What If You Could Lose Weight Just By Thinking?

I know you are wondering if you read that right.  Probably your next thought was, "Sign me up!"  In a research study involving the cleaning staff of seven different hotels, researchers were able to prove that you could lose weight just by thinking.   In the study, half of the employees were told how much exercise they were getting every day through their work.  For instance, they were told how similar vacuuming is to a cardio workout and how many calories they burned with various cleaning tasks.  The other half of the employees were not given the same information.  Several weeks later the employees who were educated about the benefits of their job were found to have...  ACTUALLY LOST WEIGHT!  In addition, their cholesterol had dropped.  If you're like me, you're feeling a little skeptical about the results right?  According to the study though, the individuals had not done any more work, nor had they exercised any more than the control group. They had simply changed the way they thought about their work.  WOW!

This study is reported in the amazing book, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor.  It is just one of many examples of how powerful our minds are and how we can take charge of our lives through our thoughts.  Who would have thought that you could lose weight just by how you think about the activities that you are already doing?  This is just one example of how we can change our worlds just by changing our thinking and thus our perception.  So, who wants to lose weight just by changing their thinking?  Wonder how many calories I'm burning writing this blog...