Want to lose weight? Just relax

New York, January 21:Excess body weight is a worldwide pandemic. Now, a new research has suggested a new method to shed those extra pounds: Just add a little relaxation to your lifestyle.

People frustrated and unhappy with their excess body weight can maintain a healthy weight by just doing relaxation instead of dieting, according to a two-year study of 225 women with a body mass indexdefine (BMI) of 28 or more.

BMI is a standard obesity measure that divides the weight by the square of the height. BMI is a simple and frequently used method for estimating body fat:
A BMI less than 18.5 is ‘underweight’
A BMI of 18.5 - 24.9 is ‘normal weight’
A BMI of 25.0 - 29.9 is ‘overweight’
A BMI of 30.0 - 39.9 is ‘obese’
A BMI of 40.0 or higher is ‘severely (or morbidly) obese’.

Researchers at Otago University in New Zealand assigned study subjects to one of three 10-week-long programmes which helped them to focus on sustainable lifestyle changes that enhanced their well-being, regardless of weight loss.

After a two-year follow-up, lead researcher, Dr Caroline Horwath, and colleagues noticed that intensive training in relaxation techniques has significantly helped a group of overweight women maintain a healthy weight.

Dr. Horwath said that despite giving up dieting, women in all three interventions successfully prevented any weight gain over the said period, "which is a promising outcome for a group at high risk of weight gain over time".

She added: "However, the most striking result was in the non-dieting intervention that also included intensive training in techniques to elicit the body's relaxation response. 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."

The logic behind the findings is that stress and negative emotions can stimulate women to overeat, and consume high-fat foods, according to Dr. Horwath. She further says practicing relaxation techniques, such as abdominal breathing, can actually resist people from resorting to eating unhealthy food.

"By learning and practicing relaxation techniques, like 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 said.

The study authors suggest dieting may not be the best way to lose weight, just relax instead.

"This study is the first randomised trial to evaluate the effects of intensive training in relaxation techniques in lifestyle change programme for overweight women. The positive results are exciting, given the limited long-term success of traditional dieting approaches," Dr. Horwath concluded.