Lose weight without exercise and diet: Professor reveals 2 psychological tips

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Food combining, cabbage soup, low fat – diets have many names. And most people have probably tried to change their diet at some point in their lives in order to lose a few pounds. But if there are no successes or if a few pounds creep back onto the scales after a short time, the motivation is usually gone.

Psychology professor Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire has now approached the topic from a different perspective. In his opinion, it’s not so much what we eat that matters – but how. According to the Daily Mail, in his podcast “On Your Mind” he presented two bizarre tricks that are supposed to help you lose weight.

British psychology professor calls for more awareness when eating

The Brit suggests using the less trained hand when eating. Right-handed people should take the cutlery in their left hand, left-handed people in their right. This is one of the most pleasant ways to eat less.

“This leads to eating taking longer and becoming more conscious because you first have to overcome coordination difficulties, so you end up eating less,” says Wiseman. “It’s very simple, but it’s actually very effective.”

Use a weak hand and look in the mirror while eating

Conscious eating can also be practiced in other ways, explains the professor and presents the next tip: look at yourself in the mirror while eating.

As Wiseman reports, this theory comes from the American psychologist Brad Bushman. As part of an experiment, he placed a table containing healthy and unhealthy food in front of a supermarket. Bushman encouraged people passing by to sit down and eat – as much as they wanted, whether healthy or unhealthy.

In half of the experiments, he placed a mirror on the table so that the subjects could see themselves while eating. “As soon as people saw their reflection, they became self-conscious and chose the healthier food,” says Wiseman.

When we are distracted, we eat more

Studies also show how important attention is when it comes to food. A 2013 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people eat more when they are distracted – such as watching TV – or eat quickly. Eating slowly and without distraction, on the other hand, helps control the amount of food you eat.

Of course, other factors such as exercise and sport also play an important role in losing weight healthily. Nevertheless, the psychologist emphasizes that “psychological tricks (…) can also be quite effective”.