Week commencing January 11, 2016 is national obesity week.
The problem with wanting to lose weight is that is such a complex issue. There are people out there right now who are morbidly obese because they do not eat a healthy diet. They live off takeaways, can’t or won’t cook for themselves, could easily lose weight if they ate proper food and jumped around a bit more – or could they? sadly the idea of calories in verses calories burned, does not really work, as a body gets larger the metabolism burns more calories and as we shrink our metabolism reduces too. Our bodies want equilibrium like a thermostat.
Like everything in life, we always tend to look at when things are a problem; instead we should be looking at what slim people do. The secret of slim people is that they: –
- are mindful of what they eat,
- They eat small portions. The stop when they are full and will throw away food.
- They tend to plan ahead. They know what they will be eating in advance plus they will have safety nets.
By means of safety nets, I mean that they will likely carry a banana, or an apple or a bag of nuts, instead of becoming over hungry and then pig out on a chocolate bar.
So how can hypnotherapy help us to lose weight?
A problem I see regularly is the assumption hypnosis can stop a problem in one go for some habits such as smoking or nail biting that may it true. But when it comes to obesity, just suggesting someone is going to feel full (virtual gastric band) will only have a limited lifespan. The real way to gain control is to create a plan that is viable and to explore the emotional needs, which are not being met to start with.
Dealing with weight loss is about learning when you’re at your most vulnerable and making steps to make sure the over eating does not happen. It looks at planning meals. It looks at exercise regimes that are doable and to look at the times when it all goes pear shaped. By having a greater understanding about what to eat and what not to can help a person in their planning programme. Weight loss hypnotherapy is about creating a structure individually suited to each person.
I see a vast array of eating problems in my practice, from food phobias to binge eating, and it could be bingeing on bread (very common) or chocolate to trail mix or jelly babies. Everyone who has experienced this kind of eating realises they are lacking a need to feel good. Either it’s from years of abuse from others to self abuse, the emotions that lay behind them are complex. It’s a form of self harm, they eat to forget or feel better. I had one client who went to weight watchers every week for years and didn’t lose anything because she was in denial that there was anything wrong emotionally, but when she did decide to do something about it she realised she had suppressed so much grief, loss, self esteem and stress over the last 30 years and that had she done something about it right at the start she wouldn’t be in the vulnerable position of developing diabetes as she was today.
Together we identified what needed to change and gave her the tools to help her change. She took 12 weeks to lose 12lbs but once she had realised what worked she was able to keep that going all through Christmas with only a slight hic-cup in the middle and was also able to cope better with other family members which would have tipped her into binge eating before.
If you are serious about losing weight then hypnotherapy can help. Call or text “weigh” to 07508 658934 or contact me through this site.
Disclaimer:
Hypnotherapy is effective, however results may vary and success in not guaranteed. Full client commitment is important. Please read FAQ’s for more details.
Penny Ling is a widely experienced hypnotherapist who has worked with everyone from top executives to stroke victims since 2007. She has been editor of Hypnotherapy Today Magazine and is a supervisor and mentor for members of the AfSFH and NCH.
Read Penny’s inspiring story “How I beat all my phobias”, or find out more how hypnotherapy could help your problem by downloading “How Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help with life”. Feel free to send Penny a message here.
