Weight Control
Reasons for weight change
For the majority of us, it is losing pounds that matter in a bid to feel fitter, look healthier, have more energy and fit into that outfit that we have been longing to wear. You may be carrying extra pounds as a result of overeating, poor habits, lack of exercise, eating the wrong type of food, having a low self-esteem/self-image or for other psychological or physiological reasons.
Many of us turn to food when we are stressed as a form of comfort, possibly ingrained in us from our childhood when we cried and were fed as a natural response from our parents. Many others are overweight because they are too tired to exercise or lack the motivation after a long day’s work to get out and go for a walk or go to the gym, choosing instead to watch the TV or read a book.
How many of us when faced with the option of having some raw vegetable as a snack would rather choose a sugary jam doughnut or other such treat? These are all habits which we so easily slide into and through constant repetition of them they become deeply ingrained into our behavioural patterns and then become difficult to break or change with our conscious minds.
How many people have you heard say that they have been on diets for years and as soon as they come off the diet, the weight piled on or conversely, with those needing to put weight on, they forgot or didn’t have time to eat and the weight fell off? The reasons for our difficulty in controlling weight aren’t always as straightforward as mentioned above.
Sometimes it isn’t as a result of a lack of exercise or eating too much of the wrong type of food. Sometimes, people have weight issues as a result of some deep-rooted emotional disturbance that is, as yet, unresolved and exploration of this using hypnotherapeutic techniques can often reveal what has prevented individuals from reaching or sticking to their weight control plan previously.
Effects on our body and mind of overeating
We all have to eat – food is our fuel. It affects how our bodies operate through the conversion of energy and absorption of nutrients and therefore what we put into it is essential for our survival. If we overload it with more food than it needs or requires, or we overload it with the wrong type of food, it builds up deposits of fat and cholesterol which we carry throughout our body and can be seen physically, as well as the cholesterol that can’t be seen which clogs up our arteries and causes problems later in life.
People who are carrying a lot of extra weight can often have less energy, are constipated (or have diarrhoea), suffer with flatulence, have menstrual difficulties, find it harder to breathe and are putting themselves at risk of diabetes and heart conditions.
In addition to the effects on the body, the result to the mind is just as great. Constantly feeding the body with the wrong type of food is going to have an effect on the moods and temperament of the individual. If the body doesn’t get the right nutrients, it doesn’t get the right brain food and resulting reactions can be irritability, aggression, depression, insomnia, low self-esteem, PMT, etc.
Patterns of behaviour
It is really important that either before or starting treatment, that you look at what your current patterns of behaviour are. E.g. when you do eat, how often, who with, in reaction to what and what do you eat? Other questions should also be asked as to when do you exercise, do you enjoy it, what motivates you to change your weight and why? Is it something that you want to do for you, or is it in response to someone else’s comments? All the answers to these questions will determine how successful you will be with your weight control programme and will help you to take control of your life.
Treatment and what to expect
Weight control is affected by many, many factors; physiological, psychological, behavioural and emotional, so it is important that at the start of any hypnotherapy session, a thorough in-depth discussion takes place to find out the reasons for the need to change the existing weight condition. In addition, it is important that you, as an individual, look at your current patterns and regularity of eating behaviours and your current level of exercise. Hypnotherapy is one part of the process – albeit a highly effective one, but it must accompany your desire to change your habits and that means eating food that is healthy, eating at regular intervals and increasing or starting your exercise regime.
Hypnotherapy is a brilliant therapy for transforming emotional blockages, improving motivation and changing behavioural approaches and is an ideal way to accompany a weight control programme. Transpersonal hypnotherapy is also highly effective at helping you to reach a state of self-respect and self-love.
Everyone is unique and that makes every case and every treatment individual to the client, however, if you embark on a weight control programme in association with a course of hypnotherapy, you can be assured of success!
"Never forget - at the lowest ebb is the turn of the tide." - Richard Kirsten Daiensai
