Home & Lifestyle, Food, Wellness

Not Too Much

Lesson time 15:35 min

It’s not just the food you eat, but the amount. Michael opens your eyes to the psychological tricks corporations employ to get you to eat more, and shows you how to avoid their traps.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: How the Food Industry Gets You to Eat More • Tips to Prevent Overeating • Confront Food Waste

Michael Pollan

Teaches Intentional Eating

Acclaimed author Michael Pollan teaches you what he’s spent decades researching: how to eat more ethically, healthfully, and sustainably.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] - Let's take apart the second part of my mantra-- not too much-- which is probably the hardest part. It is very hard to reduce our consumption of calories in an environment that has been expressly designed to get you to eat as much as possible. But what we're going to look at here is techniques to help you do exactly that-- to navigate that environment, take back control of how much you're eating from all the marketers that are trying to get you to eat more and more and more. [MUSIC PLAYING] I want to say that eating disorders of all kinds are a serious concern, and anyone dealing with them should seek medical support. But here, I want to focus on overeating. Obesity is a very big public health concern today in many countries. 2/3 of us are overweight or obese. It's becoming the new normal. It increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, for COVID-- for a host of chronic diseases. I've had periods in my life where I weighed 40 or 50 pounds more than I do, and I was a terrible eater. I would have a cheeseburger, french fries, and a beer for lunch every day, and that was the environment in which I was eating. And I didn't have a lot of money. I couldn't buy better quality food. I know as well as anybody how hard it is to reduce your calorie consumption. There are many forces working against you. There is a very powerful industry that has dedicated itself to helping you lose control of your appetite by manipulating you. So you shouldn't feel bad if you're struggling with this. We all struggle with this. The reasons people are overweight do not have to do with a lack of willpower, do not have to do with some kind of character weakness. It's a systemic problem, and it's a metabolic problem. Food is being promoted to us 24/7. It's a very difficult environment in which to eat. Things are sold as being guilt free or shameless, and they're playing with this terrible dialectic in our heads, and that food is on that kind of spectrum. And I just think no, let's not moralize this. But it helps them, because they know that language encourages binge eating. There is nothing wrong with indulgence, but to cast it in moral terms, I mean, we should use the word pleasure rather than indulgence. And there's nothing wrong with pleasure. And taking pleasure in food is just one of the great things about being alive. This isn't about shame. This isn't about guilt. This is about developing a healthier relationship with food, and the goal is not weight loss. The goal is health. But if you're eating well-- if you're eating meals, if you're eating real food, not too much, mostly plants-- if you're concerned about weight, it'll come off as a byproduct of eating in a healthy way, not the goal. There's a concept I've talked about called the fixed stomach. And unlike other products where you could get people to buy a whole lot more than they needed-- unlike shoes or CDs when people bought CDs-- people could only ...

About the Instructor

For more than 30 years, award-winning journalist Michael Pollan has explored the intersection of humans and nature—including groundbreaking probes of the food we eat. Now the NYT bestselling author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” teaches you how to ditch fad diets and eat with intention. From following the food chain to fixing dinner, learn to make choices that reflect what’s important to you.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Michael Pollan

Acclaimed author Michael Pollan teaches you what he’s spent decades researching: how to eat more ethically, healthfully, and sustainably.

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