Battle of the Brains

One of the major themes of my upcoming book, Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition for Dummies, is how planning can help us overcome impulsive or “mindless” eating. You probably already realize that one of the most challenging things about managing diabetes is making yourself think about food – calories, carbohydrate, and maybe even insulin dosing to match – but you may not realize why. In the most basic sense, food sets off a battle between our instinctive brain and our thinking brain.

Our human thinking brain is the most amazing biological phenomena ever, and with the right data and enough time to evaluate the options it will make solid decisions you can depend upon. But, when you put your thinking brain in a contest of willpower against your instinct to eat when you’re already sitting in front of food it can seem like useless wasted space in your skull. The chemical signals urging you to eat everything in sight are simply too powerful, and your thinking brain cannot gain control over decision making.

But, you can take advantage of your thinking brain by planning ahead – deciding what you will eat before being confronted by food. Here’s the key- I don’t mean planning ahead as in “I’m going to eat something healthy and not overload on carbs at dinner tonight.” I mean planning as in “I’m having a 4 ounce skinless chicken breast, ½ cup of garbanzo beans, ⅓ cup brown rice, steamed broccoli, a dinner roll, and a pear for dinner tonight.” When you allow your thinking brain to make specific decisions like this, you are equipped to resist impulse – you have used your most powerful weapon in a circumstance where it functions best.

The book goes into considerably more detail, of course, and the story isn’t quite as simple. But ultimately planning ahead is the only way your most powerful tool- your human brain- can help you win the battle of the brains.One of the major themes of my upcoming book, Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition for Dummies, is how planning can help us overcome impulsive or “mindless” eating. You probably already realize that one of the most challenging things about managing diabetes is making yourself think about food – calories, carbohydrate, and maybe even insulin dosing to match – but you may not realize why. In the most basic sense, food sets off a battle between our instinctive brain and our thinking brain.

Our human thinking brain is the most amazing biological phenomena ever, and with the right data and enough time to evaluate the options it will make solid decisions you can depend upon. But, when you put your thinking brain in a contest of willpower against your instinct to eat when you’re already sitting in front of food it can seem like useless wasted space in your skull. The chemical signals urging you to eat everything in sight are simply too powerful, and your thinking brain cannot gain control over decision making.

But, you can take advantage of your thinking brain by planning ahead – deciding what you will eat before being confronted by food. Here’s the key- I don’t mean planning ahead as in “I’m going to eat something healthy and not overload on carbs at dinner tonight.” I mean planning as in “I’m having a 4 ounce skinless chicken breast, ½ cup of garbanzo beans, ⅓ cup brown rice, steamed broccoli, a dinner roll, and a pear for dinner tonight.” When you allow your thinking brain to make specific decisions like this, you are equipped to resist impulse – you have used your most powerful weapon in a circumstance where it functions best.

The book goes into considerably more detail, of course, and the story isn’t quite as simple. But ultimately planning ahead is the only way your most powerful tool- your human brain- can help you win the battle of the brains.