One very, very bad way to ensure you never overeat again.

This is overeating at its peak.

It’s 3pm and the craving hits.

You haven’t eaten in at least 1.5 hours and your brain is screaming for a sugar hit. Before long, your stomach joins in, because it is silly and it has forgotten that you are not even hungry.

You pop on down to the convenience store. You buy an entire packet of biscuits, thinking that you’ll just have one or two and then put the packet away for future snackage.

Oh… the whole packet is gone.

Awkward.

Welcome to the world of overeating, something that has been the bane of women’s existence since men first brought home an extra-large woolly mammoth.

It’s when your stomach and brain shut off entirely. You are unable to process anything that does not involve getting that next handful of chips into your mouth. Before you know it, your pantry is empty and you feel sick and quite sad.

But there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that scientists have worked out a way to stop overeating altogether.

The bad news is that it involves CONTROLLING your brain with laser beams. That shine through your eyeballs.

Apparently, said laser beams turn off the part of the brain that is responsible for overeating. See exhibit A, this video of this poor mouse, just trying to eat its scraps of cheese, but getting SUPER laser-beamed in the process.

If you can’t watch the video – the laser switches on and off, and the mouse either starts or stops eating.

According to Mashable:

The neuroscientists modified the mice so that the specific neurons they were targeting would respond to light differently. In one group of mice, light would activate that specific part of the brain and, in the other group of mice, light would disable it. By shining a laser through the eyeballs of the mice into their brains, the scientists could then effectively activate or disable that part of the brain… when the neurons were shut down, the mice refused to eat, regardless of how hungry they were.

There’s no word on whether or not this kind of thing will actually become available for human use. But this kind of thing does worry me.

It worries me because it’s such an extreme, band-aid response to what may actually be a serious eating disorder for some.

Everyone has those days.

Because, yes, everyone occasionally has a day where they eat way too much garlic bread and pizza and have to lie down for half an hour before they can either move. But if you are overeating on a REGULAR basis, and feeling a certain way about it, you may very well have Binge Eating Disorder – an eating disorder that has come to be recognised as Australia’s most common.

If you are concerned about binge eating disorder, you should absolutely not start googling “how to turn off hunger with lasers”. You should absolutely take a look at this post, or contact the Butterfly Foundation support line on 1800 334 673.

And if you’re not concerned about your mental health, but you would like to try and prevent the overeating of unhealthy food when you’re sitting in front of the TV watching Ja’mie Private School Girl?

Have a search around for healthy treats that take your fancy and keep them on hand for times when you just want something tasty.

I’m currently enjoying homemade kiwi fruit and watermelon ice blocks (just blend and pour into those lickety-sip moulds) but here are some other amazing Instagrammed recipe ideas…

@tabletonic Brown rice, pumpkin (cooked in coconut oil), continental parsley, tamari almonds, green olives. PS Some preserved lemon would have been awesome.

@tabletonic Pork fillet with a salad of quinoa, zucchini, almonds (toasted), ricotta (has to be fresh!) + pesto (home made) // A twist on the "Quinoa, Almond + Ricotta 'Meatballs' with Zucchini Pasta"

@youngnhealthy Greek Yogurt Muesli or granola (your choice) Half of an apple A few grapes A peach Some freshly squeezed lemon juice (to taste) A pinch a stevia or cane sugar . Layer them however you desire (:

@youngnhealthy Stuff your fresh cabbage leaves with zucchini, kale, carrots, red pepper, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, pee shoots, raw sprouted chickpea hummus & mushroom marinated in pineapple-garlic-cilantro-tomatoe-coconut water mixture. Garnished with some nasturtiums and calendula petals.

@eat_to_thrive I was pleasantly surprised to find a handful of good tasting blueberries still growing on my bushes yesterday! So I added them to my #fruitbowl this morning, along with strawberries, raspberries, bananas, grapefruit, pomegranate, & white chia seeds.

@eat_to_thrive Colourful & delicious #dairyfree coleslaw salad! Bowl full of julienned carrots, red cabbage, eggplant, yellow zucchini (found 2 more little ones in my garden!), steamed broccoli, and cilantro on a bed of not-visible-in-this-photo baby spinach and romaine lettuce. Dressing was a quick mix of tahini, garlic, water, lemon juice, salt, and ginger.

@eat_to_thrive Overnight soaked chia seed, buckwheat & hempseed layered w/ chai tea infused pumpkin, date & banana purée. Apples & roasted hazelnuts on top.

@healthylivinginheels Had some wraps leftover from my spicy falafels last monday so I decided to make 2 wraps for lunch today!

@healthylivinginheels Made this delicious Superb Spinach Smoothie after my workout! Ingredients are among others: spinach, pear, banana, quark, coconut grater & chiaseeds

@healthylivinginheels Time for a new week with lots of new changes! What better way to start than with a breakfast parfait!

@lolacooks My vegan chocolate shake with cacao nibs, goji berries, and dessicated coconut. (2 frozen bananas, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tbsp almond butter, 2 tbsp cacao

@lolacooks Raw, vegan, and sugar free peanut butter-caramel dipped apples! Topped with dark chocolate shavings and crushed walnuts

@lolacooks Super simple and yummy #mealprep

@yourdailyshake Yourdailyshake thinks your tastebuds will enjoy the contrasting flavours of this tangy & sweet Mango Raspberry Smoothie. Recipe (Serves 2) 1 cup coconut water 1 mango 1 cup frozen banana 2 tbsp coconut yoghurt Juice of 1 lime Poured over muddled fresh raspberries.

@yourdailyshake Yourdailyshake loves fresh fruit. We also love smoothies. So there's nothing we love more than a fresh fruit smoothie! Give your body its daily vitamin boost with this Fruit Burst Smoothie! Red layer: 1/2 apple, 1/4 banana, 3 grapes, 1 strawberry, 3 blackberries and a shot orange juice Orange layer: 7 grapes, 1/4 banana, 1/2 squeezed orange, 1/4 little carrot and a 1/4 mango

@yourdailyshake Yourdailyshake likes to add abit of crunch to our breakfast with this Nutty & Crunchy Chocolate Smoothie! Blitz in a blender 1 cup almond milk, 1 frozen banana, 2 heaped tbsp raw cacao powder, 1 tsp chia seeds and 1 tbsp cacao nibs. Pour into a large glass and decorate with chopped hazelnuts, extra cacao nibs and raw organic dark chocolate. Add a hunk of sesame or peanut brittle.

@healthyfoodfiles A bit of everything for lunch. Simple ingredients smoked salmon, one egg two egg white omelette cooked in a little coconut oil and smashed avocado. Full of omega 3 fat and high in protein. Nutritiously delicious.

@eddoctorahealth A bit of everything for lunch. Simple ingredients smoked salmon, one egg two egg white omelette cooked in a little coconut oil and smashed avocado. Full of omega 3 fat and high in protein. Nutritiously delicious.

@eddoctorahealth With Healthy Plate model there is no need to count calories or weigh food (1/2 non-starchy veggies/fruit, 1/4 protein, 1/4 starchy veggies/whole grains). Lunch today was homemade burgers (recipe in previous post), leafy green salad, grilled vegetables (tomato, onion, mushroom) homemade sweet potato chips

@eddoctorahealth Salad in a jar and apple for breakfast. Layers of yogurt (with little salt, summak and cumin), and diced salad vegetables: tomato, carrot, cucumber and yellow bell pepper. I also put a tablespoon of chia seeds in. Final touch: cucumber flowers and mint, basil and parsley sprigs

Are you an overeater?

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Tags: healthy-eating , health-and-wellbeing

Dear women: Never, EVER try this as a way to lose weight.

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