Hope everyone is enjoying the Athletic Bookworms’ monthly reads—I’m digging this format! For February, we’re diving into “Wired to Eat: Turn Off Cravings, Rewire Your Appetite for Weight Loss, and Determine the Foods That Work for You” by Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution. As someone who *may* have Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups hidden in her desk drawer, this book has been high on my list of things to read this year.
Here’s the deal: I have no interest in eating a full-on Paleo diet. I don’t like the list of rules involved, and frankly, it’s too rigid for me. But Paleo-esque, with a focus on eating mostly vegetables, clean protein and healthy fat?? Yeah, that makes sense. I picked this book, though, not because of the Paleo undertones, but because of the first thing noted in the subtitle: turning off cravings. Because that’s 100 percent my biggest stopping point when it comes to healthy eating: there are certain cravings, like peanut butter cups, that I haven’t ever totally kicked. I’ve “quit” chocolate, done Dry January, and done elimination diets like that in the past, but I’ve always come back to the 80:20 (or 70:30 on bad days…) of eating mostly healthy but with a few indulgences. As such, I’m in good shape. I have decent body composition. I feel OK. But could I clean it up a little more? Absolutely… But my cravings for the sweet and salty hold me back. You can see why ‘rewiring’ is appealing to me.
About the book:
The surprising truth is that we are genetically wired to eat more and move less, the exact opposite of the advice we are often given. Now there is a more customized weight loss solution that works with your body, a solution based not on arbitrary restriction of foods but on what works for YOU. Developed by former research biochemist, health expert, and bestselling author Robb Wolf, Wired to Eat offers an eating program, based on groundbreaking research, that will rewire your appetite for weight loss and help you finally determine the optimal foods for your diet and metabolism.
I don’t know that I’ll buy into everything he says, but I have enjoyed the few podcasts that I regularly listen to where he’s been a guest talking up this book. So, if you’re in a similar boat, or are just interested in the science behind cravings and why we eat, let’s get reading! As always, I’d love it if you dropped into the comments on this post throughout the month and let me know cool points and interesting learnings.
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