Imagine: you are sitting comfortably on the couch thinking hard about losing weight. And then you just lose a few pounds. Too good to be true? These scientists claim not, although you still have to do something.
The researchers at the University of Plymouth come up with the FIT method (Functional Imagery Training), which involves your own imagination and setting positive goals. The idea is to imagine how nice it feels not to eat that chocolate bar or how good it feels to run. You would then rather display the desired behavior.
70 participants put it to the test. They followed the FIT method for six months. 70 others only received motivational interviews. Those who followed the FIT therapy lost an average of four kilos and had a smaller waist by four centimeters. The people in the control group had lost only 0.74 pounds and the waist was only two centimeters. After one year, the difference in results was even greater: the FIT method resulted in a weight loss of 6.5 kg, the other training resulted in a weight loss of 0.67 kg.
Those who did the FIT training set goals about the desired behavioral change and had to imagine this behavior several times a day. The more precisely they did that, the better it worked. The control group received the same amount of guidance, but only in the form of interviews. They didn’t have to imagine anything.
Bron (nen): HLN
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