How Being Mindful of Meals Can Help You Lose Weight

Only in a perfect world could we simply close our eyes, click or heels and think ourselves thin. Here in the real world, shedding pounds and keeping them off means making the right nutritional choices and exercising. But new research shows that much of your weight loss success really is mind over matter.

According to a recent study by psychologist Eric Robinson, being mindful of your meals is key in helping to reduce or avoid overeating. Robinson's study looked at two groups of obese women who were served sandwiches. One group ate their sandwiches while listening to an audio clip instructing them to fully focus on the experience of the meal, taking note of the way it looked, smelled and tasted. The other group ate their sandwiches with the sound of a bird's calls playing in the background.

Later, both groups of women were asked to describe their meals in detail. Only women in the first group were able to do so. Why does this matter? Because those women also felt more satisfied and snacked less throughout the remainder of the day than did women in the second group.

Robinson's study and several similar experiments suggest that simply being more mindful of your meals can help you meet and maintain your weight loss goals by reducing the risk that you'll snack throughout the day. If you need a little help in that regard, you'll find it at your nearest Metabolic Research Center location. Call 866-475-2915 to speak with one today.