Does Hypnosis for Weight Loss Actually Work?

If you want to skip the rest of this article, then please do, the answer is yes! If you want to know how and why, read on!

What is Hypnosis?

Have you ever completed a journey and then when you’ve arrived don’t remember anything about it? Or, even more amazingly at times, been completing a journey on that type of auto-pilot and then snapped into action when you face an unexpected hazard on the road? That’s very similar to hypnosis: you’re in some kind of trance that you can go into, and out of, at your will.

Hypnosis is NOT about you being controlled or feeling any different. Many clients simply describe it as being a really calming form of relaxation where they have a heightened sense of awareness about what they see, hear and do. Time seems to stand still, you can hear and remember everything, and it feels like nothing has changed – until you stick with your new habits easily and effortlessly!
Hypnotherapy uses this state of relaxation to help access deeper levels of consciousness. This in turn allows you to start changing the way you feel, think and behave through accepting the positive suggestions that a hypnotherapist gives you.

How Does Hypnosis Work for Weight Loss?

The difference between ‘zoning out’ for a while, and in a formal and deep state of hypnotic trance is almost nothing. In essence once you are in a very relaxed state (but not sleep) your mind is more open to ideas and suggestions.

The key important factor for weight loss is exactly the same as for traditional diets, the motivation for change. No amount of dieting, or working on your state of mind will work for weight loss in the long term if you want everything to stay the same and/or you want to change for someone or something else (such as a partner or because you ‘ought to’).

Assuming you are comfortable with relaxing (which most of us are to some degree!) you can be hypnotised. Once you are in this relaxed state suggestions and ideas will be given to you to encourage you to change your behaviour for the better.

If you are seeing a therapist individually these will be personally tailored. If you’re in a group session, or using a general product from a registered provider the suggestions will be less specific and probably based on the therapists professional experience. In both cases you will still accept only those parts that appeal or apply to you (hence the reason some people say it won’t work, in simple terms they don’t want it to!).

General weight loss suggestions often include:

Healthy eating principles such as less fat/sugar and more fruit/veg etc

Eating less

Motivation for exercise

Disliking certain ‘problem foods’ such as crisps or chocolate

Stopping emotional eating

Curbing cravings

What Can Hypnosis Do to Help Me?

Most people’s concern is not whether hypnosis works, more whether it will work for them! Let’s face it, it seems too good to be true if it’s as easy as all that!

The fact is hypnosis will never work if you don’t want it to. Whether it’s about being hypnotised to rob a bank, to perform like a monkey or to lose weight, your unconscious mind will only EVER accept what it’s told to do if you want it to happen. I’ll never forget seeing a friend being deeply hypnotised and getting up to perform on stage – only to immediately ‘wake up’ when asked to do something she was too embarrassed to do!

The key to how hypnosis can help you is therefore whether, and how much, you want it to work for you as an individual.

No-one, whether hypnotherapist or medical doctor can make you change your behaviour. If you insist on eating all the wrong things at all the wrong times and in all the wrong ways you’ll end up getting larger and larger. If however, you want to change and just don’t know how to – hypnosis is a fantastically easy, effective and simple solution.
Working just with your own brain your behaviour can be changed in an instant – and you won’t even know why! It really is that easy.

Written by Elizabeth Mansfield www.help-me-lose-weight-now.com