New App Provides Easy, Efficient Way to Lose Weight Without Dieting

New York, United States, July 20, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Available today, Train Thin offers a new way to lose weight from the comfort of your chair.  Based on computerized response inhibition training research done by psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists at Cardiff and Exeter Universities in England, the app trains people to inhibit motor response in the presence of junk food.

The trainee must respond correctly to a series of images of food and other objects.  When an image of junk food appears, the trainee must inhibit their response.  Scientists have previously shown that self-control interacts with the brain’s reward responses to foods to determine eating behaviors (Lawrence et al., 2012 Neuroimage, 63:415).  This app is based on this premise - that the learning done on the computer, which trains us to refrain from reacting to unhealthy food - carries over into real life situations in which there is actual food in front of us.  Several laboratory studies suggest that this type of training can reduce food consumption by up to 40% (e.g. Houben, 2011; Beling et al., 2011).

Results show that computerized response inhibition training can significantly reduce addictive behavior such as over-eating. Studies suggest that this training can reduce food consumption by up to 40%.

Natalia Lawrence, Cambridge Cognition Awared Winner 2014

The most recent study (Lawrence et al., 2014) showed that when 84 predominantly middle-aged and overweight adults from the local community completed four short (10-minute) sessions of online response inhibition training at home or at work, they showed significant weight loss and reduced estimated daily calorie intake following food-related inhibition training.  The training was effective for 97% of the group - who all showed weight loss and expressed positive feedback about the technique.  

The app is web-based and can be run from any browser - there is nothing to download from the iOS App or Google Play Stores.  The web app is optimized for use on all smartphones, tablets and computers and costs $5/month for unlimited training sessions.  

Please visit the TrainThin website for more information.