Sugardude, glad to see you back here and posting. I'm eager to hear this new approach you have embarked upon.
I agree with you that deconditioning of appetite is essential to sustainable fat loss. It is equally important to fundamentally alter metabolism by upgregulating receptors, enzymes and hormones involved in glucose and fatty acid transport. Medications, supplements, special diets, exercise programs and even attempts to re-set basal metabolic rate through thermogenesis do not fundamentally change the way we respond to foods; nor do they change our metabolic "hardware". So you remain vulnerable to relapse whenever you experience the combination of low energy, stress and an appetite "trigger".
The only way I see to reverse this is to simultaneously decrease your responsiveness to appetite cues and increase your ability to quickly release glucose and fatty acids from your glycogen and adipose tissue. The best way to achieve the first is by actively re-training your response to foods using cue exposure and learning to "schedule" your eating so that it becomes disconnected from appetite signals. The best way to achieve the second is to find ways to deliberately lower your basal insulin levels, though intermittent fasting (with scheduled eating) and occasional, brief high intensity exercise. This will increase the density and sensitivity of GLUT4 receptors in muscle tissue, will suppress LPL and ASP and will increase glycogenoslysis and lipolysis via HSL, glucagon, epinephrine and norepinephrine, so that you are never starved for immediate energy. The deconditioning also helps here by suppressing cephalic phase insulin that can stoke your appetite. These metabolic changes take weeks to occur, so one must be consistent and patient during the "remodelling" phase.
Having a sugar addiction adds an additional twist: Sugar addicts, like cocaine addicts, have been shown to have a fewer and more resistant dopamine, insulin, and leptin receptors in certain areas of the hypothalamus (the brain's appetite center). According to
Lustig,
...insulin and leptin..modify the 'hedonic pathway' (which regulates pleasurable and motivating responses to stimuli). This pathway localizes to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NA), with inputs from [various sensory pathways]...The VTA initiates feeding on the basis of palatabilty rather than energy need....Leptin and insulin receptors are expressed in the VTA, and both hormones have been implicated in modulating rewarding responses to food and other pleasurable stimuli...food restriction (during which insulin and leptin levels are low) increase the addictive properties of drugs of abuse...Obesity also results in decreased density of D2 dopamine receptors as measured by PET scanning. In the short term, insulin increases expression and activity of dopamine transporter, which clears and removes dopamine from the synapse; thus acute insulin expsosure blunts the reward of food in rats...CNS insulin resistance sets the stage for unchecked caloric intake in the face of positive energy balance, as evidenced experimentally by brain-specific insulin receptor knockout mice. By altering hedonic responses to food intake, insulin resistance at the VTA may drive excessive energy intake.
So trying to reduce your insulin levels via food restriction and exercise will
in the short term increase the addictive attraction of food (and drugs) by starving the brain of dopamine, which is bad news if you have a low number of insulin and dopamine receptors! This means that it is not easy to reverse sugar cravings!! I've written more about this in my post,
Change your receptors, change your set point.
The only way I can see to get out of this vicious cycle is to grow more insulin and dopamine receptors! Unlike supplements, diets and aerobic exercise, deconditioning and basal insulin lowering will permanently change the way your "machine" operates, rather than than temporarily making the "dials" change. Psychologically, it is extremely important to recognize that these changes in receptor levels and sensitivity take weeks to occur, so patience and consistency are essential. On the flip side, it should provide positive motivation to endure the temporary discomfort and low energy levels, once you realize that by growing new receptors (and establishing alternate reward pathways) you are making permanent, sustainable changes to your body and your eating behavior.
Good luck!
Todd
