Category: Weight Loss

How to double the chance of losing 5 pounds in weight.

Changing to water from other drinks that contain calories can help people lose 5 pounds, a study finds. The simple change to diet doubles the chance of losing 5 percent of body weight. As little as two glasses of water drunk before a meal can increase weight loss significantly, one previous study has also found. The switch to water helps to lower fasting glucose levels and naturally leads to better hydration. Dr Deborah Tate, the study’s first author, said:

“Substituting non-caloric beverages – whether it’s water, diet soft drinks or something else – can be a clear and simple change for people who want to lose or maintain weight. If this were done on a large scale, it could significantly reduce the increasing public health problem of obesity.”

There were 318 obese or overweight people included in the study. One group were asked to switch drinks containing calories to water or diet drinks. The comparison group made a change of their own choosing to their diet. The results revealed that six months later the group that stuck to calorie-free drinks had double the chance of losing 5 percent of their weight. Dr Tate said:

“We learned that both water and diet sodas have some benefits, but they may be different. People who really like the sweet flavor or carbonation or caffeine of sodas may be more likely to stick with the change if they are drinking diet sodas as opposed to water only, but drinking water was associated with some other important health improvements like reduced blood sugar.”

It is relatively easy to make the change to a zero calorie drink compared with other dietary interventions, said Dr Tate:

“Substituting specific foods or beverages that provide a substantial portion of daily calories may be a useful strategy for modest weight loss or weight gain prevention. Beverages may be ideal targets, but keep in mind, the strategy will only work if the person doesn’t make up for the lost calories some other way.”

The study was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Tate et al., 2012).

Weight loss is not just about what you eat, but also about when you eat.

Avoiding consuming too many calories in the evening is the key to weight loss, research finds.

Snacking late at night, especially, stops the body from burning fat.

That is because the body is still using the accessible carbohydrates that have just been eaten.

However, people who eat less in the evening bring forward the point where the body starts burning fat.

At the same time, breakfast can help to sustain weight loss.

One recent study found that a high-protein breakfast can even double weight loss.

Professor Carl Johnson, study co-author:

“There are a lot of studies on both animals and humans that suggest it’s not only about how much you eat, but rather when you eat.

Our research looked to test the findings of existing fasting studies by asking real humans to participate in a multi-day test for two different meal time routines.

What we found is that the body’s circadian rhythms regulate nighttime fat burning.”

The body’s circadian rhythms are mental, physical and behavioural changes that follow a daily cycle.

The study included six people who came into the lab to be monitored closely in a whole-room respiratory chamber.

The chamber measures exactly how much energy people expend over a period and their metabolism.

The results showed that when people people ate a meal in the evening, the body stopped burning fat.

Dr Kevin Kelly, the study’s first author, explained the results:

“The late-evening snack session resulted in less lipids oxidized than in the breakfast session.

This confirms that the timing of meals during the daytime and nighttime cycle affects how ingested food is used versus stored, and that any food ingested prior to bedtime will delay the burning of fat during sleep.”

The study was published in the journal PLOS Biology (Kelly et al., 2020).

The easy technique can help to double weight loss.

The more a person weighs themselves, the more weight they lose, research finds.

Similarly, keeping a note of what is eaten is consistently linked to weight loss by studies.

Taking a quick note of daily diet and exercise habits has been shown to double weight loss by one study.

The process of making notes does not have to be complicated — in fact, most people find it easy.

Simply sending a text message or email is enough.

Noting down details of diet and exercise probably works by making people more aware of their own habits.

Habits tend to work automatically and outside our conscious awareness.

Note-taking and weighing draw attention to those habits so they can be consciously addressed.

The current study involved 975 people who were tracked over twelve months.

People in the study were using internet-enabled scales.

The results showed that people who stepped on their scales more often lost an average of an extra 2 pounds.

Dr Matthew Sperrin, the study’s first author, said:

“In this study we wanted to know more about the ways that engagement with weighing scales indicates the users’ behaviour, something that is only possible with recent advances in technology.”

Dr Sperrin explained the results:

“…we were able to spot a strong correlation between self-weighing and weight-loss, particularly that the more a patient weighed themselves, the more weight they were shown to lose.

Is it the weight change that encourages people to more closely monitor their weight or is it the monitoring that encourages the weight change?

This is something we would be keen to investigate further now that we know that the information gathered by connected health devices can be re-purposed and meaningfully used for the purpose of research.”

The study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (Sperrin et al., 2016).

Drinking this will result in greater fat-burning and weight loss.

Those who want to increase fat burning and weight loss might find drinking a strong cup of coffee 30 minutes before exercise very effective.

Consuming a strong coffee containing 3 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight half-an-hour before a moderate intensity activity greatly enhances burning fat, a study shows.

For instance, a 70 kg or 154 pound person, to ingest 3 mg per kg of body weight requires 210 mg of caffeine in a drink.

A 250 ml cup of coffee typically contains 100 mg of caffeine and a single shot of espresso contains 64 mg caffeine.

Caffeine is a psychoactive substance and a natural stimulant found in coffee beans, cocoa beans, tea leaves, guarana, and kola nuts.

The research team also found that caffeine’s effects are more noticeable if the exercise is done in the afternoon instead of in the morning.

Caffeine, due to its ergogenic [performance enhancing] potential, has been widely sold in the form of supplements to increase sports performance or endurance activities, and aid fat loss.

However, the scientific evidence behind beneficial claims of these supplements is insufficient.

Dr Francisco Amaro-Gahete, the study’s lead author, said:

“The recommendation to exercise on an empty stomach in the morning to increase fat oxidation is commonplace.

However, this recommendation may be lacking a scientific basis, as it is unknown whether this increase is due to exercising in the morning or due to going without food for a longer period of time.”

The aim of this study was to find out if caffeine really enhances fat oxidation or fat burning during exercise.

A group of adults were asked to complete an exercise test four times a week.

They had to take 3 mg/kg of caffeine at 8am or 5pm (half an hour before aerobic exercise) randomly.

Dr Amaro-Gahete said:

“The results of our study showed that acute caffeine ingestion 30 minutes before performing an aerobic exercise test increased maximum fat oxidation during exercise regardless of the time of day.”

The results showed that acute caffeine ingestion followed by moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in the afternoon was more effective in fat burning compared to the morning.

A study on trained athletes found that ergogenic effects from caffeine were more pronounced during cycling performance in the morning than the evening (Boyett et al., 2016).

The study was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (Ramírez-Maldonado et al., 2021).

People with higher levels of this vitamin in their body tend to lose more weight when dieting.

A variety of common vitamins and minerals have been linked to weight loss.

High levels of vitamin D, though, have repeatedly been linked to weight loss and a reduction in belly fat.

People with higher levels of vitamin D in their body tend to lose more weight when dieting.

One study has shown that drinking milk, which contains calcium and vitamin D, can double weight loss.

The study included 218 overweight women who were tracked as they took part in an exercise and diet programme that lasted for one year.

Half of the group took a vitamin D supplement of 2,000 IU per day.

Dr Duggan explained the results:

“We were quite surprised to see that vitamin D had an effect on an inflammation biomarker only among women who lost at least 5 percent of their baseline weight.

That suggests vitamin D can augment the effect of weight loss on inflammation.”

Up to 50 percent of people may have a vitamin D deficiency.

A deficiency in this vitamin has been linked to increased inflammation the body.

Foods rich in vitamin D include eggs, oily fish like salmon, mushrooms, dairy and foods that are fortified with it, including cereals and juices.

Dr Catherine Duggan, the study’s first author, said:

“We know from our previous studies that by losing weight, people can reduce their overall levels of inflammation, and there is some evidence suggesting that taking vitamin D supplements can have a similar effect if one has insufficient levels of the nutrient.”

Along with its involvement in weight loss, vitamin D may also have a beneficial effect on cancer risk.

Dr Duggan:

“It is thought that this state of chronic inflammation is pro-tumorigenic, that is, it encourages the growth of cancer cells.

Weight loss reduces inflammation, and thus represents another mechanism for reducing cancer risk.

If ensuring that vitamin D levels are replete, or at an optimum level, can decrease inflammation over and above that of weight loss alone, that can be an important addition to the tools people can use to reduce their cancer risk.”

The study was published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research (Duggan et al., 2015).

Weight loss is hard enough without this surprising barrier.

People trying to lose weight often face criticism from their own family, surprising research shows.

Losing weight is hard enough without loved ones failing to be supportive.

Women criticised by their family about their weight ended up putting on more weight, the study showed.

In contrast, those that received unconditional acceptance from their family lost over five times as much.

Professor Christine Logel, the study’s first author, said:

“When we feel bad about our bodies, we often turn to loved ones — families, friends and romantic partners — for support and advice.

How they respond can have a bigger effect than we might think.”

The Canadian study involved hundreds of young women followed for around 9 months.

They were asked about their weight, how they felt about it and what their loved ones thought.

The results revealed that women who did not receive many messages of acceptance from their family put on an average of 5.5 pounds.

Those that received acceptance from loved ones, though, lost an average of 1 pound.

Professor Logel said:

“On average, the women in the study were at the high end of Health Canada’s BMI recommendations, so the healthiest thing is for them to maintain the weight they have and not be so hard on themselves.

But many of the women were still very concerned about how much they weigh, and most talked to their loved ones about it.”

Feeling better about themselves likely encouraged people in the study to eat more healthily.

Acceptance may also reduce stress, leading to less weight gain.

Professor Logel said:

“Lots of research finds that social support improves our health.

An important part of social support is feeling that our loved ones accept us just the way we are.

We all know someone who points out our weight gain or offers to help us lose weight.

These results suggest that these comments are misguided.”

The study was published in the journal Personal Relationships (Logel et al., 2014).

Over one thousand psychologists agree on the biggest barrier to weight loss.

The greatest barrier to weight loss is emotional eating, a survey of psychologists finds.

Losing weight is about addressing the issues behind emotional eating.

So said almost every psychologist polled about successful weight loss.

Emotional eating refers to the way in which the emotions can trigger eating.

One example might be responding to feeling bored by eating a bag of chips.

Another might be reacting to feeling sad by eating ice cream.

Emotional eating often begins in childhood when treats are given as rewards for good behaviour.

Psychologists help people break the cycle of emotional eating by identifying situations and feelings that trigger it.

Changing the habit is about spotting the triggers and then changing the response.

Strategies psychologists recommend to help with this process include mindfulness, cognitive therapy and problem-solving.

Professor Norman B. Anderson, an expert on mind/body health, said:

“Anyone who has ever tried to lose a few pounds and keep them off knows that doing so isn’t easy.

The good news is that research and clinical experience have shown that, in addition to behavioral approaches, cognitive behavioral therapy that targets emotional barriers helps people lose weight.”

The survey included 1,328 licensed psychologists who were asked how they helped their clients lose weight.

The need to target emotional issues was highlighted by 92 percent of respondents.

Professor Anderson said:

“Although it is generally accepted that weight problems are most often caused by a combination of biological, emotional, behavioral and environmental issues, these new results show the key role of stress and emotional regulation in losing weight.

Therefore, the best weight loss tactics should integrate strategies to address emotion and behavior as well as lifestyle approaches to exercise and making healthy eating choices.”

The study was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center for the American Psychological Association.