Think Yourself Thin

Are you convinced that your normal-weight frame is...well, fat? By thinking so, you could be packing on the pounds.

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New research published in the Journal of Obesity found that normal weight women who perceive themselves as fat are more likely to become fat. In the 10-year study of 1,196 normal-weight teenagers, nearly 6 in 10 women who perceived themselves as fat became overweight (measured by body mass index) within the decade, while only 3 in 10 of those with an accurate body image became overweight.

While a distorted body image might motivate some to hit the gym, the study found that exercise didn't compensate for the effects of a negative self-image. Previous research done on normal-weight adults found similar results: an increase in weight over time in those who perceive themselves as overweight.

One explanation for the weight gain is psychological stress, which has been linked to putting pounds on—especially around the middle. What’s more, we behave according to how we view ourselves. So if we think we are overweight couch potatoes, we are more likely eat unhealthily and generally act like said couch potatoes.

Ready to think yourself thin? Here are five mental tricks for a slimmer self-fulfilling prophecy:

See Your Vision It might seem a little silly, but the results are anything but: "Create a vision board in which you display pictures showing what you want to achieve," says Steve Siebold, motivation expert and author ofDie Fat or Get Tough: 101 Differences in Thinking Between Fat People and Fit People. Seeing a bunch of strong, healthy women on your wall will give you a real goal to work toward. So get clipping on the latest issue of Women's Health (after reading it, of course). Not feeling crafty? Check out our FITspiration Pinterest board.

Write It Down Do you want to lose five pounds? Fit—not squeeze—into your bridesmaid dress by next month? Write out your weight loss goal and how you are going to make it happen, Siebold advises, because a goal without a plan is never a reality. (Follow this personalized fitness plan to lose five pounds fast.)

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Do the Dishes Apart from holding less food, smaller dishes make you think you're eating more than you really are. A recent Cornell University study found that people who eat off 6-inch-wide plates think they are eating about 18 percent more than they really are. Meanwhile, people who eat of 12-inch-wide dishes know exactly how much they are putting away (that is, a lot).

Make Fit Friends Ask yourself: Are your friends a fat influence? If they don’t live a healthy lifestyle, they probably are affecting your waistline, Siebold says. In fact, having a pound-packing buddy makes you 57 percent more likely to join them, according to research from the University of California at San Diego and Harvard. You don’t have to break up with your less-fit friends, though. Just make a point of only eating out or setting a gym date with your fit ones.

Be Messy The easiest way to not grab a Snickers? Look at all the other candy wrappers on your desk. By reminding you how much you’ve already eaten, piling up your opened snack wrappers can cut how many calories you wolf down by more than 40 percent, according to a 2010 study published in Appetite.

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Slimming Secrets; Exercise

Dieting is one thing, keeping the weight off is another obstacle. This section has been designed to provide slimming secrets that go beyond mainstream dieting. One of the tips to lose weight that I often give is that the best physical activity is one that you enjoy doing so you're likely to keep it up in the long term. For inspiration, here you'll find "Slimming Secrets" - little tricks that will help you lose weight and keep it off in the long term. Sometimes it only takes a small change to see a big transformation!

Exercise on the Go After 10,000 years of evolution where progress has been constantly pushing us forward, everything these days is promoting the idea that physical exertion is our enemy... Physical effort is considered by some people to be hard work, a nuisance, a burden and something to be avoided at all costs. Start thinking of it the other way. Look at each movement not as being a burden or a waste of time but instead an opportunity to control your weight, protect your health and improve your well-being. If a neighbor is struggling with carrying a bag or a suitcase, run to their rescue instead of looking away. You've forgotten your keys upstairs? Don't get in a huff--use your body for what it was made for and get its 723 muscles working. If something falls on the ground-- be the first to pick it up. If your elevator has broken down--don't moan and groan -- walk up the stairs and note that some people pay good money for step classes at the gym. There is one thing you must remember – exercise is great for your health, so get moving!

Weight Loss Attitude

Love what you hate and seek what you are avoiding!

Try a dream or an experiment. Radically change your mental attitude. Instead of viewing a trip, work or physical exercise as a chore or punishment, look at them as blessings and genuine gifts that life is sending your way. Change your perspective -- doing is living! This mental reversal changes the situation radically.

Look for any opportunity of doing with your body. Don't let technologies deprive you of any opportunity to be active. By giving over a major part of what you do to technology, you are essentially handing over a part of your life which renders you less active, and increases your weight!

Importance of Physical Activity

You want to lose weight? Carry your grocery bags!

Let everyone around you know -- broadcast it to your neighbors. You'll feel compelled to do it...

Tell yourself "I am taking responsibility for my body-- I am making use of it again and giving it a reason to live.” Don't forget that your body is a part of yourself--the part which experiences, which feels, which suffers or finds fulfillment. Don't expect to find total happiness until you achieve a healthy body and a stable weight.

So don't give up and rely on technology to take over! Technology is there to make your life appear easier--when in reality it makes you lazy and dependent on gadgets that don't give you anything back but which you completely depend on. It's not about going back to the Stone Age but about being aware of all these ways that technology makes you less active. Be happy and carry your grocery bags with a cheerful smile!

Weight Loss Metabolism

Get your metabolism moving again!

There is a world of difference between a little exercise and none at all....

Recent studies have proved that among those people who are very inactive, there was a fundamental difference between carrying out simple normal and useful human activities and being totally sedentary.

Walking to get to the nearest bus stop or subway, doing some shopping by walking to the local shops, taking your kids for a walk, bringing them back home from school, doing a little house work is enough to prevent muscular function from dying out. It's like the difference between a car that has stopped with its engine still ticking and another car whose engine has been switched off. The difference is even more marked when you are dieting because your body starts to operate in economy mode and in this case if you are totally sedentary you will be burning up practically nothing. For those who are very sedentary, twenty minutes of walking per day is enough to rev up your metabolism and get you ready to lose weight!

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http://www.dukandiet.com/weight-loss-secrets