Key points
- How hypnotherapy can help with long term weight management
- How stress can contribute to weight gain
- Why it can be difficult to lose weight
- How being overweight can impact on our health
- Positive chemical responses in our bodies and how hypnotherapy can help produce more of them; in ways that support weight management
Managing weight in the long term
Many people I work with talk about their experience with weight loss. They have often been yo-yo dieters; successfully losing weight, only to put it all back on again. Hypnotherapy can help you break this cycle so you can gain control over your weight in the long term.
Key to achieving this, is to take a different perspective on the situation; where it is less about food itself and more about our relationship with food. Reducing stress and focusing on all the positive aspects of our lives is also encouraged with solution focused hypnotherapy. This can help us feel happier and more in control.
Using hypnosis can help to access the subconscious mind and overcome unhelpful beliefs or behavioural responses, which may previously have prevented long term weight management. We can then focus more on how we would like to respond to food and eating.
Stress and weight gain
Dieting and restraining what we eat can be stressful in itself! When we experience prolonged stress, we produce an excess of the stress hormone cortisol. In turn, this increases our appetite. Modern day life is often sedentary and we are burning fewer calories than our more active ancestors. If we are eating more; it doesn’t take long to start putting on weight.
How excess cortisol levels can make it harder to lose weight
Fat stored in the abdominal area contains cortisol receptors, which produce yet more cortisol. So you can see how carrying excess weight in this area can put us into a vicious cycle of wanting to eat more. This can often take the form of ‘comfort eating’, where we crave fatty, sugary foods. If we have high levels of cortisol in our bodies it can also affect how we handle stress.
Because cortisol levels are not capped at a manageable level, we can over-react to what we perceive to be stressful. This can make us feel threatened and put us into red-alert flight/fight mode. When our cortisol levels are within normal range, we can feel challenged by stressful events. However, we can be confident about dealing with these challenges. In this way, we are managing stress and can feel more in control.
The good news is; that by reducing our weight in the abdominal region, we reduce our cortisol levels. As we become lighter, it becomes easier to be mobile and exercise. This helps produce the feel good hormone serotonin, which also helps reduce cortisol levels.
The health benefits of maintaining our optimum weight
Evidence shows that excess cortisol can impact on our immune system. It can increase our risk of developing chronic conditions such as heart disease. Excessive cortisol levels can also disrupt our metabolism. The list goes on. So the benefits of reducing our cortisol levels, which are often higher when we are overweight; could prevent numerous potential health conditions.
Unexpected life changes
More often than not, when clients go on to lose weight and then manage their weight, their lives take off and they find themselves doing things they had never believed possible. One client went on to become more active and ended up cycling all round the world. Another gained the confidence to start dating and branching out socially.
The benefits of the feel good hormone serotonin
These positive actions generate the feel good hormone serotonin, which helps us feel motivated and positively impacts on our mood, sleep, digestion and many other bodily functions. When our body weight comes into balance, there are many hidden advantages happening internally. Our hormones can come more into balance, helping to effectively regulate hunger and feelings of satiety. Our metabolism can work more effectively too.
All this helps us to regulate our eating and develop confidence in our ability to do this in the long term.
The reward hormone dopamine
As we feel calmer and more in control, we can take life’s challenges more in our stride and effectively manage our stress levels.
When we are happier, we are also generating the reward hormone dopamine. This could be through positive activities such as going to the gym, meeting up with friends or walking the dog. As a consequence, the emphasis is taken away from rewarding ourselves through food. Hypnotherapy can help us to focus less on what we perceive to be the problem and more on the wider picture. It then becomes easier to generate dopamine and get that sense of reward and satisfaction through pleasurable activities beyond eating.
The exciting potentials within neuroplasticity
I am forever excited by neuroplasticity! In other words, this means we all have the potential to rewire our brains and change the way we think. All of us can therefore tap into this amazing ability. Because of this, we can take responsibility for our brains! Solution focused hypnotherapy can help us achieve this.
A little bit about me
Emma Victoria Tranmer MA (Hons) PGCE HPD DSFH Member of the AfSFH
Clinical Solution Hypnotherapist
I specialise in helping people overcome anxiety and stress related issues. Hypnotherapy transformed my life for the better and I subsequently enjoy helping others do the same. Working as a hypnotherapist is therefore incredibly rewarding.
My love of learning means I am always looking at ways to further my own professional development. Hypnotherapy can help with a wide range of issues and I see clients with varied challenges like sports performance, addictions, phobias, disturbed sleep, panic attacks and depression.
Book an Appointment
You can take positive steps to help you attain a more hopeful perspective. Move forward in your life can become easier as a result. In addition, hypnotherapy can help you discover the tools and inner resources to do this; step by step.
Initial consultations
I offer an initial consultation where you can meet me and find out more about what I do. This will also give me the opportunity to understand where you are in your life right now and what you would like to achieve. There is no charge for this.
There may be something else that you, or someone you might know, is struggling with right now. Give me a call on 07550 098029 to discuss in strictest confidence.