A recent study at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab in Ithaca, NY has shown that watching fitness-related TV commercials causes viewers to exhibit healthier choices.
People who watched commercials for fitness or athletic gear consumed 22 percent less calories at lunch than the people who were exposed to ads unrelated to health. The results of this study left me feeling a little uneasy. If athletic ads could have such an impact, so could fast food ads.
Protect your sub-conscious and benefit from its amazing capabilities. Remind yourself that you are strong and willful and that you make your own lifestyle choices. Surround yourself with positive reminders to eat less and exercise.
Here are a few ways you can do that:
- Subscribe to a health or fitness magazine. If the ads and articles are readily available in your home, they’ll be more likely to affect you.
- Follow health and fitness blogs. There are so many informative and inspiring sites on the internet. If you sign up for the e-mail newsletters, you can’t help but think about their positive messages every time they send you an e-mail. Obviously, Diets in Review is the best place to start!
- Clip your favorite fitness-related ads or print similar things from the internet. Ads for fitness products or inspiring quotes and articles are a great way to keep you sub-consciously thinking about your health. Tape them to your pantry, refrigerator, mirror, or anywhere else you think they may catch your eye.
- Drive by a gym. Rearrange your route to pass by a fitness center. This could be especially useful before dining out or shopping at the mall, which are tempting times for over-indulgence. Luckily, a lot of malls have gyms in or near them. Make a point of peeking inside the gym before you pass the food court.
- Keep your running shoes out. If you hide your work-out gear in a closet, you’ll forget about it. Try keeping your shoes, pedometer, jump rope or yoga mat in plain site as often as possible.
- Petition for healthier advertisements. Drastically reducing fast-food ads would be a huge step towards a healthier society.
Surround yourself with people and products that exude fitness and you will have no choice but to absorb it.
Via: USA Today
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