Page 77 - Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon PDF Program

Food anticipatory activity includes increased locomotor activity, body temperature,
corticosterone secretions, gastrointestinal motility, insulin secretion, and activity of
digestive enzymes. 53,54,55,56 So we truly can ‘teach’ our bodies when and where to be
hungry.

And, because much of hunger is a learned phenomena developed from infancy to
adulthood, the desire to eat specific foods in particular contexts (celebration) or in
relation to particular feelings (stress foods) or situations (beer while watching football)
can be regarded as a feature of normal appetite, rather than being an indication of
some sort of eating pathology like an addiction or dependence. It is simply ‘how we

learned to eat’.

In fact, it is mostly social factors that teach us which of these learned ‘hungers’ is
right or wrong.

The desire to eat eggs at breakfast time and the desire to eat chocolate when relaxing
and watching television in the evening may both be examples of specific learned
appetites. However, only one of these learned appetites would be viewed as an
addiction or craving.

In this sense, eating things you don’t want to eat, or that don’t move you towards your
goal is nothing more than bad habit that has been learned and ingrained through
years and years of practice.

From my own personal experience with fasting, I can tell you that you do get used to
the feeling of not eating, and not worrying when you will be eating your next meal. It
becomes easier to manage as your body gets used to the feeling of having a truly
empty stomach.

Eat Stop Eat 55