Category: Weight Loss

This vital weight loss technique is nothing to do with diet and exercise.

Learning to love your body, however it looks, can triple weight loss efforts.

Dieters in the study learned to be less concerned about their size and weight and other people’s opinions of them.

They were also encouraged to think that how their body looks is not as important as they think.

Happily, the researchers found, people with an improved body image, automatically eat more healthily.

The study shows that hating your own body is one of the biggest barriers to weight loss.

It is well-known that people who are overweight often have body image problems.

Overcoming these problems — especially worrying about what other people think — is hugely beneficial to weight loss.

For the study, 239 overweight women followed a standard program of diet and exercise for one year.

Half were given a special course designed to improve their body image.

This included sessions on the emotional aspects of losing weight.

This is because some overweight people tend towards emotional eating.

Emotional eating means that negative moods trigger bouts of eating to feel better, rather than eating to satiate hunger.

The women were also encouraged to love their bodies, whatever its size and shape.

The results showed that those who improved their body image lost an average of 7 percent — more than triple the weight loss of the control group.

Dr Pedro Teixeira, study co-author, said:

“Body image problems are very common amongst overweight and obese people, often leading to comfort eating and more rigid eating patterns, and are obstacles to losing weight.

Our results showed a strong correlation between improvements in body image, especially in reducing anxiety about other people’s opinions, and positive changes in eating behavior.

From this we believe that learning to relate to your body in healthier ways is an important aspect of maintaining weight loss and should be addressed in every weight control program.”

The study was published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (Carraça et al., 2011).

This type of vegetable oil targets abdominal fat, trimming the belly in only one month.

High-oleic acid canola oil can help cut down belly fat in four weeks, research finds.

Canola oil-based diets have also been shown to lower cholesterol levels and provide health benefits in obese people.

Canola oil is low in saturated fat but high in monounsaturated fatty acids and mainly used in cooking and salad dressing.

Excess belly fat, which is located in the abdominal area, is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome.

This medical condition is a combination of high blood pressure, obesity, and type 2 diabetes which puts a person at greater risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.

Almost one in three US adults, one in four adults in the UK, and one in five Canadian adults have metabolic syndrome.

But a study has found that canola oil can reduce abdominal obesity in people who are at higher risk for metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic disease.

Professor Penny Kris-Etherton explained:

“Visceral, or abdominal, fat increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, and is also associated with increased risk for conditions such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Monounsaturated fats in canola oil decrease this fat that has adverse health effects.”

Participants in this study had abdominal obesity and either had metabolic syndrome or were at risk for it.

Participants followed five diets to test different five oils, but only the canola oil diet led to abdominal fat loss.

Based on participants’ daily calorie needs, the quantity of treatment oil was calculated.

For instance, a person on a 3,000-calorie diet would have 60 grams of canola oil a day to make up 18 percent of this calorie intake.

They drank two smoothies every day and each smoothie contained 30 grams of canola oil (two tablespoons) with 100 grams of non-fat milk, 100 grams of orange sherbet, and 100 grams of frozen unsweetened strawberries.

The results showed a reduction of 1.6 percent in belly fat after four weeks consumption of high-oleic acid canola oil a day.

Professor Kris-Etherton said:

“As a general rule, you can’t target weight loss to specific body regions.

But monounsaturated fatty acids seem to specifically target abdominal fat.”

Canola oil is extracted from rapeseed and there is a concern about rapeseed oil.

Rapeseed contains erucic acid which is toxic to humans when consumed in large amounts.

However, if canola oil contains less than 2 percent erucic acid, it is generally recognized as safe.

The study was published in the journal Obesity (Liu et al., 2016).

How to feel more full without eating anything.

Looking at pictures of food on a phone is enough to satisfy hunger and could be used as a weight loss technique, research suggests.

People who saw the same image of a sweet food 30 times felt more full without actually eating anything.

It is because how we think about food has a large effect on appetite.

Dr Tjark Andersen, the study’s first author, said:

“In our experiments, we showed that when the participants saw the same food picture 30 times, they felt more satiated than before they had seen the picture.

The participants who were shown the picture many times also chose a smaller portion than those who had only seen the picture three times, when we subsequently asked about the size of portion they wanted.”

The reason people can feel satisfied without eating anything is because thinking about something, such as eating, is like doing it.

In contrast, how we think about food can also make us want more, despite already being satisfied.

Dr Andersen explained:

“Your appetite is more closely linked with your cognitive perception than most of us think.

How we think about our food is very important.

Studies have shown that if you make people aware of different colors of Jelly Beans, even if they have eaten all they can in red Jelly Beans, will still want the yellow ones.

Even if both colors taste completely the same.”

In that case it is thinking about the variety or novelty of the ‘yellow ones’ that makes people want more, not hunger.

How many images?

This is not the first study to show that looking at images of food reduces hunger and reduces the pleasure from eating.

However, what Dr Andersen and colleagues wanted to explore was how many and what types of images work best:

“We know from previous studies that images of different types of food don’t have the same effect on satiety.

That’s why you can really feel full after the main course but still have room for dessert.

Sweet things are a completely different type of food.”

Dr Andersen’s online experiments included over 1,000 people shown pictures of M&Ms and Skittles.

The results showed that seeing two or three images of a food makes people want them more.

However, seeing these sweet foods 30 times reduced their appetite.

Weight loss technique?

Looking at images of food as a weight loss technique, then, is only likely to be effective if, firstly, one looks at enough pictures.

A few images makes people want the foods more.

Secondly, looking at images will have to stop you beginning a meal.

Dr Andersen explained:

“You won’t save many calories unless you completely refrain from starting a meal.

But perhaps the method can be used for this as well.

It’d be interesting to investigate.”

Dr Andersen imagines an app that might help satiate hunger:

“Think if you developed an app based on a Google search. Let’s say you wanted pizza.

You open the app.

Choose pizza—and it shows a lot of photos of pizza while you imagine eating it. In this way, you could get a sense of satiety and maybe just stop wanting pizza.”

Related

• Playing a simple game on a phone can help to reduce food cravings.
• The best way to deal with food cravings is to accept them.
• …and here are 10 more techniques to stop food cravings.

The study was published in the journal Appetite (Andersen et al., 2023).

Lose weight with no effort using the ripple effect.

People whose partners are trying to lose weight also lose weight themselves — without trying, research demonstrates.

The non-dieting member of a couple lost an average of 4 lbs of their body weight, even though they made no effort to diet or increase their exercise.

Dubbed ‘the ripple effect’, weight loss spreads out from the person who is dieting to close others.

Professor Amy Gorin, the study’s first author, said:

“When one person changes their behavior, the people around them change.

Whether the patient works with their healthcare provider, joins a community-based, lifestyle approach like Weight Watchers, or tries to lose weight on their own, their new healthy behaviors can benefit others in their lives.”

For the study, one half of 130 couples either joined a diet programme or were put in a self-guided control group.

After six months, the untreated spouses of people in both groups had lost an average of over 4 lbs.

In other words, whether their spouse was following a specific diet programme or in the control group, their partner often lost weight.

In fact, around one-third of ‘untreated’ partners lost at least 3 percent of their body weight in six months.

Professor Gorin said:

“How we change our eating and exercise habits can affect others in both positive and negative ways.

On the positive side, spouses might emulate their partner’s behaviors and join them in counting calories, weighing themselves more often, and eating lower-fat foods.”

It is not yet known if the weight loss ripple effect includes other members of a household and not just couples.

The study was published in the journal Obesity (Gorin et al., 2018).

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

People who think mindfully have less belly fat, research finds.

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 (try these mindfulness exercises).

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).

Belly fat is the fat that surrounds the vital organs, deep in the belly.

Foods containing fibre, like fruit and vegetables, can help to reduce weight and belly fat, research finds.

Supplementation with psyllium, which is full of fibre and available as a supplement, can also reduce belly fat.

Adding as little as 10 grams of soluble fibre per day has been shown to reduce belly fat by 4 percent.

Exercise on top increases this figure to 7 percent.

Belly fat is the fat that surrounds the vital organs, deep in the belly.

Unfortunately, there is no miracle food that can reduce belly fat on its own.

However, eating a heart-healthy diet high in fibre can help to reduce abdominal fat.

Fibre helps to reduce belly fat by turning to a gel during digestion.

As a result people feel more full, among other benefits, stopping from eating more.

One type of food that contains high amounts of fibre is psyllium, a plant sometimes used as a food ingredient.

A study has tested the effects of psyllium supplementation on visceral or belly fat.

The research included 45 health adolescents who were given 6g per day of psyllium or a placebo.

The adolescents made no other changes to their diet or lifestyle.

After six weeks, the results showed that supplementation with psyllium had reduced belly fat and decreased levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol.

The study’s authors describe the results:

“Our data show that even in the context of a relatively short intervention, psyllium supplementation improves LDL cholesterol and android fat to gynoid fat ratio [in other words, it reduced belly fat].

Our study corroborates previous data showing that psyllium has lipid lowering properties in children and adolescents.

The 6% improvement in LDL cholesterol concentrations we observed is comparable to other studies that have shown improvements of 0–23% using psyllium doses ranging from 5–25 g/day.”

The study was published in the journal PLoS One (de Bock et al., 2012).

People in the study lost 14 pounds, on average, while eating as many calories as they liked.

A diet high in healthy carbohydrates and low in fat can lead to weight loss, recent research finds.

People in the study lost 14 pounds, on average, following a vegan diet in which they could eat as many calories as they liked.

They only had to avoid consuming more than 20-30 mg of fat each day and, naturally, avoid all meat products.

Another study has shown that going on a plant-based vegetarian diet can double weight loss (Kahleova et al., 2017).

Vegetarian diets can add up to 10 pounds of weight loss compared to traditional diets, research has found.

Not only can a high-carb diet lead to weight loss, it also leads to improved insulin function.

The study may surprise some as carbohydrates are often seen as ‘the enemy’ by people who are trying to lose weight.

Dr Hana Kahleova, the study’s first author, said:

“Fad diets often lead people to fear carbohydrates.

But the research continues to show that healthy carbohydrates — from fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains — are the healthiest fuel for our bodies.”

The study included 75 people who were split into two groups.

Around half went on a vegan diet while the remainder continued with their current diet.

Those going vegan concentrated on whole, complex carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains.

The results showed that people on the vegan diet lost an average of 14 pounds compared to no change in the control group.

The diet works partly because complex carbohydrates like those in healthy fruits and vegetables are high in fibre.

This gives a feeling of fullness without the added calories.

High fibre diet are often shown to be effective for weight loss.

They also reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer and heart disease.

The study was published in the journal Nutrients (Kahleova et al., 2020).

This highly effective weight loss technique is done in under 15 minutes per day.

Spending just 15 minutes per day keeping a food diary predicts the most weight loss, research finds.

People who simply noted down what they ate while dieting lost an average of 10 percent of their body weight.

Other studies have shown that food diaries can double weight loss.

The key to more weight loss — on any diet — is monitoring food intake quickly and consistently, day after day.

While people think a food diary will be time-consuming, this study shows it is not.

Professor Jean Harvey study co-author, said:

“People hate it; they think it’s onerous and awful, but the question we had was: How much time does dietary self-monitoring really take?

The answer is, not very much.”

The study included 142 people who were followed over 24 weeks.

They took part in an online weight management program led by a dietician.

Participants logged their food intake online and how much activity they did.

They noted down all the calories and fat for the food they at, as well as the portion size and preparation method.

The results showed that those who logged in more often to record their food intake lost the most weight.

Professor Harvey said:

“Those who self-monitored three or more time per day, and were consistent day after day, were the most successful.

It seems to be the act of self-monitoring itself that makes the difference — not the time spent or the details included.”

Having the right expectations helps people stick to their task, said Professor Harvey:

“We know people do better when they have the right expectations.

We’ve been able to tell them that they should exercise 200 minutes per week.

But when we asked them to write down all their foods, we could never say how long it would take.

Now we can.

It’s highly effective, and it’s not as hard as people think.”

The study was published in the journal Obesity (Harvey et al., 2019).

Lose weight and burn belly fat without dieting.

Replacing some fatty foods with alternatives that are lower in fat reduces belly fat and weight, studies find.

People in many studies lost weight without reducing their food intake, only by making relatively small changes to what they eat.

One example is to swap to low fat yoghurt and milk and remove the fat from meat.

Another suggestion would be to change snacks that are high in fat, like cake and biscuits, to lower fat alternatives, such as fruit.

The more fat people cut from their diet, the greater their weight loss, studies show.

These change do not just cause weight loss, they also help reduce levels of bad cholesterol and lower blood pressure.

The conclusions come from 33 different randomised controlled trials, the gold standard of scientific experimentation.

Dr Lee Hooper, the study’s first author, explained:

“The weight reduction that we found when people ate less fat was remarkably consistent – we saw it in almost every trial.

Those who cut down more on fat, lost more weight.

The effect isn’t dramatic, like going on a diet.

The research specifically looked at people who were cutting down on fat, but didn’t aim to lose weight – so they were continuing to consume a normal amount of food.

What surprised us was that they did lose weight, their BMI decreased and their waists became slimmer.”

There were 73,589 people in total involved in the studies, which were carried out around the world.

The results showed that people lost an average of 3.5 pounds and reduced their waist circumference by 0.5cm after reducing fat from their diet.

Dr Hooper continued:

“And remember, this isn’t a diet, so don’t take it to extremes, but work out a way of eating that you can stick to permanently.

Keeping healthy is not just about fat and weight – but cutting down on fat, especially saturated fat, is a great start.

Being physically active, not smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, and drinking plenty of fluid also help to keep us healthy.

We just need to get in the habit of doing these things.”

The study was published in the British Medical Journal (Hooper et al., 2012).