We unconsciously mirror the eating habits of people around us, says new study

If you’re struggling to lose weight – don’t give up on the diet yet, new research suggests that one of the top tips to helping you lose weight may be as simple as just getting a new lunch buddy!

Research published in the British Journal of Nutrition by psychologists at the University of Birmingham monitored 100 women at a lunch buffet and found that people unconsciously mirrored eating habits of the people around them even if they were trying to lose weight.

They found when those around the women helped themselves to the fattening array of cocktail sausages, pasties and crisps, while avoiding vegetables, the women did the same. On the contrary when they chose healthier items, the women did also consuming around 200 fewer calories.

Dr Eric Robinson, a psychologist at the University of Birmingham, said: “We found that pairing people with unhealthy eating partners reduced the amount of healthy food they were eating. They tended to pick the foods that were high in calories”.

Therefore it is thought that recognising this effect could help people who are trying to diet and lose weight to avoid being influenced by others.

Caron Leckie, nutritionist at Diet Chef says “The research reflects the effect of social influence on our eating habits – it can be harder to stick to a diet, choose the better options and lose weight if everyone around you is doing the opposite.

It can be a good idea to make sure when you start your diet that someone close to you is there also as a dieting buddy or for support on your weight loss plan.”

Diet Chef carefully counts the calories of all meals so dieters on the plan will be averaging less than 1,200 calories per day.

The daily menu allows you to get delicious diet food delivered, as well as offering a tasty and varied, healthy balanced plan encouraging dieters to lose weight at a healthy pace.

Those on the diet looking to check their own progress can do so using the weight loss calculator as well as sharing their weight loss success stories via the website or Diet Chef social media channels.
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Source: Stonehearthnewsletters (http://goo.gl/pqKmf)