Motivation and keeping a journal of what you eat are key components for shedding excess weight, according to new research.
Scientists at the University of Kentucky and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that the type of motivation for dieting and techniques to boost it when it dips could mean the difference between success and failure.
“Motivation has an impact on weight loss but the impact is really mediated by adherence to self-monitoring,” said Kelly H. Webber, an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky. “If you are going to self-monitor your diet and exercise every day you are going to lose more weight.
Webber, who along with her colleagues reported the findings in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, said the best way to self-monitor is to keep a journal of everything you eat and how much you exercise.
The researchers studied two types of motivation, autonomous and controlled, during a 16-week weight-loss program involving 66 overweight women.
Autonomous motivation is driven by personal reasons, while controlled motivation is based more on pressure from others and feelings of guilt.
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Food labels can be our best friends in the fight against obesity. By watching at the food labels at a food item, we can judge whether a particular food item is useful to us or not. But in the long run, we must enjoy our food to be really successful in our weight loss campaign. So here are some things to watch out for on food labels:
1. Serving Amount
We have to be really accurate with our serving amount. Serving amount should be as per our requirement.
2. Amount of calories
The calories count can be really helpful if you are very serious about the amount of calories you want to consume on a particular day or at a particular meal time.
3. Fat numbers
There are several fat numbers on the label to help you differentiate what kind of fat the food contains.
4. Amount of Carbohydrates & Fiber
The amount of carbohydrate and fiber will help you decide if the food you are eating will “stick to your ribs,” reduce hunger, and help maintain a steady blood sugar level.
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Food Labels – Our Friend for Fighting Against Obesity
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A new study has revealed that eating hot peppers such as jalapenos, habaneros, serranos, and chili peppers may be the key to weight loss as well as good health.
The study was carried out by researchers at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, and focused on potential health benefits received from these peppers.
The study was conducted on 34 people trying to lose weight.
They used a pill known as DCT or dihydrocapsiate to simulate the same effects of capsaicin found in peppers.
They then went on a low-calorie liquid diet for 28 days, with half taking a placebo and half taking DCT.
What they found was astounding, as they found that consuming these peppers may actually help spark weight loss.
Researchers are now under the assumption that these betters can literally burn fat in your body.
This is done through the heat that they generate when you consume them. This heat from the concentration of capsaicin, which makers peppers hot, can actually allow your body to burn more calories than usual.
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Hot Peppers – New Ingredient to Weight Loss and Good Health?
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Over the past decade in Tennessee, cases of obesity have increased from 19% to 31%; a third of us are overweight.
And with obesity comes a cost.
“Once I got to college, the freshman 15 turned into the freshman 115 and beyond that. Post-college graduation, it just came on until I hit my high point of 318 pounds,” Leslie Daugherty said.
Over the years, Daugherty tried diets and joined gyms and spent a lot of money on medicine.
“I was on diabetic medication, I was on blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication. I was going to every doctor for sleep apnea,” she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows obese people spend $1,429 a year more for medical care than normal weight people.
That works out to 42% more.
And that doesn’t count the money spent on diet programs, lost work opportunities, and other expenses.
“Orthotics for my shoes because my feet hurt so bad. The over-the-counter pain killers because your knees and your joints and just overall well-being was affected,” Daugherty said.
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A study conducted by the team of Cornell University researchers says that people who focus on changing their surroundings to stick to their diet plan report losing more weight.
The study was conducted over 200 participants from the National Mindless Eating Challenge (predecessor of the MindlessMethod.com) who were given diet tips from three categories: change your environment, change your eating behavior, and change your food choices.
According to the lead author of the study, Brian Wansink, who also wrote Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, dieters provided with stylized environmental tips such as using a 10 inch plate, rearranging the cupboards, and moving the candy plate, stuck to their diets an average of two more days per month.
During the three month study, participants reportedly lost one to two pounds per month per tip. It was found that after following a specific tip for at least 20 days in a month, changes took place.
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Changing Your Surroundings Helps You to Stick to Your Diet Plan
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