The values diet

The Boston Globe:

Losing weight is hard. Wouldn’t it be nice if a simple one-time exercise could shave off several pounds over several months? Researchers asked women to write about their most important value and why it was important to them, or about a less important value and why it might be important to someone else. Two and a half months later, women who had written about their most important value had lost weight, whereas women who had written about a less important value had gained weight. The first group also had smaller waists and better cognitive performance than the second group. The authors speculate that “affirming values freed up attentional resources” that could be used to pursue “health-related goals.”

Read the whole story: The Boston Globe