From 1995 to 1999, I was a Slimming World Consultant holding classes in Dalkeith and Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, Scotland. Every week people would join with the #motivation to make it happen. Many had stuffed themselves with chocolate before they came through the doors, many had eaten takeout food for the whole week and for sure, all of them had gained an extra few pounds in the days leading up to them starting “Slimming World”.
BUT I always praised every person in my class for their commitment to coming through my doors. It was my job to support them, know the Slimming World Green and Red Day Plan and prepare many recipes for the tasting nights. Some Tuesday nights I would have over 100 people weighing in at the Dalkeith Rugby Club and the majority stayed back for the 45 minute support group chat. I followed the Red and Green Day Plan myself and kept my weight around 130 lbs equivalent to 9 1/2 stone. Those were the days!
I learned many things from Consulting such as :
There are the Yo Yo Dieters who get to their desired weight and then put it back on again.
There are the Self Motivators that pride themselves in losing the most and getting their awards.
There are the “Kidders” who pay every week yet do not follow the plan.
There are the ones who eat very little and save up for their alcohol consumption.
There are many compulsive over eaters as much as there are under eaters.
There are many “dieters” that clearly kid themselves on that the scales have broken.
My list could go on, yet today as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, I understand that every eating plan out there works. From Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Keto Plan, counting calories, intermittent fasting and so on, if followed you will lose weight.
Clients come to me not to be given a healthy eating plan to follow BUT more on changing the relationship they have with food coming from the relationship they have with themselves.
Sally came to see me as she had tried numerous times to lose weight and nothing had worked for her yet she was adamant that she followed each and every “#diet”. On asking Sally how she felt about this she told me she felt stupid, like there was something wrong with her, she was different from the average person and most importantly this had ran in her family on her mothers side.
I knew to program Sally into following a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise was not going to be the best option as Sally was so convinced that nothing had worked yet she was willing to come and see me to make it happen. Clearly there was a conflict in Sally’s mind.
In #hypnosis, we identified the part of Sally that clearly reminded herself every day that nothing would work, what was the point, you would never do it anyway, your mother is the same way. This made Sally give up on week one of every plan she had ever followed. Through a #hypnotherapy technique called “Parts Negotiation” Sally was able to speak with the part that pulled her down and we regressed that part back to when it started protecting Sally.
It took us back to a memory of her mum lying on a bed feeling sad and 5 year old Sally was lying next to her holding her hand. Mum told Sally that she would be just like her and that woman were made that way to have big tummies as pillows for their children to lie on and she had no time to take care of herself. This had made child Sally feel confused because she liked lying on mum’s tummy yet mum was sad for being that way which in turn made Sally feel that she should not have been there. Child Sally felt mum’s sadness in having a big tummy and mum would remind her that being a mum meant you had no time for yourself, not even to eat so you would eat the leftovers. Adult Sally recognised the patterns in her life of denying herself the right to care for herself especially after she had her own children. She had fallen into the same behaviours mum had lived.
During our sessions together, Sally built her #confidence in herself and her worth. She was worthy of making herself a priority in accepting that she could do anything she wanted to do. She started to look after her body, not as a stubborn part that would not change, but owning her body and taking responsibility to care for it. On changing her beliefs and setting out a target weight along with the steps to get there, Sally was reprogrammed. Every two weeks she would come into see me with her journal. She chose to join a gym and make her own healthy meals. The confused stubborn 5 years old had grown up with more understanding and determination to take care of herself no matter what and the weight came off …..
In comes Helen who wanted to work on her sugar intake. Every day she would pass “Krispy Kreme” and buy a dozen donuts and eat most of them through the day. She did not understand this as she really did not like the taste of these donuts. She had tried driving another route to work yet something inside her said you must go and get these donuts. This habit was preventing her from losing the weight she had wanted to lose.
We went right back to the cause of this and low and behold it took us back to Grandma’s kitchen. Child Helen would go there after school every day and the smell in her Grandma’s kitchen along with the hug made her feel so loved. No matter what kind of day she had at school, she knew that Grandma’s cookie and hug was waiting for her after school.
Helen realised the connection - the association to the smell in her memory bank in her #subconscious made her feel so good, she could not resist it. Smelling the fresh donuts as she passed Krispy Kreme was an association from the subconscious. Once Helen went back to this memory, she laughed and allowed herself to feel all those feelings inside without the need for “donuts” and low and behold with re-programming we eliminated her habit and the weight started to come off.
As a Clinical Hypnotherapist it is all about how you see yourself and where you want to be.
Do you have conflicting parts that are preventing you from losing weight?
Do you recognise the voice in your head that sabotages your #intentions?
Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired of #dieting ?
Perhaps hypnotherapy is a good fit for you!
Download Debbie's voice recording here
Disclaimer
This blog is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians and/or mental health counsellors. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. Although this blog is based on actual experience, all the characters are completely fictional. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.