Category: Weight Loss

Over one thousand psychologists agree on the biggest barrier to weight loss.

The greatest barrier to weight loss is emotional eating, a survey of psychologists finds.

Losing weight is about addressing the issues behind emotional eating.

So said almost every psychologist polled about successful weight loss.

Emotional eating refers to the way in which the emotions can trigger eating.

One example might be responding to feeling bored by eating a bag of chips.

Another might be reacting to feeling sad by eating ice cream.

Emotional eating often begins in childhood when treats are given as rewards for good behaviour.

Psychologists help people break the cycle of emotional eating by identifying situations and feelings that trigger it.

Changing the habit is about spotting the triggers and then changing the response.

Strategies psychologists recommend to help with this process include mindfulness, cognitive therapy and problem-solving.

Professor Norman B. Anderson, an expert on mind/body health, said:

“Anyone who has ever tried to lose a few pounds and keep them off knows that doing so isn’t easy.

The good news is that research and clinical experience have shown that, in addition to behavioral approaches, cognitive behavioral therapy that targets emotional barriers helps people lose weight.”

The survey included 1,328 licensed psychologists who were asked how they helped their clients lose weight.

The need to target emotional issues was highlighted by 92 percent of respondents.

Professor Anderson said:

“Although it is generally accepted that weight problems are most often caused by a combination of biological, emotional, behavioral and environmental issues, these new results show the key role of stress and emotional regulation in losing weight.

Therefore, the best weight loss tactics should integrate strategies to address emotion and behavior as well as lifestyle approaches to exercise and making healthy eating choices.”

The study was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center for the American Psychological Association.

A study identifies the belief that could be crucial to inspiring healthy eating and weight loss.

People who believe they have control of their weight — and that they were not ‘born fat’ — eat more healthily, a study finds.

Believing that DNA does not totally determine weight is also linked to higher personal well-being.

The authors of the study explain:

“If an individual believes weight to be outside of the influence of diet and exercise, she or he may engage in more behaviors that are rewarding in the short term, such as eating unhealthful foods and avoiding exercise, rather than healthful behaviors with more long-term benefits for weight management.

By fighting the perception that weight is unchangeable, health care providers may be able to increase healthful behaviors among their patients.”

Feeling in control

The study of almost 10,000 people found that with age, believing you are in control of your weight was linked to more healthy eating behaviours.

People who felt in control took more notice of nutrition labels on food and were more likely to have fruit and vegetables at home.

They were also less likely to eat frozen meals, unhealthy restaurant food and ‘ready-to-eat’ foods.

People who thought their weight was controllable also took more exercise and had higher well-being.

The study found little difference between men and women:

“Although previous research has found gender differences in weight as a motivation for exercise and healthful eating, we did not find evidence that gender affected the relationship between health beliefs and physical activity or healthful eating.

However, we found evidence that the relationship between belief in weight changeability and exercise, healthful eating, and unhealthful eating differs by age.”

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The study was published in the journal Health Education & Behavior (Parent & Alquist, 2015)

The extract stimulates the “good” fat in the body, resulting in weight loss.

Mulberries may boost weight loss, research finds.

They can also lower blood pressure and decrease ‘bad’ cholesterol.

Mulberries contain a natural compound called rutin that activates brown fat and improves energy metabolism, the process of producing energy from food, helping boost weight loss.

Rutin is a compound found in many fruits and vegetables, especially in citrus fruits (citrus flavonoid).

Buckwheat, capers, raspberries, asparagus, tomatoes, plums, apricots, grapes, green tea and olives are also high in rutin.

A study used rutin extracted from mulberry to find out if this compound can reduce the fat in body cells.

They used obese mice for this study and fed them 1 mg/ml of rutin by adding it to their drinking water for 10 weeks.

Rutin treatment reduced body fat remarkably, increased calorie burning and lowered blood glucose levels.

Rutin can stimulate brown fat, a specific fat that gets activated when the body feels cold.

This good fat generates heat by burning energy to keep the body temperature under control during exposure to cold conditions.

Rutin has the ability to act as a cold mimetic by increasing the action of a protein coding gene in brown fat cells.

Moreover, rutin can produce brown-like (beige) fat in the innermost layer of skin that is made of fat and connective tissues.

Therefore, the increased activity of brown fat cells and formation of beige fat cells can be an effective way to fight obesity and its related disorders, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Dr Wanzhu Jin, study co-author, said:

“The beneficial effects of rutin on BAT-mediated metabolic improvement have evoked a substantial interest in the potential treatment for obesity and its related diseases, such as diabetes.

In line with this idea, discovery of more safe and effective BAT activators is desired to deal with obesity and its related diseases.”

Rutin is completely safe since it is used clinically for the treatment of capillary fragility (when the smallest blood vessels become weak) without showing any side effect.

In general, mulberry is high in antioxidants and flavonoids, providing many health benefits such as anti-cancer activity, an anti-inflammatory effect and lowering of blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

The study was published in The FASEB Journal (Yuan et al., 2016).

The easy technique can help to double weight loss.

The more a person weighs themselves, the more weight they lose.

Similarly, keeping a note of what is eaten is consistently linked to weight loss by studies.

Taking a quick note of daily diet and exercise habits has been shown to double weight loss by one study.

The process of making notes does not have to be complicated — in fact, most people find it easy.

Simply sending a text message or email is enough.

Noting down details of diet and exercise probably works by making people more aware of their own habits.

Habits tend to work automatically and outside our conscious awareness.

Note-taking and weighing draw attention to those habits so they can be consciously addressed.

The current study involved 975 people who were tracked over twelve months.

People in the study were using internet-enabled scales.

The results showed that people who stepped on their scales more often lost an average of an extra 2 pounds.

Dr Matthew Sperrin, the study’s first author, said:

“In this study we wanted to know more about the ways that engagement with weighing scales indicates the users’ behaviour, something that is only possible with recent advances in technology.”

Dr Sperrin explained the results:

“…we were able to spot a strong correlation between self-weighing and weight-loss, particularly that the more a patient weighed themselves, the more weight they were shown to lose.

Is it the weight change that encourages people to more closely monitor their weight or is it the monitoring that encourages the weight change?

This is something we would be keen to investigate further now that we know that the information gathered by connected health devices can be re-purposed and meaningfully used for the purpose of research.”

The study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (Sperrin et al., 2016).

Study participants lost weight without dieting or making other lifestyle changes.

Taking a vitamin D supplement is repeatedly linked to weight loss by studies.

People taking vitamin D lose weight without dieting or making other lifestyle changes.

Adding in dieting and exercise can help to boost weight loss even more.

One study has shown that people drinking more milk, which contains vitamin D and calcium, can double weight loss.

The new study included 50 overweight and obese women.

Half of them received doses of vitamin D equivalent to almost 10,000 IU per day over six weeks.

The study’s authors write:

“Previous studies had shown that the vitamin D deficiency is more prevalent in obese people and there was an inverse association between vitamin D, body mass index, and weight.”

The other half received a placebo that they were told was vitamin D, but was in fact inert.

The researchers measured people’s weight, waist and hip circumference, cholesterol and other biological markers, before and after supplementation.

The results showed that people taking vitamin D lost 3.5 pounds after taking vitamin D for six weeks.

The study’s authors explain the results:

“The findings of this double-blind clinical trial study in obese and overweight women aged 20–40 years showed that supplementation of the vit D with dozes 50,000 IU/w for 6 weeks reduced significantly the mean BMI [body mass index], weight and on the other hand, it increased significantly the level of vit D in comparison with the control group.”

The average weight loss was around 3.5 pounds in the vitamin D group compared with no change in the control group.

Around half the world’s population is deficient in vitamin D.

Foods that are rich in vitamin D include oily fish and eggs, but most people get their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin.

The study was published in the International Journal of Preventative Medicine (Khosravi et al., 2019).

The way of thinking is linked to a 34 percent lower obesity risk.

People who think mindfully have less belly fat.

Mindfulness is not only linked to a reduced amount of abdominal fat, but also a 34 percent lower chance of being obese.

Being mindful does not necessarily mean meditating, it can just mean everyday mindfulness.

Some people are naturally more mindful, but the trait can be trained.

Many of the things people consume, they do so automatically, without attending to the consequences.

Attention to the present moment may also help overcome a common aversion to exercising.

The conclusions come from a study that included 394 people.

They were tested for mindfulness and scanned for body mass.

People with low levels of mindfulness tended to agree with statements like:

• I find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present.
• I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until some time later.

The results showed a modest link between higher mindfulness and a lower risk of being obese.

Mindfulness probably helps reduce belly fat by increasing awareness of eating and drinking behaviours.

Eating is so routine that we easily zone out from the experience.

While the mind wanders, though, eating can continue automatically.

Studies have shown that people eat more when they are distracted, like when watching TV or talking with friends.

Unfortunately, when not focusing on our food, we tend to eat more and get less enjoyment from it.

The positive effects of mindfulness extend out to physical features like lower blood pressure and lower cortisol levels.

In addition to its physical benefits, mindfulness has been shown to have therapeutic benefits in depression, anxiety, substance abuse, chronic pain and eating disorders.

The study was published in the journal International Journal of Behavioral Medicine (Loucks et al., 2015).

Up to 40 percent of the population have a vitamin D deficiency.

Taking vitamin D supplements is linked to losing four times as much weight, research finds.

People who took a vitamin D supplement also doubled the number of inches by which they reduced their waistlines.

As many as 40 percent of the population have a vitamin D deficiency.

A deficiency in this vitamin has been linked to increased inflammation the body.

Foods that are rich in vitamin D include oily fish and eggs, but most people get their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin.

Being deficient in vitamin D is repeatedly linked to being overweight and obese.

The conclusions come from a study of 400 obese and overweight people, all of whom had a vitamin D deficiency.

All were put on a low-calorie diet, but they were split into three groups, with each given different amounts of vitamin D supplementation.

One had none, another had 3,000 IU per day and the remainder had 800 IU per day.

After six months, the results showed that those taking the highest amount of 3,000 per day had lost 12 pounds.

Those taking 800 IU per day had lost 8 pounds and those taking none lost just 2.6 pounds.

The study’s authors explain the results:

“The present data indicate that in obese and overweight people with vitamin D deficiency, vitamin D supplementation aids weight loss and enhances the beneficial effects of a reduced-calorie diet.”

The results also revealed that vitamin D helped people lose more from their waistlines.

The group taking 3,000 IU per day lost two inches in comparison to just 1 inch in the control group.

The researchers conclude:

“All people affected by obesity should have their levels of vitamin D tested to see if they are deficient, and if so, begin taking supplements.”

The study was presented at the European Congress on Obesity, 2015 (Vigna et al., 2015).

The overweight, obese and old can lose the same amount of weight as the young by making these changes.

Contrary to the current belief, age does not hinder weight loss.

A study finds that obese patients aged 60 years or even older are able to lose the very same amounts of weight as younger patients.

The weight loss plans are similarly effective for older persons, using lifestyle changes which include psychological support, dietary modification, and boosting physical activity.

Researchers from the Warwickshire Institute enrolled 242 morbidly obese patients and provided them lifestyle weight loss interventions from 2005 to 2016.

The results show that those were 60 or older lost 7.3 percent of their weight while the younger group achieved a 6.9 percent weight reduction.

All the patients who were assigned to the hospital‐based obesity service at WISDEM Centre received a lifestyle intervention programme.

Each patient received an individual lifestyle-based change plan concentrating on healthy diet, change in eating habits, encouraging exercise and psychological help.

Obesity is associated with greater mental problems and death.

Losing weight can reduce over 50 comorbid conditions such as osteoarthritis, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety, and depression in obese individuals.

Dr Thomas Barber, the study’s lead author, said:

“Weight loss is important at any age, but as we get older we’re more likely to develop the weight-related co-morbidities of obesity.

Many of these are similar to the effects of aging, so you could argue that the relevance of weight loss becomes heightened as we get older, and this is something that we should embrace.

There are a number of reasons why people may discount weight loss in older people.

These include an ‘ageist’ perspective that weight-loss is not relevant to older people and misconceptions of reduced ability of older people to lose weight through dietary modification and increased exercise.

Older people may feel that hospital-based obesity services are not for them.

Service providers and policymakers should appreciate the importance of weight loss in older people with obesity, for the maintenance of health and wellbeing, and the facilitation of healthy ageing.

Furthermore, age per se should not contribute towards clinical decisions regarding the implementation of lifestyle management of older people.

Age should be no barrier to lifestyle management of obesity.

Rather than putting up barriers to older people accessing weight loss programmes, we should be proactively facilitating that process.

To do otherwise would risk further and unnecessary neglect of older people through societal ageist misconceptions.”

Related

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The study was published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology (Leyden et al., 2020).

Psychology study finds way out of exercise-more-then-eat-more trap.

A strange thing happen when people start exercising to lose weight.

Despite burning more calories, they frequently fail to shed the pounds.

One reason people give is that they start eating more.

It makes sense: you burn more calories, so you eat more, so you end up where you started, right?

Which leads to the question: why bother exercising for weight-loss?

The answer is: because it’s fun.

And in this one small word ‘fun’ may be a way out of this vicious circle of exercising more, then eating more.

It’s this thought that inspired Carolina Werle and colleagues to set up an experiment to test the effects on snacking of  ‘doing exercise’ versus just ‘having fun’ (Werle et al., 2014).

To investigate, they asked 56 mostly overweight women to take a half-hour walk, after which they would be served lunch.

But there was a little trick to how this walk was framed:

• Half the women were told it was exercise and that they should monitor their exertion.
• Half were told they were just having fun and they should listen to music on their walk and enjoy themselves.

Afterwards, while relaxing and eating their lunch, and without knowing it, the women demonstrated what the difference was between ‘exercising’ and ‘having fun’.

Not only were women who’d been ‘having fun’ happier and less tired after their walk, but they also ate less pudding and drank less soda.

Overall, despite burning the same amount of calories while walking, women who’d been walking for pleasure ate less afterwards.

The reason for this difference seems to be in how framing exercise affects people’s search for rewards:

“Engaging in a physical activity seems to trigger the search for reward when individuals perceive it as exercise but not when they perceive it as fun.” (Werle et al., 2014).

So the best advice is: stop exercising and go out and have fun.

If you accidentally happen to do some exercise while enjoying yourself, so much the better!

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• Weight Loss: The 16 Best Psychological Techniques (P)