Teach your old brain new tricks

“Oh my god. I am SO fat.” That sentence will have been uttered by thousands of people, thousands of times over the last month and will continue to be grumbled for months, probably years to come. How did we get to this point, and how do we get beyond it?

The human brain is said to have evolved in three stages, providing us with benefits along the way appropriate for what our needs were at the time. The oldest part of the brain structure is the “reptilian brain”, which is the part that controls the body’s vital functions and gives us our instinctive ability to quickly evaluate situations for risk or benefit. The “limbic brain” is the emotional centre of the brain and where we make value judgements, find motivation, and attach emotion. The youngest part of the brain is the neocortex, where we conduct abstract thought, imagine things, and develop language skills.

Over the holidays, when you were presented with yet another tin of cookies or a massive spread of food at a family gathering, rationale thought (neocortex) went out the window and we were overwhelmed by the instinctive need to gorge ourselves (the reptilian brain telling us to eat in case we don’t get a chance to again) and emotional attachment we have with holiday eating (the limbic brain connecting food with feelings of love and friendship). No wonder you felt out of control; in some ways you were out of control because your brain was working against you!

When you look at yourself in the mirror and quickly criticize your body, you are in your reptilian brain. Rationale thought is nowhere to be found, only snap judgement prevails. When you attach emotions to that evaluation, you are in your limbic brain. Again, rationale thought rarely overpowers emotion, which is often installed by years of practice honing your self-criticism like a razor blade. So how do you move beyond our reptilian and limbic brains and find the space to make better choices and actually love your body?

The answer lies in being strategic. We all need our reptilian brains to help us evaluate potentially dangerous situations (i.e. walking down a street after dark, evaluating a stranger’s intentions, etc.); however the reptilian brain has no place in evaluating food and body image in the first-world context in which we find ourselves today. It is time to power up your neocortex and power down the criticism and judgement of the other two so you can live a longer, healthier, happier life. To do so, we need to recognize our nature as one that still operates much like our distant ancestors when confronted with food, and balance that with the rationale thought of “What a great spread of food. I am so fortunate to have this available to me, I will enjoy it, but not overindulge, because I don’t need it, even if I want it”.

As it relates to body image, you have to remember (rationally) that whatever state your body is in at this moment, you can’t do anything about instantaneously, so you might as well love it as it is. This sets the context of being able to make better choices today, tomorrow, and every day after that, which will result in better health, fitness, and a healthier physique.

This might be easier said than done, but by bringing the power of our neocortex to the forefront and putting the reptilian and limbic brains in their place, we actually get a little closer to living the healthy lives we deserve. Take the time to say thank you to the reptilian and limbic brains for the role they have played up to now, but make the neocortex the centre of your attention and use it to plan your strategy for living your best life from this day forward.