“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished two bags of M&Ms and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.” ― Pulitzer prize-winning American author and columnist Dave Barry
The purpose of a meal nowadays is to last and fast until your next meal. In ancient times, perhaps during the Neanderthal period, they likely didn’t know where their next meal would come from, so the phrase to ‘last and fast’ until the next meal has a completely different meaning. If your food source is unpredictable you will need to eat as much as possible to last without food, possibly for days on end. Today your food source is predictable, as in you have a fridge just a few seconds away, a restaurant down the road and options at your fingertips with your phone. Despite the change in landscape, most people eat just like men and women did during the Paleolithic period. For example, if you know your lunch break is in four hours then the purpose of your meal is to energize you until then. If your car indicator reads full, you would certainly not fill it even if you were anticipating a long ride but you would consider natural stopping points or pit stops.
A friend of mine once said to me, “You can live off a third of the food you actually eat. The other two thirds is for others to live off you.” This means that the excess food you eat disempowers you and will mean that you will likely help someone make a living by feeding off your sickness, upsizing your clothes and your excess expenditure on daily food. So what’s it costing you to overeat?