In part one of this series on hypnosis for weight-loss, we briefly talked about the importance of creating your "baseline". Where are you currently? Meaning, you must take a moment and unbiasedly assess your current state of health, or current weight (if you are only interested in dropping X number of pounds).
Now that you've successfully determined your starting point, the next step is to set your final destination. Your goal needs to be clear, realistic and attainable. Merely determining that you want to "lose weight" or "feel better" is far too ambiguous for your subconscious mind. When dealing and relating to your subconscious mind, you must give it direct, explicit and straight to the point instructions. Get specific! If your ultimate goal is to lose 50 lbs, you must ask yourself what would losing that much weight means to you? In what areas of your life would it have a positive affect and what would those positive aspects mean to you moving forward. An important point when framing your future goals is that they MUST be stated in the present tense. As an example, "Now that I have lost 50 lbs. not only do I look and feel 10 years younger, I can now toss the football around or play with my kids at the park without experiencing a shortness of breath..." Once your subconscious mind accepts this as being true in the NOW, it will automatically and effortlessly control and bring forth all the necessary resources for you to easily achieve those specific endeavors.
Setting your starting point and defining your destination should be created no matter what modality you will choose when looking to lose weight. This is as true for weight-loss via hypnosis as well as getting back into the gym or starting a new exercise regimen. If this is true, then you're probably wondering how hypnotherapy is effective and why even bother exploring hypnosis in the first place. Well, let's continue on...
Your Emotions & Your Dietary Habits
Consuming foods is a necessary part of life, we agree this, correct? Where this subject begins to greatly vary amongst the plethora of weight-loss tools available today is how they deal with and create balance within the emotional aspects of eating. If we take a moment and examine maladies like binge eating, anorexia, bulimia or overeating in general, I feel it is safe to say that the underlying theme amongst them all is directly related to our emotional state. Even if we look at the correlation between self-image and bulimia, human emotion and how those emotional states are managed and processed still becomes the ground floor, so to speak. If the emotional aspects and our relationship to foods is not properly fostered, then perhaps does this become the one common factor why diets, pills and crazy workout routines are not effective long-term?
When looking strictly at dealing with the undercurrent of human emotions and their direct relationship to how we view eating, dealing with our emotional counterparts then becomes critical when attempting to create safe, effective and longterm weight-loss protocol. If you google "weight loss programs" 212,000 hits come up. The choices are endless, confusing and most of them are ineffective and unsafe. Sure, most can be utilized to help drop a few pounds here and there, but are they realistic and effective for long term and sustainable results? The common theme a high percentage of these modalities have is the fact that they only deal with and are based upon treating the body alone. Well, if the root cause of your eating stems from emotional aspects, does performing 100 pushups, 100 planks a day make a lot of sense?
Over 90% of Your Daily Behaviors are Dictated by the Subconscious Mind
Ask yourself, is your subconscious mind on board with what it is that you're currently desiring? You need to know if what you are consciously seeking is the exact same that your subconscious wants. If these two minds, so to speak, are not in agreement, your conscious mind is going to lose 99% of the time (this is my personal generalization). It becomes a simple game of knowns vs. unknowns. If "weight-gaining" habits have been previously installed subconsciously, then they've become what I refer to as your "knowns". Take a moment here and discover if you're unknowingly being propelled by "weight-loss" habits or "weight-gain" habits? Which of these two habits are in line with your daily behaviors? And no, eating a bowl of pasta every time your significant other irritates you is NOT a weight-loss habit.
All of us, at one point or another, have tried to consciously override an unconscious behavior. What has your experience been when trying to accomplish this? Not good, right? It is very difficult to override an unconscious belief or habit with conscious thought alone. If this was in fact easy, then the masses would be walking around with millions in their bank accounts and showcasing the perfect physique. This is where hypnotherapy becomes a very effective means of dealing with not only our subconscious knowns vs. unknowns, but in managing and effectively dealing with our ever fluctuating emotional state.
By occupying or bypassing our conscious intellect, hypnosis is an effective tool in helping us to unlearn and relearn any behavior that no longer serves us in a positive manner. All hypnosis is, in a matter of fact, self-hypnosis. A hypnotherapist or hypnotist is merely a guide in helping you maximize the tools we all have inherent within us. Seeking help and allowing yourself to learn and discover new tools is a beauty this world has bestowed upon each and everyone of us. Stay tuned for Part III of these four part series on weight-loss and hypnosis. #hypnosisforweightloss #imaginationhypnotherapy #princetonenjhypnosis
