Losing weight through hypnotherapy
In this blog the focus will be on weight loss and my own personal quest to live in a healthier body.
“3 years ago I was obese. I desperately wanted to lose weight. Just a small amount, just something. But no matter how good my intentions were I still ate lots of takeaways and sweets. I was trying hard to lose weight- or so I thought.
The real problem was my mind set compacted by the people who were ‘supposed’ to support me. I received many cutting comments- I was nicknamed the blob, fatty, wide load. These comments chipped away at my confidence. Why would I want to lose weight when I had zero support?
I joined a hypnotherapy and counselling course in October 2017 and something drastic happened. I can’t pinpoint what it was but I had had just about enough. I revised my relationships with all the people that were damaging my self-esteem. I surrounded myself with new friends who were positive and uplifting. I started to believe in myself.
This part of the journey was difficult as it meant saying goodbye to many, some of whom had been in my life for a long time. But I could not beat this toxicity.
I focused on my weight loss, starting small with simple exercises and cutting out chocolate and pizza. That wasn’t too difficult and I gradually lost a stone. But as my confidence increased I realised I could lose a lot more and put my efforts into really losing the weight.
I had some hypnotherapy, implemented a 1200 calories-a-day diet and spent many hours walking and on the exercise bike. Every time I lost a pound it gave me more inspiration to continue.
I have now completed my weight loss journey. I have lost 5 stone in total. But more importantly I have confidence in who I am and what I can achieve. I have surrounded myself with so many positive friends and family that have encouraged and supported me. I have discovered hypnotherapy as an amazing tool to help control cravings and sustain motivation. Weight loss is a mind set, and with the right environment anything is possible.”
My belief is that issues around weight largely stem from the mind. Many habits surrounding weight come from childhood messages- “There are children starving around the world so please eat all your food.” This message and many similar others become ingrained in our minds and the result is that we end up carrying these messages into adulthood. We do not want to appear ungrateful, both as a child and as an adult.
Educationally we are often not taught about portion control. This becomes particularly problematic when a parent, partner or adult child does the majority of the cooking at home. They may have good intentions to ‘look after’ us when in fact the portions that we receive can be too large. We do not want to appear ‘ungrateful’ (that message from childhood) so we clear our plates. The result of this over time is weight gain.
Losing weight is, for most, very challenging and is a time when we require support. Unhelpful comments from other people can really affect how successfully we lose weight. Whilst someone may say “you are fine, you don’t need to lose any weight” to be kind, in fact this actually creates a conflict between what we perceive ourselves to be and what others may see. Conflict in weight loss can be very difficult to deal with.
Hypnotherapy can be used to reframe these long-term ingrained childhood messages. There is an opportunity to connect with the Inner Child and forgive them for bad habits relating to food, such as bingeing or hiding junk food. Also offered under hypnotherapy is the Visual Gastric Band which involves the story of the operation without the physical intervention.
Motivation to curb eating and undertake exercise is often a sticking point for many clients seeking to lose weight. Hypnotherapy can again reframe the mind to become more motivated and focused using goal-led solution.
Clients may feel that hypnotherapy is the only tool they will need to lose weight. Unfortunately this is not the case. Clients will need to restrict their calorie intake and undertake a program of exercise whilst receiving hypnotherapy. It will often become easier to select healthier foods and smaller portions as the mind accepts these positive changes through hypnotherapy. Motivation can also increase through positive suggestion.