If, like thousands of others, you plan to use the month of January to kickstart your healthy-eating regime, then recent research from the University of Central Florida may be of supreme interest.

According to a new study, if you want to tone up and trim down, all you need to do is simply invest in a mirror which you position during meal and snack-times.

Researchers in the field of consumer behaviour and decision-making have established that watching yourself eat sugary or fatty foods greatly affects the quantity you consume and the regularity with which you indulge.

Using 185 students as part of her study, Professor Ata Jamie halved the group and placed one half in front of a mirror while the other were unable to see their reflections.

Providing broth groups with fruit salad and chocolate cake, researchers established that those who ate the confectionary in front of the mirror expressed less desire to try the cake again while those who ate the fruit salad in front of the mirror were happy to have more.

Commenting on the findings, Professor Jamie explained: “You don’t want to see yourself eating unhealthy products because that does not match with standards of healthy eating.”

“The disconnect makes people feel uncomfortable — even if they don’t realise why,” he continued while explaining the repercussions of seeing your reflection while indulging in junk food.

In that case, it looks like we can forget the faddy diets and detox programmes, and instead splash out on a new mirror for the kitchen!

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