Think Thin, Be Healthy
A positive mind–set goes a long way
It turns out thinking you're overweight could be worse for you than being overweight. In a new study in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers asked 150,000 adults about their current weight, their ideal weight, and how often they felt unhealthy.The less satisfied people were with their size, the more unhealthy they felt, regardless of how much they weighed. "The brain is both the source of our emotions and the control center for our physiology," says lead author Peter Muennig, M.D. "So if you're depressed or stressed, it changes things like blood pressure. If these emotions are chronic, that can lead to disease." To up your well–being, focus on what your body can do, not how many pounds it weighs. After you exercise, for example, write down how far you ran, then try increasing that number each time.
