Losing weight can be a life changing endeavor. Sometimes no matter how disciplined you are with what and how much you eat, it might still be hard to shed those last few extra pounds. Here are 5 easy mental tricks that EatThis.com has compiled for helping you reach your weight loss goals.
They say to fidget while you watch TV. A study published by PLOS One looked at the effects of relaxing your muscles completely. When you are not moving at all it seems our metabolism decides to take a break as well. The study states that many animals produce myosin, a protein in animal cells that plays a role in muscle function and metabolism. This protein seems to shut off when muscles are inactive for a period of time. Thus, fidgeting around while you are sitting still will keep that protein in an active state. So keep moving!
Watching yourself eat in front of a mirror can help you change your eating habits. The Journal of the Association for Consumer Research says "After eating unhealthy food in front of a mirror, individuals experience discomfort of acting against the standards of healthy eating. We argue that people attribute this discomfort to the food's taste since it is difficult to attribute the discomfort to the self while being self aware." Basically hold yourself accountable for what you are eating.
Make sure you are shopping on a full stomach. When we are hungry, we tend to make decisions that are not as healthy. An article written by JAMA Internal Medicine states that people tend to make more unhealthy choices, picking foods with a higher caloric intake when they are hungry.
Get into your athletic attire! The American Council of Exercise says that when we wear less dressed-up clothing we are more apt to be active and increase our physical activity.
The Journal of Consumer Research says get rid of the white plates. Not only does the surface size matter but the color does as well. Research suggests that high color contrast between your food and your plate means you will eat less. People who ate off of white plate at 22% more food than people who ate off red ones.
Check out the full article at EatThis.com