Why Trying to “Eat Less” is an Ineffective Weight Loss Strategy

The Hypothalamus
We have this thing called the hypothalamus. While the mechanism is not perfectly understood, it is known that one of its chief homeostatic roles is to regulate food intake.
We would be a damn inefficient species if our brains were to be okay with widely varying amounts of food. To have plenty of sustenance one day and no food at all the next is not pleasing to the brain. And so the hunger hormones/neurotransmitters you’ve likely heard of (ghrelin, neuropeptide Y) are released, through an intricate cascade initiated by, you guessed it, the hypothalamus.
Here is the takeaway point, before we can move on: The hypothalamus works as a thermostat and ensures a body weight “set point” to which it will send out hunger signals or satiety signals to maintain.
The “Eat Less” Approach
When we make the blanket decision to “eat less” food, with nothing else considered (even if the plan is as nuanced as to consider macronutrient goals), we run into one big problem. The brain, as explained earlier, does not want to be at the weight you are trying to bring it down to.
Granted, there is such a thing as a “settling point,” and your body can get adjusted to a new weight. But this does not come about simply by attempting to circumvent deeply ingrained biological safety mechanisms. I will address this “settling point” another time.
Let’s return to the hypothalamus. When we decide to just will our way into “eating less,” there are a couple possible outcomes. First — and this needs to be mentioned lest I’m met with the predictable “but all I did was count my calories, and I lost weight!” — there is the possibility that you lose weight. By becoming more cognizant of what you eat, via counting calories, you may naturally start to refrain from the liquid calories and totally processed junk, both of which don’t send satiety signals in proper proportion to their energy (caloric) content. Replacing these products with more filling foods, and this often happens subconsciously among novice calorie counters, leads to more appropriate feelings of fullness and hunger. What is happening is that you are no longer “tricking” your hypothalamus into accepting large amounts of calories and are instead giving it what it thinks it’s getting.
The second scenario (which I would hazard to guess is vastly more common) is that we just drop our intake but keep up the mindless eating habits and leave the hyperpalatable foods in the diet. So, all we’ve effectively done here is continue our eating habits but just aim to eat less food in general.
You don’t need me to tell you that this does not work. And, furthermore, the first scenario is still inefficient for some important reasons. Let’s just dive right into those.
Don’t Just Take “Minutes” for Your Hypothalamus; Invite it to the Meeting
When we chow down on foods specifically engineered to be so tasty we develop a “second stomach” phenomenon to eat them when we should feel full; when we consume 80% of our meals in front of the TV or intermittently grab at it during work; when we head for the pantry in response to stress (this last one is not just symptomatic of an eating disorder — this behavior is endemic), what we are doing is just taking down minutes for our hypothalamus. “Here ya go, bud, sorry you missed the meeting. I ate some not-very-filling food and washed it down with tasty liquid while I was watching TV.” (Granted, the hypothalamus is receiving these messages during the act, but just let the analogy play out).
The hypothalamus goes, “What? Oh, o-okay. I guess I’ll jus-let me just add that up, um. Well, the food wasn’t very filling, so we have room for more. The liquid was, uh, probably nothing, no need to consider that. Oh and we’re devoting mental energy to the TV here, so not really any room for those silly satiety signals or anything.” And it does its calculations and determines… voila, you’re still hungry! Never mind that you just ate 800 calories and should, in theory, be full*.
But what happens when we don’t just give our limbic system friend a quick recap of the meal but instead invite it to the meal? We say, “Hey, hypothalamus, want to watch me eat?” And it sits there and pays attention. That is, in the least scientific way of explaining it possible, what is going on when we instead choose foods and eating habits that send the proper messages to the brain. It can then say, “Oh, we’ve hit the 500 calorie mark and you’re a 130-pound female*, so that should be a wrap.”
Lose Weight with Conscious Eating
Where am I going with this odd analogy and enigmatic point about the futility of “eating less”? I mean to say that we ought to apply much, much more detail to the process of weight loss than a simple executive decision to “eat less” food. The brain is smarter than that (actually it’s dumber than that, as it is responding as if we are still hunter-gatherers without knowledge of when our next meal will be), and it will override our efforts to do so.
The answer? Conscious eating. More to come on this soon, a la the program I wrote in accordance with the Intuitive Eating principles (book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch), but suffice to say: Once you start eating more mindfully (eliminate distractions, focus on the sensations of the food, enhance your eating environment, etc.) and can choose more natural, filling foods (without demonizing the others and casting a moral verdict on yourself for consuming them), you will start sending the proper signals to the brain region associated with weight regulation. This in turn leads to a proclivity towards your normal weight.
Your Job
I like ending these with these tasks, and I hope you’re actually doing them. The task for now is this: The next time a family member/friend comes to you with a stressful/emotional issue they need to unload about, don’t be so quick to offer advice. Sit there, listen intently, respond with empathy, and occasionally ask them some open-ended questions regarding the issue, to show that you care. You can literally make someone’s entire week by doing this.
*These are not hard numbers. Different people require different amounts of nutrients. I’m only dealing with averages here.