Losing weight with hypnosis and the 5 best self-hypnosis tips
Losing weight with hypnosis may not be what first comes to mind when you want to lose weight. Most people first think of dieting, exercising, fasting, becoming vegetarian or even vegan and all the steps you need to take to reach your target weight. Sometimes this seems like an impossible task, it doesn't seem doable because that potato French fry beckons to you. "Eat me, eat me that will make you happy." Seems the patty with (or whatever you like) is saying to you.
If you've already tried everything to say "no" to that chocolate bar or that scoop of sugar in the tea, but it just won't work, many people come to the point of looking at the problem in a different way
Losing weight with hypnosis
Since the 1960s, scientific research has been conducted on the benefits of hypnosis for weight loss and for treating conditions such as anorexia and bulimia. These two conditions may not seem very similar, but ultimately, a behavioral change must take place in people with morbid obesity as well as in people with anorexia.
A 2014 meta-analysis [1]—a type of summary study based on multiple other studies—shows that hypnosis has many benefits for treating obesity. Weight loss often continued after the hypnosis treatment. This indicates a permanent change in the behaviors and thought patterns of obese patients.
Hypnosis for losing weight not only provided a healthier lifestyle it also improves self-image and self-confidence.
There are three ways hypnosis can help you lose weight.
First, the hypnotist can give instructions to the person in a deep trance. Because the hypnotist assumes a position of authority, the patient may respond by obeying these instructions. In addition, the hypnotist can also offer suggestions that strengthen your ego, promote a healthy lifestyle, change your attitudes toward food, and encourage you to exercise regularly.
Second, self-hypnosis can help with weight loss by instilling positive beliefs about achieving a healthy weight and a healthy body. It can also help you change the beliefs about a healthy body that you’ve picked up from the media to what is truly healthy. This involves the use of visualization and suggestion, among other techniques.
As a third option, the hypnotherapist can look for subconscious blocks that are causing you to maintain your weight despite everything. In this case, the hypnotherapist will investigate whether there are any traumas that have led you to adopt an unhealthy lifestyle as a response, and can help you find a different way to cope with those traumas than you have in the past.
For example, a woman who had just become a mother and then developed weight problems found out that it was because she had to go to the hospital when she was six and her mother could not be there, but her "fat" neighbor had gone with her to the hospital.
As a result, her subconscious got the idea that fat moms are better than slim moms, and because you don't communicate that to the outside world at age six, no one could point out to her that this wasn't true and so it didn't surface until she became a mother herself.
Victimization and obesity
Why am I so addicted to foods high in sugar, fat, and salt? Why do I find it hard to eat less? What makes it difficult for me to exercise? Why don’t I exercise more, even though I know that’s one of the steps to losing weight? Why don’t I actually take all the steps to lose weight, but instead choose just one? What’s wrong with me?
These questions can make you feel very insecure, which means you still won’t solve the problem. Often, you’ll look for the cause of your problem. Maybe you didn’t have many friends when you were younger and turned to food as a result, or perhaps you went through something similar to the woman who gained weight after giving birth. This might lead you to think that your environment is to blame.
Earlier I wrote about the danger of thinking in cause and effect. Namely, by doing so you give others mental power over your problems. This is not only related to obesity, but by doing so you waste energy that would otherwise go toward solving your problem.
In some cases, it is very important to go to the root cause of the problem if it is something more complex than "I just like French fries." In that case, hypnosis can be a way to go back to the cause to see how you can take a different consequence from this than you have done so far. In this type of solution, hypnosis by a professional is important, but self-hypnosis can also help you lose weight in these cases.
Beliefs about losing weight
If you start asking yourself why you’re unable to take the steps needed to lose weight, you’ll discover what beliefs you hold about weight loss. A few beliefs about weight loss and why it isn’t working might include:
- I’m too busy to work out.
- I don’t feel full when I eat healthy food.
- Healthy eating is too expensive.
- Preparing healthy food takes too long.
- Healthy eating doesn't taste good.
- Losing weight takes too long.
- I'm not worth losing weight over.
Through hypnosis, it is possible to change the beliefs you have about losing weight. Making the right decisions becomes easier through hypnosis, making losing weight easier.
In addition, you might be so focused on losing weight that it causes you extra stress, which actually prevents you from losing weight. Despite your good intentions, you keep reaching for something unhealthy instead of something healthy. This can lead to feelings of guilt, trapping you in a vicious cycle.
You might also spend the whole day counting calories or worrying about what you eat, which prevents you from getting to other tasks, such as your work. This can also lead to additional stress from trying to lose weight. As a result, especially on the weekend when you want to relax, you end up having an entire “cheat weekend” instead of just a “cheat day.” Then all your healthy habits during the workweek will have been for nothing. In that case, hypnosis for weight loss helps not only by changing your beliefs about losing weight, but also by helping you relax after work and focus on what’s important in the moment. Focus on work while you’re at work, and on healthy eating during mealtimes.
Tips for losing weight with self-hypnosis
So losing weight with hypnosis is definitely something that can be done. In fact, it has been used for decades and has also been scientifically proven for decades.
Tip #1: Determine what you want to change.
To return to the beginning of this article, for self-hypnosis you must first determine what thoughts you have about losing weight. What obstacles do you repeatedly encounter when you want to lose weight, or if you haven’t tried yet, what behavior do you want to change?
Tip #2: Find a quiet place in your home.
A self-hypnosis session can last half an hour To make it as effective as possible, it is important that you are comfortable and in a quiet environment. Find an easy chair or lie down on your bed for the self-hypnosis session. If you like, you can also put on musical soothing music.
Tip 3: Visualize what you want.
Now that you are comfortable, breathe in and out deeply a few times to relax properly and get into a kind of trance. You can compare this to meditating. When you are well relaxed visualize what you want to achieve. For example, conjure up an image of future summer and that you look great in summer clothes. An image in which you are smiling and confident. An image in which you are active without any effort on your part. After all, you are as light as a feather. Visualize your ideal situation that makes losing weight possible.
Tip #4: Replace your negative beliefs with positive beliefs.
Here we return briefly to the negative beliefs you had already found in tip 1. As an example, I used the beliefs at the beginning of this article.
"I'm too busy to exercise." To be replaced by, "There are 24 hours in a day, I can exercise for half an hour of that."
"I don't get a full feeling from healthy eating." Replaced with: "I can eat as much healthy food as I want. There is no maximum on vegetables so I eat as many tomatoes, carrots and the like until I feel full."
"Healthy eating is too expensive." Replaced with: "I am worth investing in my health."
"Preparing healthy food takes too long." Replaced with: "I can also stir-fry a healthy meal in 10 minutes."
"Healthy eating doesn't taste good." To be replaced by: "Healthy food tastes light, sweet and fresh."
"Losing weight takes too long." Replaced with: "I live longer if I live a healthy lifestyle. Living longer takes longer than losing weight."
"I'm not worth losing weight." Replaced with: "I am worth losing weight."
During a self-hypnosis session, you repeat the positive thoughts over and over again so that they are absorbed into your subconscious.
Tip 5: Repeat the self-hypnosis session
Repeating positive thoughts to yourself may seem a little vague at the beginning. That's why you need to keep repeating your self-hypnosis session. Preferably every day. This will give you a visualization each day of how you want your life to be and give yourself a daily reminder that it is not difficult to live healthy and therefore lose weight.
Want to experience self-hypnosis right now?
Watch a video below where I take you through an exercise.
Want to learn more about hypnosis and how you can use it to help yourself or even others lose weight?
Then come to the free online master class on hypnosis.
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Also pin this handy infographic as a reminder:
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