

That aside, after a roughly 14 mile training run, one of Tony’s comments were “and then you die”. This needs some explanation and that will follow at a later date.
From Tony: Frank kind of left you hanging hear.
My comment came from the discussion we were having on people wanting more and more things and power. That’s when I said then you die. So don’t be obsessed with having more stuff then the other guy and enjoy your life.
Frank and I fine joy in running and writing this Blog both very simple things.