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Show Notes:
Have you ever thought, “I don’t even like this that much… so why do I still want more?” In this episode, Georgie explains the difference between wanting and liking—and why urges can stay loud even when pleasure is fading.
You’ll learn how wanting and liking are supported by partly different brain systems: dopamine-heavy motivation circuits help generate the “go get it” drive, while pleasure is more tied to hedonic circuits involving opioid and endocannabinoid signaling. The takeaway: drive and pleasure can decouple. That’s why food can feel magnetic even when it’s not actually delivering much satisfaction.
Georgie also walks through three common reasons wanting can run hotter than liking: cues and habit loops, scarcity, and stress or depletion. You’ll learn how to use a not worth it list, a pleasure check, and the concept of diminishing returns to interrupt the trance of “more will fix it.”
Try this week: Pick one risk food or one risk time when wanting tends to get loud. If you eat, pause partway through and ask: “Am I actually liking this, or am I chasing relief?” If liking is low, try one re-route action from your urge map: nourishment, soft landing, soothing, permission with structure, or breaking a cue chain.
Coming next: What to do in the first 60 seconds of an urge—before it escalates and before you start negotiating with yourself.