Lose weight and keep it off through hypnosis.
Weight Loss
Weight Loss and Eating Healthy With the Help of NLP, Hypnosis and Guided Imagery
Weight loss and eating healthy are pressing concerns for people of all ages. Especially with the New Year, many people have made it a resolution to lose excess weight and bring balance to their daily diets. Achieving these goals can be presented in many ways as you see through the advertising of a magical pill or diet drink. The methods these products provide are often times unhealthy in themselves and also quite pricey. The best way to control weight and eat right is to completely revamp the way you think about food. With that being said, the only one who can take these first steps of getting your thoughts on the right track is you.
Weight Loss - Eat Healthy
It has long been said "If you change your mind, you change your life." Many people struggle to lose weight, and the vast majority in any given year will either be completely unsuccessful or will gain every ounce back once they "go off their diet."
The good news, however, is that there are simple tools that can make the weight loss success rate much higher - they"re readily available to anyone, at little to no cost whatsoever. Our minds hold tremendous power, and in many cases can make what we dream about - whether that"s weight loss, better eating habits, or enjoying more satisfying relationships - come to fruition. This is how cognitive and Neurolinguistic therapies can become a useful part of the arsenal needed to help with weight loss.
Duke University in North Carolina has studied the effectiveness of treating both mind and body in its "integrated health approach" to weight loss. They work toward weight loss through a combination of "mindful eating," clinical diagnosis and monitoring, hypnosis, stress control, and other mind/body approaches to provide tools to support healthy eating. This takes place at their Integrative Medicine Center.
Many spiritual traditions hold the belief that "thoughts are things" and that if, for example, we carry in mind the idea that "I will never be successful in losing weight" then that (incorrect) thought can become the absolute truth in our lives.
Duke"s Integrative Medicine Center teaches that we all have the power to eliminate these self-defeating thought patterns, and can replace them with positive, supportive belief systems that help us with responding to stress, practicing proper self-care, and goal achievement. (See http://www.dukehealth.org/Services/IntegrativeMedicine/About/index)
One simple, yet very effective technique is "mindfulness." Many people report "diving into" an unhealthy food of some type, and "before they know it, they"ve eaten "the whole thing,"" whether the "thing" was an entire bag of chips or a gallon of ice cream. Mindfulness, like meditation, teaches us to stay in the moment and remain aware of the choices we are making. If one is truly committed to caring for ones" body in the best way possible, it is difficult to both stay mindful AND devour a whole pie at one sitting.
Specifically, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) is thought to be direct contact with a person"s subconscious, and is a method for examining the deeply-held beliefs a person might have about weight loss, exercise, and self care. NLP then reframes these thoughts and beliefs into ideas that are more supportive of good health (or weight loss). For example, "I can make appropriate choices to support the health of my body with food" rather than "I always choose foods that are bad for me and cause weight gain."
The basic supposition of Neurolinguistic Programming is that all behaviors and thought processes have a positive intent. Using this approach it is possible to take the positive intent"for example, to feel safe, or to feel good (by eating) and anchor it to a more positive and desirable behavior. This might include "feeling good" by visiting a friend, or feeling stronger by working out and building stronger muscles.
NLP has been used with success for wide-ranging situations, from the trauma of those involved with the Lockerbie Air Disaster to helping asthmatics to overcome their need for inhalants in order to breathe.
According to an article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in May 2003, the keys to success in Neurolinguistic Programming may be very simple. They include:
- Setting your goal.
- Be positive that you can reach your goal.
- Be detailed about exactly what you goal looks like.
- Be realistic about your goal.
- Decide what your criteria for success will be.
- Choose the correct model. (According to the BJM article, "modeling" in NLP terms is the process that brings about the behavioral patterns necessary for success.)
- Monitor your beliefs. "Whether you believe you can, or believe you can"t" you"re right."
- Pay attention to physiology.
- Pay attention to strategy.
We are not helpless victims of our habits or of our past failures. Any accomplished NLP practitioner can help you to make use of the keys that you already hold to make powerful changes in your life.
