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Re: No willpower!

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 4:58 pm
by Gary Turner
Hi, I help people with this often in my hypnotherapy work. It comes from you learning to have the attachments of 'wanting and liking' for such foods. You need to break that.

There are some very simple psychological interventions that you can use in order to break the cycle. Seek a professional for precise health, you won't regret it! Obviously, as a hypnotherapist, I would suggest hypnotherapy...

Yet...

Give this a go! It is an adapted version of something known as 'Havening'. When you experience your problem, before you have eaten, to break the cycle give yourself a neurological distraction (a simple one, yet a clever one at that) and notice what happens. Repeat it 3-5times and your emotion should be resolved without needing to eat. It should take you to comfort and relaxation...

- Tap your collarbone with the opposite hand about ten times with rhythm.
- Hum out loud the first couple of lines of happy birthday.
- Count 1-10 out loud.
- Give yourself a hug in a way that you would find comforting and reassuring.
- Take a deep breath, hold it for just a moment, and let it go and let your body relax with the breath...

Let me know how it goes!

Re: No willpower!

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 5:13 pm
by Adam Eason
Hello Linda,

Believing to yourself with conviction that the mere sight of a chocolate bar makes things 'go to pot' is going to make will power crumble :-)

Learning to realise that you are very capable of making different choices is a first step. Therefore encouraging yourself the same way you'd encourage a loved one in a supportive way is a good place to start. Then believe in those self-directed sentiments with the same conviction that you previously used to believe that 'it all goes to pot' when you see a chocolate bar.

Secondly, if you find cravings taking over, a good mental imagery to use is to imagine the craving sensations in your body as 'things' or symbolic representations of the chocolate (for example, imagine the cravings as little chocolate bars) that you place in the basket of a balloon, or in a never ending lift, or a plane, and then imagine the cravings flying away, getting smaller and smaller while you take some deep breaths and relax.

Thirdly, I'd say learning how to relax effectively and being able to desentisitse yourself in the face of any anxiety caused by cravings is a good thing too - practice relaxation skills (can be found in a wide variety of places online for free) to the point where you can apply them at will; what we refer to as cue-controlled relaxation.

Good luck! :D

Adam.

Re: No willpower!

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:40 pm
by Wendy Green
Hi,

To add to the good advice already given. I've recently lost 11lbs myself after noticing I'd gained a bit of weight over the past couple of years. I've found that the best way for me to lose weight is to not ban any particular food, as the minute I do I know I'll want to eat it even more! Instead I aim to eat a good healthy diet with plenty of fruit, vegetables, proteins and whole grains with the addition of a small treat each day.

Why not allow yourself a small chocolate treat every day that you can look forward to? It could be a healthy version, such as a cup of cocoa or a SMALL bar of dark 70 per cent chocolate - these provide health benefits such as lowering your blood pressure, and by allowing yourself some chocolate you'd be more likely to stick to your weight loss programme in the long-term. It has certainly worked for me!

Good luck! :D