empty emotion

Lose the weight without virtually doing anything.

1. Get a good night’s rest. According to a study from Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Stanford University, the less you snooze, the less leptin (a powerful hormone) your body is likely to produce. What’s that got to do with shedding pounds? Leptin helps promote weight loss in two ways: It discourages you from eating (by sending the message: “Hey stop munching — you’re full!” to your stomach) and it rouses you to expend energy. More evidence that sleep deprivation interferes with dropping pounds: The hormone ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, is higher in people who don’t get enough zzz’s. If you don’t sleep soundly one night, try to squeeze in a nap the following day — the hormones are affected by how much shut-eye you get in a 24-hour period.)

2. Don’t store cookies and other treats in glass jars. If you keep fatty foods out of sight, it’ll be much easier to keep them off your mind. Experts at Cornell University determined that women ate more Hershey’s Kisses when the candies were on their desks than when they were in opaque containers or placed father away.

3. Get some sun. Your body needs sunlight to produce a very essential feel-good hormone called serotonin, which may lessen your cravings for sugar and other carbs. So when you start longing for sweets, go outside instead, even in the cold weather. It’s also a good idea to keep the drapes and shutters open during the day.

4. Turn off the radio. When a restaurant wants its customers to finish their food and go, it plays fast music — as quick as 120 to 130 beats per minute (which is the tempo used in most step classes). And for good reason: The speedier the tune, the faster (and the more) you’ll tend to eat. So before any meal, either switch off your stereo or put on a slow, soothing album.

5. Set your fork down after every bite. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to send signals to the brain that it’s full. So when you eat too quickly, your body doesn’t have time to recognize that it’s satiated. The consequence: You consume a lot more. To slow down, you can also try switching to chopsticks (they make it much harder to eat huge bites). Or try this experiment in food appreciation: Using a 30-second timer, take a bite only when the bell rings. You’ll see how eating slowly will perk up your taste buds.

6. Leave the car behind. The numbers say it all: Your risk of obesity increases by six percent for every hour you spend in your car each day. Similarly, every mile you walk on a daily basis translates into an eight percent reduction in the risk of obesity. How to get the exercise in? When you’re on the phone, pace back and forth. To really knock off some calories, throw in a few lunges or squats. And when you’re watching TV, make sure you get up and move around the commercial breaks. Climb up and down a flight of stairs or speed-walk from one end of the house to the other. Going to the mall? Follow my shopping rule: no escalators, no elevators. Period.

7. Never skip a meal. Ever. Ignoring breakfast isn’t going to save big calories. Trust me. You’ll become so ravenous, you’ll likely gobble down whatever you can get your hands on at the following meal. The reasons: Physically, your blood sugar plummets, making you feel famished; emotionally, you may feel entitled to consume more. Plus, when you deprive yourself of food, your body thinks there isn’t a source of nourishment readily available. As a result, your metabolism moves at a snail’s pace. And we all know the slower your metabolism, the harder it’ll be to lose weight.

8. Lose the anger. If you don’t keep this emotion under control, it can make you fat. How? Getting riled raises levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) in your body, and that increase can cause you to gain weight. Plus, research suggests that the angrier you get — and the more frequently you get angry — the more likely you’ll be to put on pounds around your waist. Hostility also ups your risks of cardiovascular problems. So the next time someone pushes your button, take ten breaths and ask yourself, “Is this really that big a deal?” Here’s a trick you can do: Close your eyes, slowly press your thumbs into your templates, and massage the frustrating moment away.

9. Flick on all the lights. The dimmer the room, the more you’ll eat. Why? One theory is that low lights make you feel more relaxed and less self-conscious. On the flip side, research suggests that the brighter your dining area, the less food you’ll likely consume. Consider adjusting the lighting in places where you eat most often.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 4:08 am and is filed under Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.