Need to lose weight? Try the FOODSTAGRAM diet: Uploading images of meals found to curb the appetite

• Looking at what is on your plate can make you 'bored' with a meal
• Similarly, viewing photos of other people's food causes 'sensory boredom'
• This can stop people wanting to eat certain foods or enjoying them less
• The more pictures looked at, the more an appetite can be suppressed 

By VICTORIA WOOLLASTON

Taking photos of food on Instagram has been voted one of the most annoying habits of the site but new research suggests the trend could actually be damaging our appetites, too.

The study from Brigham Young University in Utah has found that looking at too many pictures of food can make it less enjoyable to eat, and can even put people off eating it in the future.

This is because looking at pictures of what is on a plate can make people bored with their meal before they've even taken a bite.

The study from Brigham Young University found that looking at too many pictures of food can make it less enjoyable to eat, and can even put people off eating it in the future. This is because looking at pictures of what is on a plate can make a person bored with their meal before they've even taken a bite

'FOOD PORN' IS GOOD FOR YOU

The research from Brigham Young University contradicts previous research by Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. 

In this earlier study, scientists claimed taking a photo 'puts you in the moment and in doing so, heightens your senses.'

The person taking the photo does, on some level, feel the difference creating an incentive to continue the practice.

This leads to people taking photos of food as a habit. 

A series of experiments proved to the researchers habits and rituals enhance the experience of food, and other activities.

Equally if people constantly see photos of burgers or cakes, for example, on Instagram and other photo sites including Pinterest, the next time they have a burger, they won't enjoy it as much. 

 

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'In a way, you’re becoming tired of that taste without even eating the food,' said study co-author and university professor Ryan Elder. 

'It’s sensory boredom - you’ve kind of moved on. You don’t want that taste experience anymore.'

To reveal this food-photo phenomenon, Elder and co-author Jeff Larson asked 232 people to look at and rate pictures of food.

In one of their studies, half of the participants viewed 60 pictures of sweet foods like cake, truffles and chocolates, while the other half looked at 60 pictures of salt foods including chips, pretzels and fries.

After rating each picture based on how appetising that food looked, each participant finished the experiment by eating peanuts, a salty food. Participants then rated how much they enjoyed eating the peanuts.

The people who had looked at the salty foods ended up enjoying the peanuts less, even though they never looked at peanuts; just at other salty foods.

Half the participants saw pictures of sweet foods, while the other half saw salty foods. After rating each picture based on how appetising it looked, everyone was given peanuts. Participants then rated how much they enjoyed eating the peanuts. The people who looked at salty foods enjoyed the peanuts less

The researchers believe the subjects satiated on the specific sensory experience of saltiness looking at the images so felt they had already experienced it when they came to eat them. 

Satiation is defined as the drop in enjoyment with repeated consumption. Or, in other words, the fifth bite of cake or the fourth hour of playing a video game are both less enjoyable than the first.

['If you want to enjoy your food consumption experience, avoid looking at too many pictures of food,' Larson said. 'Even I felt a little sick to my stomach during the study after looking at all the sweet pictures we had.”

That said, Larson continued that if someone has a weakness for a certain unhealthy food, say, chocolate, and want to stop eating it, they could try looking at more pictures of that food.

'You do have to look at a decent number of pictures to get these effects,' Elder said. 'It’s not like if you look at something two or three times you’ll get that satiated effect.'

Larson and Elder, along with University of Minnesota coauthor Joseph Redden, published their findings in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2443652/Need-lose-weight-Try-FOODSTAGRAM-diet--Instagram-photos-meals-curb-appetite.html#ixzz2h2p58uNv

5 Simple Tips to Help You Lose Weight Without Dieting

Here are 5 simple tips to help you lose weight without dieting. "Eating healthy" and "exercising more" are great truisms, and I whole-heartedly believe in them, but sometimes people just want to know what they can do without shifting their lifestyle too much - something that doesn't require a complete overhaul.  I'm a BIG believer in starting slow rather than jumping in with both feet.

Below are a few small steps you can take to not just shed a few pounds, but get a lot healthier, too. Try to commit to one or two of these tips for a few weeks without changing anything else. Don't be surprised if you see a shift on the scale in the right direction!

 1. Sleep

A recent study conducted at the University of Chicago looked at two groups of people, both on a low-calorie diet. One group slept 5.5 hours a night, and another group slept 8.5 hours a night. Interestingly enough, both groups lost the same amount of weight (7 pounds), but the sleep-deprived group lost mostly muscle in comparison to the rested group that lost mostly fat. <----This study was only conducted over a two week period!Bottom line: if you want to have a leaner, less fat body, get a full night of sleep.

2. Eat Fermented Foods

Fermented foods, like homemade sauerkraut, kimchi, homemade yogurt, kombucha, miso or this cool recipe I found for fermented lemon jello contain incredible amounts of good bacteria. If you've taken antibiotics in the past few years or have eaten a fair share of sugary foods lately, then it's highly likely that you have too much good bacteria and too little bad bacteria. Probiotics are good bugs that help even the playing field in your gut. Without them, our immune system begins to fall apart, leading to an increase in allergies, colds and even arthritic conditions. What's more, your body won't be able to get rid of toxins through elimination as easily. All of this can lead to weight gain, or at the very least, inhibit weight loss. If you can't eat fermented foods today, then go to the store and buy a bottle of probiotics right away.

According to the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who consumed fermented milk products (yogurt, kefir, lassi) for 12 weeks, showed a 4.6 % reduction in abdominal fat. It’s not an enormous number, but it’s nothing to roll your eyes at either.

3. Eat No Later Than 6pm

The release of our digestive enzymes and the function of our entire digestive tract slows when we hit the sack. In fact, our metabolism slows significantly. We need less energy, and we definitely don't need a belly full of food. If you can wrap up dinner by six bells, or within three hours of bedtime, it's highly unlikely that you'll wake up with that bloated I-ate-too-much-last-night feeling. In fact, most of the foods you had for dinner should be pretty well digested.

4. Follow Tip 3, Then Don't Eat Breakfast Until 10AM
This advice kind of flies in the face of  "eat breakfast first thing in the morning," but if you have no metabolic or blood sugar concerns, you may want to consider fasting from 6pm (dinner) until 9 or 10am (breakfast) a few days a week. Why? Intermittent fasting, or infrequent and usually short periods of going without food, have shown to elevate levels of human growth hormone (HGH). An increase in HGH, especially over the age of 25 or so, can really work wonders on increasing lean muscle mass and diminishing fat.

I just want to clarify that water is good during any length of fast. Drink it up. Flush those toxins out. Juices, smoothies, coffee drinks or other non-food items should not be consumed.

5. Supplement With A Teaspoon of Gelatin At Bedtime

If you're a vegetarian, this isn't for you, but if you're open to taking a teaspoon of gelatin at bedtime, you'll be happy to know that not only can it improve metabolism, but can also improve your skin's elasticity. Think of it as better-than-botox. Gelatin is a collagen supplement that contains 18 amino acids, some of which are essential, meaning our body can't make them. Since amino acids are the building blocks of protein, people often notice improved muscle tone with long term supplementation. I recommend grass-fed gelatin, and not a product like Knox.

Are you ready to commit? If now is the time to make a couple subtle changes in your life that also incorporate fitness, then consider my new program, 10LB Club! You'll eat clean, exercise to boost your HGH with short, effective workouts, follow a body type meal plans structure and work with me!

Members receive:

• 3 Weekly Workouts
• Body Type Meal Plans
• Body Type Recipes
• Lots of Great Coaching!

http://www.chicagonow.com/get-fit-chicago/2013/10/5-simple-tips-to-help-you-lose-weight-without-dieting/

Record weight loss at South Yorkshire summer camp

Youngsters shed a record amount of weight at a South Yorkshire summer camp.

Daniel Allen was one of 30 young people from Rotherham to have shed pounds after attending a four-week summer weight management camp at Rotherham Leisure Complex.

The group of youngsters, aged seven to 17, lost an impressive 11.8 stone – the equivalent of 75 bags of sugar – in total.

Health Living programme manager Hayley Mills said: “In its third year, this year’s camp has been our most successful, with more weight loss, and more inch loss achieved during the four weeks.

Daniel, aged 15, who lost 6.4kg, said: “I’ve really enjoyed camp, and had lots of fun trying new activities. I’ve loved the healthy food-making session and it’s made me think about the things I eat at home.”

The camp taught the children how to make tasty healthy food and gave them the opportunity to be active.

Hayley said: “They even got to make smoothies at the same time as riding an exercise bike!

“At first the kids were terrified of coming into an unfamiliar setting with people they didn’t know, but after the first day their confidence soared. It was a pleasure to watch.”

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/record-weight-loss-at-south-yorkshire-summer-camp-1-6079668

Amazing Weight Loss Products That Work... Just a Phone Call Away?

It's amazing what you learn when you cannot find the remote. Today I learnt how easy it is to get in the best shape of my life in just 60 seconds a day. Flick on one of the obscure freeview channels at breakfast time and you can see for yourself. At that time of the day, it's wall-to-wall infomercials. And, at this time of year, it's wall-to-wall infomercials for weight loss products, each more miraculous and each requiring less effort than the one before.

Rotating discs for the 'perfect push-ups'? It's here. Electronically operated rotating saddle that mimics the action of horse riding while you watch TV? You bet. Everything you need to get into the best shape of your life and, what's more, no discipline required. Plus, if you call now, you get a free weight loss poster!

Let me get one thing straight. If you are fat, or just a little bit wobbly, then you are not a lateral thigh trainer away from chiselled abs and slender pins. You are not just a pair of muscle-activating trainers away from a perfect derrier. You can use a Thigh Master daily, but your legs will not shrink at supernatural speed. You can use dumbells that shake, but you will not shed fat at an extraordinary rate.

You do not need gadgets to progress. Let me give you an example: Picture the average-sized guy that gets sent down for a couple of years, only to emerge from prison fully metamorphasized with a physique that is part gorilla, part Greek god. Do you think he used vibrating plates to get that way? Of course not. He used a bench and some weights, because that's all he had. Now, many of my female clients have different aims to our fictional lag, but the point remains valid.

Equally, let's take a look at our altogether-more-wholesome heroes from 2012. Thoughts turn instantly to our golden girl Jessica Ennis. Her stunning victory in the Olympics was down to natural talent, years of training and a cool head in the fever pitch of the Stratford stadium. Not down to a revolutionary new workout DVD that blended Zumba with high intensity somersaults in a 'patented blend proven to sculpt and tone'. And did you hear Mo Farah mention in interviews how his success was down to space-age cookware that allowed him to prepare chicken in less time and with less oil? Didn't think so.

None of my clients use gimmicks. They just do all the basics things exquisitely well. This means triggering the desired hormonal stimuli through stretch-induced damage, then delivering a tailored macronutrient intake and ensuring an appropriate state of metabolism to achieve their aims. Or, in layman's terms, they lift big, eat right and get to bed on time. And they achieve an average fat loss of 10.6kg in their first eight weeks (that's FAT loss, not weight loss).

If you have weights, a bench and the know-how, you already have enough tools. If you genuinely cannot lose weight or build muscle with effective training, then you need to take a look at your diet, hormone balance, sleeping patterns or digestion. You don't need new micro-fibre gymwear and you definitely don't need electronic pads that contract your abdominal muscles.

Your muscle fibres don't care whether you have loaded them with a dumbell or a small cow. Your fat cells don't care whether the workout you followed was eulogised by a washed-up celeb or endorsed by a random guy in the gym. What matters is the intensity, sets, tempo and rest periods. And what matters even more is the balance of protein/fat/carbohydrate that you introduce to your system afterwards.

It's very easy to laugh at the people that buy gimmicky products. But, while it's easy to dismiss the buyers as a naïve minority, the reality is that these ads would not keep on appearing on television if it were not for sufficient people buying! So, if you've ever bought a Thigh Glider, know that your purchase was responsible for sustaining this industry of fakes, frauds and phonies. And if you are ever tempted into ordering a 'revolutionary' gadget hawked by a botox-laden presenter, know that your bodyshape is as likely to change as her facial expression.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/marek-doyle/amazing-weight-loss-products_b_2522548.html

Bootcamp for Weight Loss: An Appraisal

It is somewhat tragic that, should you ask a member of the public to picture a personal trainer, they often think of a bulky figure in a tight vest, barking instructions at a sweating throng of neophytes. Yet this isn't personal training at all. It's bootcamp, something completely different.

It's influence on the workout community has been steadily growing for years, and this type of exercise is threatening to become the default choice for those looking to lose weight. Yet bootcamp itself is not new. The concept of group workouts has been around for decades. What's new is the format of these sessions; 20 years ago, we had camp aerobics with headbands and 8-counts. Now we have a gruelling test of character with blood, sweat and tears.

There have always been fitness professionals who tell their clients that more pain is actually good. Some are actually so stupid that they believe it themselves. Others, the personal trainer equivalents of dumb blondes, simply find thinking to difficult; instead of considering what type of loading may suit their clients, they just revert to their one-size-fits-all caricature. This normally involves shouting, growling and flexing.

This never seemed to be a problem in the industry before, where the wannabe-drill-sergeants were consigned to the corner of your local Fitness First, proudly counting reps and urging their subjects to "push push push". They were there to provide passing amusement to the members and, for the other trainers, an example of what not to do. But now these are the guys taking the sessions. Bootcamps are the result.

And the public is going mad for them. Fed up of weight loss solutions that promise easy results, disillusioned by high-tech fixes that claim to make fat burning effortless, they turn to good ol' fashioned hard work. Those bulges around their midriff are their Everest, and they're going to climb it if it kills them. Yes, it's torture, but they're stronger than that. They're Rocky for the day. And, what's more, they're doing it as part of a group. Strength in numbers. Salvation through perspiration.

Sounds great. The only problem is that bootcamp is hideously inefficient at burning fat. The format of near-constant workload means the heart rate of the average participant rarely drops below 140bpm. As I have explained in more depth here, less than 10% of people can effectively burn fats at this level of intensity. The rest are stuck burning carbohydrates. As, because the session is essentially aerobic, the muscular overload (and the increase in metabolism) that weight-lifters experience is also missing. Good for aerobic fitness, inefficient for weight loss. Just like running.

This is why, despite the occasional success story ("I know someone who lost 6lbs in a week doing bootcamp!"), the majority see no movement on the scales. They do get fitter and they do get stronger, but fat loss remains entirely elusive. I'm not saying bootcamp is worthless - it definitely improves aerobic conditioning plus many, understandably, enjoy the social aspect - only it is entirely unsuitable for the aims of most people that turn up.

The key message here is that hard work does not equal good results. Flogging yourself to the point where it's difficult to drive home afterwards is almost certainly a bad idea (this should be reserved for elite athletes only as part of a planned periodisation program). All this does is trigger the release of cortisol, the body's primary stress hormone, which induces weight gain. Many popular world religions have instilled in us the idea that the more we sacrifice now, the better the salvation later; sadly, when it comes to fat loss, hard work and blind faith cannot compete with strategic hormonal manipulation through diet and exercise.

Not convinced? Watch the Biggest Loser, that reality TV show, that takes super-obese individuals and challenge them to lose weight. They control their food intake and flog them 4 times a day, 7 days a week in some seriously sadistic workouts. No-one is working harder. Yet, when it comes to the weekly weigh in, it's not uncommon for competitors to have lost no weight. And, as any experienced trainer will tell you, it's almost impossible not to achieve serious weight loss with morbidly obese clients.

So am I predicting the death of bootcamp? Far from it. The popularity of fads in the gym world rarely correlate to their effectiveness. After all, you can still buy vibration machines now, several years after the public cottoned on to how useless they are. The weekly slimming clubs still exist, even though consistent slimming has been the one thing missing for the last 30 years. Internet health nuts are still alkalyzing themselves silly, despite seeing the same improvements as the rest of the messageboard users (none). And, while I admit that the demand for these once-popular approaches has dwindled, they are all still around. A lot of people still consider running as an effective way to lose weight.

Meanwhile, despite the increased effort, despite the lack of results, despite the difficulty they have in driving home afterwards, the public are loving it. They no longer need to climb Ben Nevis, they don't have to run a marathon. They can now itch this scratch in their own town. And be home for dinner. Bootcamp is good, bootcamp is pure, and they will not listen to anyone who says otherwise. Sadly, as we have learnt repeatedly with previous crazes, belief alone does not burn fat.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/marek-doyle/bootcamp-for-weight-loss_b_3974866.html