I slept about three hours last night, which always makes getting out of bed the next morning a joy. Regardless, I dragged myself out of bed and spent thirty minutes on the recumbent bike. And did a set of chin-ups, just because.

I’m reading The End of Overeating^{B&N, Nook, Amazon}, by David A. Kessler. It’s an interesting discussion on the psychological and biochemical reasons we eat – and overeat – and touches on some evolutionary aspects, as well. The short version is that combinations of sugar, fat, and salt stimulate dopamine and opiate production, which leads to habitual, reward-based behavior.

Identifying the reasons that underlay a behavior is an important step toward changing that behavior, and so far, I’m enjoying this book. I do sort of wish he wouldn’t go into such graphic detail when describing the way processed food is meant to play on our senses, though. The term “food porn” has never been so appropriate.

When you’re doing something difficult – dieting, training for a marathon, whatever – it’s helpful to immerse yourself in the culture associated with that task. Reading books like this when I’m cutting down, or books on training when I’m bulking up, helps me keep focused and on track.

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