This blog is about change. I hate getting used to new habits.
Precious. Precious!
It’s time to shave the fudge, Almond Roca, and excess holiday alcohol off the hips, by paying attention to the special mechanism built into our hallowed torsos. It’s called the : Put-down-the-fork-and-stop-stuffing-it-in-your-mouth filter.
My filter is broken. Like Pavlov’s dog, my eyes saucer-size up and I drool at the sight of chocolate, feet spinning on the floor like a puppy on ice. Get outta my way or I’ll bite you. This comes from screwing up my CCK.
Stop sending lard down here. You gut is full, stupid.
It works like this:
When the small intestines detect fat or protein, they release cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone telling your brain you’ve had enough.
Researchers in a recent study gave a group of rats a high-fat diet for 20 days (we’ll call them The Fatslappers, although I’m sure the scientist simply referred to them as Group A. They’re nerdy that way).
Another group of rats (The Skinny Minnies) had a low fat diet.
After 20 days, the researchers put out ONLY tasty fatty rat
I love All-You-Can-Eat
snacks. The Fatslappers ate 40% more than the Skinny Minnies.
In the second part of the experiment, all rats were injected with CCK at noon and exposed to a Martha Stewart buffet of fat snacks.
Because the CCK made them feel full, the rats on the low-fat diet ate much less than usual.
However the FatSlappers didn’t even notice that “slow-down” hormone. They kept gorging.
“I’m not a rat,” you snobbily declare with your finger in the air. (Me, too. Gimme some chocolate.)
Well, a similar 2003 study was published in the American Journal of Physiology . For two weeks, men were fed human diets to create a Fatslapper group and a Skinny Minnie Group. When they all received the infusion of CCK (right to the intestines. UGH!), the Fat Slappers—instead of feeling full—actually felt hungrier. Thus indicating humans can break our “Shut-Your-Mouth-You’re-Full” filter.
The good news….it’s fixable.
The bad news… Just stop sticking lots of fats in your mouth. Your body should readjust so it knows when to say “WHEN.”
Change. I hate it already.
Before Morning Breaks 
I’m married to a Skinny Minnie. Life is hard.
LikeLike
I know the feeling, Barb. I couldn’t say no to the pumpkin pie a la whip cream from mid Nov through early Jan. Woops and 11 lbs later – seriously!! I felt like Bridget Jones.
LikeLike
Did you get the accent too?
LikeLike
Gimme some a thet CCK!
LikeLike
It’s right next to KFC.
LikeLike
This discussion is making me very very hungry. Signing off to forage for chocolate…
LikeLike
And what’s the other thing we’re told “drink water” lots of water…when you’re sick or trying to lose weight “drink some more.” I feel water logged…”drink some more”
I remember a nurse telling us that when we couldn’t get over a long lasting cold. 🙂
Also, our body has a knack for intrepreting “thirsty signals” as “Hunger signals” When we feel hungry, drink water first…not coffee? really? How ’bout a soda? Moutain Dew, I’ll make it a diet…oh, the diet beverages are worse? really? Dang it! What’s a poor gal to do?
Sandi
http://www.ahhsome.wordpress.com
Lake Forest, CA
LikeLike
I haven’t checked what the rat’s drank. Now, whenever I’m hungry I’ll drink first. Beer is mostly water and those herbal balls of hops isn’t it?
LikeLike
But…but it’s hamburger…
mmmm
LikeLike
Well, I’d join you in that mmmm if you add bacon, cheese, and an avocado. If my waistband is going out…I’m going all out.
LikeLike
This needs an ADORE button. I have CCK problems as well. I am never hungry. No, it is not a Godsend. I know the four basic food groups (beans, bacon, whiskey, chocolate), but I cannot bring myself to eat even everyday. And no, I am not a skinny minnie. (Working on that for swim suit season.) Problem: To lose weight, I have to eat something. *sigh*
I hate change. Pass the chocolate.
Red.
LikeLike
thanks Red, I couldn’t find the Adore button, will this do?
Good luck with the swimsuit (Hint: substitute jellybellies for the beans)
LikeLike
Ahh…lookat ‘er go with those animated emoticons 😀 I wonder why we can’t post those in others comments???
TO answer yer question, yeah, I’ve been remiss of late. ::shrug:: don’t know exactly why… can’t seem to produce. And I’m totally with you on the chocolate thing. although I did cut back enormously before and through christmas, when I did a ten day (half) juice fast. It was amazing how, after a few days, I lost most, like 98%, of my sugar cravings !!! Now, by reading this post, I have a better idea why. The juices have plenty of calories, and nutrition, but you don’t have those fats. Anyway, I lost 4 lbs.
My brother told me about this film (which I watched and inspired me to start juicing again) available on netflix, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. Here’s the trailor:
and you can watch it here for $1.99 :
http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=aTMOGLbXWIk&ob=av1n&feature=mv_sr
LikeLike
Say, I’ve been over to your post, hanging around your door, waiting for you to come out and play. Now, I find out you’ve been having juice parties inside, then going outside and shooting paintballs at your shed.
I guess we’re all trying to squegee off the calories we glued on over the holidays. I’m so tired of salads. Glad you’re back.
LikeLike
Love your writing style. It reminds me of a much better version of me. 🙂 Keep up the good work!
LikeLike
Last week Dr. Oz had 2 experts on to debate whether or not people can be addicted to food. A (very skinny) nutritionist said no, because not everybody has that reaction, and it is possible to say no to potato chips. Hello? Not everybody is an alcoholic, either. I can drink 1/2 a gallon of wine at a sitting and not have any more for a month. And an alcoholic can choose to say no to wine. It’s not an excuse – it’s just an explanation for why this is harder for some than others.
I love your pictures!
LikeLike
Thanks, I’m trying to make bad Photoshop my signature trademark.
LikeLike
Hey Barb, you’re skating dangerously close to my trademark – bad Paint Program. May have to have my attorneys, Dewy, Cheatem & Howe, give you a call.
LikeLike
What a compliment, but no one could replicate your exquisite artistry. I once took an art class (in Kindergarten) and the only thing I did with the paint is get my revenge on the booger-smearing kid who sat next to me. Pink goobers looked a lot better on the side of his desk than the real thing. You are a great inspiration, and while I can dream of one day achieving your skills, I’ll have to accept my reality of Photoshopped brain surgery and yoga-leaning turkey vultures.
LikeLike
Thank goodness I ate that slice of Nutella pie before I read this.
Husband just read aloud article that lack of exercise and being overweight are factors in Alzheimers rather than genes. DANG!
LikeLike
Yes, I read that too, but if we continue not exercising, we won’t remember the article and eat all the guilt-free Nutella we want.
LikeLike
Great post. I’m not very scientifically inclined, and don’t know much about CCK. I do know that I eat too much, indulge in large quantities of fat, and never get full. Is there hope for me?
LikeLike
Are you bragging or complaining?
LikeLike
It was fun. Do not worry about weight, enjoy the chocolate. We have one life to live and one life to do what ever things we enjoy doing. 🙂
LikeLike
Sigh. A fatslapper. What a description. True though. With my lying nose in the air I tend to say things like ‘I will just exercise more’, knowing that I would need to run a marathon each day to shift this excess. Sigh again.
LikeLike
Yes, I understand. I say things like…I’m going to start cooking everynight. Hopefully, laughing til it hurts will burn calories.
LikeLike
Oh yes. It is a proven fact that laughing burns calories. So does breathing. Just not very many at a time.
LikeLike
Lard. It’s what’s for breakfast.
LikeLike
If you’re referring to bacon, I’m with you girlfriend.
LikeLike
For me it’s the buffet. Any buffet. Chinese buffets are the deadliest. I’m helpless in the face of so much food. I need a therapy group for buffetheads. Them grubenschnitzels will wipe you out!
LikeLike
Aren’t those Chinese buffets mostly vegetables with micro strips of chicken or beef? And that’s filling you up? It’s the farkenwoks that do me in.
LikeLike
Oh no! I’m feeling horrible enough after having to reject a good pair of trousers just yesterday! Those Christmas nuts and bolts that I seasoned to perfection were just too good to resist. Honest, I meant to wrap them up decoratively for friends!
LikeLike
Just say NO to food and you’ll be in those coveted pair of trousers in short time. And let your friends you saved them from a lot of pesky dieting. You’re a true friend.
LikeLike
I think if you stay on a rat free diet you’ll be fine.
LikeLike
What about mice?
LikeLike
It will come, I promise! My coworkers think I’m magic because I total resist the sugar they are scarfing down. More than one entire bag of sweets, potato chips, cookies… I feel ill just watching them. I’m on week 3 of low-carb – which means I can eat fat, if I want it! The chocolate has to be at least 70% cocoa though.
LikeLike
Congratulations. i did the South Beach diet and would’ve chewed banana peels the first week, if they’d provided some sugar. Good luck, you’re doing well. I didn’t know that about the chocolate.
LikeLike
Hi,
Well even though I am a chocoholic I can honestly say that I only eat chocolate on days ending in Y. So you see I am already very strict on what I eat, especially chocolate. 😀
LikeLike
What do you eat on nights that end in Y?
LikeLike
A trick question, nights don’t end in Y. 😀
LikeLike
I’ve ended a few nights with…”Why?”
LikeLike
I do believe I meant hungry, not hubgry. That word sounds kinda risque.
LikeLike
I’m hubgry and I didn’t even know it!
LikeLike
Wow. You must be so starved, you can’t spell straight. Go have a milkshake, Moma.
LikeLike
Your last line is me. I need help!
LikeLike
You hate change, too? You’re at the right place. We’ll support each other as we eat our way through Costco samples searching for the perfect burger, and I’m glad to help you do it.
LikeLike
What an incredibly helpful (and inspiring) post. Now that I understand the mechanics of the feed your face first and regret at leisure syndrome, I’m sure I’ll soon drop those unsightly pounds that keep me away from cameras and mirrors. If you believe this, there’s a reasonably priced bridge in Brooklyn… 🙂
LikeLike
Sorry, I already own a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Eiffel Tower, and had the mirrors removed from the house. Now I can eat burgers until I feel like a fatslapper
LikeLike
Barb, this is excellent. You did make a grievous error though, you forgot to mention that when we eat all that chocolate we should make sure we wash it down with a large Coca Cola or some other high-acid soda pop that helps dissolve flush that cocoa and palm fat right into the veins and arteries for immediate storage.
That speeds up up the fatslapping process of putting on more weight too, something we all desperately need in the sad event we cannot find enough of those chocolate chip cookies.
Another solution for this serious problem is a strict regimen of Twinkies and butter-tarts. “:).
LikeLike
Start stockpiling those Twinkies, Raymond, Hostess filed for Chapter 11.
LikeLike
I believe there is a substance in chocolate chip cookie dough that supersedes all higher intellectual functions and hard-wires a hand/mouth reaction. It has nothing to do with control or self-discipline. It’s just like when the doctor hits your knee with that rubber hammer and your foot jerks. Chocolate chip cookie = eat.
On the other hand – hepatitis makes any sort of fat nauseating. I lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks and couldn’t face anything richer than kidney beans for a month. I got over that, though. It’s back to foie gras and bacon for me!
LikeLike
So far the Flu diet and the Hepatitis Diet are recommended as sure-fire weight loss plans. If we can get Oprah as our spokes program we’ll beat that Jared over at Subway back into his big jeans. Thanks Roxie.
LikeLike
You crack me up! Back away woman!! Margie
LikeLike
Well, I am a nut, so I’m into cracking things up. I’ll back away if I can take the french fries with me.
LikeLike
Nice to know I have an excuse. And someone to blame. Ya see, I TELL my husband “not to buy me candy”, which of course, I don’t really MEAN. He persists in buying it for me anyway, so I of course, have to stuff my face with it. A vicious cycle, I tell you, a vicious cycle.(Great post.)
LikeLike
It’s good your husband understands you so well. Tell him not to buy you jewelry and a car next time. Can’t wait to hear what you’ll get.
LikeLike
I love reading about the science of why we are human: sometimes I get into this phase where I couldn’t care less about food (last year I had a gastric flu for ten days, lost a lot of weight and kept it off for eight months) but sooner or later the fat slapper mechanism kicks in (usually in the build up to Christmas) and the annual fattitude begins. And now I’m off to trawl the internet for tasty forms of CCK 🙂
http://www.cakesandshakes.wordpress.com
LikeLike
That’s the problem with the flu diet. After a few IVs, the weight comes back.
LikeLike
So true, LOL!
LikeLike
But changing from saying “Why Not” to “when” may make me “whacky”
LikeLike
What’s wrong with wacky? I consider it a lifestyle.
LikeLike