The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat

by Stephan Guyenet

as your body size changes, your body’s energy needs change too. To illustrate the principle, think of your adipose tissue as a bank account. If you start out with $10,000 in savings, an income of $1,000 a month, and expenditures of $1,000 a month, in a year, your account will still contain $10,000. Now, imagine you get a raise and your earnings climb to $2,000 a month. At first, your lifestyle remains the same and you only spend $1,000 a month, saving the extra $1,000 per month. But gradually, you start to think it would be nice to have that new computer or fancy pair of shoes. You move into a nicer apartment. Your lifestyle expands, and your expenditures creep up. Six months after your raise, you’re spending $1,500 per month, and after a year, you’re spending the full $2,000 a month. Over this year, your bank account has been accumulating money, but at a gradually slowing rate, until accumulation stops when your expenditures match your income. Your account balance plateaus at about $16,000, and it remains there until your income or expenditures change.