Imagine Eating More

Want to eat less this holiday season? It may be that you just need to imagine more.

Some are calling this the “imagination diet,” but it's not what you think. Instead of trying to imagine yourself cutting back on bad food, with this method, you actually imagine yourself gorging out on your favorite items and that helps you not do it.

Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University found out that when participants in their study imagined themselves eating m&m's or cheese cubes they ended up eating less of these items afterwords than others who didn't imagine themselves eating anything at all.

These researchers say that when we imagine ourselves actually eating something, it ends up, in our brains way of thinking, of being just like you ate that favorite food, in this case m&m's or cheese cubes. So, you end up not being as “hungry” for that food item. But, they also found that this only happens when you go all the way and imagine eating the food, not just thinking about the food.

So, it seems that imagining yourself eating something works on your brain the same way as actually eating that same food does, and that means less of an impulse to gorge on something you probably shouldn't gorge on in the first place. So, try that the next time you think about reaching for that extra slice of pie.