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Hannah Jenkins says that she was never bullied for her size.

She reached her highest weight 278 lbs. when she was in seventh grade, but growing up in the South, it wasnt that out of the ordinary to be overweight, she says. We just had no idea that people ate any other way.

Jenkins, now 22, says that overeating was just part of her daily routine. Every day I would come home from school, watch TV with my sisters and eat a whole package of snack cakes, she says. After dinner, shed continue to snack on packaged foods like ramen with cheese and more snack cakes. But when she got to college, everything changed.

The turning point for me was meeting so many new people and realizing Wow, Im really actually very uncomfortable, the Knoxville, Tennessee, residentsays. I kind of became comfortable in that shell back home. In college I was like, I dont want this to be my first impression to everybody.

On New Years Day in 2013, Jenkins started her weight loss journey. I used My Fitness Pal app to log my food, workouts and all the water I drank, she says. She started off doing about an hour a day of cardio 45 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the exercise bike and after a few months,she moved on to weight training three days a week for 30 minutes. It took her one full year to lose 102 lbs, and in December 2016, after shed lost 106 lbs., she had a tummy tuck to remove excess skin.

FROM PEN:Half Their Size: Joanne Raymond Struggled With Yo-Yo Dieting Before Finding Success

Jenkins says that one reason she was able to lose the weight and keep it off was because she didnt deprive herself. I didnt cut out anything completely; its about portion control, she says. Now she loads up on protein for breakfast by eating either oatmeal with fruit and peanut butter or a protein shake, and sticks to lean proteins and small amounts of carbs like sweet potatoes and rice.

For more inspiring weight loss stories, pick upthe latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.

Education about health and wellness was a huge part of Jenkinss success she just graduated college with a degree in nutrition. My goal in life is just to help other people lose weight, in any way, any kind of job that I might be able to do that. Even if its just one person, [I want] to help one person change their lives like I changed mine.

Shes already inspiring those close to her: My whole family is motivated to get healthy because of me: My twin sister lost 170 lbs., my little sister lost 50 lbs. and my dad has lost 55 lbs.!

See more here:
How This Aspiring Nutritionist Lost 107 Lbs. and Encouraged Her Family to Lose a Total of 275 Lbs. - PEOPLE.com

Despite your best efforts at cutting carbs at meals, you give in to a large helping of pasta or pizza. And then another. But you're still not satisfied. Dessert is calling, and you want something sweet, again. A scoop or two of ice cream satisfies you for the moment, but you continue to graze into the night until finally, you're so tired, you crash into bed.

So what is the cause of all of this diet drama that keeps occurring, almost according to schedule?

"I started noticing a common pattern where my patients were so good with restricting their calories during the day, but in the late afternoon and evening, they fell apart," said Tamara Duker Freuman, a nutritionist who has helped hundreds of people lose weight over the past decade on a meal-timing based plan she describes as the "circadian-synced diet."

"It was the ongoing grazing into the night. ... That's what kept undermining them. They often thought they were binge eaters ... but in reality, they were just really hungry.

"If they just ate a little more at breakfast and lunch, if they just added a few hundred extra calories in the morning, they would get their eating under control and lose weight," she said.

It's true that over-consuming calories at any time of day will result in weight gain. But skipping meals or eating too few calories earlier in the day appears to stack the odds against us. The result: Weight loss is hard to come by. In fact, more and more research points to the fact that when you front-load your calories instead, you have a much better chance of shedding pounds.

"What we have seen is that people on diets with the same number of calories who front-load calories to the earlier part of the day fare better in terms of subjective and objective measures of satiety," Freuman said. "They feel more satiated in evening, and there are actually differences in their hunger and satiety hormones ... and this seems to contribute to weight loss success."

One study involving 420 overweight and obese participants divided individuals into two groups: early eaters and late eaters, based on the timing of their lunch (i.e. before or after 3 p.m.). The late lunch eaters also ate lower-calorie breakfasts or skipped breakfast more often than early eaters.

The nutrient content of the meals was exactly the same for both groups, the only difference being that the breakfast and dinner meals were swapped. After 12 weeks, the big breakfast group lost about 2 times more weight than big dinner group (8.7 pounds for big breakfast group vs. 3.6 pounds for big dinner group) and lost over 4 more inches around their waist.

The big breakfast group experienced a 33% drop in triglyceride levels -- a marker associated with heart disease risk -- while the group that ate the higher-calorie dinner experienced a 14.6% increase. The bigger breakfast group also experienced greater reductions in fasting glucose, insulin and insulin resistance scores, all of which indicate decreased risk for type 2 diabetes, according to the study's authors.

So front-loading calories and carbohydrates is not only favorable in terms of weight loss, it had beneficial effects on other indicators of overall health, including decreased risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

That second study "opened my eyes," Freuman said. "It wasn't just that people were less hungry and eating less at night, but it pointed to the fact that there might be some sort of underlying metabolic magic going on, where the timing of calories and carbs mattered more than the total amount of calories and carbs eaten in a day. It helped me understand what I was intuitively seeing in my patients."

More and more research is suggesting that when you eat may be just as important as what you eat. And it is very closely tied to the complex science of circadian rhythms.

Circadian rhythms are driven by biological clocks inside our bodies. The brain has a master biological clock, influenced mainly by light, which tells "peripheral" clocks in the muscles and organs what time of day it is. Because of these clocks, many of the metabolic processes that take place inside us operate at different rates over the course of a 24-hour period.

"Because of circadian rhythms, there are variations in certain hormone levels, enzyme levels and glucose transporters at different parts of the day, which differentially affect how calories, carbohydrates and fat are metabolized," said Freuman, who presented case studies of patients who improved their weight and health by eating in sync with circadian rhythms at the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics annual meeting in May 2016.

Circadian rhythms can help explain why eating late at night increases the likelihood of weight gain and decreases the rate at which we lose weight, compared with eating earlier in the day.

For example, research suggests that the calories we burn from digesting, absorbing and metabolizing the nutrients in the food we eat -- known as diet-induced thermogenesis -- is influenced by our circadian system and is lower at 8 p.m. than 8 a.m., according to Frank A.J.L. Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Other metabolic processes involving insulin sensitivity and fat storage also operate according to circadian rhythms and can greatly influence the likelihood of weight gain or weight loss at different times of the day.

"These different metabolic processes ebb and flow at different times of the day, and they play a role in how your body metabolizes food energy, which ultimately affects your weight, cholesterol levels and blood sugar control -- and so it has tremendous implications for what is considered optimal times for eating," Freuman said.

Circadian rhythms may help explain why breakfast skipping is associated with increased risk of weight gain, even among those who consume comparable amounts of calories in a day.

"The link between breakfast skipping and obesity had once been thought to be due to overcompensation of calories at subsequent meals due to excess hunger ... but the research does not consistently show differences in total energy intake among breakfast-skippers," Freuman said.

"Something else about skipping breakfast -- aside from potentially eating more calories later in the day -- must explain the greater risk of weight gain among breakfast skippers," she said. A more likely answer: Eating more calories in the later part of the day is out of sync with metabolic circadian rhythms.

"We get less metabolically robust as we age," she explained. "So even if you've gotten away with skipping breakfast and eating out of sync in your 20s or 30s, it may eventually catch up with you."

Night shift workers can also benefit from eating in sync with their circadian rhythms. They may modify meal timing to sync up with metabolic circadian rhythms by eating breakfast at the end of their workday, at 7 or 8 a.m., and then eating their heaviest meal when they wake up, about 3 or 4 p.m.

Freuman discourages her night shift patients from eating during the night. "We don't want them eating many calories, so we'll have them sip on tea or have a Thermos of miso soup or, if need be, something small like an apple in order to minimize overnight calories.

"Your metabolism is working in a certain way, whether you are awake or asleep -- so even if you are awake during most of the night, you still want to be eating most of your calories during daylight. Sleep has little to do with it," Freuman said.

So how do we eat in sync with our circadian rhythms? They key is to front-load your calories and carbs. Freuman suggests the following, which she advises to her patients:

Ideally, breakfast should be satiating enough to preclude the need for a midmorning snack, and it should have a minimum of 300 calories, according to Freuman. It should always include high-fiber carbohydrates, which are more slowly digested than refined carbs, and it should include protein, which helps keep hunger in check.

Good breakfasts include a cup of cooked oatmeal with low-fat milk and a small handful of nuts, two slices of Ezekiel or whole-grain bread with mashed avocado and sliced tomato, or a two-egg omelet with veggies, fruit and a slice of whole-wheat toast.

If you are not hungry when you wake up, you can defer breakfast for a few hours -- but it should not be skipped, according to Freuman.

2. Have the "blue plate special" for lunch

"Lunch should be like that blue plate special ... the main meal of the day," Freuman said.

For a simple lunch strategy, Freuman suggests filling half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables and then dividing the second half into protein (like grilled fish or chicken) and slowly digested high-fiber carbohydrates (like beans or quinoa). "A salad with grilled chicken is fine, but try adding a baked sweet potato, a heaping scoop of chickpeas or even a thick, hearty lentil soup," she said.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Sushi Order a California roll, and you'll get heart-healthy monounsaturated fats from avocado and zinc from crab, all for 255 calories. But a crunchy shrimp tempura roll, which is battered and fried and often drizzled with spicy mayo, has about 200 more calories and three times the amount of fat.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Cereal Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal can make for a convenient and healthy breakfast, especially if it's made with whole grains, is low in sugar and is served with fresh fruit and low-fat milk. But sugary cereals that lack fiber and protein can cause a blood sugar spike and crash before lunchtime.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Popcorn Air-popped popcorn is a healthy, whole-grain, antioxidant-rich snack that's low in calories. But movie theater popcorn, which is popped in coconut oil, is a diet disaster, contributing 1,200 calories and about three days worth of saturated fat for a medium bucket -- and that's without the buttery topping.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Yogurt A Greek yogurt with no added sugar makes for a filling protein- and calcium-rich snack. But sweetened yogurts with flavorings or fruit purees have less protein and are more like dessert, with up to 8 teaspoons of sugar.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Energy bars Energy bars can be a wise choice for a snack or mini meal if they offer a healthy dose of protein and fiber, and are low in sugars and saturated fat. But when they contain chocolate coatings or sugary syrups, they can pass for protein-fortified candy bars.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Salad A salad made with spinach, light tuna, veggies, feta and yogurt dressing can make for a low-calorie, nutrient-rich lunch. But when your salad contains crispy chicken, bacon, cheddar and ranch dressing, you'd be better off eating a burger.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Peanut butter If you are vegetarian, peanut butter can be a convenient way to add protein and heart-healthy fats to your diet. Just steer clear of flavored peanut butters with sugar and cocoa butter, which can quickly turn your passion for peanut butter into consumption of calorie-rich chocolate.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Dried fruits Dried fruits, including prunes, dried apricots and dried cranberries, can provide a tasty nutrient-rich snack, especially when they're not coated with sugar and portions are kept in check. But if you are sensitive to sulfites or have asthma, dried fruit can be problematic unless you choose organic brands, which don't contain the preservative sulfur dioxide.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Granola Granola contains healthy ingredients such as oats, nuts and dried fruit, and it can serve as a tasty topping to yogurt or cereal. But since it can pack up to 600 calories per cup (thanks to sugar and other ingredient treats), it's important to sprinkle, not pour.

Photos: 10 foods that are healthy, except when they aren't

Veggie chips Veggie chips can deliver a generous amount of fiber and vitamin A, especially when they are in their purest form (not blended). But not all veggie chips are created equal. Depending on the amounts of oil, salt and sugar, calories can add up quickly.

If you prefer a sandwich for lunch, pair it with fiber-rich vegetables. "A turkey sandwich is part of a good lunch, but it's not a whole lunch." Try adding butternut squash soup or carrots with hummus.

Other good lunches that Freuman recommends include baked salmon with lentils and cooked green veggies or a Mexican quinoa bowl with quinoa, black beans, chicken, avocado and salsa, along with a pile of greens.

The easiest way to plan for lunch may be to use last night's leftovers. "I cook dinner at home and bring in my leftovers for lunch the next day. When I get home from work, I'm not tearing the house apart."

An afternoon snack may be necessary if lunch and dinner are more than five hours apart. However, it should be no more than 200 calories, and it should be high in protein and fiber. "This will prevent you from arriving at dinner feeling 'starving,' " Freuman said.

Snacks that will satisfy include an apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter, grape tomatoes with string cheese, a hard-boiled egg or plain Greek yogurt with fruit.

4. Go low-carb for dinner

Dinner should be light and low in carbohydrates. "The more you can go low-carb for dinner, the more it will mitigate the effects of distorted calories at night," Freuman said.

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Dinners might include fish and a cooked vegetable, lettuce-wrapped tacos or a turkey burger (minus the bun) and a salad with light dressing.

"I'll make turkey meatballs for my kids, and I'll give them pasta too, but I'll have mine on a bed of spinach -- and the next day, I'll bring the pasta for lunch."

And when dining out, Freuman suggests ordering two appetizers, like a salad and a shrimp cocktail or grilled calamari.

Lisa Drayer is a nutritionist, author and health journalist.

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Weight loss tied to when you eat - CNN.com

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Megan Jayne Crabbe, author of Body Positive Power is pretty well known in the Instagram world for encouraging women to love their bodies, and as a woman who's conquered anorexia, she has the most important message you'll hear this Summer: "You do not have to lose weight to be worthy of wearing a bikini." Megan shares, "I used to spend every single Summer starving and sweating to get the body on the left, telling myself that I was only allowed to be seen in swimwear once I'd hit that goal weight (and even once I did, it still wasn't enough)."

Not once did she ever hear the message that she should stay exactly the same, embrace her body, and just enjoy Summer. The message was that unless her body looked a certain way, she shouldn't dare be seen in a bathing suit. But this year was different. "I didn't set a goal weight to hit before my holiday. And I didn't sit by the pool sucking my stomach in and worrying what everyone else thought about my body either." She went outside and "laughed and played and ate and swam and wore every damn bikini I own without changing my body one bit. And guess what? It was so much better than all the self-hatred-filled holidays that came before."

Megan goes on, "Because the only thing I really needed to lose through all those years wasn't weight. It was the bullsh*t idea that a bikini body is something that you have to earn, when in reality I had one all along. We all have bikini bodies already, and we all deserve a summer in the sunshine. "

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Very soon, Ill stand up in front of the graduating class of my former high school and give the commencement speech. Ill focus on the usual work hard and follow your dream themes, but, in reality, I just want to shout out to all those 17-year-olds have that ice cream cone, youll still fit into your skinny jeans tomorrow! Or its OK to skip a workout, your muscle mass will help you bounce back!

At 41, these are the things that I notice the most. My body does not bounce back as easily as it once did and I have to work a lot harder to manage my weight. Genetics play a role in the aging process, but our lifestyle choices can help dictate how well our genes treat us as we get older. After turning 40, these are six of the top lifestyle habits to focus on.

Fat in the mid-section is metabolically active and we gain more of it as we age. Thats not a good thing. As opposed to the fat we gain in our thighs and rear, abdominal fat can lead to several chronic conditions.

A 2014 study found that the type of fat we consume might make all the difference. Participants in the study were asked to eat 750 extra calories every day for seven weeks. Those having excess calories from saturated fats had activated cells that promoted fat storage in the belly and increased insulin resistance. However, individuals who had had a high consumption of polyunsaturated fats found in fatty fish, nuts and seeds, gained less abdominal fat and were more likely to increase muscle mass instead.

Multiple studies have demonstrated this connection between saturated fat intake and belly fat, especially when it is coupled with reduced levels of estrogen.

Jump off the treadmill, if want to lose weight. If you change nothing about your exercise routine now, it's almost a guarantee you will find the pounds creeping up. This all boils down to a loss of muscle mass a condition called sarcopenia that begins at 40.

In fact, up to 40 percent of muscle mass is lost between the ages of 40 and 80. This alone is the kiss of death to metabolism. Muscle weighs more than fat making it a metabolically superior calorie burner.

So, the more we lose, the more we gain.

Additionally, attempts to lose weight on low-calorie diets can lead to even more lost muscle. Studies have found that regular resistance or strength training may be a better alternative than your daily runs to preserve and gain muscle even when coupled with a low-calorie diet. Aerobic exercise is still important, just dont make it your only form of activity.

A study from the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that healthy behaviors, like eating fruits and vegetables daily, significantly improved the odds of successful aging. Plants provide a protective measure against oxidative stress and free radical formation two things that go hand-in-hand and increase with age.

Oxidative stress occurs when the balance between free radicals in the body and our ability to fight against is uneven, with free radicals prevailing. Free radicals can cause disease and there is an association with an increased risk of formation of free radicals as we age. That's why after a certain age, building up our defenses (through having lots of antioxidants in plants) can help reduce this imbalance and stack the cards in our defense system instead.

The more years we live, the higher our risk of developing a disease, especially heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. All of these conditions are tied, in some way, to inflammation. A 2017 study from Georgetown showed that mindfulness meditation had a significant impact on reducing stress hormones and inflammatory proteins and a 2014 study found that just 25 minutes of meditation a day could alleviate stress levels.

If you don't have 25 minutes to spare each day, a 5-minute meditation helps. Or 1-minute meditations can calm your mind. It's that easy.

Even individuals with relatively healthy diets can be deficient in magnesium. Adequate magnesium is important to protect our bones. In addition to promoting bone health, magnesium plays a role in protecting our brain, heart and nervous system. Its also associated with keeping energy levels up and bathroom habits regular.

Women between ages 31-50 need 320 milligrams daily, according to the National Institutes of Health. Pay special attention to getting plenty of magnesium-rich foods in your diet. Examples include:

The American Heart Association found that heavy drinking in middle age defined as more than two drinks daily increased the risk of heart attack and stroke more than traditional risk factors such as diabetes and heart disease.

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Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, R.D., manager of wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, is the author of "Skinny Liver". Follow her on Twitter @KristinKirkpat

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How to lose weight after 40: 6 new habits to start now - Today.com

A woman was spurred on to lose weight after seeing herself in unflattering summer holiday snaps.

Sarah-Jane Knox lost three stone after deciding she need to make a change - and has toned up her body more than she'd ever imagined possible.

But she says the secret behind her incredible new body is CUTTING cardio.

Her weight had slowly crept up and before she knew it she was having to buy clothes two dress sizes bigger than normal.

So the 28-year-old Belfast woman embarked on an overhaul which has completely changed her life.

Speaking to Belfast Live , Sarah-Jane told how she has gone from 12st 7lbs to 9st 7lbs, moving from a size 14 to an 8.

"Last summer I was starting to have to buy size 14 clothes, two bigger than what I would have worn," said Sarah-Jane, a civil servant.

"I saw a few pictures from being on holiday and something had to change.

"I work with a guy who is into fitness and he put me in touch with Anthony Byrne from Gymco Finaghy, he said a PT would be a good start.

"So I joined up and my goal was just to lose weight initially but I started lifting weights and it changed things. I had played hockey and would have done cardio but not weights.

"I started going to Anthony and he introduced me to weights and I would do that twice a week with him. He also got me a diet plan to follow and was in contact a lot to see how things were going.

"Over seven months I worked hard and stuck to it and the results have been amazing. Even just for my confidence but I am also feeling healthy and I have so much more energy and feel fitter . It has changed my life.

"I knew it was not going to be easy and I knew it was not going to be done in two months. I had tried all the fad diets and they never worked but setting a long-term goal helped.

"I had to put in the work for weeks before I saw the results.

"I would say before my view was you had to cut calories and do a lot of cardio to lose weight but Anthony showed me I could eat a lot of clean food and not exercise as much and still get the results.

"I think a lot of girls and guys think to lose weight you ave to eat nothing and exercise constantly but it's the opposite, it's about getting the right balance and fuelling your body."

Now Sarah-Jane has found a new lease of life and confidence she never had before.

She has even had a professional fitness shoot done to show how far she has come.

"I said I would never get a photoshoot but I did in the end and it was great, it has really helped my confidence," she said.

"I am looking forward to what's next, I have found I have a real interest in nutrition and fitness so who knows where it will lead."

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Woman spurned on to lose weight after unflattering summer holiday snaps and does it by cutting out cardio - Mirror.co.uk

A new study showed that eating mindfully, meaning choosing and savoring food away from the distractions of television and computer, could help people lose weight.

A new program in the U.S. tells people they can eat whatever they want, whether it is high-calorie, fattening foods or not. However, they must eat the food mindfully, thinking about nothing more than the enjoyment of eating their food, although not necessarily finishing the entire meal.

The findings were presented in a paper at the European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal.

Carolyn Dunn from North Carolina State Universityand one of the authors of the new study said that they instructed people to eat the foods they love, not to give them up but to eat them in a mindful way.

For example, if one of us was going to eat a food that has very high calories, we would tell them to eat one or two bites, but to eat those one or two bites with awareness, so they are getting the most pleasure out of those one to two bites, said Dunn, according to The Guardian.

Dunn said that other research has shown that those first two bites are associated with the most enjoyment and that eating more will translate into more calories but no more satisfaction. She cited for example that if a person preferred a chocolate mousse, they would advise them to eat it with mindfulness and purpose and to enjoy those first few bites. She noted that participants didnt have to waste food, as they advised them to share it, take it home with them or to buy the food in smaller amounts.

The commercial program, known as Eat Smart, Move More, Weight Less, lasts 15 weeks. Dunn and her colleagues enrolled 80 people in the program: 42 were immediately put into the program, and the remaining 38 were part of the control group, who were told to wait to join after the first group finished their 15 weeks.

Participants in the mindfulness program lost an average of 1.9 kg over the 15 weeks. The participants on the waiting list were eager to join and assumed to be trying other methods of losing weight, which resulted in them losing an average of 0.3 kg.

Mindfulness is paying attention to your surroundings, being in the present moment, said Dunn, according to The Guardian. Mindful eating is eating with purpose, eating on purpose, eating with awareness, eating without distraction, when eating only eating, not watching television or playing computer games or having any other distractions, not eating at our desks.

Dunn noted that they talk about those aspects to get people to move away from eating with distractions and towards eating with more awareness and purpose. She claimed that people did increase their mindfulness and they did decrease their weight as a result of that awareness and purpose.

According to Dunn, mindfulness also refers to the way in which people shop for food, as well as how they order in restaurants.

Are you letting your emotions drive your eating? Are you eating out of fear or depression? Are you letting external cues drive your eating because you are in line in the grocery store and that food is being heavily marketed to you? asked Dunn regarding emotional eating.

People who participated in the new study were not offered any diet sheet or even asked to count calories, according to the researchers. Each week they were compelled to talk about a different aspect of food and nutrition. Participants were also encouraged to walk and increase their physical activity.

The researchers found that after six months, around 75 percent of the participants had not regained the weight they lost in the program, and some even had lost more pounds. The results proved to be similar to the control group, once they were able to join the program themselves.

Mindfulness has proven to be helpful for weight loss and is of great interest for health improvement. However, little research has been conducted to assess the actual impact it has on weight loss or prevention.

According to the authors, the results of the new study suggest that there is a beneficial association between mindful eating and weight loss. They added that their study contributes to the mindfulness literature, seeing as there are very few studies that employed a rigorous methodology to examine and assess the effectiveness of an intervention on mindful eating.

Source: The Guardian

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New study shows 'mindful' eating helps with weight loss - Pulse Headlines

Crinkly plates are creation of a graphic artist from the Art Academy of Latvia. Its ridges trick the mind into seeing less food as more. Photograph: Art Academy of Latvia/PA

A crinkly plate, designed with ridges that cunningly reduce the amount of food it holds, may be heading for the market to help people concerned about their weight to eat less.

The plate is the brainchild of a Latvian graphic designer, Nauris Cinovics, from the Art Academy of Latvia, who is working with a Latvian government agency to develop the idea and hopes to trial it soon. It may look like just another arty designer plate, but it is intended to play tricks with the mind.

My idea is to make food appear bigger than it is. If you make the plate three-dimensional [with the ridges and troughs] it actually looks like there is the same amount of food as on a normal plate but there is less of it, said Cinovics.

You are tricking the brain into thinking you are eating more.

The plate will be made of clear glass and could turn eating dinner into a more complex and longer process than it is usually for most of us. Negotiating the folds in the glass where pieces of fish or stray carrots may lurk will slow down the speed with which people get through their meal.

Cinovics has also designed heavy cutlery, with the idea of making eating more of a labour that therefore lasts longer. His knife, fork and spoon weigh 1.3kg each.

We tested this and it took 11 minutes to finish a meal with this cutlery rather than seven minutes, he said.

Our brain takes at least 20 minutes to receive the message that we should feel full, so if we eat really fast we think we need more food if we eat slowly the message gets through sooner so we eat less.

Cinovics unveiled his idea at the European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal, where experts said they were interested in the notion.

This seems like a good idea, said Dr Paul Christiansen from the University of Liverpools school of psychology. If people think they have eaten a full plate of food they will feel more satisfied.

Many people think you have to finish the food on the plate. If you can satisfy the perception that they have a nice big portion on their plate, they will think they have eaten a full meal. If, on the other hand, you put a small portion on a big plate, they will think they are not satisfied by it and will want more.

For plate clearers if you can feed the perception that you have a reasonable amount of food here they may eat less.

Susan Jebb, professor of diet and population health at the Nuffield department of primary care health sciences, Oxford University, also thought the concept had possibilities. It is an interesting idea because it will reduce portion size and you can have a meal with other people and it looks like you have the right size plate, she said although she added that because a trial has not yet been carried out, there is no evidence as to how well it will work.

Professor Jane Ogden, professor in health psychology at the University of Surrey, thought it was an exciting possibility which could be very helpful.

There is lots of evidence that we eat for other reasons other than biological need it is about habit, it is about perception, it is about what we visually perceive, she said.

Anything that can manipulate any of that could well be an effective way of eating less. Of course we need to see some evidence that this works, but if you can tell your body that you are eating more than you actually are then you might eat less.

Professor Charles Spence, a behavioural psychologist at the University of Oxford who specialises in the perception of food and taste, said: This is a nice idea. There are a number of ways of tricking the eye, from use of smaller plates to make it look like there is more, through heavier bowls. The crinkle plate seems to provide much same impression though I do worry how you get the bits out that fall in crevices.

Slowing down is one thing, I am all for that though the danger is people might get irritated if they perceive it to be difficult.

He said his own research suggests a wavy shape is something most people associate with sweetness which in itself may help satisfy them.

More than 2.1 billion people 30% of the worlds population are obese or overweight, Cinovics pointed out in his poster presentation at the conference. There are many ways to reduce weight exercises, stress reduction, diets and others however, it has been little studied how tableware design can contribute to weight loss by changing eating habits.

He cites consumer psychologist Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell University, and famous for inventing the concept mindless eating as his inspiration. Wansink and colleagues pioneered the idea of moving from a 12 inch plate to a 10 inch plate, which their research suggests causes people to serve themselves more than 20% less food. He is also credited with the concept of 100 calorie snack packs.

Crinkles may be unusual in dinner plates, but the idea of redesigning crockery and cutlery to trick our brains and our stomachs into believing less food is sufficient has been around for some time.

See more here:
Want to lose weight? Eat off a crinkly plate - The Guardian

Not having lunch at your desk and switching off the TV while eating could be the key to losing weight according to scientists.

A new study on the effects of mindful eating which includes concentrating on each mouthful found that those who ate this way lost far more weight than other slimmers.

Experts from the University of North Carolina analysed data from 80 people who said they were ready to lose weight at the start of the study.

They were split into two groups, with the first encouraged to follow mindful eating, such as paying attention to hunger and feelings of fullness, planning meals and snacks, savouring tastes and keeping away from distractions. They followed this plan for 15 weeks and were encouraged to exercise.

The second group, meanwhile, was given no intervention and acted as a control group.

Neither group was told to count calories or follow a restricted diet.

The results showed that, after 15 weeks, those in the mindful group had lost 1.9kg (4lb) compared with 0.3kg (0.6lb) for participants in the control group.

Dr Carolyn Dunn, from North Carolina State University, who worked on the study, said: Mindfulness is paying attention to your surroundings, being in the present moment.

Mindful eating is eating with purpose, eating on purpose, eating with awareness, eating without distraction, when eating only eating, not watching television or playing computer games or having any other distractions, and not eating at our desks.

She said the study results showed that people did increase their mindfulness and they did absolutely decrease their weight.

Professor Hermann Toplak, president of European Society of Obesity, encouraged people to reduce their stress levels before eating.

He said: You have to reduce your stress levels before walk or do something restful then you will eat differently.

If you are eating out from your stress and thats very frequent today especially in cities like London where people are so busy then you eat quicker, fatter and sweeter.

And if you reduce stress levels you will eat salad, you will eat vegetables, because you are in the mood to eat things like that also.

More:
Want to lose weight? Then turn off the TV and avoid desk lunches, scientists say - Aberdeen Evening Express

Telegraph.co.uk

Switch off the TV at mealtimes if you want to lose weight Telegraph.co.uk Switch off the TV and radio at meal times to lose weight, dieters are being advised. Research found dieters who practised mindful eating - chewing without distractions - were much better at shifting unwanted pounds. The Spanish study found those given ...

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Switch off the TV at mealtimes if you want to lose weight - Telegraph.co.uk

People looking to lose weight should try to give meals their full attention rather than eat while doing something else, such as watching television or working. So suggests a new study that evaluated the effect of being more mindful about eating in a weight management program.

The study - led by Carolyn Dunn, a professor and nutrition specialist at North Carolina (NC) State University in Raleigh - is being presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity, held in Porto, Portugal.

Prof. Dunn and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of increasing mindful eating in an online weight management program called Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less (ESMMWL), developed by NC State University and the NC Division of Public Health.

Obesity is a global public health problem that affects more than twice as many people today as it did in 1980.

According to estimates for 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide are thought to be overweight, including 600 million with obesity. In fact, most people now live in regions of the world where obesity is a bigger killer than being underweight.

Obesity is a major public health concern not only because it reduces quality of life, but also because it raises the risk of poor mental health and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.

In the United States, where more than 1 in 3 adults (37 percent) have obesity, the condition is a huge burden on the economy. The total medical bill for treating obesity in the U.S. in 2008 came to $147 billion.

Although it is preventable, obesity is not an easy problem to solve; many causes and contributing factors - including behavior, environment, and genetic predisposition - work together to initiate and maintain the disease.

Individual behavior affects diet, amount of physical activity or inactivity, and medication use. Environmental factors - such as availability of a range of foods, opportunity for physical activity, education, and food marketing - also have a big impact.

Mindfulness is a type of Buddhist meditation during which a person focuses on their present thoughts, feelings, and sensations, and what is in their environment "right now."

An important feature of mindfulness is to pay attention without judgement or evaluation - there is no right or wrong thought or feeling, there is only the awareness of what it is right now.

Mindfulness entered the mainstream as a therapeutic practice in the 1980s through the work of people such as Jon Kabat-Zinn and his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, where there is now a Center for Mindfulness.

In his book Coming to Our Senses, Kabat-Zinn writes that when we pay mindful attention to the sense of taste, "even the simplest of foods provide a universe of sensory experience."

ESMMWL, the 15-week online program evaluated in the new study, uses the idea of "planned behavior" to help participants to alter habits that are known to be linked to weight management.

A live instructor delivers training online at the same time each week to a group of participants who link up via their computer, tablet, or smartphone.

To evaluate the effect of adding mindful eating to the program, the researchers asked participants to fill in a 28-item questionnaire called the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ). The MEQ assesses five different areas of mindful eating.

The program uses an approach to mindful eating where the participant is invited to focus on many facets of dealing with and interacting with food, such as paying attention to how it tastes, noticing hunger and fulness cues, and planning mealtimes and snacks.

Mindful eating also invites you to just have "one or two bites" of foods that are higher in calories and "just savor the flavor."

For their study - which takes the form of a randomized controlled trial - the researchers asked people looking to enrol on the ESMMWL if they would be willing to take part.

Of the 80 participants who said yes, 42 were randomly assigned to the intervention group and 38 to the control group (they were effectively placed on a waiting list).

The results showed that the participants who completed the program (28 in all) lost more weight than the 36 who remained in the control group for the duration.

The average weight loss in the group that completed the program was 1.9 kilograms (4.2 pounds) compared with 0.3 kilograms (0.7 pounds) average weight loss in the control group - a result that the researchers describe as "statistically significant."

All participants completed the MEQ, but the before and after differences in the total score and the scores on the subscales were significantly larger in the group that completed the program than the control group. The authors remark on their findings:

"Results suggest that there is a beneficial association between mindful eating and weight loss. The current study contributes to the mindfulness literature as there are very few studies that employed rigorous methodology to examine the effectiveness of an intervention on mindful eating."

Learn how mindfulness meditation helps to control emotions.

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Mindful eating may help people lose weight, study finds - Medical News Today

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