Nlp & Hypnosis - Can They Really Help You Lose Weight?

Self-Hypnosis, thanks to TV shows and the movies, the very word conjures up the figure of a beady-eyed hypnotist swinging his pocket watch and droning, "You are getting sleepy."


Use any Internet search engine and you will find several million pages devoted to the topic. Unfortunately, many websites that sell hypnosis CDs make crazy, unsubstantiated claims. I've been in the industry since 1978. So I think that I'm more than expert enough to set the record straight on weight loss hypnosis.


First of all, post-hypnotic suggestion is a tool, just like a scalpel is a tool. Just as all surgeons have varying skill levels in the use of a scalpel, different hypnotherapists have varying skill levels in the use of post-hypnotic suggestion. And to complicate the matter, there are many different forms of post-hypnotic suggestion.


Here are just a couple of the ridiculous claims about weight loss hypnosis that I've seen on websites on the Internet, along with the the real story:


"Hypnotic suggestion will speed up your metabolism." The truth is that post-hypnotic suggestion cannot directly speed up your metabolism. But it can be very adequate at helping to re-program your subconscious mind with increased motivation to exercise. And that exercise can speed up your metabolism. Similarly, post-hypnotic suggestion to speed up the metabolism for quick weight loss can be effected by programming the subconscious mind to motivate the intake of increased amounts of protein, because that intake will step up the metabolism.


"Hypnotic suggestion will make you drop a few pounds." This is false. But post-hypnotic suggestion can be used to help case out your appetite, so that you eat less. And eating less can help you to drop a few pounds. The average person's appetite and cravings for food and compulsion to eat are triggered by two unconscious programs:


A. When you combine eating with any other behavior, the other behavior will trigger cravings for food and a desire to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example, if you eat as you talk on the phone, you will automatically get an urge to eat each time you get on the telephone.


B. When you feel stressed, you feel a strong urge to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure. This is because of programming that you received as a baby. When you got out of sorts, your mom or dad put a bottle in your mouth. You got distracted, relaxed, and probably fell asleep. Now when you get cranky (anxious or tense), you feel compelled to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure.


C. There is a third unconscious program that is present for some people. It's called emotional eating. Emotional eating takes place when an individual is motivated to make him or herself fat, because by being fat they will protect themselves in some way. For example, if an individual gets their heart broken in a relationship, their subconscious mind might motivate them into a behavior that will prevent them from getting their heart broken again. Example: They are motivated to become overweight to keep them out of another relationship, because that will eliminate the possibility of another broken heart.


So just how can self-hypnosis for losing weight fix the above problems? Click here to read the remainder of this weight loss hypnosis article.


I have written several articles on this complex topic that available on my website. These articles outline some powerful and effective methods of using hypnotherapy for emotional compulsive eating.