The Weight Loss Technique That Boosts Commitment

People experience more success with personal goals like weight loss with this technique.

People experience more success with personal goals like weight loss with this technique.

People lose more weight when they share their progress with others online, research finds.

The study shows the benefit of sharing both successes and failures with friends and followers on social media.

People who shared their progress online demonstrated more commitment to changing their eating habits, the study found.

Dr Tonya Williams Bradford, the study’s first author, said:

“Our research finds that individuals are more likely to realize success with personal goals when they make a public commitment to attaining them.

By sharing success and setbacks in virtual support communities on social media, we found people are achieving better results.

This works especially well with goals like weight loss, where before and after images can be shared online with other community members.”

The study followed a group of people who were trying to lose weight over four years.

The results showed that making a public commitment to weight loss made people more likely to follow through.

Dr Bradford explained:

“Through our research we found public commitment, which is a declaration of a position, increases the likelihood of compliance to a course of action and is a key part of a successful weight loss plan.

When people seeking to lose weight join a virtual support community and share their plans online to attain their goals, they invite members to join them by offering encouragement in both words and actions.

This exchange of online support facilitates adherence to the offline goal of losing weight.

Public accountability is key.”

The study was published in the journal Journal of Interactive Marketing (Bradford et al., 2017).

Weight Loss: The Common Drink That Helps Burn Fat

Drinking this will result in greater fat-burning and weight loss.

Drinking this will result in greater fat-burning and weight loss.

Those who want to increase fat burning and weight loss might find drinking a strong cup of coffee 30 minutes before exercise very effective.

Consuming a strong coffee containing 3 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight half-an-hour before a moderate intensity activity greatly enhances burning fat, a study shows.

For instance, a 70 kg or 154 pound person, to ingest 3 mg per kg of body weight requires 210 mg of caffeine in a drink.

A 250 ml cup of coffee typically contains 100 mg of caffeine and a single shot of espresso contains 64 mg caffeine.

Caffeine is a psychoactive substance and a natural stimulant found in coffee beans, cocoa beans, tea leaves, guarana, and kola nuts.

The research team also found that caffeine’s effects are more noticeable if the exercise is done in the afternoon instead of in the morning.

Caffeine, due to its ergogenic [performance enhancing] potential, has been widely sold in the form of supplements to increase sports performance or endurance activities, and aid fat loss.

However, the scientific evidence behind beneficial claims of these supplements is insufficient.

Dr Francisco Amaro-Gahete, the study’s lead author, said:

“The recommendation to exercise on an empty stomach in the morning to increase fat oxidation is commonplace.

However, this recommendation may be lacking a scientific basis, as it is unknown whether this increase is due to exercising in the morning or due to going without food for a longer period of time.”

The aim of this study was to find out if caffeine really enhances fat oxidation or fat burning during exercise.

A group of adults were asked to complete an exercise test four times a week.

They had to take 3 mg/kg of caffeine at 8am or 5pm (half an hour before aerobic exercise) randomly.

Dr Amaro-Gahete said:

“The results of our study showed that acute caffeine ingestion 30 minutes before performing an aerobic exercise test increased maximum fat oxidation during exercise regardless of the time of day.”

The results showed that acute caffeine ingestion followed by moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in the afternoon was more effective in fat burning compared to the morning.

A study on trained athletes found that ergogenic effects from caffeine were more pronounced during cycling performance in the morning than the evening (Boyett et al., 2016).

The study was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (Ramírez-Maldonado et al., 2021).

The Biggest Barrier To Weight Loss Is Psychological

Most people overlook the main barrier to weight loss.

Most people overlook the main barrier to weight loss.

Ninety per cent of people do not realise that emotional eating is a key barrier to weight loss, a survey finds.

Most people think diet and exercise are the biggest barriers to weight loss and reckon without the influence of the mind.

Dr Diane Robinson, a neuropsychologist at Orlando Health, said:

“Most people focus almost entirely on the physical aspects of weight loss, like diet and exercise.

But there is an emotional component to food that the vast majority of people simply overlook and it can quickly sabotage their efforts.”

The survey of over one thousand people found that 31% said that lack of exercise was the biggest barrier to weight loss, while 26% said it is what you eat.

Only 10% agreed that psychological well-being was a key barrier to weight loss.

Dr Robinson said:

“That may explain why so many of us struggle.

In order to lose weight and keep it off long term, we need to do more than just think about what we eat, we also need to understand why we’re eating.

Most people have a very emotional attachment to food.

Food is given to children to make them feel better, it is the central component of celebrations and it creates powerful emotional connections.

Dr Robinson said:

“If we’re aware of it or not, we are conditioned to use food not only for nourishment, but for comfort.

That’s not a bad thing, necessarily, as long as we acknowledge it and deal with it appropriately.”

Eating a satisfying meal releases a ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter called dopamine, said Dr Robinson:

“We feel good whenever that process is activated, but when we start to put food into that equation and it becomes our reward, it can have negative consequences.”

Dr Robinson recommends keeping a food diary to help look for unhealthy eating patterns.

Ensure that food is not being used as a coping mechanism or a reward — but purely for nourishment.

The  survey was commissioned by Orlando Health.

The Most Surprising Barrier To Weight Loss

People in the study had lost an average of 77 pounds and were trying to maintain their weight loss.

People in the study had lost an average of 77 pounds and were trying to maintain their weight loss.

One of the biggest barriers to weight loss is being criticised by others, new research finds.

People trying to lose weight are sometimes sabotaged by others making unkind or sarcastic remarks, such as “You are going to gain it all back!”

Attacks from others may be motivated by jealousy and feelings of  negativity about their own lifestyle.

Afraid of being judged themselves, cruel people lash out at others first.

The conclusions come from a study of 40 people who had lost an average of 77 pounds (35 kg) and were trying to maintain their weight loss.

Researchers interviewed them about their experiences.

Dr Lynsey Romo, the study’s author, said:

“Many times, when someone loses weight, that person’s efforts are undermined by friends, family or coworkers.

This study found that people experience a ‘lean stigma’ after losing weight, such as receiving snide remarks about healthy eating habits or having people tell them that they’re going to gain all of the weight back.”

People who had lost weight said they used all sorts of techniques to try and deal with other people’s comments, Dr Romo explained:

“All 40 of the study participants reported having people in their lives try to belittle or undermine their weight loss efforts.

However, the study found participants used specific communication strategies to cope with lean stigma and maintain both their weight loss and their personal relationships.”

Techniques used included telling people they had lost weight for ‘health reasons’ and to ‘have more energy’.

They also tried to keep their healthy eating subtle.

Dr Romo said:

“Study participants would go out of their way to make clear that they were not judging other people’s choices.

For example, participants would stress that they had changed their eating habits for health reasons, or in order to have more energy.”

The study was published in the journal Health Communication (Romo, 2018).

The Weight Loss Diet That Automatically Stops Overeating

Unlike the Western diet, this diet naturally puts you off overeating.

Unlike the Western diet, this diet naturally puts you off overeating.

No matter how much you like to eat, a Mediterranean-style diet can protect you from overeating.

According to a study, a Mediterranean diet stops the feeling of hunger and over-consumption, unlike the Western diet that causes prediabetes, obesity, and liver disease.

However, a Mediterranean diet can have similar amounts of carbohydrates, fat, and protein to other types of diets because what we eat is important.

Generally, vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, seeds, nuts, olive oil, fish, and seafood are plentiful in the Mediterranean diet.

Researchers have found that animals on a Mediterranean diet didn’t eat all the available food and so didn’t put on weight.

Professor Carol Shively, the study’s first author, said:

“By comparison, the animals on a Western diet ate far more than they needed and gained weight.”

The study compared the impact of consuming a Mediterranean diet with a Western diet on monkeys.

The Western diet was mainly from animal sources, whereas the Mediterranean diet was from plant products but with the same amount of carbohydrates, fat, and protein.

Professor Shively said:

“What we found was that the group on the Mediterranean diet actually ate fewer calories, had lower body weight and had less body fat than those on the Western diet.”

The results show that in contrast to a Western diet, a Mediterranean diet averted binge eating, prediabetes, and obesity.

Moreover, the Mediterranean diet was shown to protect the subjects from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

The build up of excessive fat in the liver causes this condition which leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

NAFLD is a consequence of obesity and sadly it is predicted that one-third of the United States population will have the disease by 2030.

NAFLD is becoming a more frequent reason for liver transplants in young American adults.

Professor Shively said:

“Diet composition is a critically important contributor to the U.S. public health, and unfortunately those at the greatest risk for obesity and related costly chronic diseases also have the poorest quality diets.

The Western diet was developed and promoted by companies who want us to eat their food, so they make it hyper-palatable, meaning it hits all our buttons so we overconsume.

Eating a Mediterranean diet should allow people to enjoy their food and not overeat, which is such a problem in this country.

We hope our findings will encourage people to eat healthier foods that are also enjoyable, and improve human health.”

The study was published in the journal Obesity (Shively et al., 2020).

The Simple Foods Linked To Weight Loss

People automatically consumed 500 calories less per day of these foods without even trying.

People automatically consumed 500 calories less per day of these foods without even trying.

A diet high in whole foods is linked to weight loss, research finds.

Typical whole foods include fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, grains, legumes and seeds.

People automatically ate 500 calories less per day when eating whole foods, the study showed.

Replacing processed foods with unprocessed or whole foods lowers calorie intake.

Processed foods tend to make people eat more even though these foods have exactly the same number of calories, carbs, fats, protein, and fibre as natural or unprocessed foods.

The new study found that people who eat ultra-processed foods ate more calories and put on weight than when they ate a minimally or unprocessed products.

Unprocessed or whole foods are a type of food found in its natural state without any alterations.

They include fruits and vegetables, eggs, grains, legumes, seeds, milk, fish and seafood.

Minimally processed foods are those that might be dried, cut or cooked but nothing is removed from them or added.

Ultra-processed or highly processed are the type of foods that some ingredients are added to them by food and drink manufacturers.

These include additives like high-fructose corn syrup, emulsifiers, flavouring agents, artificial colours, preservatives and hydrogenated oils.

For instance, an unprocessed breakfast would be oatmeal with walnuts, bananas and skimmed milk, while a highly processed breakfast might be made up of a bagel with cream cheese and bacon.

The study recruited a group of healthy adults who received ultra-processed or unprocessed meals for 2 weeks on each diet.

Participants, when they were on the unprocessed diet, ate about 500 calories less per day compared to when they were on the ultra-processed diet.

When they were on the unprocessed diet they lost almost  (2 pounds).

But they gained weight and ate faster when they were on the ultra-processed diet.

Dr Kevin D. Hall, the study’s first author, said:

“Though we examined a small group, results from this tightly controlled experiment showed a clear and consistent difference between the two diets.

This is the first study to demonstrate causality — that ultra-processed foods cause people to eat too many calories and gain weight.”

Extra calories will add up over a period of time, leading to extra weight and then to obesity and other serious health conditions.

Dr Hall said:

“We need to figure out what specific aspect of the ultra-processed foods affected people’s eating behavior and led them to gain weight.

Research like this is an important part of understanding the role of nutrition in health and may also help people identify foods that are both nutritious and accessible — helping people stay healthy for the long term.”

The study was published in Cell Metabolism (Hall et al., 2019).

Weight Loss: This Technique Improves Eating Habits Automatically

It increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which reduces the desire for high-fat foods.

It increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which reduces the desire for high-fat foods.

Commencing an exercise routine helps to improve people’s eating habits automatically, research finds.

People in the study who started exercising improved their diet without consciously trying.

Researchers found that people who used to be sedentary started eating more vegetables, lean meats and fruits after beginning to exercise.

Being more active also led to people avoiding fried foods and sugar.

People made the change spontaneously, without being instructed to by researchers.

The reason could be that exercise increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Dopamine reduces the desire for high-fat foods.

Professor Molly Bray, study co-author, said:

“The process of becoming physically active can influence dietary behavior.

One of the reasons that we need to promote exercise is for the healthy habits it can create in other areas.

That combination is very powerful.”

The study included 2,680 people whose eating and exercise habits were followed.

People who did less than 30 minutes exercise per week began aerobic workouts on three days a week across 15 months.

Each session was half-an-hour long and included a variety of workouts, including using stationary bikes, treadmills and elliptical machines.

The researchers found that people who began working out automatically started eating more healthily.

After beginning to exercise, they also reduced their snacking.

Reducing snacking has also been linked to increased exercise motivation.

So, this suggests the operation of a virtuous circle.

Professor Bray said:

“Many people in the study didn’t know they had this active, healthy person inside them.

Some of them thought their size was inevitable.

For many of these young people, they are choosing what to eat and when to exercise for the first time in their lives.”

Regular jogging is the best exercise for weight loss, some research concludes.

Other exercises that are good for combating a genetic predisposition towards obesity are:

  • walking and power walking,
  • formal dancing, such as the waltz, tango, foxtrot and quickstep.
  • mountain climbing,
  • and practising yoga for a long period.

The study was published in the International Journal of Obesity (Joo et al., 2019).

Weight Loss: The Mental Technique That Improves Motivation

People using this technique lost 5 percent of their body weight.

People using this technique lost 5 percent of their body weight.

People who focus on personal reasons for losing weight can boost their motivation and increase their success, a study finds.

Personal reasons include the pleasure from success, a deep-seated desire or enjoying something for its own sake.

These are known as ‘intrinsic motivations’ to psychologists and they are linked to greater weight loss success.

In contrast, focusing on things like guilt and pressure from others is less effective for weight loss — as well as any other long-term goal.

For the study, 66 people were tracked over 12 weeks as they tried to lose weight.

Psychologists measured the different types of motivations people had for losing weight as they went along.

The results revealed that people who went on to sustain a 5 percent weight loss were those who focused on personal reasons for losing weight.

Successful dieters monitored their own progress more carefully, the study found.

People who were less successful saw a drop in both types of motivation.

The study’s authors write:

“It appears that the time period between 4 and 8 weeks may be an important window for weight control programs to consider using techniques designed to enhance autonomous motivation, including giving more intense support or different types of interventions, such as activities to enhance autonomous motivation or contact from a weight-loss counselor in the form of e-mails, phone calls, or face-to-face meetings.

It is possible that motivation measured a few weeks after the study has begun more accurately captures motivation than baseline motivation for weight loss since participants have become familiar with the behavior changes that will be necessary for weight loss and can better gauge their motivation for making those changes.

These findings suggest that building motivation may be an effective means of promoting adherence and weight loss.”

The study was published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (Webber et al., 2010).

The Fastest Weight Loss Exercise Is So Simple

The exercise can be done in as little as a 20-minutes and can triple weight loss.

The exercise can be done in as little as a 20-minutes and can triple weight loss.

Exercising using high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the best exercises for weight loss, research concludes.

HIIT can be done in as little as a 20-minute workout and is linked to a tripling in weight loss by some studies.

A HIIT exercise session of just 20 minutes can produce the same amount of weight loss as exercising continuously for an hour.

There are different ways of doing HIIT, but some people use bicycles, running, jogging or a variety of other exercises.

The important thing is to do short bursts at a high intensity — this involves going all-out for 30 seconds or so and then easing off, before another bout of high intensity exercise.

Despite burning fewer calories, HIIT can increase weight loss to a greater extent.

Dr Eric Plaisance, study co-author, said:

“The number one reason that people tell us they do not exercise is due to a lack of time.

High-intensity interval training takes about a third of the time as a continuous exercise training.

If you are going to start a diet where you are restricting calories, these results could help prevent muscle mass and maintain energy expenditure.”

The current study was carried out on mice, but others on humans have found it can triple weight loss.

HIIT can help preserve muscle mass and improve how the body deals with glucose, Dr Plaisance said:

“One of the major problems when you restrict calories on a diet is that you lose muscle mass, and as a result, your metabolism slows down to accommodate the restriction of food.

Eighty percent of people who lose weight by dieting gain all of it back in a four- to five-year period.”

The study was published in the American Journal of Physiology – Endocrinology And Metabolism (Davis et al., 2017).

The Diet Pattern That Leads To Weight Loss

A dietary pattern that is linked to weight loss.

A dietary pattern that is linked to weight loss.

When it comes to losing weight, we generally focus on a diet plan that takes both calorie intake and burning calories into account.

But when you eat can be equally as important in order to lose weight.

Eating earlier

Professor Frank Scheer, the study’s co-author, said:

“This is the first large-scale prospective study to demonstrate that the timing of meals predicts weight-loss effectiveness.

Our results indicate that late eaters displayed a slower weight-loss rate and lost significantly less weight than early eaters, suggesting that the timing of large meals could be an important factor in a weight loss program.”

In order to examine the effect of food timing on weight loss plans, the research team tracked 420 overweight adults in Spain.

Participants were assigned to two groups; one early-eater and the other late-eater.

Both groups had to follow a weight loss diet for 20 weeks.

People in the Mediterranean tend to eat their largest meal at midday so the focus was on lunch timing with the meal contributing 40 percent of daily calories.

The early-eater group had their lunch any time before 3 pm while late-eaters had their meal after 3 pm.

The team found that early-eaters showed a faster metabolic rate (burning calories) and so they lost more weight than late-eaters.

Also late-eaters had low insulin sensitivity, a blood sugar disorder which can lead to type 2 diabetes.

In this study, timing for smaller meals didn’t show as strong an effect on weight loss as the timing for the main meal.

One explanation is that late eaters either skipped their breakfast or ate less in the morning compared to early eaters.

There were no differences in energy expenditure, daily calorie intake, sleeping hours, and appetite hormones in both groups, meaning that the meal timing had an independent effect on losing weight.

Professor Marta Garaulet, the study’s first author, said:

“This study emphasizes that the timing of food intake itself may play a significant role in weight regulation.

Novel therapeutic strategies should incorporate not only the caloric intake and macronutrient distribution, as it is classically done, but also the timing of food.”

The study was published in the International Journal of Obesity (Garaulet et al., 2013).