A Weighty Issue
Sep 22, 2016 Elaina Curran
“I want to lose weight, but I just love food so much!”
“I can’t say no to chocolate/cake/chips/…..”
“Life is already stressful enough. I don’t have the energy to put into shedding those unwanted pounds.”
“I eat when I’m stressed/bored/lonely.”
“I’ve tried diets. I lose the weight then gain it all back. I just can’t do it!”
Do any of these resonate with you? If you are struggling with your weight, you are not alone. 55% of Britons are actively trying to shed unwanted pounds. Research also shows that only 5% of people who go on a diet manage to keep the weight off. You are not failing the diet, the diet is failing you!
Sometimes, it is not actually the food that is the problem, but an underlying issue(s). There can be a number of factors that can get in the way of success:
- Low self-esteem
- Stresses of daily life
- Boredom
- Unhelpful habits and beliefs associated with food
- Fatigue
- Unhappiness
- Emotional pain
Often overeating stems from an emotional source and is a symptom rather than the actual problem. While diets ask you to change from the outside, we should really consider focusing on creating change first from the inside. Changing your eating habits is not enough either, as many initial weight loss efforts have proved with quick fixes and temporary solutions. What will help tip the scales in your favour is to change your thoughts and beliefs surrounding unhelpful eating habits, and how you feel about yourself, as well.
Emotion is very powerful and often overrides logic. That’s why we turn to comfort food to make us feel better, because of our emotional needs. When you end up finishing the whole bag of crisps, or decide to eat the rest of the pudding late at night, chances are you might wish you hadn’t after you scoffed the lot. In the moment, you NEED those crisps. You WANT that pudding. Logic sets in afterwards and you wonder why you keep doing that to yourself.
As you repeat certain actions, they become habits. Habits get stored in the mind and a pattern is created. So, every time you experience those emotions, the mind will refer to what you’ve done in the past. It cannot evaluate or assess, it can only act instinctively. The Emotional Mind’s only purpose it to keep you away from pain and ensure your survival. For example, whenever you feel lonely, you might have a tendency to reach for biscuits and a tub of ice cream. The mind will remember the initial feeling of satisfaction and happiness while you engage in this habit, which will register as “job done!” After the pounds pile on, and when you are not in that moment, logic kicks in. Even though you know where you are going “wrong”, you can’t stop. I know. I have struggled, too. Luckily, no matter how entrenched those thought habits are, and no matter how long they have been held, they most certainly can be changed.
Hypnotherapy can be extremely helpful with weight management because it reaches the subconscious where those unwanted thought patterns reside. Through talk-therapy, hypnosis, commitment and repetition, new positive and healthy thought patterns can be set as they replace the old. You CAN get down to your desired weight AND maintain it. You can do it!
Published in BS35Local Magazine, September 2016
By: Elaina Curran, DSFH, CNHCreg, AfSFHreg