How many times have you dieted and lost weight only to gain it back again? What makes some people able to keep the weight off while other people continue to struggle? The answer appears to lie in the brain.
According to a study using a brain-imaging technique called functional magnetic resource imaging, there is a difference in brain activity patterns in people who successfully maintain weight loss and those who don’t. The study appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed images of high-calorie and low-calorie foods as well as nonfood objects to three groups of individuals: people who had lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least three years, obese people, and normal-weight people.
Compared to the obese and normal-weight groups, the successful dieters were more likely to engage areas of the brain involved with inhibitory control and visual attention while viewing the images. This indicates that being able to control behavior and exhibit restraint when eating may be keys to long-lasting weight loss.
In my experience, you can boost your frontal lobes through physical exercise, meditation, hypnosis, and goal-setting exercises.
Change your brain, change your body. It will be a theme for my work in the coming years.
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I enjoy reading the information in your news letters but I find they don’t have any follow up recommended resourses included.
I would like more information on where I could go to take some of these classes or imaging sessions (are these medical related specialist? Are they widely available?. More details please.
I am currently doing research on the “Green Tea diet.” You’ve mentioned several times that green tea is very helpful in brain health. My question is “Could Green Tea’s brain healthy attributes be the basis for this diet?”
Mmmm, so I need a brain transplant, always figured that was the answer (to a lot of other problems as well). Hypnosis sounds like a viable option…but then, I’d be afraid I’d act like a bird or a dog if I looked at a hot dog. I’m joking of course (?), but the brain is obviously a powerful organ and controls so much, so it’s kind of obvious that it would control how we eat as well. Need more info on the control aspect though.
Thanks for educating others about the benefits of hypnosis. As a board certified hypnotist I enjoy helping others develop their brains ability to achieve wellbeing.
I would theorize that variations in cortisol, leptin, ghrelin, and other biomarkers, e.g., serotonin, underlie the observations made re. brain function in this study. Just as it exerts such a negative effect on brain function in general,
stress — regardless of its cause plays a tremendous role in promoting obesity/weight gain.
I would also predict that those subjects demonstrating positive control over their dietary habits/preferences, likewise, exhibit positive control in other areas of their lives.
Susan Kross, DVM
Kross Consultative Health & Fitness Services
Ellenville, NY
Iamm on your e mail list. My husband has a tremor in his right arm and hand. He has had it for about 3 years and no medication seems to help. Is it possible that hypnosis may help him? I remember seeing that on the PBS channel some time ago. Thank you
What about Dyslexia. I struggle with this problem and want to know if there is anything that will help this disorder?
When I was about 12 I had an epiphany while thumbing through my mom’s magazines. I remember seeing all the pictures of food and recipes and I started to get really hungry. I wasn’t hungry before I started looking at the pictures. So I figured the reason people are fat is because they think about food all the time. And they think about getting fat. Is that possible? Is that all it takes to get fat…think about it too much?
I believe I have a set point in my body that has always been higher than I want. My body has a weight it wants to be and no matter how much I eat or don’t eat it always seems to try to settle there. For example, I will diet, loose 5 or 10 pounds and I am always hungry until I put the pounds I have lost back on. Then when I am at this weight, I can eat anything I want and I stay the same weight. I believe Ghrelin may be what controls this and I would love to have more information on how to reset my weight setpoint.
Is quality research still “mixed” regarding the value of hypnosis in weight reduction?
I am a 49 year old premenopausal woman (still reg periods, no flashes, nothing)who has always been active and adventurous. Since puberty, I have struggled with my weight. My eating habits are healthy but clearly too abundant. I eat no fast foods, no chips, no donuts, no soda, occasional chocolate. For example as a teen, I was known to drink a half gallon of oj and eat 8 apples a day. Fruit is my main addiction. I had lost 40+ pounds at 37 years old through WW and kept it off for 5 years. Now I am 80lbs above where I was when I started WW. I struggle with depression and ADD (which I believe is related to trauma as a child) since my depression took hold early in life (6-7 years old). The weight came back on when I suffered a series of emotional blows in my early forties, threw myself into my work and burned out badly. Now, I can’t seem to get myself motivated to do anything about my weight and physical condition. I know what to do and how to do it, but can’t seem to get on track. I’m always exhausted and have a very difficult time getting out of bed every morning. I feel as if it is going to take a major health scare (some kind of jolt) to get me going and that scares me because I am very high risk for breast cancer (strong family hx). I have even considered pursuing ECT….I feel like my brain is asleep or unplugged.
What do you think about IM hCG for weight loss? DO the homeopathic hCG compounds work?
I have used the IM and it worked beautifully and I felt splendid.
My post is related to your weight loss questions–I’m a healthy 42-year-old that is currently on WW. I workout regularly (eliptical at least 45 minutes/3 times a week and then light weights and toning the other days–I rest two days). I track what I eat and go to WW meetings on a regular basis. Why is it such a struggle to lose weight even when tracking and exercising regularly? I don’t yo-yo with my weight but I have never been thin or at my goal weight for my height ever so reasonably is this really something that I can overcome? My attitude/perception of myself is definitely better. I feel better. I look better. But for some reason (as odd as this sounds) I can’t get my brain to register all the hard effort and work I am doing to get to my goal weight. Something keeps holding back and I wonder if it’s the control my brain has on my body?
Question for weightloss program: what is your opinion of low carb diets re: effect of ketosis on the brain, saturated fat consumption vs. carbs and sugar?
I have had the most success losing weight with low carbing, partly because I am like an alcoholic with sugar. (another interesting brain topic) The only way to keep consumption down is to abstain.
I need a doctor in the Milwaukee area that can understand that it’s my husbands anxiety and untreated adhd that needs treating not a bariatric procedure. Where can you get a spect scan? Help
I am very much interested in learning how to change my brain in how it thinks of food. I have tried so many different diets and weight loss pills, will lose weight but cannot keep it off. I would love to learn how to change my brain so that weight loss is easier and I can keep it off. I am 57 and need to lose 40-50 lbs for my health. High blood pressure, high cholesterol,low vitamin D and high C-reactive protein.
What effect do gluten,dairy and wheat have on the brain and weight loss?I was finally able to lose some wt.by getting off of gluten and dairy,and wonder about the connections.
Thanks!
Does Neurofeedback training help with the weight loss?
My family and I saw you on a public broadcasting fund raising show a few weeks ago, and were very impressed. I’m sure that you are onto something good, especially the idea of tweaking diets according to differences in brain function.
Remember that Bob Hope lived to a ripe old age. He had a life full of stressful performances that often went past midnight, but no matter how late, he always went for a walk afterwards.
I believe in stress releaving exercise not too long before bed. I’m not talking about a work out. It can be a fifteen minute walk, for example. My favorite is rocking on a floor mat, the kind of rocking attributed to crazy people. It’s very relaxing and tones the abs. It also takes away hunger. If you have a food craving, try rocking for a few minutes while thinking about what you should or should not eat. The cravings will go away while you are rocking.