People seeking help with weight loss vary from those wishing to lose only a few pounds to people wanting to lose several stones. Each case is treated individually with the client, assessing carefully the reality of the weight loss wanted and the length of time this may take.
Obesity.
Obesity causes around 30,000 deaths in England a year and is only beaten by smoking. Two thirds of the adults in this country are overweight and of these 22% of men and 23% of women fall into the category of obese. This indicates that they are a least two or three stone overweight and their excess weight is putting their health at risk. Obesity increases the risks of several serious conditions including:
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Osteoarthritis
• High blood pressure
• Gallstones
• Infertility
• Depression
As we begin to get overweight we may start to notice both physical and emotional changes such as:
• Sleeping difficulties
• Joint pain
• Difficulty with physical activities
• Tiredness
• Sweating
• Snoring
• Breathlessness
So how is obesity measured?
Obesity is defined as carrying too much body fat for your height and gender, to the extent that it poses a risk to your health. A person is considered medically obese if their body mass index (BMI) is 30 or greater. An ideal BMI will be between 20 and 25. Your BMI is calculated by:
Squaring your height in metres eg 1.75 x 1.75 = 3.06.
Dividing the result by your weight in kilograms eg 70/3.06 = 22.88 (this is your BMI).
So how can Hypnotherapy help with Weight control?
The concept behind using hypnosis to help control weight is to enable you to alter your lifestyle to a healthier one. This new healthier way of life then becomes habitual, replacing your previous detrimental relationship with food. Throughout the treatment plan you are assisted in understanding your previous eating patterns so that they can be effectively changed.
In helping you we focus on:
• Not asking you to give up things but to reassess your eating habits and reprogramming your subconscious into eating healthily, which includes taking pride in your body and looking after it.
• Helping you to identify and accept the programmes that your subconscious is running from and helping you to change this behaviour.
• If necessary looking at where these patterns of behaviour originate and this may help you to understand your situation. What will happen during the sessions?
In helping you to understand your weight control issues, the hypnotherapist will follow several recognised stages:
• Ascertain your goals and the length of time this will take and if this is realistic.
• Take a detailed history of your relationship with food and dieting.
• Establish just how motivated you are to lose weight.
• Go through the reasons why people overeat and ask which ones you identify with.
• Work through the benefits of losing weight for you as an individual and how this can be achieved.
• Go through the process of hypnosis and answer any questions you may have and then do the hypnosis part of the session.
• Discuss with you what happened during Hypnosis and then agree with you any further sessions and any homework needed to be done by yourself.
Michelle Krethlow-Shaw |
Return to Articles