The Mind vs. The Brain

The brain is an amazing organ. It is the command center of the body. Without it we would die.

The mind is something else entirely. When I say "mind" I refer to conscious mental activity. In other words, the way an individual feels, perceives, thinks, wills and especially reasons.

We cannot order the brain(i.e. tell it to stop our heart or lungs from functioning) but we can direct the mind.

The brain is a very powerful organ. It's neural pathways are designed to preserve our lives. Take, for instance, the fight or flight response. When we experience anxiety or fear our brain automatically tells our heart to begin to beat faster. If you are in the process of being mugged you will have a heightened response to run or fight back, even if you give up your possessions willingly. If you are in a movie theater watching the hero get mugged the mind will reason with the brain that everything is really okay.

I have been reading a book called "The Addicted Brain" by Michael Kuhar. He is a neuroscientist who has studied addiction for many years and is renowned in his field. He says this:

"Even after we stop taking drugs, they influence our actions for a long time, for many months or even years. They want you to continue to feed them by taking more and more drugs. Part of the power of the demons is that they reside in powerful brain systems. These brain systems have to be powerful because they have a big job, such as keeping us fit and surviving. The long life and the power of the demons make them formidable enemies, but we are not alone or helpless. Treatment and rehab centers help us regain control of our lives. The same demons seem to apply to other addictions--gambling, carbohydrates, sex and the Internet. ... Changing our behaviors and habits in constructive ways thwarts the demons."

Dr. Kuhar seems to think that even when we program our brains toward addiction(whether it be to drugs, food or even sex) we have the capacity to stop via our will. He even showed scans of brains before, during and after drug use and how they change. He holds out hope that medications can be derived to speed up the rehabilitation process(helping fix damaged or broken neural pathways) but until then urges readers to participate in traditional therapies(AA, Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous).

This is very powerful to me because it says there is hope for the addict. Changing habits can impart permanent change but one must make a conscious decision to act toward self preservation.

"There is abundant evidence that dopamine is associated with fundamentally important actions, such as food intake and mating. ... decades of scientific work has shown that these dopamine-containing neurons are involved in many functions surrounding feeding and sexual behavior. ... A few experimental findings can be mentioned to support this. Food intake is associated with a release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, a place in the brain involved in addiction."

I have heard people say, "I can't lose weight" because of physical limitations. But most of us, unless we are paralyzed from the neck down, have the ability to put calories into our bodies via our mouths. It is a proven scientific fact that if you consume fewer calories than your body needs to function, you will lose weight. So what they are really saying is, "I choose not to lose weight."

This is oversimplified of course because as I learned in this book, the brain works against me by trying to preserve my life. This is why it is so difficult to lose weight or break any kind of addiction and why so few people are successful at it.

I have no interest in tooting my own horn. If you knew me personally you would understand the challenges I have faced in confronting my body and willing it to change. I am simply trying to understand why change is so difficult in the hopes that I can help others as they take the path towards living a healthier lifestyle. In essence, I want you to be successful in making permanent lifestyle changes, i.e. losing weight, and never regaining it again. It is counterintuitive to lose weight and regain it, yet people do it all the time.

The brain is a powerful organ but I would argue the mind is stronger still. Some people call this "will power". Others call it motivation. My motivation was and is simple. I did not want to be fat. I don't ever want to be fat again. I have promised myself I will do everything within my power to stay healthy, no matter what my brain tells me.