I often help people with weight and eating issues - therapy can help clients identify problems and make changes where relevant in a lot of cases. What I have found over the years is that in order to lose weight, you have to make changes to your life and to your lifestyle. It is often the changes that are the most difficult, for many reasons. This, I believe, is where therapy can help.

Therapy can help to support a client to identify the problems, make the changes, and bring about a healthier lifestyle where weight problems are not an issue any longer. The purpose of therapy is to bring about a lasting change so that you no longer need to come to therapy.

People have weight and eating problems for lots of different reasons, such as stress, depression, abuse, and neglect for example. Severe weight problems are often a sign of emotional trauma. Without identifying and addressing those reasons, change will never happen.

In order to bring about changes to your eating and weight problems, you have to bring about change. That change might be dealing with any emotional problems you have got, which is where therapy comes in; talking about your feelings, exploring what has happened in your life to bring you to this point.

It also means making changes to your lifestyle. If you sit down all day and consume 3500 calories, you will put on weight. In fact, all you need to do is consume 50 calories a day more than you use, and you will put on 5-7 pounds in a year, without trying. Please see this link for more information...

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/diet5.htm

But the reverse is true - reduce your net intake by 50 calories a day, and you will slowly lose weight.

Hypnosis

I feel that it is unlikely that hypnotherapy, on it's own, will bring about the required changes you might need. I know many therapists (especially hypnotherapists) will say that they can help you with a few sessions of hypnosis, and you will suddenly be "cured" of eating and weight problems. But in reality I think that is unlikely. Hypnosis might make you aware of eating, but unless you make emotional and lifestyle changes, the effect is likely to be short-lived.

BMI

It is helpful to use BMI as an indicator of weight and whether it is a problem. I know that BMI is not totally accurate - my own BMI is just over 25, but I am not overweight. Below is a link to the NHS BMI calculator, to give you an idea.

http://www.nhs.uk/tools/pages/healthyweightcalculator.aspx?WT.mc_id=101007

This page on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity) has really good information on obesity and its affect on the body.

Changes

Here are some ideas that I have picked up over the years. They might help, they may not. But you should get the idea. If you have medical problems, please check with your GP before making fundamental changes to your lifestyle

1. Exercise. Exercise. Exercise. Any exercise is good. Leave the car at home and walk. If you have to drive, leave the car at the far end of the car park, and walk. Forget about people looking at you, they aren't. And you are exercising, and the more you exercise, the better. Just start by walking for 100 yards. Small steps.
2. Go swimming - low impact, good exercise. Go to a yoga class - relax and get healthier at the same time. Go to a gym, and stick at it. Most gyms are full of people who want to get fitter and to lose weight. The staff will help you - because you are there. Their job is to help you to achieve what you want to achieve.
3. Have breakfast - a good one, preferably with a cereal with oats in it - porridge takes four minutes in the microwave. Avoid any cereal that has sugar or chocolate in it - seriously.
4. Eat fruit and vegetables. Lots of them. You can't really eat too much fruit and veg.
5. Retrain your palate. Years of eating junk and processed food changes your taste buds - they become dumbed down in the end. So take your time, slowly re-introduce yourself to healthier foods that don't have vast quantities of salt, sugar and fat.
6. Cook your own food. That way you know what goes in, and you can regulate how much you cook to eat. Cooking often takes less time than going out for a fast food order, and is much cheaper. You can easily feed a family of four for less than the cost of a Bargain Bucket from a well-known Colonel.
7. The BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/) has a really good library of cheap and easy meals (other websites are available).
8. Buy the best possible ingredients your budget can stretch to. Value meat is fine, but see if you can go the extra few pennies and get the mid-range meat. If possible, treat yourself to organic meat now and again - it really does taste better. Better quality food means you don't need to eat so much - your body will get the nourishment it needs from smaller portions.
9. Did I mention exercise? Keep exercising.
10. Alcohol. Cut down or cut out. A bottle of red wine has over 720 calories in it, which is the equivalent of 9 chocolate digestives. Put it another way, you would need to walk briskly for nearly three hours to burn off the calories. Alcohol also has very little nutritional content - calories in alcoholic drinks are empty calories. In addition, alcohol can reduce your ability to say no to food. This is a useful website to look at ...www.wcrf-uk.org/cancer_prevention/health_tools/alcohol_calorie_calculator.php
11. Stop smoking. You will feel healthier, fitter and will lose weight much quicker.
12. Make a set of rules about when and where to eat, and stick to it. For example, never eat in the car. Never eat whilst standing up or walking.
13. Be honest with yourself. Keep a diary of everything (and I mean everything) you eat or drink.
14. Be kind to yourself. If you have been having weight or eating problems for years, it can take a while to change. A lapse is just a lapse - it isn't the end of the world. Just because you have a bad day, doesn't mean tomorrow has to be one as well.
15. Avoid sugar and sugar sweeteners. If you have to have sugar, try to buy unrefined sugar - the process of refining sugar is quite scary. Sugar sweeteners like aspartame are thought to cause behavioural problems in children, and can affect adults in relation to their diet. Check the labels of food, especially those that say "Sugar-Free" or "No Added Sugar" - they are the worst culprits.

Therapy sessions

If you would like to talk to me about therapy for any emotional issues, please get in touch. We can even go for a walk together on Wednesday afternoons in Ringstead whilst we talk if you like. Please contact me on 01933 626253 or 0797 205 7309, or use the form on the Contact Page.