Hypnosis Helps Create A Desire For Healthy Foods

Written by: Debbie

So you want to improve your eating, start making better choices in the foods you eat. Still you crave junk food and fast food. Well, guess what? Your brain is hardwired against you!

When you eat fatty or sugary foods the pleasure center in your brain lights up. Just the mention of the word crispy lights up the same area of the brain, so actually eating crispy chips is addictive.

This causes you to desire more of the same, lessening your willpower. It started as a way of keeping us alive. Early man needed fatty fuels to burn and crisp meant fresh. Our food storage and preparation has changed and the brain hasn’t yet caught up.

However, there is hope. The answer lies within. You have everything you need to succeed. It isn’t the latest diet or appetite suppressant. It is finding balance and learning to listen to your body’s signals. Hypnosis can help you create a desire for healthy foods.

The subconscious mind wants to keep you safe and healthy. The cravings you experience for junk food is simply a misinterpretation of the mind. It believes you need those foods for survival. In hypnosis we can change that understanding and create a wonderful desire for lean, healthy foods.

A wonderful suggestion was created by a father-son hypnotherapy team, Herbert Spiegel and David Spiegel. It is “For my body, too much food is damaging. I need my body to live. I owe my body respect and protection.” You can create your own mantra. One 50-year-old client who shed 50-plus pounds repeats daily: “Unnecessary food is a burden on my body. I’m going to shed what I don’t need.”

Visualization is a powerful tool used in hypnosis. Like athletes preparing for competition, visualizing victory readies you for a victorious outcome. Imagining a day of healthy eating helps you envision the necessary steps to becoming that healthy eater.

Furthermore, picturing and imagining the foods that cause you to stumble as being sent down the river on a raft or flying off in a hot air balloon may sound silly, but it works. The language of the mind is imagery and it loves symbols and metaphors.

In hypnosis we have a saying, “there is no failure, only feedback”. If you fall off the wagon, it is an opportunity to learn something more about yourself. Looking at what triggered the relapse can give you insight into what is going on in your life that is out of balance and find a way to bring yourself back to balance.

Think long-term. If you stumble along the journey, it’s OK. Healthy eating habits are hard to establish, and change takes time. Stay positive. Keep your focus on healthy eating.

Your Healthy Holiday Contract

Written by: Debbie

It’s that time of year when the holidays keep us busier than usual with the shopping, crafting, cooking, parties, and a huge array of activities geared to remind us about friends and family. While it may all be good, it is easy for us to forget our goals and intentions for creating good health. I have created and used this Healthy Holiday Contract with my clients as a reminder to stay healthy. Anything signed will become more a part of our commitments. So, please, print this out and sign it. Put it somewhere you will see it often and read it regularly!

Rebuild Your Life Month 2014

Written by: Debbie

June is Rebuild Your Life Month. Whether it is that you have been thrown a curve ball by life and desperately need to make changes or more simply you just feel this is the time to make changes, this month can be a great time to kick off powerful ways to recreate yourself. This is a wonderful opportunity to reexamine your life and take charge of it by removing stressors as you are able.

Recognizing what your stressors are is the first step. Job stress can, and often does, lead to an increased stress level at home and conversely a difficult home life can lead to an increase of stress while on the job. Therefore it is important to narrow down where the stress is coming.

Sometimes this is as easy as removing clutter from your home and giving the home a thorough cleaning. Numerous studies have shown how physical clutter can create a mental clutter and cause an increase in stress elsewhere in your life. In Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project, she devoted an entire month to ridding her life of clutter. She extols the virtues of how she truly enjoys the belongings she has chosen to keep and the freedom eliminating the clutter has given her.

Other times, the stress may come from conflict in your life. This may bring about the harsh recognition that a person (or persons) in your life are simply not good for you. There are those in life that we permit, that don’t have our best interest at heart. Cleansing those people from our lives is the healthiest option, even when the initial removal of them can be stressful. The removal of a toxic person from your life can cause an entire shift in how you experience life.

A job can be just as harmful. While it may be a challenge to extract yourself from a toxic workplace, it is important to take the steps to do so. You spend far too much of your life in the workplace, it can create serious health issues to be unhappy that much of the time. In fact, just beginning to look for other options whether it is a change in where you work or returning to school one class at a time in order to change careers can bring about an improved attitude.

Here are some changes you might consider making to lead a healthier, less stressed lifestyle as you rebuild your life.

Healthy Eating

In my opinion one of the best changes people can make for creating a healthy lifestyle is to eat healthy. Because of the negative health consequences of obesity, the positive influence fitness has on our self-esteem, and the effects of nutrition on our stress levels and our longevity, switching to a healthier diet brings some of the greatest benefits for wellness. I won’t tell you the best way to eat, as it is different for every individual. I can tell you that a diet full of fast foods and snacks is NOT in your best interest.

Regular Exercise

Getting regular exercise is another wonderful way to keep your weight in check, manage overall stress levels, and stay connected with others. Exercise has been proven repeatedly to help not only the physical body, but also the emotional part of you. Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist who has written numerous books on the brain and brain health (How to Make A Good Brain Great and Unleash the Power of the Female Brain are two of his books I’ve enjoyed) repeatedly says that 20 minutes of vigorous exercise is better than any drug he can prescribe.

Get Good Sleep

People often underestimate the importance of getting enough sleep, and getting good quality sleep. However, lack of adequate sleep has many negative consequences. Stress can rob you of a good night’s sleep. It is important to utilize stress reducing techniques to enable you to sleep better. It is also important to include good sleep habits so that you are better able to handle the day’s stresses. Self-hypnosis and meditation are two great tools to improve sleep while better handling stress.

Create A Happiness Ritual

Whether it is a daily cup of tea and quiet contemplation, coloring in a coloring book or a daily yoga session, find something that brings you joy and practice it. Practice it on a regular basis, so that you are reminded of your value. By consistently practicing your ritual you have those feelings to draw on when you are feeling stressed or sad.

No one has ever promised that life is going to be easy, although, it has been said that everything happens for a reason. Rebuilding your life can be as simple as de-cluttering your home (and your mind) or changing the relationships in your life. By readjusting the sails to navigate away from the past towards a new and improved future can be the best decision you will ever make. So, use this month to start rebuilding your life now. Your destination just might surprise you.

Monday Morning Musing….

Written by: Debbie

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day here in Florida. Chamber of Commerce weather, even. So, my husband and I decided to take advantage of that and rode our bikes up to Innisbrook to lay by the pool. The ride was more difficult than I remembered. I wore a one piece swimsuit, poolside, black. I made sure our chairs were right next to the pregnant woman. All the signs were there, I was feeling uncomfortable.

Yes, I eat healthy foods. I eat slowly, placing the fork down between bites. I stop eating when my body signals it is full, not stuffed. I drink lots of water. Most of the time. Lately, not so much and now I was aware of that. It is time to get back to feeling as healthy and lean as possible. I feel better when I am following proper eating and exercise guidelines. I know that. Yet, I let it slide.

One recent morning I was out walking when a neighbor stopped me. He asked,”Why do you walk, aren’t you a hypnotist? I thought you would just imagine the weight away!” He was serious. If only it were that easy. Yes, hypnosis is a weight management tool in my arsenal, however, I follow the same guidelines I give my clients. Lately, I guess I thought I could get away without doing so and it has shown up on the hips!

So, I am listening to my audios again, reinforcing good habits. I am remembering to focus on health and being committed to myself, rather than on fat and loss. I forgive myself for past mistakes, moving forward, towards good health. I can’t change yesterday, I can only start from where I am right now.

Because of this awareness, I have decided to make it easier for anyone else who wants to make changes as the summer is approaching. I am offering my Lean, Healthy You audio at the discounted rate of $17.00. That is a savings of $6.77! This is available at my website for a limited time.

Join me, begin taking steps towards a healthier, happier you. When you begin your quest, drop me a note and let me know how you are progressing. We can share our victories and even our challenges. Let’s make this the summer of a Lean Healthy You!

Heal Faster With Hypnosis

Written by: Debbie

Yesterday, I picked up a new copy of Prevention Magazine. (The February 2008 edition.) I love to read through them and then leave them in my office waiting room. They often have an article or two that strikes a chord with a client of mine and at times will walk out of the office as a result. This is a great thing, as I encourage my clients to read healthy lifestyle articles on a daily basis, keeping their mind set on health and happiness.

Perusing through the magazine later in the evening, I was delighted to see page 31. Under the heading of Health, there is a snippet that is titled Heal Faster with Hypnosis. The article explains that just 15 minutes of hypnotherapy can reduce the amount of anesthesia needed during surgery and the pain, nausea and fatigue afterward. It sites a study done at the New York City Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

I have worked with clients in a pre-op situation and given them audios to listen to post-op. The results have been phenomenol. They report feeling less apprehensive going into the surgery and not going through the same “let down” after the surgery.

Secondary Gains

Written by: Debbie

There are times when an individual may seek help for an issue, appear to be trying and yet success alludes them. There are those who reach their desired success quickly, then seem to do a complete 180 degree turn. Why is this?

Perhaps it is due to something called a secondary gain. If your disease allows you to miss days of work or school, illicit sympathy or gain attention, these are some examples of what a secondary gain is. Every behavior we have rewards us in some way or we wouldn’t have that behavior. That’s right, every behavior. Even the negative ones. Therefore, when changes don’t seem to occur, it is time to take a look at what the benefit is.

It is usually said that to suggest you might be taking advantage of others as a result of your suffering is to blame the victim. How can you take any course of action when you are assumed to be unable to help yourself? This allows you to be treated as a victim, removing any responsibility to change your circumstances.

Are you giving yourself permission to act out irresponsibly because you “can’t control yourself”? Going a step further, you can treat others poorly or have power over them if you are the “victim” and they need to conform to your special needs. Perhaps your family all has a similar issue and this allows you to be a part of the clan.

Through hypnosis, we can journey together to discover what the gains are. They are often not something the logical mind would expect. Once discovered, another method of meeting that need can be established. A healthy habit, thought or behavior that will allow you to move beyond the issue towards success. Away from over eating, nail biting, smoking or even the hiccups towards a life of freedom!

A former client with a long term physical ailment came to me hoping for a cure. There had been quite a bit of attention given to her ailment and her attempts at curing it. In my office, she was able to find relief. However, we agreed there needed to be more work done, to allow this to become a permanent change. The siren call of the media attention took hold. The follow up visits were not kept. The relief was sporadic. Perhaps a secondary gain can be seen here.

When you make a commitment to yourself, for change, it is important that you follow through with the entire course of action. You are worth it!