Are you fed up with dieting? Don’t despair; if no diet seems to work because you just keep falling off the wagon every time, it’s time for a new approach. Hypnotherapy for weight loss may be the secret ingredient for you if you struggle with emotional eating or perceived cravings.
Why should I try hypnotherapy for weight loss?
You may be reading this because you’ve never lost your excess body fat, regardless of how hard you tried. On the other hand, you may have lost weight and kept it off for years, but you recently turned back to old habits and seemed to regain it overnight.
If this is you, you’re not alone. It’s more common than you think for a stressful event, such as a financial loss, divorce, or death of a loved one, to trigger the return of emotional eating or food addictions. Even when the current issue has passed, e.g. you find a new job or the negative event feels more distant in time, you may still hold onto these old habits.
Why do I feel this way?
Never blame yourself for cravings, food addiction, or emotional eating. It’s not about a lack of willpower. Instead, how you subconsciously associate food and stress is what matters.
First, let’s look at the stress, or fight/flight, response. You release a surge of adrenaline in response to any kind of stress, which makes your heart beat faster, your brain and muscles work harder, and your body search for any source of readily-available energy. The purpose of this response is so you can escape from very Stone Age dangers, such as a predator. As you aren’t really running away, your blood sugar levels remain high, and indulging in sugary or fatty food may make you feel safer on a subconscious level.
You may also associate foods such as candy, ice cream, or fast food with comfort. Perhaps a caregiver always gave you a lollipop when you fell and hurt yourself, or you got to have fast food for dinner after a grandparent died. These repeated or emotionally-charged events “taught” you that high-calorie foods bring comfort, or help to solve issues. Another theory is that you’re more likely to overeat during stress if you have to consciously make an effort to control your food intake.
How do I know hypnotherapy for weight loss works?
Clinical studies show that hypnotherapy can be very effective for weight loss, with regular use often being the best approach. The results you can look forward to will often look like those seen in these two trials:
- One study on self-hypnosis found that regular users lost almost 10kg (20 pounds) more than non-users. Everyone performing self-hypnosis showed improvements in quality of life, feelings of satiety (in other words, less binge-eating!), and inflammation.
- Another trial involved 32 obese volunteers, and tested a 10-week hypnotherapy program on both weight loss and blood test results. After 10 weeks, their average BMI fell from 33.4 to 31.4 and their metabolic health improved.
Overall, hypnotherapy is an effective, safe way to support your weight loss journey. If you’re tired of relying on conscious willpower alone, and want to uncover the real reasons behind food addictions or binge eating, we’re happy to work with you! To get started on using hypnotherapy for weight loss, click here to book an appointment, or read our FAQs for more information.
