The dopamine always wins!

Ever since I visited India, I have appreciated Indian cuisine as the most flavourful food you can find. Add some spicy chutney to that and I’m in heaven! So, is it any wonder that when I go to my favourite Indian Buffet, I come away feeling like I ate too much?

Every time, I promise myself that I will eat less. But once I walk into the restaurant and smell the insanely wonderful odours wafting from over 30 different dishes, my resolve melts away.

Why is that?

I’m no expert, but here’s my theory: dopamine equals motivation. The desire to eat a smaller amount of food is like any other desire – it comes from dopamine. I’m caught in a quandary: the dopamine I need to maintain my resolve is the same dopamine that will make me crave another samosa!

We’re told to blame ourselves and our lack of willpower. But maybe we need to look to the real culprit – our own brains.

Here’s my solution to the quandary: STOP FIGHTING THE DOPAMINE!

Befriend your dopamine. Turn the enemy into an ally. Get to know how motivation works. Intimately.

You know who already knows dopamine really well?

Drug dealers. Casinos. Fast food companies. Social media. Tobacco companies.

And they use what they know about dopamine against us, to get our attention, motivate us to try their product, and keep us hooked. They are trillion dollar industries with thousands of scientists who study human addiction in order to make profits.

My only weapon is mindfulness. I can turn my attention inward with open curiosity and ask: how does MY dopamine work? What can I learn by observing how MY motivation goes up and down throughout the day?

The folks trying to keep me hooked on their product are just trying to make a living, and if exploiting my brain physiology helps them do that, well, they’ll exploit it. They have a million scientists perfecting their formulas and strategies day in and day out.

I don’t stand a chance against them, unless I get to know MY dopamine in the only way they can’t – FROM THE INSIDE.

I can observe cravings, feel their pull, and experiment with different ways to let that pull pass – without doing anything about it. I can experience the waves of desire and craving come and go throughout the day, observing how strong the waves are at different times and in different contexts.

The folks whose jobs it is to get me addicted have their EEGs and their FMRIs to study human addiction. And I have mindfulness to protect myself from them.

Only I can know what my experience is – the ups and downs of resisting temptation and cravings. By paying close attention, I believe I can get to know my dopamine well enough to survive the onslaught from the addiction experts.

I’ll become the ULTIMATE expert on MY dopamine!

What’s the expression?

“If you can’t beat them, join them!”