Stop fat-shaming yourself
Are you obsessed about your weight and constantly weigh yourself—and call yourself every name in the book when you gain a pound? Turns out that weight gain can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, according to new research published in the journal Psychological Science.
Researchers examined height, weight, and self-perception data from a total of 6,523 adolescents when they were about 16 years old and again when they were about 28. The adolescents who characterized themselves as overweight—even though they weren't—had a 40% greater risk of becoming obese as adults than the teens who perceived their weight accurately.
To muffle your inner body critic, focus on the good. Instead of lamenting the fact that your favorite jeans seem too snug, celebrate how your arms look a little trimmer since you started walking a few miles every day, or notice that you're having a good hair day. If you can't pay yourself a compliment, ask your partner or a family member to write nice notes from time to time and hang them on your bedroom mirror.
Stay positive, be healthier
Focusing on your core beliefs can make it easier to live healthfully, finds a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When sedentary volunteers repeated daily affirmations about their core values ("I believe in being honest," for example, or "My family comes first"), they were more receptive to health messages than people who focused on beliefs unimportant to them. The researchers tested the power of self-affirmations by having volunteers don fitness bands and telling them: "People who sit less are at lower risk for certain diseases."
In the following weeks, the self-affirmation group recorded much more activity than the non-affirmation group. The researchers say the findings indicate that people are less threatened by health messages—and more likely to incorporate healthy advice—when they're in a positive frame of mind.
The takeaway? Repeating statements that feel meaningful to you, such as, "I'm a strong, capable person" or "I achieve everything I set out to do" can help you embrace—and stick to—new healthy-lifestyle habits.
3 New Ways To Boost Your Dieting Willpower
For the 100 million dieters—who spent more than $60 billion on diet books, drugs, meal replacements, and health clubs last year—losing weight with tactics that don't cost anything might sound too good to be true. Yet new research proves that each of us has the power to resist junk food, drop a few pounds and even exercise more regularly, simply by changing the way we think. Here's what that research can teach you about harnessing your mind to slim down—starting now.
Help your brain act like a smart CEO
A successful business executive makes good decisions—and the part of your brain called "executive function" can do the same for you. Scientists at Brigham Young University recently found that an active executive function helps you make healthier food choices.
In the study, published in the journal Obesity, participants looked at images of food while the scientists used MRIs to measure brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, where executive function resides. People who had successfully lost weight had the highest levels of activity when viewing unhealthy foods, compared to participants who were overweight or who had always been thin. Translation: long-term weight loss requires strong executive function to guide dieters to good choices.
You can make the boss in your brain be more assertive: Try practicing memory games, which have been linked to improved executive control (these 7 fun brain games will get you started). Aerobic exercise, martial arts, and yoga are also great ways to boost your willpower, say experts, because they place an emphasis on delayed rewards, and they present challenges that increase over time.
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