The Neurobiology of the Obesity Epidemic

I recently read an interesting review paper by Dr. Edmund T. Rolls titled "Taste, olfactory and food texture reward processing in the brain and the control of appetite" that I'll discuss in this post (1). Dr. Rolls is a prolific neuroscience researcher at Oxford who focuses on "the brain mechanisms of perception, memory, emotion and feeding, and thus of perceptual, memory, emotional and appetite disorders." His website is here.

The first half of the paper is technical and discusses some of Dr. Rolls' findings on how specific brain areas process sensory and reward information, and how individual neurons can integrate multiple sensory signals during this process. I recommend reading it if you have the background and interest, but I'm not going to cover it here. The second half of the paper is an attempt to explain the obesity epidemic based on what he knows about the brain and other aspects of human biology.

Read more �

Trial and Error

Celebrating 49 and Feeling FABULOUS

I believe in trial and error and especially when it comes to what works best for my body and my life.  I will be celebrating the last year of my forties this weekend and I am thinking a lot about my life, and reflecting on many things that have got me to this point, how I feel about myself, and realizing that trial and error has served me well personally, physically, and nutritionally. 

In my journey of almost fifty years, I have experienced definite trial and error when it has come to relationships and defining what I do not want and what I do want, with healthy being at the forefront of all that.  It has been quite a process and as I look back, all the trudging through the unhealthy to open fabulous doors to healthy has been a blessed learning journey to create who I am right now, and whom I have chosen to share my life and I include my hubby, family, and friends through this healthy pondering.   Life is just too short not to take care of ME and it is too short not to be with people who are positive, supportive, real, and who nourish my soul in great ways.  Of course when I was going through the trial and error process, there were days that really sucked, and I allowed myself to feel all the pain of that moment, but all the time never saying �Why Me� but asking God to please �Show me how to be a better person through this, help me believe in your better plan for me, or what the heck are you teaching me now��it was this kind of faith and belief going through the trials that provided the hope in the positive lesson that kept me going and keeps me going still.  

Moving on to trial and error with my fitness and workouts�now this has really

been quite the ordeal.  As many of you know if you have read my bio, I have suffered a cervical injury, live with diagnosed torticollis, and have undergone two major surgeries, in addition to giving birth to two children.   When injury face plants you to the ground and takes away your quality of life and job, a sense of hopelessness and stripping of who you are can take place�well�that was me a few years ago.  Talk about feeling scared and humbled, well I was that and more, and depended on strength greater than my own to get me through.  I utilized my skills and knowledge of the human body to begin rehabbing myself and although a slow process, I began to create through trial and error, a new modified ME.  I look back on that time and know that I do not ever want to re-visit that part of my life again, and do whatever I can to greatly reduce and hopefully eliminate that.  I am no longer the extreme athlete of the past, but I am happy to be ME, the athlete of today. 

My workouts are all about trial and error.  There are days I may push the envelope too much, and my body screams back later that night or the next day to not repeat that.  That calls for a check mark of that exercise off the list, and return to what my body likes best.  For example, I can no longer do pushups and boy do I miss those, but I can still chest press and fly like no other.  The beautiful part about fitness and exercise is that ALL things can be modified to fit the person.  I love to teach this to my clients and really have a passion for those with injury because I can say �I know how you feel� and truly mean that.  Also, it is about QUALITY moves regardless of the weight resistance being used.  I enjoy working out, sweating, and the way I feel when I am done, but what I really love most is being able to push myself through my workouts and not aggravate my injury�now that is happy success and has been accomplished through lots of trial and error. 

My nutrition relates to trial and error in eating the foods that best fit my system,

body, and overall how I feel energy wise.  If I removed whole grains from my nutrition, I feel a definite drop in energy and talk about constipation�no thanks.  Besides, I enjoy my brown rice and steel cut oats, and what I concentrate on is eating healthy, proper portions, and eating to live and not to feel like �Thanksgiving Dinner� at every meal.  If I eat something that does not agree with me, causes an upset system, then I eliminate that from my intake, but that takes trial and error to figure out, and yes even healthy foods can upset my system like certain dairy for example�talk about colon cramp to the ground�YIKES.  So, with my nutrition I implement what works best for ME, and provides MY BODY with the nutrients that make ME feel at my BEST.  I also agree that people are not generic, so what works for me may not work for another.  Life would be so boring to think that we all fit into the same size life�right?  I would be a negligent and insensitive trainer/coach if I did not listen to what was not working for my clients and tried to force feed some sort of one-size-fits all philosophy down their throats.  I am unable to support those types of ideals, and really that is why it is called �personal� training/coaching.

When it comes to my life, I have been happy with my trial and error education, personally and professionally.  Through my trials, I have become a better person, stronger, wiser, and a person who has woke up and really enjoys the coffee, one who appreciates that hard times bring about greatness, and I am thankful.  I understand what works for me emotionally, spiritually, physically, and nutritionally, and that is HUGE to me living a healthy LIFESTYLE.  I welcome the trial and error and the opportunities that always come from my learning through the journey.  It may not feel good all the time, but that is the reality of life and I would be untruthful with you to say that life has been all peaches and cream.  Life has not promised easy, but it has promised that it can be great.  It is what I have done through my trial and error process that has determined that.  I will close with my favorite �Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it�. 

                                                                                  

I dedicate this Blog to my Beautiful Mom and Mother-in-law!  I love you dearly and wish you the Happiest of Mother's Day! Happy Mom's Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, and all those fabulous women in that role...you are all truly appreciated for all that you do and all that you are!

      Me and My Mom                                                               My Fabulous Moms!

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Stay Healthy~ Darla