Create A Weight Management Business Plan

Written by: Debbie

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

I have clients who see me to reduce their weight. They know what to do and they know what they are doing that prevents them from having the healthy body they desire. Still they can’t seem to find the motivation for the follow through. I will explain to them that just by showing up in my office they have demonstrated a level of motivation that we can build upon. Along with practical and creative ideas that we may brainstorm to assist them with making lifestyle changes that are easy to transition to and maintain.

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” – Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was a creative, yet he realized that in order to achieve what he desired, he needed to have a plan and then act upon that plan. The same is true of weight loss. Without a plan, it is easy to give in to temptations.

Build a weight management business plan

Any successful venture requires a plan that describes its mission and specifics on how to achieve it. Without one, you have no idea where you’re starting, where you’re going, or how you’ll get there. Treat your goal as a business objective; If you were trying to accomplish something for a client, you probably wouldn’t start out without a strategy. Time to prioritize your health as you would a business goal. While exercising and cutting calories are vital to dropping those extra pounds, your mental outlook can mean the difference between success and failure.

Create a mission statement. It should be clear and concise so that you can repeat it regularly.

Begin by listing all the reasons you can think of for slimming down. Define your weight-loss motivation, highlighting any reasons that include other people.
Rewrite the list, this time omitting the highlighted items.
Inspect each one for phrases like “have to”, “need” or “must.” These words imply obligation, not desire which means eventually, they’ll also invite the instinct to rebel. Translate each “have to” into a “want to.” If your reasons lose their relevance, pare down the list again.
Once you’ve determined exactly what you want to achieve and your deadline, work backwards to create a monthly plan of action with realistic and specific goals for losing weight, break that down to weekly and daily changes you will be making. Make change progressive rather than all at once.

Think about how many minutes will you dedicate to research, diet, meditation, and/or exercise? IF you already have a strict schedule, what are you willing to sacrifice to make room for these endeavors? Remember, where you place your time and attention in life demonstrates your priorities.

Having this plan in writing makes it easy to read as a reminder on the days when you struggle and to cheer on when you realize you are more on track than you expected.

Why Are You Eating That?

Written by: Debbie

Why are you eating that? If you are supposed to be dieting to shed that ugly fat, why did you put the donut in your mouth? Why did you grab candy from the dish on your co-workers desk? You know it won’t help, but it seems you can’t help it either. Furthermore the co-worker with the candy is thin and never seems to eat her own candy.

The Battle Is Real

Guess what? You aren’t imagining it, the battle is real. It really is hard to diet and your body is fighting you! That’s right; you are a victim of your own brain and genetics and maybe even programming. Every dieter I work with knows how to cut out calories and increase exercise. They all know the formula to shedding ugly fat and maintaining a healthier body.

fats are enhanced

Our taste buds have been genetically engineered to crave high-calorie, high-fat foods because we used to need that for energy—hunting, gathering, exploring the continent, etc. Now we’ve created food that tastes even richer than nature’s, which makes kale a hard sell when compared to a loaded pizza.

The “naturally thin” individuals (NT’s) are blessed with a great genetics. NT’s metabolize at a higher rate furthermore, they aren’t tempted by the same treats a dieter is. If a person on a diet ate the same amount of food as the NT’s it would still be too much food to lose weight. While they fat shame the dieter they also believe the dieter is weak. They are wrong. When we are dieting, our awareness of food, particularly fatty foods is heightened.

Are You Stuck?

So, what can the poor dieter do? Let’s circle back to my original question, why are you eating that? When you catch yourself in the act of eating off diet, stop and ask yourself why? Is there an emotional component? Are you resentful that everyone else can eat the goodies at a party and you can’t? Are you eating for emotional reasons? Does your body need fuel?

Amnesia eating is often triggered when watching night time television and all the food related commercials. After a long hard day, we settle in to relax and reward ourselves. Often we have eaten dinner; still the habit of rewarding with food and the constant barrage of food commercials triggers us to find a snack. Due to fatigue, we eat the easiest choices, prepackaged goodies. Eating those foods triggers the reward center of the brain and we are lulled into a false sense of temporary comfort. In order to help change that habit, I encourage finding something active to do during commercials. Personally, I have a medicine ball and I work with it during commercials. I also enjoy a warm beverage when tempted to nibble.

Hypnosis To The Rescue!

Through hypnosis for weight loss we can level the playing field, that is, we can give you less desire for the foods that have become your nemesis. While I am not a fan of making a favorite food disgusting (because I believe a determined mind will find a way around that) it is possible to give you better control over what you choose to eat. Hypnosis can also be used to amp up the metabolism, more like that of an NT. The mind body connection is powerful and using it to your advantage is exactly what hypnosis is all about.

Hypnosis For Weight Loss

If you are struggling with your eating habits, put down the goodies and pick up your phone to call and ask me how I can help you achieve your weight goals!

Can Hypnosis Help Create New Habits?

Written by: Debbie

I am often asked if hypnosis really works for weight management. Can it help the person asking eat better, exercise more, create better habits? I can assure you it does, but not through any kind of miracle or mind control. Hypnosis is effective for creating healthy new habits when diets alone just don’t seem to work.

Some of the issues we face when working on shedding those ugly extra pounds of fat may be a result of the bad habits we developed along the way. Our eating habits from our youth may have served a growing body, but now the growth is in the wrong direction. It might be time to learn new, good habits.

Perhaps you were from a large family and needed to grab food fast if you were going to get your share. School lunchtimes are short and so often a child learns to eat quickly if they are going to get the lunch in before the bell. Parents who are tired after a long workday and children who are “hangry” might result in many fast food meals eaten in the car.

What Is A Habit?

Whatever the habit is that is no longer serving you, it can be changed. Willpower is a great asset, but you may repeat a bad habit even though your rational mind objects. The problem is, people think that they need willpower and feel like a failure when they don’t perceive themselves as having enough strength. This can lead to a deterioration of self-esteem and self-sabotaging.

A habit is simply something you do without thinking about it. You don’t set out to over eat, eat too fast or eat the wrong types of foods, it just sort of happens. If you see the donut drive through on your way to work, the one you have stopped for your daily coffee and donut, it seems as if the car turns into it all on its own. Maybe it is that you sit down to eat a meal and manage to finish it before everyone else has been served.

Through the deep focus of hypnosis habits can be changed and improved, because it helps to make the change at the subconscious level. The subconscious mind is responsible for holding our beliefs about life, love, ourselves, other people, other cultures, religion, ethics, etc. It takes care of everything we ever learned consciously.

We’ve had to learn everything since we were born–how to eat, walk, talk, dress ourselves, brush our teeth, etc. While all of this began at a conscious level, eventually it became automatic and was taken over by the subconscious part of the mind. If we had to think through every little action that is required to do every little thing we do, we would go crazy.

Subconscious Mind Is Important

This makes the subconscious the most important part of who we are. It is like a computer program that maintains anything we have experienced, everything ever said to us, done to us, everything we ever learned. It houses our emotions, all the various parts of our personality, all of the roles we play in life and most importantly to this subject, our habits.

Because hypnosis reaches the “hard drive” of the mind, the subconscious, clients often end negative patterns of behavior after receiving strong, direct suggestions. Then you can build healthy and energizing habits that don’t control you. Sometimes it is as simple as the allowing the mind to understand through story telling that there is another, healthier way to behave and it creates new habits all on its own. Unlike the stereotype from old movies, hypnotherapy does not put people to sleep and old pocket watches are not involved. Instead, the client, with closed eyes, is guided through a series of relaxing imagery and ideas. Everyone responds slightly differently to hypnosis, with some slipping into a deep, sleep-like trance and others not feeling much different than having their eyes closed. Every person is different, but most of my clients are able to eradicate bad habits, changing them into good habits.

The hypnosis sessions include figuring out the problem behind the bad habits and symptoms, then improving eating and exercising habits, insuring you are drinking enough water, and encouraging a healthy functioning of the body. Improving self-confidence, motivation and having the courage and ability to change can help you release protective layers.

So, if you are ready to shed that burden of extra weight and create healthy new habits, give hypnosis a try. You will be glad you did!

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.

Water, The Perfect Accessory

Written by: Debbie

Incredible as it may seem, water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in shedding weight and keeping it off. Although most of us take it for granted, water may be the only true “magic potion” for permanent weight loss. (Oh, I hate that word loss, but here it is valid.)

Water helps to suppress appetite naturally and helps the body to metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase of water can actually reduce fat deposits.

Here is why: The kidneys can’t function properly without enough water. When they don’t work to full capacity, some of their load is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver’s primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But, if the liver has to do some of the kidney’s work , it can’t operate full throttle. As a result, it metabolizes less fat, remains stored in the body and shedding weight stops.

Drinking enough water is the best treatment for fluid retention. When the body gets less water, it perceives this as a threat to a survival and begins to hold on to every drop. Water is stored in extra cellular spaces (outside cells). This shows up as swollen feet, legs and hands.

Diuretics offer a temporary solution at best. They force stored water along with some essential nutrients. Again, the body perceives a threat and will replace the lost water at the first opportunity. Thus, the condition quickly returns. The best way to overcome the problem is to give your body what it needs-plenty of water. Only then will the stored water be released.

The overweight person needs more water than the thin one. Larger people have larger metabolic loads. Since we know that water is the key to fat metabolism, it follows that the overweight person needs more water.

Water helps to maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration. It also helps prevent the sagging skin that usually follows dropping weight – shrinking cells are buoyed by water, which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy and resilient. Water helps rid the body waste. During weight loss, the body has a lot more waste to get rid of – all that metabolized fat must be shed. Again, adequate water helps flush out the waste. Water can help relieve constipation. When the body gets too little water, it siphons what it needs from internal sources. The colon is one primary source. Result? Constipation. But, when a person drinks enough water, normal bowel function usually returns.

So far, we’ve discovered some remarkable truths about water and weight management:

The body will not function properly without enough water and can’t metabolize stored fat efficiently.
Retained water shows up as excess water.
To get rid of excess water, you must drink more water.
Drinking water is essential to managing weight.

How much water is enough? On the average, a person should drink eight 8-ounce glasses every day. That is about 2 quarts. However, the overweight person needs one additional glass to every 25 pounds of excess weight. The amount you drink should also be increased if you exercise briskly or if the day is hot and dry.

Water should be preferable cold – it’s absorbed into the system more quickly than warm water. Some evidence suggests that drinking cold water can actually help burn calories.

When the body gets the water it needs to function optimally, its fluids are perfectly balanced. When this happens, you have reached the “breakthrough point”. What does this mean?

Endocrine gland function improves
Fluid retention is alleviated as stored water is lost
More fat is used as fuel because the liver is free to metabolize stored fat
Natural thirst returns
There is a loss of hunger almost overnight

If you stop drinking enough water, your body fluids will be thrown out of balance again, you may experience fluid retention, unexplained weight gain and loss of thirst. To remedy the situation you’ll have to go back and force another “breakthrough point”.

this article is not my original work, I found it years ago and have given it out to my clients. If you are (or know) the author, please let me know so that I can site it properly.

Another article on water and weight is here: The Best Way To Lose Weight

Weight Loss Begins Between The Ears

Written by: Debbie

Recently a new client came to see me, wanting me to help her shed the excess weight she has been carrying. This woman is intelligent and educated and very introspective. She knows all she “should” do to be healthier; she even has times where her weight becomes her central focus. She said that she will get to a certain level of fitness and then people start to notice. That scares her and she retreats back into a shell of overeating and sluggishness. She is an all or nothing type personality mixed in with a bit of self-loathing. Because this woman was introspective, she had already begun to understand that her weight gain and weight loss was all between her ears.

I asked her what diets and programs she has used in the past, like so many people I see, her response was, “what haven’t I tried is probably easier to answer”. We found a plan that fit with her current life style and she decided to use it. We talked about movement; she hasn’t much interest in moving. She hates the gym. So, I asked her what she can add into her life that might seem more like fun and less like “working out”. She does take a short walk daily; that is a good start. She has taken tai chi in the past, knows the movements and positions. As she has a great deal of stress in her life, that one seems like a no brainer. Because she is an all or nothing personality, we decided to add little changes into her life, a few at a time.

She has understood now that hypnosis is not necessarily about the “shoulds”, but instead about the “wants”. She wants to be healthy, she wants to feel good and she really, really wants to love herself. Our trance work was focused on her loving herself more, but also on recognizing her emotions. We tend to judge emotions as good or bad, when in actuality, they are simply gauges to help us. If we smell sour milk, that sense tells us not to drink the milk. If we smell fresh cooked vegetables, that sense tells us we can safely eat it. If we feel depressed, then we want to address that feeling. How are we feeling ineffective? It is time to make a plan of action and put it into place (take action). Eating won’t do that and usually ends up in adding to our negative feelings because of guilt, bloating or lethargy. gauging weight loss

I made the comparison to a car. There are many different gauges and lights on a car, not all mean it is time to refuel. The brake warning lights might mean I need new brake pads or that the pressure is off. The oil light is a reminder to have my oil checked, I might need to have it changed or it might be low. Neither of those gauges signifies it is time to refuel, especially if my gas tank is full! All of our senses are important, just as all of our emotions. Perhaps it is just time to listen and respond to the signals as they are sent instead of trying to feed everything.

My Head Was Ready To Explode

Written by: Debbie

Today I was angry. So angry I wanted to do something about it, so I am writing this. You see I was on a board where a colleague was attempting to sell his expertise. Apparently he thinks himself an expert on weight management. I don’t know him. I don’t know his track record. It may be that he has helped hundreds to shed the weight. What I do know is that he hurt me tremendously. In fact, what he wrote caused me physical pain.

Here is what he said that upset me so much, “Losing weight really is not that hard, just time consuming. People say it is hard because they are lazy and don’t want to get out there and be physically active. They want to take the easy way out and stay in the comfort of their home and diet.” I stared at the screen, blinked and felt myself go blind momentarily while I tried to wrap my head around the fact that anyone who wants to help people shed weight could believe such garbage.

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!

Healthy Eating Tips For Weight Management

Written by: Debbie

Dieters often think they’ll feel dissatisfied if they make healthy choices but usually they actually feel MORE dissatisfied when they end up feeling badly about eating unhealthy food. It may be difficult (in the moment) to decide to eat healthy, but the lack of regret after feels great! Healthy eating is a way of life, not a quick trick to fool the scales.

National Eat Better, Eat Together Month

Written by: Debbie

October is National Eat Better, Eat Together Month. That is a time for families to eat together. According to Washington State University making time to eat together is not only important to the family unit, the meals tend to be more nutritious. There are even more benefits including:

Children do better in school and have fewer behavior problems
Teenagers are less likely to use alcohol or drugs
Communication between children and adults improves
Children better understand their families values and traditions
Children and teenagers appreciate the sharing of information about other family members activities and the opportuity to laugh together

Sitting at the table should be a pleasure time, not a battlefield. I advise parents of young children to encourage good eating habits by example. Take time to savor the aromas, the appearance of the food and the textures as well as the flavors. Enjoy and appreciate the preparation of the food as a part of the experience. Keep conversations positive and include everyone at the table. This allows for improved digestion.

Eating together doesn’t mean the meals have to be fancy. It is about the time together that counts! Not sure if you can fit eating together into your hectic schedule? Below are some ideas to help you get started.

How to Start to Eat Better, Eat Together

Ease into it: Try setting a goal of eating together once or twice a week.
Start simple: Prepare a meal ahead of time. Just store it in the fridge until it’s time to reheat and eat it!
Create calm: Phones, TV, computer, video games and even the radio can interrupt your meal. Turning them all off will help everyone relax.
Get everyone involved: Let your family help you shop, choose their favorite dinner, set the table and make the meal.
Relax and connect: Talk about problems after dinner.

Include all of the family in planning and preparing meals. It adds to the fun when each person has a specialty they can contribute. However you find the way to fit eat together, eat better into your family, give it a try. You will discover the many benefits of a family meal. Make eat better, eat together a year long practice!