“The odds of going to a grocery store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are about 3 billion to one.” ~ Irma Bombeck
Taking my brain to our locally-owned Goose Grocery Store is an adventure of epic proportions. The moment I pull my truck into the parking lot, the battle begins. Before I ever set out, in the calm comfort of my home office, I write out a grocery list. It looks a lot like this: lettuce, tomatoes, peppers (red, green & yellow), onions, potatoes, celery, carrots, cucumbers, salad dressing … you get the picture.
When I get home and look at the grocery receipt, it is filled with items like this that I had absolutely no conscious intention to buy: cinnamon apple turnovers; Entenmann’s chocolate donuts; deli macaroni and cheese; bulk Jelly Bellies; Mother’s taffy cookies; Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream … I’m sure you get that picture as well. A grocery store is a dangerous place for my brain to wander around in unsupervised.
So what happened between the time I wrote out the shopping list and the time I walked through the door of the store? A lot. And little of it is very good.
But first, here’s an indictment that neuro-psychiatrist Daniel Amen handed down to me in last May/June’s Psychotherapy Networker (pg. 60):
“There are 140 studies indicating that as your weight goes up, the size and function of your brain goes down. Given that 2/3s of us are overweight, it’s the biggest brain drain in the history of our country.”
So my Zombie grocery-shopping brain is not only adversely affecting my own health and lifestyle in an increasingly unhealthy way, but I’m contributing to the general decline of the whole country (and by extension, the whole world). That’s a lot of weight to bear! And just recently comedian Larry Wilmore cited stats that overweight Americans are overwhelmingly discriminated against in the job market, just as obesity reached another milestone peak. It’s not funny, Larry.
Faulty Functioning
“But it’s not my fault,” I frequently hear myself pleading. “It’s my brain’s. Plus, other people are planting bad food ideas in my head. Look at this research: Mind Control.” All of which Daniel Amen and Larry Wilmore would probably agree with. To a point. To the point where I become aware that my brain may have a little problem with something called: Executive Function. Once I become aware that I have this problem, then it is up to me to begin doing something about it. But what?
Executive Functions are carried out primarily by a centrally located part of the brain sometimes considered to be the place where the Third Eye resides. In Asian lore, the Third Eye – the ajna – is reputed to be the “command center of concealed wisdom.” When I go grocery shopping, for some reason my Third Eye turns blind. If this part of my brain right behind my ajna – the orbito-prefrontal cortex – was sufficiently robust and working properly, I would easily be able to stick to my grocery shopping list and do many things other people have little trouble with: make effective plans, keep the space around me neat and organized, or easily over-ride impulses to buy and eat foods advertisers brainwash me with that are unhealthy for me.
Staking My Future on Zombie Brain?
Early last year I realized that unless I started to take ongoing deliberate steps to address my Zombie Brain, my weight – 242 pounds at the time – was only going to continue to increase. But what to do? I have long known that diets don’t work – the weight comes off, but as it does it sends an under-the-radar signal to my Serengeti Brain that we are now in a period of significant famine (the brain we’re all walking around with today is pretty much the same brain that early human hunter-gatherer people had). Consequently, if I don’t overeat the next time food shows up, I run the risk of being seriously underweight when the next famine shows up. To Serengeti Brain diets equal food scarcity and it mostly drives reactive behavior outside our conscious awareness.
Fortunately, apart from diets that don’t work, I come up with a lot of other creative ideas for addressing my Zombie Brain challenge. Here’s one: conscript my friends to yell at me every time I’m out with them and order and eat something unhealthy. Punishment and abuse – that’s the ticket (I didn’t say they were all good ideas). But wait, don’t I do enough of that to myself already? Okay. Scrap that idea.
How about this: take out a gym membership and promise to keep my promise to actually go? Sounds great, except for the fact that over the years the dozen or so gym memberships I’ve had have been money truly wasted. Just last week we gave away the $350 treadmill that’s been gathering dust in the basement for 3 years. It was only then that I realized: I hate exercising for exercise’s sake. What’s the point? Oh – to help manage my weight. Right. Okay. Nevertheless, when I tell the truth about it, working out in a gym or on a “dreadmill” doesn’t do it for me.
And then I hit on it: a brainstorm! I’m a brain guy!! Can I actually use the knowledge of how my brain works to effectively address this conundrum? Why, yes I can. Stay tuned …
Meanwhile, I’m curious as to what your grocery-shopping adventures might be like? Care to share?
Dear Mark – hate to say it, but yesterday, I went to the store with a list and pretty much stuck to it, except I bought dried mango slices – not too bad, but yes, they were displayed just like candy, in a place at Trader Joe’s where people taste samples of food – they are not usually there, and I fell for it! But mostly, I stick to the list as a matter of pride! I’ll be interested to hear your solutions to a weight problem – I am still overweight!
XOXOX Megan
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Goose emphasized healthy stuff right when you walk in the door, rather than lining the corral toward produce with HFCS drinks? What if grocers helped us help ourselves by displaying healthier snacks in the high dollar spots in the store and along the checkout lanes? I think having some knowledge of what they are up to is helpful to me–I know I’m being manipulated, and I resent it, so I put on mental blinders as I go through that first section of the store, avoid aisles I know are bad for me, and attempt to do strategic strikes at the store. It helps to be in a hurry, so as not to have time to mosey around checking out all the good stuff. I guess what I’m mostly doing is using my dislike of “authority” by channeling it toward marketers. Sometimes it works. 🙂 My main area of failure now is the bulk food section…all those chocolate covered things–well, maybe just a little, I think, then continue to scoop…ooops, well, I can’t put it back now!
why is it that one is more prone to Zombie brain when entering the grocery store hungry?
I can tell this impulse to put more things in the cart than are on the list comes from a part of the brain accustomed to famine. I can almost hear the semi-conscious reasoning: “It’s not like we won’t ever eat this… Having a few extra on hand won’t hurt…” For me, this goes for the good-for-me foods, too. My pantry is well (over?) stocked.
Hi Audrey, Thanks for posting. The brain is most concerned with keeping us alive. And if overstocking our pantries and refrigerators is one thing that can help with that, so be it. I’m not surprised that the transition from food scarcity to food abundance has its challenges. The good news is that extreme pendulum swings almost always regress us to some kind of middle ground. I think of it as The Goldielocks Zone of Weight Neurishment (sic) and Management. Best, Mark
On Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 8:22 PM, The Flowering Brain wrote:
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Food is no longer where my Zombie brain kidnaps me. Having a health scare helped me turn my whole self-nourishment around. Thank goodness. I am quite immune to the grocery store shenanigans. Plus if I stray, my body lets me know so fast! I really don’t like the result.
However, some other part of my brain is hard-pressed NOT to buy more books, many of which I own but have not consumed! At least no organs are harmed in the process!!!
Hi Pam, So, when I look up from typing this, I’m looking at 8 feet 7 inches of bookcase shelf space (I actually measured it) of purchased and unread books. How big is yours? 😉 XOXOX Mark
On Mon, Mar 30, 2015 at 4:54 AM, The Flowering Brain wrote:
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Well, thanks for asking! Yes, the grocery store is still an adventure – though we’re – my partner and I – now discussing our intentions before we go shopping, and that seems to be helping us navigate the bombardment of media/ad messages, intense stimuli and brain shutdown a little bit more successfully.
The gym is a new experience. We set an intention last month to go every day for 30 days, and to do something. Anything. As of today, we made it. It feels good to start the day that way now. We’re discussing the intent to keep it rolling.
Ever since you told me/us about how much of the brain is dedicated to movement, I’ve (gradually) become more dedicated to movement.
And, a week or so ago, I turned the dreaded dreadmill into a dance partner. It was inspired by: 1. some Zumba certification training I’d gotten and never used due to an injury I’d sustained around the time I’d gotten certified, and 2. seeing a video of a dude having a blast on a treadmill. Now I do cardio, upper body and core strengthening exercises on there, and get some strange looks from other gym members to boot. It’s pretty satisfying:) Fun is a HUGE motivator for me.
I cannot say enough about how much it helps to have another person to share the challenges, intentions, discomfort and awkwardness of it all. I notice how many people at the gym now show up in pairs. Neighbors, friends, even a pair of co-workers at our little neighborhood gym who’ve joined their intentions and doubled (tripled?) their follow-through as a result. Several have also asked a trainer to do an early morning cross-training class at a time that’s convenient for them. That’s a win-win-win.
As some wise person once said, We Are Powerful, Together.
Thanks, Mark, for this thought-provoking post!