Why We Eat Too Much

We’re hugely invested in the idea that the cause of obesity lies with diet – and that we should therefore solve the problem with kale and apple soup (and other such products). But the real cause of obesity has nothing to do with food. It lies in our emotional under-nourishment. We will start to eat less when we feel more connected, more understood and more in touch with our feelings.

FURTHER READING

“It’s clear that a great many of us eat too much. And in response, a huge industry has grown up which advises us to consume more quinoa, pomegranate and fennel salad and, as often as we can, kale and apple soup. But this is entirely to misunderstand why we start eating excessive amounts. It has nothing to do food, and therefore trying to change our diet isn’t the most logical place to focus our efforts. We eat too much because what we’re really hungry for isn’t available…”

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CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Thomas O’meara

[theschooloflifetv]

We're fascinated by a certain sort of response to this film which says a variant of: this can't be true because sometimes I was happy and ate a lot. Or: it can't be true because it's just about biology. With respect, we entirely recognise the truth of these lines of argument. But this film, like many of our films, is focused on the emotional component of our behaviour and especially, the emotional relationship we build up with food when emotions with people become a little complicated. We're not saying that food doesn't taste nice; it tastes very nice indeed. We are saying that this niceness becomes all the more important when the rest of life is not showing its niceness to us. The same argument can be made around drugs. Cocaine and heroin can feel very nice indeed - but our susceptibility to this niceness grows acute when our lives are especially disconnected from others and in arduous phases.

[Master_Therion]

We see an advert of a happy couple or family consuming food. It's not the food we crave, but the relationships.
It's false advertising, It's... consumerism.

[grimdhraa]

"we eat too much because what we're really hungry for isn't available"

[me]

This just in. School of Life is starting a restaurant. Speculations say that the name shall be "Food For Thought".

[belle]

Hands up if you are eating while watching this!?

[GreySaltGaming]

This video is basically saying that we subconsciously lust for more than just food. Food is the the shield we use to protect ourselves from that which we don't want to face head on sometimes. Obviously this isn't always the case.

My question is, Why the fuck is there so many people in the comments like "eeh well I'm conscious and I don't do that so this is a dumb video"?

You're either someone that has a healthy relationship with food, someone that has a very high metabolism or you're in denial.

This isn't calling anyone out. I think we need to be more introspective as people. If you blatantly deny every claim you don't like, there is a bigger issue you're avoiding. That's the message I take moving forward from this video.

[Karenyang]

"We eat too much because we hate ourselves too much, to do ourselves the honor of looking after our body."

[navyhusky]

What a fucking convoluted way of saying "we eat to fill the void"

[jamesfrost]

You are probably not thanked enough, School of Life/Alain, for all the hard work and insight you put into these videos. Our world is really starved for practical philosophy, and I and many others have seen our lives improve because of your work. Thank you so much!

[evanvlez]

This channel always tells me what I need in life but not how to get it.

[bolivar]

Because life is mainly about suffering, what matters the most is where you find consolation. And for all of us, the very first consolation we have received in our lives, came from the breast of our mother who fed us. Every time you cried in horror as a baby, it was immediately there and then you felt safe and peaceful again. I guess that's why we turn to food whenever we feel lost, lonely and helpless. But now as adults, the best form of consolation we can find is " connection". Being connected to our inner world first, and then feeling close and connected to everyone around us.

Unfortunately, this is much more difficult to get than your mother's breast! it doesn't come to you just like that when you need it. You may love a lot of people, but still not feel truly safe or at home with them. But thank God there are other options available. You can read a lot of books, listen to beautiful songs, and watch great movies to constantly remind yourself that indeed everyone is suffering the same, even if they don't always dare to talk about it. Just like you. Literature, music and art give us an access to the inner lives of everyone.

"Understanding, tenderness, forgiveness, reconciliation and closeness" aren't always available out there, but what we can do is to keep cultivating them within us. If we offer them first, we may inspire others to open up and be kind to themselves and to everyone else too.

By the way here is a country song I love and as you can imagine, the thing about these tomatoes isn't indeed the fact that they taste so good, but that they give you the feeling of home....


Plant 'em in the spring, eat 'em in the summer
All winter without 'em is a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin' and the diggin'
Every time I go out and pick me a big 'un


When I die don't bury me
In a box in a cold dark cemetery
Out in the garden would be much better
'Cause I could be pushin' up a home grown tomatoes


Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What'd life be without home grown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes


Thank you so much for this valuable lesson and for the excellent animation. By the way I loved your menu! Tenderised maternal love sounds wonderful. But if it's not available, then that scoop of "honeyed insight" five times a day or so, with a huge amount of melting compassion on top of it would be great :- )

[Jump--the-moon]

This is 100% true. Stress eating is real. Especially when you're lonely.

[formergopvoter]

Availability .that's why we eat so much...I grew up dirt poor. .some nights it was a slice of cheap lunch meat and lime juice (for vitamin c) and tap water....trust me -WE DIDN'T OVER EAT

[FlashGame]

Olive Garden picked up on this idea long ago... *When you're here, you're family."*
😭😭😭😭😭

[peneloperivas]

This video needs to be re titled to: How Emotional Eating Happens

[miccacorn]

I have to say I agree with what the video is saying. Some people take emotional eating too far. Me included. I used food not only for solace, but also for protection. When I was large, I was less attractive to men, and at some level I felt safe because of that. I've experienced things early on that hurt my ability to form good relationships with others.

After having an emotional collapse earlier this year, and intensive therapy since, I've come to realise that the claim "dieting is treating the symptoms" in this video is correct. And treating the symptoms will only last so long, until it doesn't anymore. I've claimed that I love food, but what I really meant was I loved eating food. Because it provided solace and protection. Now, I am beginning to form a healthy relationship with food, and I will love it eventually.

Maybe doctors should prescribe therapy rather than diet pills.

But, every case is different. I cannot speak for everyone. I only hope people will have some compassion for others, like the people I now I have in my life.

[ryangarcia]

We're so individualistic in our goals because this capitalist system has shaped us this way. We are overworked or believe we have to overwork ourselves to become successful. Success can only be quantified and only leaves us to becomr more materialistic. True success means finding a life with purpose and a finding a path which respects people and nature at all times.

[mazzystar]

I got the nonification when i was shopping for useless sweets. I felt guilty SEEING SENTENCE WHY WE EAT TOO MUCH And I aggressively put back white chocolate bars and I bought only milk

[MD-wyzm]

Oh man, can't i just eat my pizza without Freud coming into things

[robertanimrod]

I was eating when I got the notification... are you watching me?