A lot of people incorrectly think that they lack the willpower to lose weight, but what they are actually doing is talking themselves out of finding the determination to do just that. Their language embeds precedents for their personal behaviour around food.
‘I’m always picking on the kids’ food’, ‘I can’t have one biscuit I have to have the packet’
These are common statements from my weight loss clients and they are self-fulfilling prophesies. The more they tell themselves this is what they do, the more they embed this into their subconscious mind as their way of behaviour.
There are a number of phrases that I ask clients to discard at the door and others I ask them to pick up and take with them as they leave. ‘Diet’ is the main discard word and lifestyle, change, positivity are the basis of the new language. We discuss how changing your thoughts, the way you think about yourself then has a direct effect on your behaviour and subsequently how you feel in yourself and ultimately those pounds lost which feed the process again. Using cognitive behavioural techniques in couple of hypnotherapy sessions I have seen numerous clients lose significant amounts of weight and change to healthier happier lifestyles. I don’t have a magic wand, I just use the power of the client’s mind, suggesting new internal dialogue, boosting their self-esteem, and focusing on goals to help people think and behave in a more appropriate way.
Whether food is just a substitute for some emotional craving or just an overindulging habit, hypnotherapy can help those who will help themselves to achieve their weight goal and maintain a healthier lifestyle.
A lot of patients come to me saying they are nervous of hypnotherapy; there is a misconception of a loss of control promoted by certain entertainers in the media. Well I tell clients that exactly the opposite is true, I describe hypnotherapy as ‘psychology with your eyes closed’: it can give you more control over the way you think, the way you feel and the way you behave. Hypnotherapy uses relaxation and most find it an enjoyable therapy; an apt analogy is it's a bit like a massage for the mind. Certainly once clients have experienced hypnosis, they usually look forward to their next session’s indulgence and report feeling overall better about themselves.
I was prompted to write this blog today as another client, who had their first session a month ago and then went on holiday, booked in for her second. She has lost nearly one stone, ‘it’s weird’ she said, ‘I’ve just stopped doing what I used to do’. More to the point she’d started concentrating on doing something different and…. that’s not magic!
