Chasing Dopamine: How it Can Affect Obesity

One morning, while I was eating my cereal I noticed that my stomach was full, yet I continued to eat. As I munched on my Captain Crunch, I asked, why do I do this to myself when I know that I will inevitably end up sick? It feels good. But my stomach hurt. That didn’t feel good. So why do I do it? How does it make me feel good?

Then I stumbled upon a thought ... it makes my brain feel good. The smell, the taste, the crunch, and the act of swallowing something yummy sets off dopamine in my brain and my receptors soak it up like a sponge. Dopamine is known as the "feel-good" hormone and it plays a role in providing pleasure and motivation.¹

Dopamine and my weight

I live with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), major depressive disorder (MDD), postpartum depression (PPD), and anxiety. As someone who is neurospicy, I’m constantly chasing that dopamine to feel any sense of accomplishment or satisfaction. It’s one of the reasons I work so well with a rewards system - my brain is seeking out the happy little release of dopamine after I’ve done some tasks and rewarded myself for it.

I had never considered how my neurospiciness might affect my weight until that morning while eating my cereal. Even 10 years out from my gastric sleeve surgery I still find myself struggling with what I eat and how much of it I consume.

I must make a very conscious decision to do it right every single time. If I’m eating without thinking, then I’m picking up the bad things and I’m eating way more than I need to because it’s making my brain feel good.

The satisfaction of eating

Food activates dopamine in our brains, especially junk food and sugar. For me, grilled chicken doesn’t set off dopamine like fried chicken would. Or a few bits of cake doesn’t hit my brain like half the cake would.¹

Physically, I pay for it by getting sick and putting on weight. But the brain still feels the payoff in dopamine - I feel better when I eat the carbs and fats that are not good for me. And because it activates dopamine, it is understandable that I want to eat more and more, even when I'm full. It’s no wonder that whenever we’re asking each other what to eat we say, "what do you feel like eating."

Retraining my brain

The conclusion I came to, while I was once again suffering from a stomachache, was that I need to retrain my brain as to what releases dopamine. Boy, doesn’t that sound like an awfully large task to do? Retraining the brain is hard. But I’m reminding myself that a reward doesn’t have to be a physical object.

I need to remind myself that the grilled chicken will help me see that smaller number on the scale sooner than the fried chicken. I have to allow that accomplishment, that good choice, be the reason that my brain releases dopamine. I know that I can do it. I did it for years before I let the bad habits creep back in on me. But it will be hard and take a lot of time, so in the meantime I must find other ways to find dopamine.

I typically sink myself into my children and my house during this retraining thing. Having a clean house and happy kids will release that dopamine I’m constantly looking for. Eventually as I start to see the results of my hard work the dopamine will come from a flavorful piece of grilled chicken rather than a sugary piece of cake.

Taking steps towards bettering myself

Although not everyone experiences overeating in the same way, I found that the connection between dopamine and overeating resonated for me.

If you can relate to this issue, I’m right there with you in the trenches battling this out with my own brain. If this is something that you don’t really experience but stumbled across my article, I hope you’re doing well. Maybe you’ve learned something new today about why a friend or family member might struggle with overeating. Regardless, I’m with you lovelies. I’m taking these shaky, unconfident steps towards bettering myself right alongside you.