Healthy living
Diet and weight loss
The non-diet way to weightloss?
Stop counting calories and start chanting 'om' - it might help you lose weight for good, according to a study in the journal Preventive Medicine
If the first thing you do when you're under stress is reach for a biscuit (or two), then stress and weight gain can become a vicious circle, as many dieters know. Researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand set out to discover if dealing effectively with stress could break the cycle.
At the start of the two-year study, the researchers divided 225 overweight or obese women, who had a high risk of gaining more weight, into three groups and, over a 10-week period, focused on techniques aimed at ditching diets and striving for a healthier relationship with food instead.
The study's non-dieting approach concentrated on improving lifestyle behaviours to boost health regardless of weight loss. One of the groups followed a traditional healthy eating and exercise route; the next received nutritional advice by post and the third learned relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation.
In an earlier report on the study, co-author Dr Caroline Horwath said many overweight women have a fearful and guilt-ridden relationship with food, and their eating is often emotionally-triggered, "We provided tools to help them deal with negative thoughts, emotions and attitudes and to encourage them to recover an enjoyment in eating as a natural activity related to hunger rather than stress," she said.
Now Dr Horwath says that, despite giving up dieting, women in all three groups successfully prevented any weight gain over the two-year period, which is a promising result for a group at high risk of weight gain over time. However, she said, the most striking result was in the group that also included intensive training in 'techniques to elicit the body's relaxation response' - ie. yoga, meditation, breathing and visualisation.
Dr Howarth said: "At the two-year mark, these women were the only ones to maintain the psychological and medical symptom improvements they showed at the end of the first year". Although weight loss was not a goal of the study, women who reported still regularly practising these techniques at the two-year mark also had an average weight reduction of 2.5kg at the end of this period.
Stress and negative emotions can trigger women to overeat and consume high-fat and high-sugar foods, Dr Horwath says. "By learning and practising relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation, abdominal breathing and visualisation, as part of a wider lifestyle change programme, women have effective tools to manage stress and emotions without resorting to unhealthy eating," she says.
Useful articles
- Yoga: body and soul workout
- Why stress is linked to weight gain
- Yoga poses prevent falls
- Yoga: strike a pose
- A guide to meditation
- Visit our diet and weightloss section for info and inspiration
- Healthy eating: news, recipes and features
- How to be happier
- Can you stop worrying?
- Chat about health at Saga Zone
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.
