Changing the Habits That Weigh You Down

By Theresa Johnson, CH

You may be asking yourself "Why aren't traditional diets - even nontraditional diets - working for me? Why can't I keep the weight off once I lose it?" Through my experience as a certified hypnotherapist, I have found that the main reason why the diets have not helped you to create permanent weight loss changes is because you have not made a lifestyle change. Ok, so maybe you already understand that. Let me explain further. If a lifestyle change has not been made then your behaviors have not changed and if behaviors have not changed then your thoughts have not changed. If your thoughts have not changed then your perceptions and beliefs have not changed. Those perceptions and beliefs, I speak of, include beliefs about yourself, your body image, your self worth, and also the beliefs and perceptions about your relationship with food. The beliefs and perceptions related to the behaviors that are keeping you heavy can also be connected to a number of other issues: stress, anxiety, how you react to people, places and events around you, fears and phobias. Many of your perceptions/beliefs regarding these issues and others need to be changed on the fundamental level to create the behavioral changes necessary to eliminate the excess body fat.

Now I am sure that you have heard "if something is not working for you, change what you are doing." Right? And surely you've heard "do what you've always done and get what you've always got". Well that is exactly what is happening to most people who have been unable to lose weight effectively and keep it off. They have continued to do what they have always done and they continue to get what they've always gotten. Let's make that statement even more specific "If you THINK what you've always THOUGHT, then you will get what you've always got." It is in making the changes in that thinking process, in that belief and perception process, where hypnosis is extremely effective.

The process of hypnosis by-passes what is called the critical factor, the "line" between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. Your conscious mind is your analytical, judgmental and critical area of your brain. Although it needs to operate this way for survival purposes and decision-making, it can also trip us up, getting in the way of our own progress and improvement. The conscious mind acts upon the beliefs that have been imprinted in our subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is the emotional, imaginative center of our brain that also stores our long-term memories.

If your subconscious mind has been fed negative information, by others or yourself, then that is what it has been programmed to perceive and belief. The subconscious mind takes in whatever in has been given and the conscious mind acts upon it. So if you believe you are fat or worthless, your thoughts will reflect that belief, and your behaviors will reflect and reinforce your thoughts. One may overeat or refuse to exercise as a reaction to the original beliefs that have now been reinforced through thought and action (or non-action). Now you can begin to understand that what you are feeding your mind is as important as what you are feeding your body.

The vicious cycle of negative habits can be changed with hypnosis. During hypnotherapy the goal of the hypnotherapist is to put forth positive suggestions to your subconscious mind. You work together with your hypnotherapist to clarify what it is that you want for yourself and we put that in the most positive language possible and feed it to your subconscious mind. Once that new positive information is absorbed by the subconscious, your conscious mind can begin to act upon it. What the mind can perceive the mind can achieve! Are you ready to perceive thin and to achieve thin? Call Theresa Johnson, Certified Hypnotherapist for a FREE 30 minute consultation and discover how hypnosis can work for you.

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