Hypnotherapy for Weight Loss
Hypnotherapists do not usually endorse any particular diet. Most people who want to lose weight have already tried many diets and found it difficult to stick to the rigid rules imposed by the latest theory of weight loss. Alternatively, they may have lost weight, only to find themselves putting it all back on again (and perhaps a little bit more) when they stop following the diet. If either of these scenarios sound familiar, it is possible that the problem lies in your subconscious mind.
From very early in life, most of us are encouraged to eat by the adults around us. Perhaps you can remember being rewarded with an ice cream for “being good” on holiday, or promised you can stay up later “if you eat all your tea.” Unhealthy foods like cake and sweets are often offered by parents as a reward for “eating your greens.” The result of this early conditioning is that we come to associate eating with pleasurable events in out lives. When, as an adult, someone receives a promotion at work, they are likely to celebrate by going out for dinner. Most of the significant events in life, such as weddings or birthdays, are celebrated with a meal.
You may be thinking that this is true for you. But you may also be thinking that you enjoy celebrating in this way. The good news is that you still can. All you need to do is establish new eating habits firmly in your subconscious mind. Most restaurant menus have healthy foods available and as your subconscious responses to food are reprogrammed through hypnotherapy, you will find yourself choosing less fattening alternatives whenever you eat, whether at home or out in a restaurant.
Another result of the conditioning we receive as children is that we continue to eat the food on our plate even when we are already full. As children we were encouraged to leave “a clean plate” with the result that as adults we keep eating until everything on the plate is gone. Our subconscious mind was programmed by our parents and that programming remains with us as adults. In hypnosis your mind can be re-programmed to stop eating when you are full, and to feel comfortable with leaving a little food on the plate.
So, hypnotherapy seeks to re-programme the subconscious mind to stop eating when you feel full, to feel comfortable leaving a little food on the plate when you feel full and feel less desire to eat between meals. However, there will inevitably be times when you feel tempted by fattening foods and when this happens, your mind will be re-programmed to pause and think for a moment about what is most important to you. Is it losing the weight? Or is eat eating the fattening food? As a result of hypnotherapy, you will find that you are more likely to decide that losing the weight is more important to you.
Building confidence and self esteem is an important aspect of using hypnosis as part of a programme to lose weight. This will help anyone trying to lose weight to accept their slimmer self and be less likely to turn to food for comfort when life sends its inevitable difficulties.
Hypnosis can help you to lose weight, maintain your weight loss and incorporate healthy new habits into your life. . Before using hypnotherapy for weight loss it can be useful to try and pinpoint when, where and why you eat so that hypnotic suggestions can be formulated that are specific to you and your situation. For more information, or to book an appointment, ring Andrew Jackson on 01695 576002 or 07988 257 145.