Since I've left academia, I haven't felt compelled to read "difficult" books. I've enjoyed the entertainment. But sometimes we need to be challenged and changed. Conquering Fat Logic, by Dr. Nadja Hermann (trans. by David Shaw), is an easy read, but a profound mindset shift.

It asks the fundamental question:

What if nearly everything we think know about weight loss is a myth?

Sometimes — often even — what we think we know is false. Our brain plays tricks on us.

Why does this happen? Our brain has a duty - to keep us alive - and all else falls before that.

There are many complex physiological and psychological reasons that we overeat, but here is one: at some point, one of your ancestors was hungry.

Your brain knows this and wants to keep it from happening again.

It wants to keep you safe.

And so when there’s food, you eat. Your brain may ignore signals that it’s full because who really knows when there might be scarcity?

But you don’t live in scarcity. You live in abundance — of energy and of calories both. Convincing your brain that you are safe and well is the first step to attaining and maintaining a healthy weight.

All of the other excuses we reach for — processed food, portion size, the stress of modern life — may be true, but they are still excuses. And since they are beyond are control, we release ourselves from taking responsibility. I know, for I’m just as guilty of this as any of you.

And so it begs the question: