Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I won't let my body out be outwait everything that
I'm made done, won't spend my life trying to change.
I'm learning love who I am, I get I'm strong,
I feel free, I know everybody of me it is
beautiful and that will always out way if you feel it.
(00:24):
But she'll some love to THEO. Why get the tag? Day?
And did you and die out way? Happy Saturday out Way.
It's Leanne Ellington here and I'm so excited to be
back with you today for this solo episode. And the
title of today's episode is the Brain Science of Sugar
(00:45):
Cravings and how to Reclaim control. And that's why we're
going to kick off this conversation by starting with something
a lot of us can relate to, which is feeling
like a chig addict. And so if you've ever felt
like you can't control yourself around sugar, or that this
weird poll over you, like no matter what you do,
you just can't seem to stop it, right, well, this
(01:05):
episode is for you. And so if you've ever said
to yourself, I just can't control myself around food or sugar,
I'm basically addicted, then you're not alone. I used to
feel the exact same way. It wasn't just that I
liked sweet snow. It was this constant pull in my
brain and this out of control feeling like sugar was
the boss of me, and I was helpless to fight back,
(01:26):
and I felt like no matter what I did, it
wasn't enough and I couldn't break free. And just to
share a quick bit of my story because I think
it'll help see you where I'm coming from, as I've
struggled before. You know, my struggle with food and my
body started when I was taken to weight watchers at
eight years old, and so that just set the stage
for decades of dieting and body shame and really just
a toxic relationship with food. And then by adulthood, I
(01:46):
was nearly, you know, two hundred and fifty pounds, and
I was miserable, not just because of the weight on
my body, but because of the weight of the weight,
as I call it, that I carried in my head
and my heart about my body. And so fast forward
to when I lost one hundred pounds. You know, you'd
think that after such a huge transformation, i'd feel free,
right like I was. This weight was lifted off my shoulder,
like I finally arrived. But here's the thing, Like, even
(02:08):
though I was in a smaller body like a physic,
my physical body was smaller, I still felt completely trapped
because I was a slave to food and a slave
to sugar, and to this constant battle in my mind.
And I couldn't stop thinking about what I was eating,
what I shouldn't be eating, or how I could kind
of like go out exercise whatever I just ate. And
(02:29):
the crazy part is I'd lost one hundred pounds and
transform my body, but I still felt like I was
at war with food and especially sugar, and I truly
thought I was a sugar addict. I mean there were
times I would literally say to myself, I am addicted
to this stuff and there is no way out. And
let me tell you, the shame that comes along with
feeling like a sugar addict is so real, and I
(02:50):
carried it for years. I felt broken, like there was
something seriously wrong with me because I just couldn't stop.
And even when I was air quotes successful by dieting
standards and hit my goal weight, I still fell out
of control of food and sugar. But I didn't talk
about it right because I didn't want anyone to know
that deep down, I still felt like a mess. It
(03:12):
was my dirty little secret, and I thought, like, I
can't let people know that I'm still struggling because I've
lost the weight, like I'm supposed to have it all together, right,
And so I kept it all inside, believing that I
was the problem. And here's the part that was probably
the most frustrating. I thought that the solution was always
about trying harder, right, like more willpower, more discipline, more restrictions.
(03:34):
But it was never enough no matter how hard I tried.
The cycle continued that restrict binge, feel guilty, try to
make up for it with more exercise than back to
restricting cycle. And then sugar. Sugar was just the enemy
in my mind that I can never quite defeat. And
so here's where things started to change for me, And
this is what I'm excited to share with you today.
(03:55):
But it wasn't until I learned about my sugar cravings
and that I learned that they weren't really about sugar
at all. They were about my brain. I know, I
know it's a little it sounds a little geeky, but
stay with me, because this is powerful stuff, Like what
if sugar wasn't actually this addiction. There was something going
on in your brain. So let's talk about that. Well,
your brain is wired for survival, right, So when you
(04:17):
feel stressed or lonely or bored or overwhelmed, your brain
is looking for comfort and it's looking for it fast.
And so sugar, well it's a quick hit. It gives
you that little burst of pleasure that your brain thinks
that it needs. But but here's the truth. Your brain
doesn't actually want sugar. What it wants is connection and
comfort and a sense of safety or what the nervous
(04:39):
system deems safe. So the acc is the part of
your brain that craves emotional connection and belonging, and so
it needs to feel loved and accepted and cared for.
That's really what it's looking for. And so when those
needs aren't being met, your brain will look for something
else to fill the gap, So something quick and easy,
like sugar or scrolling Instagram or binge watching Netflix. Like
(05:01):
we all have our own drug of choice. I've literally
used them all, Okay, but it's not just a craving
for sugar. It's a craving for connection, connection to ourselves,
to others, to God, to a higher power, just connection
in general. And when we don't get that emotional connection,
we turn to something that gives us a quick fix,
so whether it's food or sugar, or social media or
(05:23):
something else. And so I remember so many times when
I'd be sitting at home after a long day, feeling
lonely or stressed, and I'd reach for ice cream or cookies,
or if that wasn't available, I'd I'd just binged on
peanut butter right, didn't matter what it was. Or I
would literally get in my car and I'd go out
and get the ice cream or cookies or peanut butter.
And it definitely wasn't about hunger. I wasn't, you know,
(05:45):
physically hungry. I was emotionally hungry. I wanted to feel
something other than what I was feeling in that moment.
But that's also why intuitive eating and monitoring hunger cues
doesn't work for this either, because again it's emotional hunger,
and for me, a lot of it turned out to
be spiritual or kind of like soul hunger. And so
sugar sugar was just my go to that I had
(06:06):
fired and wired in my brain from a very young age.
But here's the problem. Okay, that quick fix doesn't actually
fix anything. It just creates this temporary high, Like you
get that hit of dopamine, which makes you feel good
for a moment, but it's not what your brain really needs. Okay.
Your brain is looking for oxytocin, the love hormone, the
(06:27):
hormone that makes you feel connected and cared for and safe.
But instead of oxytocin, we give our brains endless hits
of dopamine. And the thing about dopamine is it doesn't last. Right,
It's a quick high, but it fades fast, leaving you
still hungry for more connection, but now also feeling guilty
(06:47):
for eating all of that sugar. So what do we
do next? We reach for more sugar, right, and then
the cycle continues. And so it wasn't until I learned
this and until I address that in my brain, like
the part of my brain that was just trying to
get its needs met in the only way it knew how,
that's when I was able to start to feel free. Okay,
And that's when I knew like, oh, I'm not weak willed,
(07:09):
and I'm not a sugar an addict. Right, my brain
just got wired to seek out sugar as a quick
fix for a deeper emotional need. And once I understood that,
I could start to change the pattern. And let me
be clear, you know this was not an overnight fix.
It took time. But the first step was realizing that
I wasn't broken and my brain was just doing what
it had been programmed to do. And once I realized that,
(07:32):
I knew I could rewire it. But this is why
when we keep reaching for sugar or food of any kind,
or Netflix, or I mean fill in the blank, right,
whatever you're using to fill that emotional void, we still
feel hungry very shortly thereafter, right, And that's because your
brain is being overfed by dopamine, but it's undernourished with
what it really needs. And I don't just mean physically undernourished.
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I'm talking about emotionally and mentally undernourished. Your your brain
is getting plenty of dopamine from the sugar or the
high itself, right, or the coping mechanism, the numbing device,
but it's starving for real connection oxytocin. And so think
about it. How many times have you eaten something sweet
hoping it'll make you feel better, but afterwards you just
feel worse, and you're still on top of it, still
(08:15):
lonely or stressed or sad, and now you feel guilty too,
right because you just ate that, or you're probably just
hungry an hour later as well, right, think about it,
Like an hour later, it's like, huh, interesting, I could
go for more of that. But that's because sugar can't
fill the need that your brain is really asking for,
like what it's really hungry for. And so that's the
cycle that keeps happening. So how do you break free
(08:37):
from this cycle? And how do you stop feeling like
sugar is controlling you? Well, here's where I want to
give you some practical steps that help me and that
I now share with my clients. And really my disclaimer
on these steps is that they are not a quick fix.
Like this is the stuff that I walk my clients
through really intensively and hand hold them over the course
of sixteen weeks to rewire their own brains. But you know,
(08:57):
because obviously we're talking about decades of patterns here for
most of us us. But I just want to get
the wheels turning in your brain. Okay, So thing number
one is to recognize what the craving really is like,
what is it actually telling based on what you just
learned about the geeky side of it? Right? But when
you feel that pull toward sugar, ask yourself, like, what
am I really craving right now? Is it comfort? Is
(09:17):
it connection? Is it relaxation? Is it somebody to tell
me that it's gonna all be okay? Right? And the
more you start to ask this question, the more you'll
notice that it's often not about the sugar at all.
Thing number two is to learn how to be emotionally
available to yourself in those moments instead of using food,
and really find healthier ways to meet that need. And
(09:38):
this is a big part of the work that I
do with my clients. But once you know what you're
really craving, this is where it's crucial that you learn
how to meet that need in a healthier way. And
so maybe it's calling a friend or going for a walk,
or journaling or listening to a podcast that actually lifts
you up rather than like you know, Real Housewives style
of podcast. You know what I'm saying, and no judgment
on any of it, but like you know what I mean,
(09:59):
when it fills your solar, when it depletes it, or
maybe again, for a lot of us, it might be
that sole spirit time, like time with God, the divine,
the universe, whatever it is for you, right and maybe
you need to be heard or seen or reminded that
you're loved and that you're not alone in this crazy world.
It's about giving your brain what it truly needs, that
(10:21):
real connection, that emotional and spiritual and soul connection as well,
not just a quick sugar fix, okay. Thing number three
is be patient with yourself because rewire your brain takes time,
and you know you've spent years, maybe even decades, reinforcing
these patterns, so it's not going to just change overnight.
But every time you choose connection over sugar, you're creating
(10:43):
a new neural pathway that will make it easier to
break the cycle. Thing number four is get curious instead
of being critical. So when you find yourself reaching for
sugar instead of beating yourself up, I do invite you, like,
get curious where your first go to is to be
critical of yourself? Am I like this? Why can't I
stop this? What's wrong with me? Oh my gosh? I
should be able to like not give into this, right,
(11:06):
Like really want to invite you to get curious there
instead of critical, right, And so ask yourself like, what
is triggering that craving? Is it stress? Is it loneliness?
Is it boredom? Is it comfort? Right? The more you
understand your triggers, the more empowered you're going to actually
be to go change them. And again, this is a process, right,
This isn't a one and done, But I just wanted
to plant these seeds of showing you like, this is
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the way out. So that is it for today out way.
That's what I wanted to share. And I hope this
episode gave you a new perspective on your brain's connection
to sugar and food in general, and just help you
realize that you are not a sugar or food addict,
even if it feels like you are. You are just
human with a brain that's been wired to seek comfort
out and the only way that it learned how and
(11:49):
then it knows how. Okay, But the good news is
you can change that wiring. You can break free from
the sugar cycle and start giving your brain what it
really needs. And that whenever you choose, you can take
back your power from your brain and change that neural wiring.
And if you want to learn more about how I
teach my clients to turn off the part of their
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brains that's obsessed with food or obsessed with their weight
and rewire their own brain for peace and freedom. Then
head on over to Stressless Eating dot com and sign
up to watch the Stressless Eating sneak preview, where I've
literally peeled back the curtain and walked you through the
exact strategy I teach my clients to heal themselves from
the all or nothing diet mentality for good, but without
(12:34):
restricting themselves and punishing their bodies, and definitely without ever
having to use words like macros, low carb or calorie burn.
So it is all there for you to access over
at stressless Eating dot com and if you like outweigh,
I actually have another podcast here on iHeart where I
talk about all of this self image and body image
stuff but from the perspective of where brain science tersex faith,
(12:58):
and it's called What's God Got to Do with It?
And you can access it here on iHeart or wherever
you get your podcasts. So that's it for today. I'm
Leahne Ellington and I will talk to you soon. Bye.