Seems if you want to lose weight, you have to think right. A new study finds that what you think about obesity can influence your waistline.
For the study, researchers asked 301 South Koreans what they thought was the principle cause of obesity: About half blamed diet, 40% cited not enough activity and 8% said it was genetic.
The kicker? Those who cited overeating had an average body mass index about 1.5 points lower than those who blamed not sweating enough at the gym.
“If we believe overeating causes obesity, and we want to lose weight, we should cut back our intake. If we believe weight gain stems from a lack of exercise, we try to increase our activity. However, relative to the other, one of these paths is much more likely to be effective—reducing caloric intake,” researcher Brent McFerran, a marketing professor and social psychologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, wrote on his blog.
Many people think they can eat more if they exercise, he says. “Exercise can be a valid way to lose weight if you can hold food intake constant, but many people struggle to do that,” McFerran told the website LiveScience.
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