"Are you trying your best to eat right and exercise, but still not losing weight? One study suggests that lack of sleep could throw off a diet. Research from the University of Chicago showed that dieters who slept for 8.5 hours lost 55 percent more body fat than dieters who slept 5.5 hours. "Lack of sufficient sleep may compromise the efficacy of typical dietary interventions for weight loss and related metabolic risk reduction,” the study authors concluded in an article released Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a journal of the American College of Physicians. Not having enough sleep could affect a hormone called ghrelin, known to affect appetite and weight. An increase in this hormone level has been shown to make people hungrier and cause higher fat retention. The dieters who slept less reported feeling hungrier throughout the course of the study."
AND ONCE AGAIN, WITH FEELING: MONEY CAN'T BUY YOU HAPPINESS
"Most of us have thought, 'If only I could win the lottery, then I'd be happy forever.' But according to one of the first studies to look at long-term happiness, major life events, like a sudden cash windfall, are not what make us happy, rather, it's the priorities we set in life. "The main thing that's surprising about these results is that it challenges this whole field," said lead author Melbourne University sociologist Bruce Headey. "This study goes against the prevailing wisdom that happiness is fixed." The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Previous studies suggest that happiness is predetermined by genetics and early upbringing, and that we eventually revert back to the same level of happiness regardless of changes in our lives. Looking at data from about 60,000 Germans for up to 25 years, however, Headey found that the more people decided to prioritize goals such as good relationships and good health, the happier they were, regardless of major life events. How do you change so-called life goals? According to Heady, one way may involve concentrating on helping others, or making family, rather than material possessions, a priority. People who prioritized having a good marriage, a good relationship with their children, and being involved in social and political activities reported higher levels of life satisfaction over time. On the other hand, researchers found those who focused primarily on being able to buy what they wanted or being successful in their careers reported less happiness. "It looks like the less involved people were in their relationships, the less happy they got," Heady said."
I like to think that those with Moebius or other physical differences have known this for a long time..
"Finally, science explains the scrunchie, parachute pants and those Silly Bandz the kids today are crazy about: You bought them (and your kids are buying them) because the cool kids have them. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research confirms what we already suspected -- people will buy really weird things in their quest to fit in. "Social exclusion is a very painful experience, which makes it a strong motivator," explains Tyler Stillman, a visiting sociology professor at Southern Utah University, who is one of the study's co-authors. In one experiment, researchers paired study participants with a partner who left midway through the study. Some of the participants believed their partners left because they didn't like them -- and those people were more easily talked into buying a silly school spirit trinket. In another study, people who felt excluded were more likely to say they were willing to try cocaine. Researchers say their findings could have real-life implications. "I think people experience the threat of exclusion when they move to a new area, start a new job, or start college," says Kathleen D. Vohs, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota. "My hunch is that people in these circumstances are more likely to buy products that enable them to connect to their new social circumstances."
The article goes on to say:
"So, does it ever work? Can you really buy your way into a group of friends? "Ha, well -- I do think it works sometimes," Vohs says. "We know from decades of data, that when people want to fit in, one great strategy is to mimic or be similar to others with whom they would like to be friends. So showing a would-be friend that you have the same spending patterns (tightwad or spendthrift) as she does is a great way to show her that you are similar, which is a generally effective strategy to be likable."
Hmmmm. But is it worth it????
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