How To Lose Weight with Hypnosis

Hypnosis can change so many facets of your life and is just one more tool you can add to your personal toolbox.  One of the biggest challenges facing people today is how to let go of the extra pounds that have accumulated over the years or from a pregnancy.  Or perhaps you consider yourself challenged with a weight problem all your life. Chances are you’ve tried every diet and exercise program out there and you are wondering why you haven’t lost the weight.
In my Hypnosis and Coaching practice for the last dozen years, I have found that people are in one of three places when they want to lose weight and haven’t done so.  See if any of these fit for you:
1.  You Self-sabotage
You start a “program” and you do really well for a period of time and then you go off your “program” and stay off.
2.  You’re in denial:
You believe you have tried everything and you don’t know why it’s not working but in reality, you’ve never kept an accurate food log, you’ve never been accountable to anyone/group for your eating or exercise habits, and/or you haven’t been consistent in making the healthy choices over time.
3.  You have habits that work for weight gain and against weight loss.  Perhaps you do one or some of these things that create weight gain instead of weight loss:

• Your diet consists mostly of simple carbohydrates (foods rich in white flour like pasta and breads),
• You don’t eat fresh vegetables
• You eat foods that have a high calorie and/or fat content,
• You don’t enjoy or get regular exercise
• You eat emotionally
• You eat a lot of meat and potatoes and/or pasta
• You resort to fast food restaurant food on a regular basis
• Your portions are larger than they should be
• Your exercise habits don’t make up for excess calories you take in

Really take an honest look at these. There is good news. Once you identify your particular weak area, you can reprogram your mind to influence your actions to create healthier results for you.
How does hypnosis work for weight loss?
While many people think that hypnosis is some sort of magical power bestowed upon a hypnotist who can MAKE you do things that will embarrass you, the truth really is far simpler and more useful. Hypnosis is simply using the power of suggestion to positively influence behavior. Since human beings are suggestible by nature, we can amplify the effect of suggestions when in a hypnotic trance. The subconscious mind is most open to suggestion when it is relaxed. That is why advertisers pay millions of dollars on television commercials. The television is the biggest hypnotizer out there.
When you utilize hypnosis from a highly trained and reputable hypnotist, you are receiving suggestions for outcomes that are most important and beneficial to you.
Hypnosis is like a tool. For example, if you have a hammer, then driving a nail into a piece of wood is simple and far easier than trying to do so with your bare hands for example. The key to making the hammer be effective is as simple as picking it up. So too with hypnosis. Hypnosis makes implementing the suggestions easier. If the suggestions given to you include drinking more water, enjoying eating smaller portion sizes, feeling how good your body feels as you exercise regularly, imagining your slimmer fitter self, chances are acting accordingly will naturally take place. The more often you feed these healthy suggestions to your brain, the easier it gets to create the habit.
If there are significant issues in the way, good hypnotherapists will uncover the limiting beliefs and help you to reframe them so they become doorways to progress.
In order to lose weight using hypnosis, follow these simple steps:

1. Become very clear on why changing your body size and shape is important. Here are some examples of reasons to create healthy habits for life:

• Better overall health
• Increasing your life span
• Being energized and healthy to enjoy your children and grandchildren
• Feeling good about yourself
• Having more energy, vitality and confidence
• Reduce eliminate pain and stress
• Prevent predisposed genetic conditions from arising
• Taking a stand for a better life

2.  You must make an honest evaluation of what purpose your current weight and habits have. In other words, why do you keep them in tact. Here are some typical reasons people don’t change:

• Afraid of how life will change if they become more attractive
• If they fail, they will feel like a failure and make it worse
• Feel the weight protects them in some way
• Get to have a convenient excuse for not participating
• Justify not trying because it obviously doesn’t work
• Don’t want to deny self favorite foods

3. Then look at the purpose of your current habits and ask yourself which are more important: what you get in this condition or what you can have as a healthier person? Be honest. See if your “WHY” for changing is stronger than the reason you haven’t.
4. Find a reputable hypnotist who you feel comfortable with. If you have a good rapport with your hypnotist, you will have the best possible environment for creating results.
5. Schedule sessions approximately once a week. In between sessions, be sure to find ways to revisit the positive suggestions. You must use the tool. Consciously think about what felt good in your session. Repeat as many positive thoughts about creating your optimal health to yourself about yourself.
6. Ideally, get a CD with a hypnosis session that you can listen to daily and as needed.

Ultimately all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You will be trained over time to be your own hypnotist. And you reinforce the suggestions and create lifelong change by practicing giving yourself the same positive suggestions that the hypnotist said to you or improve upon them. Be sure to catch yourself when you are in an old thinking pattern. And then take a moment to create in your mind or write out what the alternative healthier thought is.  You will be pleased with your results and greater sense of your own power to change.
Remember that the hypnosis tool by replaying your positive healthy images, sayings, and/or feelings to yourself will  integrate them and transform your habits and your life.