Think Yourself Thin

The brain works in mysterious ways and can both contribute to and deter obesity. In fact, you might just be able to think yourself thin, or at least control your appetite and how much food you eat.

According to recent research at Carnegie Mellon University published in the recent issue of Science, visualization can help to curb your appetite and decrease food cravings. The study, which utilized five different experiments, was based on the principle of habituation, in which repeated exposure to a stimulus reduces the response to it.

In one of the five experiments, participants were divided into three groups and told to imagine performing 33 tasks, involving repetition of feeding quarters into a washing machine and eating M&Ms. One group visualized feeding 30 quarters and eating M&Ms; one feeding 3 quarters and 30 M&Ms; and one feeding 33 quarter (and, alas, no M&Ms). They were then offered a bowl of M&Ms to enjoy. The group that was told to think about M&M’s the most was the one that ate the least.

The same result occurred in a later experiment with M&Ms, where participants had to either imagine eating M&Ms or moving them from one bowl to another (in a combination of 33 times). Those who just had to move the M&Ms, ate more than those who were allowed to imagine eating them.

While thinking about a food can cause you to crave it, repeated thoughts of actually eating a food, can reduce that craving. And with the reality of temptation around us every day, and especially so over the holidays, by taking a bit of time to savor the flavors in our mind ahead of time, just may keep the unwanted pounds off and allow us to enjoy our food just a little bit more.