Can you tell me how the placebo effect might help in losing weight?

The placebo effect is an effect that is not caused by any particular medicine, treatment, or other therapeutic remedy, but rather is caused by a person's beliefs and expectations.

A discussion of this subject appears in a 2007 article in the Journal of Psychological Science, written by Alan J. Crum and Ellen J. Langer. These psychologists describe the following placebo studies:

• People drinking placebo coffee (no caffeine), who thought it was real coffee, experienced increased heart rate
• People who came into contact with "faux" poison ivy broke out in very real rashes
• People who were put to sleep and were told they were given a knee operation reported as much relief from pain and swelling in their knees two years later as those who had real operations (Nothing was done to the "placebo" subjects, except making tiny cuts in their knees to look like there was surgery.)
• The placebo effect occurs even when there is no fake procedure or pill. The deterioration of cancer patients has a lot to do with their negative beliefs and expectations about cancer.
• People were told that the work they did in their everyday lives was really good exercise, and qualified as an "active" lifestyle. These people did not take on any new exercise regimen, or increase in their activity levels. They simply had a shift in mindset by being told they were already exercising in a very good way.
   
  Do you know what happened? These people got significantly healthier, even more fit over the course of just four weeks, including losing a couple of pounds without dieting. This happened just because they "thought" they were engaging in very effective exercise.

Such is the power of the placebo effect.

In the case of a weight problem, you don't need any deception or any false treatments. What you do need is a mindset that increases your feeling of mastery and gives you the sense that you are very capable of losing weight.

Everything we talk about at Maria's Last Diet is aimed at building this kind of mindset. We think the placebo effect works even more powerfully then the best diet in the world. Your belief in yourself as being able to do it is what makes the diet work.

© Maria's Last Diet. Maria's Last Diet is an online weight loss support website for women. At Maria's Last Diet, you'll find the tools to fix the thoughts, feelings, and automatic habits that fight against you when you diet. Because it's never just about the food. Visit www.mariaslastdiet.com for more diet tips and weight loss motivation.

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