How to use hypnotherapy to reduce your weight.
More than half of adults have found it difficult to manage their weight during the COVID-19 lockdown, according to the results of an online survey involving over 800 UK adults, being presented at The European and International Congress on Obesity.
Most say their difficulties stemmed from increased snacking, not exercising as much as usual, increased anxiety or stress, and not being able get hold of healthier food.
The findings come at a time when the UK Government has unveiled a new obesity strategy with its ‘Better Health’ campaign to encourage millions of adults to kick start their health and reduce their risk of serious illness, including COVID-19. An estimated two-thirds (63%) of UK adults are above a healthy weight, with 36% having overweight, and 28% having obesity.
If you’re wanting to reduce your weight to a size and shape that’s more healthy, this blog will help to guide you in the right direction, and show you how to use the power of hypnosis to get results.
What will I learn in this blog?
• How to develop the willpower and determination to eat well
• How to set yourself positive rewards for success
• The importance of seeing food for what is really is
• How the right mindset will help you reduce weight for good
Why is it so difficult to reduce my weight?
There are so many factors that influence our weight, however, scientifically, they all come down to this from Harvard Medical School; on a very simple level, your weight depends on the number of calories you consume, how many of those calories you store, and how many you burn up. But each of these factors is influenced by a combination of genes and environment. Both can affect your physiology (such as how fast you burn calories) as well as your behaviour (the types of foods you choose to eat, for instance).
We all know the ‘right’ thing to do, lettuce is good, cream cakes are bad. So why is it often so difficult to make good decisions?
Maintaining a balanced diet is all about eating sufficient for what your body physically needs, and that’s where to problem lies; throughout our lives, we substitute food for love, for achievement, for satisfaction, for happiness. In short, we eat for our mental needs and not our physical ones.
Often, the causes of being overweight are not just as simple as making the wrong choices and not having enough willpower, they often lie deep in our subconscious mind.
What do I do to change all this?
Your attitude to food is important to get right at the start. A Clinical Hypnotherapist can help you to change your attitude to food, boost your willpower and self-confidence, whilst helping you uncover some of the subconscious motivation that might have been leading you down the wrong path.
OK – here are my Top Ten Tips from the NHS for success in reducing weight:
Have Breakfast
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it is. Skipping breakfast will not make you reduce your weight, you’ll miss out on essential nutrients and you are more likely to snack and make poor food decisions throughout the day because you’re famished.
Eat regularly
Eating at regular times will help train your body to burn calories at a faster rate. It will also reduce the temptation to snack on sugary or fatty goods between meals.
Enjoy plenty of fruit and veg
Fruit and veg are low in calories and fat, and high in fibre, which are 3 essential ingredients for successful weight loss. They also contain plenty of vitamins and minerals.
Get Active
Being active is key to reducing weight and keeping it off. As well as providing lots of health benefits, exercise can help burn off the excess calories you cannot lose through diet alone. Find an activity you enjoy and are able to fit into your routine.
Eat High Fibre foods
Foods containing lots of fibre can help keep you feeling full, which is perfect for reducing weight. Fibre is only found in food from plants, such as fruit and veg, oats, wholegrain bread, brown rice and pasta, and beans, peas and lentils.
Knowing how to read food labels can help you choose healthier options. Use the calorie information to work out how a particular food fits into your daily calorie allowance on the weight reduction plan.
Portion size!
Using smaller plates can help you eat smaller portions. By using smaller plates and bowls, you may be able to gradually get used to eating smaller portions without going hungry. It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain it’s full, so eat slowly and stop eating before you feel full.
Keep Away from Junk Food
To avoid temptation, do not stock junk food – such as chocolate, biscuits, crisps and sweet fizzy drinks – at home. Instead, opt for healthy snacks, such as fruit, unsalted rice cakes, oat cakes, unsalted or unsweetened popcorn, and fruit juice.
Cut down on the booze
A standard glass of wine can contain as many calories as a piece of chocolate. Over time, drinking too much can easily contribute to weight gain.
Get Planning and be positive
Plan your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the week, making sure you stick to your calorie allowance. You may find it helpful to make a weekly shopping list.
Adopt a positive mental attitude, by concentrating on your achievements. Give yourself rewards – some new clothes to suit your new shape, a party to show your friends your great new look, even a holiday (remember them?)
Get rid of the obsession with weighing yourself. Once a week is fine, same time on the same day, then at least you will get some positive feedback about how your progress is going.
Congratulate yourself on your successes and use any mistakes to empower your resolve and take you to the next level.
Remember that there will be ups and downs in your weight reduction journey, so see the bigger picture. As long as the overall trend is down, you’re on track.
Be patient too – long term weight reduction and maintenance is a slow race, not a sprint.
How does hypnosis help with weight reduction?
As you’ve seen, reducing your size, shape and weight starts with having the right attitude to food and adopting a lifestyle that you can maintain long-term.
Seeing a Clinical Hypnotherapist really can help you to change your relationship with food.
– Hypnosis helps address the core reasons why you have been gaining weight, so you can make the right decisions in the future
– Being more mentally calm will help you to make better eating decisions and help with determination and willpower.
– Have bags of confidence in the way that you look and your ability to achieve the goals you are looking for.
– Learn to love yourself, appreciate and nurture yourself.
– Understand that food is there purely for your physical needs, and not for your mental comfort.
We can even make a unique self hypnosis recording for you to use as your weight reduction journey continues, giving you those positive messages every day until you adopt this healthy new lifestyle for good.
CASE STUDY
Celia Willington had tried everything to reduce weight and decided that hypnosis was her last resort!
“After trying every single avenue to curb my life long battle with sugar addiction I decided to give hypnosis a go. I sceptically booked an appointment with Jonathan at the Hypnosis Clinic fully anticipating failure. I could not have been more wrong!
After four sessions not only had I stopped binging on sugar on a daily basis I hadn’t even thought about it. I no longer had to rely on will power every single minute of the day, my mind was at rest and I continue to be beyond happy with the results one year later. I now manage my hypnosis at home with a personalised recording Jonathan made for me and I occasionally top up as and when I can. It’s the best health investment I ever made, I’m a now a hypnosis advocate
A year later I decided to take my Daughter to see Jonathan as she was really struggling with her phobia of insects, particularly flies, bees, moths and butterflies. It even extended to fish in the sea. The poor thing was petrified of these things. Jonathan saw her for three sessions and made a recording for her. She was pretty quickly able to remain calm and over time she has lost her fear altogether. I can’t recommend Jonathan more highly.
What did I learn here?
That reducing and maintaining a healthy balanced weight is as much to do with your mind as it is with your body!
The right diet, coupled with the right attitude will take you to where you want to be.
If you’d like to find out more about how hypnosis can help you, have a look at our website, thehypnosisclinic.com. We offer a free initial consultation, either by a Telehealth video link or at our clinic right in the heart of London’s Regent Street.
Or if you fancy a chat, just give us a call.