Simple Tips for Losing Weight Naturally

Probably not, according to a study published this week in the journal Pediatrics that investigated the eating and exercise habits of parents with small children. The study of 1,500 men and women found that, not only were the mothers heavier than their counterparts without children, but also that they ate about 370 calories more each day and exercised an hour less each week. Sugar-sweetened drinks and saturated fats contributed substantially to the extra calories. The researchers didn’t find a significant difference between fathers of small children and their childless counterpart in weight or eating habits, but did find that the dads exercised about two hours less per week.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: If you will soon be a new parent, be prepared for an interruption to your regular eating and exercise habits. Make a special effort to reserve some time for exercise, and be careful with those sugary drinks and processed meats.

Researchers at Yale, the University of Texas, and Arizona State University scanned the brains of 48 women using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as the woman looked at pictures of chocolate milkshakes. The women had all previously been scored for food addiction tendencies using the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS). While looking at pictures of the milkshakes, the women with high food-addiction scores showed more neural activity in regions of the brain associated with drug addiction than did women with lower scores. These regions of the brain are involved in anticipation and cravings. The authors concluded that “these findings support the theory that compulsive food consumption may be driven in part by an enhanced anticipation of the rewarding properties of food.” In other words, stronger cravings.

The study will be published in the August 2011 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. Meanwhile, you can read more about it in the Science Daily article, “Study Identifies Neural Activity Linked to Food Addiction”.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: If you are overweight because of addiction to unhealthful foods, then long term weight loss will, at a minimum, require that you learn better ways of coping with cravings. Preventing and coping with cravings are hot topics in current scientific research. I will discuss some of the findings of this research in future posts. Today’s weight loss tip: Keep reading this blog, and expect to learn something useful.

According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Weight Control Information Network (WIN), over two thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. The prevalence of obesity among adults (20 and older) has nearly tripled since 1960 and is currently at about 34%. The dramatic increase in body weight has occurred in men and women, children and adults, all racial groups, and all education levels. The good news is that it seems to be leveling off, with little change in obesity rates since about 2000.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: The obesity epidemic is affecting almost everyone. Take comfort in the fact that you have plenty of company in your weight loss struggles.