Here are 15 helpful and unusual weightloss hints:
1. We eat out of habit, particularly when we are distracted.
Do something to break that habit, such as eating with the
"wrong" hand (the left hand for right-handers and vice versa). (or so say researchers from the University of Southern California)
The study of moviegoers, published in Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, found that people ate only half as much popcorn if
they were asked to eat it with their other hand.
2. Chillies can be hot stuff for losing weight, since they rev up your body's metabolism, making it burn more fat. Try a teaspoon of pepper before meals!
A month-long study of 78 people in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that supplements containing a key substance in chilli, dihydrocapsiate (DHC), can raise the metabolic rate.
Angelo Tremblay, of Laval University in Canada,
believes that capsaicin, a compound in jalapeño and cayenne peppers,
may increase the release of stress hormones, which can speed up
metabolism.
His research shows that the heat may reduce the appetite - and he
found that a teaspoonful of pepper (capsicum) before meals reduced the
amount people ate.
3. There seems to be a similar benefit with olive oil.
Fatty acids inolive oil can make your body burn food faster! (from a study at McGill University in Quebec)
The beneficial effect was still working six hours after volunteers had a breakfast drizzled with olive oil!
4. Restaurants, with all their clanging noises, make us want to eat
sweeter and saltier foods. (Journal Food
Quality and Preference)
Our nervous systems are wired to respond to loud noise with a faster
heartbeat and higher blood pressure, so that we are ready to flee from
danger.
In noisy restaurants we respond by eating faster and drinking more alcohol. ( University of Leicester )
5. When you have a food temptation, try clenching your fists for half a minute. ( Journal of Consumer Research in 2011)
We subliminally associate flexed muscles with endurance and can use this link to bolster our willpower.
6. Apple peel contains ursolic acid.
Ursolic acid increases muscle and levels
of brown fat which is found in the neck and between the shoulder blades. Both of these boost the rate at which our bodies burn calories.
7. Eating a breakfast that includes a sweet dessert may help you to lose weight. (Tel Aviv University)
Dieters who followed this
regimen lost more weight over eight months than those on the same
calories but who had a smaller, low-carb breakfast.
So indulge in the morning, when your metabolism is at its most active and you can work off the extra calories.
8. Appetite is partly governed by sensory
specific satiety. Basically, we feel fuller if we're eating only one
food.
If you eat a plate of meat and think you'd burst with one more forkful, then pudding arrives-you can eat it.
Different colors on your plate makes you eat more and the greater the contrast in
taste between the foods on your plate, the more you will eat.
9. Use tall, thin glasses for drinks such as alcohol and
fruit juice; squat glassware for healthy, calorie-free water.
We tend to pour at least 10 percent more wine into a wide glass
than a standard one. (Iowa State University.)
"People tend to drink less from a narrow glass, because they think they're drinking more." Red wine can make a difference because we notice it more.
Participants in a study poured 9 percent more white wine into a clear
glass than when pouring red.
10. Thinking ahead can help you to avoid eating junk food.
Hungry brains release hormones that make us crave high-fat,
high-sugar foods. (Montreal Neurological Institute)
"If you go to the supermarket hungry you are drawn to high-calorie food."
11. Chew each mouthful.
A Japanese
study of 4 700 people found fast eaters weigh on average 10kg more than
slow chewers. Eating too fast may also raise the risk of diabetes.
Thirty women were given a large plate of pasta and when told to eat
quickly they consumed 646 calories in nine minutes. When encouraged to
pause between bites and chew each mouthful 15 to 20 times, they ate just
579 calories in 29 minutes. The slow eaters said they enjoyed their food more. (Journal of Epidemiology)
12. Bigger forks can mean slimmer tummies.
Taking larger bites can lead to us eating less. A large fork helps diners to notice how much of a dent they are making in their food.(Journal of Consumer Research)
13. Our idea of "normal" weight depends on the size of those around us.
If someone has a friend of
the same sex who becomes fat, their risk of being overweight doubles.
Being influenced by those around us in this way is called "social
contagion". It explains overweight
families. (the journal, Obesity)
Denise Taylor, a Malvern-based
psychologist who lost 20kg, says she adopted a "virtual" friend - the
lithe singer Shakira. 'Whenever I wanted to eat cake, I'd ask myself:
"What would Shakira do?" '
14. Use olive oil instead of butter on bread and you will eat 16
percent fewer calories and drop your bread consumption by a quarter.
(International Journal of Obesity.)
It is thought that olive oil stimulates taste receptors more powerfully than butter, making people feel fuller quicker.
15. Get enough sleep.
Insufficient sleep knocks our appetite hormones out of kilter.
12 young men's nightly
sleep was cut down to four hours. Their levels of appetite hormone ghrelin
rose by 28 percent after only two days.
Levels of leptin, which tells the brain the stomach is full, fell by 18 percent. They began to crave high-carb foods. (Chicago University)
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