Losing Weight - it's a mind game

Every year there's a new diet. People try it and maybe lose weight. But, more often than not, when they come off the diet they put the weight back on. A lot of the time, they put more on than they lost in the first place. Why is this?

It's because diets are short term solutions. They can't attack the fundamental reasons for why we overeat. Those reasons are all in your head. If you want to lose weight permanently, you need to work on your mind.

Losing weight is not rocket science. Eat the right types of food, in sensible amounts, and add some exercise. So why is it so hard to do?

Let's go back to your childhood. As a child you were probably given food as a reward. Maybe you got good grades at school and your mother gave you cake. Or you stopped crying and you were given an ice cream. So from an early age we think of food as a reward. As adults, therefore, it's not unreasonable to carry that on. Even if we're on a diet. Because no diet has as strong a hold on us as childhood memories.

It's a pesky little critter 'the mind'. There are so many emotional reasons for eating more than we need. There's a great scene in the sitcom, 'Friends', where a psychologist is dating Phoebe. Monica doesn't get on with the guy at all and reverts to her childhood habit of overeating. The psychologist turns to Monica and says, “Remember Monica, it's only chocolate. It's not love.”
You'll probably recognize that as 'comfort eating', which is eating to block out emotion.

Your partner dumps you, what do you do? Sprint to the nearest gym? Maybe, but unlikely. What you really feel like doing is finding the biggest box of chocolates and your favourite tipple. But then you feel fat. Feeling fat makes you unhappy. And what do you do when you're unhappy? You tend to eat more. It's a vicious circle. You fill up with food because you feel emotionally empty.

As a hypnotherapist, what I do that diets can't, is make people feel good about themselves. Hypnotherapy can raise a person's self-esteem. And if you feel good about yourself you don't need to 'comfort eat'. One of the techniques I use is to get people to visualize the healthy, slim version of themselves. It gives them a long term view and motivates them to change. And because they've visualized it under hypnosis, it becomes real to their mind.

Hypnotherapy also re-educates your mind so that eating is no longer linked to your emotions. The next time a relationship comes to an end, with hypnotherapy your mind won't feel the need to stuff itself with chocolates to feel better. You'll already be loaded up on self-esteem.
There are many reasons why we overeat and I've only touched on a few here. But the next time you need to lose a few pounds, remember: eat the right types of food, in sensible amounts, and add some exercise. But don't forget to work on the mind. It could be your most powerful ally.

What is it like?

The most common question I get is: what's it like being hypnotised? It's usually from people whose only experience of hypnotism is watching somebody on stage or TV being told they're a naked alien. Well, you'll be relieved to hear that hypnotherapy is nothing like that. You usually stay fully awake the whole time, though some people do fall asleep too. It's a very relaxing experience. Gentle music plays while I make suggestions to your subconscious that help you feel better. After listening to a 30-minute session, one of my clients described it as being more relaxing than a 12-hour sleep!

How I Started

Years ago I suffered from both claustrophobia and vertigo. It got to be a real problem on a vacation I took to Greece with my boyfriend. On the way over I was ill on the plane. I wasn't scared of flying, it was being stuck inside the aircraft, unable to get out. I spent the journey with my head between my hands. And when I got to Greece it didn't get any better. My boyfriend wanted to climb a hill up to an ancient monument. I got barely six feet up when I told him I had to go down. It was then that I decided I had to do something about it. I went to see a hypnotherapist. I was so amazed by the results that I trained to become a hypnotherapist myself.