HAVING THE RIGHT MINDSET
People think that being healthy and fit is hard. They’re right. It takes commitment, will power, and the right mindset. Changing one’s lifestyle is never easy because people are creatures of habit and comfort.
We usually engage in dieting for a specific reason other than health and longevity. We do it for spring break beach season, weddings, proms, or simply to feel attractive. We are motivated by the wrong reasons. That is why dieting becomes short lived and unsustainable.
To get you started, think about the following statements to help you make the change.
- Change the word DIET to a WAY OF LIFE.
- There are no shortcuts.
- If there is one thing you can control with regards to your health, it is what you put in your body: food, cigarettes, prohibited drugs
- Organic foods maybe more expensive than chips but do you really want to feed yourself toxic trash?
- Every unhealthy staple food and drink like sugar, pasta, breads, canola oil, corn oil, white rice, and soda has a healthy substitute.
“I work so hard for my money. I do not want to waste it on trash food. I work so hard for my body. I do not want to feed it garbage.”
THE SCIENCE
There is a pilot study that consisted of overweight and obese individuals who were randomly assigned to an Intervention group and a Control group.
Intervention group: The participants were enrolled in a behavioral weight loss program for 6 months. At the end of 6 months, they have lost an average of 6kg.
Control group: The participants were told that they were waitlisted for the weight loss program for 6 months.
After 6 months, all the participants had a brain scan done. They were shown 20 high calorie (unhealthy) foods, 20 low calorie foods (healthy), and 40 non related objects.
The results showed that the intervention group had increased activity in their reward system in the brain (dorsal and ventral putamen) when shown the healthy foods. The control group had increased activity in their reward system in the brain when shown the unhealthy foods.
This is the very first randomized controlled trial that shows a definite shift in preference to healthy foods after a behavioural weight loss program.
You can actually train your brain to value healthy foods and develop an aversion to unhealthy foods.
Composed by: Lourdes H. Guevara
Reference:
- Deckersbach T, Das SK, Urban LE, Salinardi T, Batra P, Rodman AM, Arulpragasam AR, Dougherty DD, Roberts SB. “Pilot randomized trial demonstrating reversal of obesity-related abnormalities in reward system responsivity to food cues with a behavioral intervention.”
- Nutrition & Diabetes. Published online ahead of print September 1, 2014. doi:10.1038/nutd.2014.26 – See more at: http://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/training-your-brain-prefer-healthy-foods#sthash.uaBBOOp4.dpuf
