Keep the Thermostat on the Cool Side and Lose Weight

I  have written articles before on the studies I read about keeping your home at a temperature of
about 59 degrees,  will cause  you to lose weight. Now this just did not make sense to me. Eskimos are not skinny people and they live with below zero condition all the time. 

I moved into an new larger apartment in the dead of Summer. The cooling bill  for that month went right out the ceiling and higher. So what motivated me then was energy costs not being slim.  If you’re hoping that exercise might keep you from gaining weight this year, you may want to dial up the thermostat and do your workout indoors. According to a surprising new study, exercising in chilly temperatures could undermine dieting willpower.

By now, most of us have heard or discovered for ourselves that exercise is an unreliable means of controlling weight. After starting an exercise program, some people lose a pound or two, but others don’t lose weight, and many add body fat.

Why exercise affects people so differently in terms of weight control is uncertain. Scientists know that exercise generally increases appetite, so that many people consume more after a workout than they incinerate during it. But not all people overeat after workouts.

Dr. Christopher Ochner, an obesity specialist at New York’s 

Mount Sinai Hospital, joined the “CBS This Morning” co-hosts to 

discuss the finding and how being a little chilly can help reduce your waistline.

Ochner said that this finding really has to do with the fact that body weight is “determined by calories in and calories out.”

“How much you eat and drink versus the calories you spend. We’re burning calories all the time – just sitting here we’re burning calories,” he said. “In fact, most of our calories are burned at rest. It’s called your resting metabolic rate.”

Training Your Brain to Crave Healthier Food

We aren’t born with an innate craving for French fries and donuts or an aversion to broccoli and whole grains. This conditioning happens over time as we’re exposed to more and more unhealthy food choices. A recent pilot study at Tufts University, however, suggests that it’s possible to reprogram your brain’s food cravings so that you hanker for healthier foods instead of high-calorie ‘diet busters.’ In the study, a small group of subjects enrolled in a behavioral weight management program that emphasizes portion-control and education to change eating habits. After six months, brain scans revealed increased reward and enjoyment of healthy, low-calorie foods, and a decrease in enjoyment of unhealthy, higher-calorie foods.

While more research is needed to be conclusive, this is encouraging news for anyone whose weight loss efforts have been sabotaged by unhealthy food cravings. You can learn to enjoy healthy food!

You can learn to move your body just because it feels good to move and have fun.

Judi Singleton is free lance writer.  She writes a mininum of 20 blogs a week and sometimes more. You can advertise in her blogs for as little as $5. per week, per blog.