Self-Hypnosis – Can It Really Help You Lose Weight?

Hypnosis, thanks to the movies, the very word conjures up the picture of a beady-eyed hypnotist swinging a watch on a chain and chanting, “You are getting sleepy.”

Use any Internet search engine and you will find several million pages devoted to the topic. Unfortunately, many websites that sell hypnosis programs make wild and crazy, unsubstantiated claims. I’ve been in the industry since 1978. So I think that I’m more than expert enough to set the record straight on weight loss hypnosis.

First of all, hypnotism is a tool, just like a scalpel is a tool. Just as different surgeons have diversified levels of skill in the use of a scalpel, different hypno-technicians have varying levels of skill in the use of hypnotism. And to complicate the matter, there are different types of hypnotism.

Here are just a few of the wild claims about weight loss hypnosis that I’ve read about on websites on the Internet, along with the the real story:

”Hypnotherapy will speed up your metabolism.” The truth is that hypnotism can’t directly speed up your metabolism. But it can be very effective at helping to program your unconscious with increased motivation to exercise. And exercise will increase your metabolic rate. Similarly, hypnotism to speed up the metabolism for quick weight loss can be effected by programming the unconscious to motivate the intake of increased amounts of protein, because that intake will step up your metabolic rate.

”Hypnotherapy will make you become thinner.” This is false. But hypnotism can be used to help clean out your appetite, so that you eat less. And eating less can help you to become thinner. The average person’s appetite and cravings for food and compulsion to eat are caused by two subconscious programs:

A. When you pair eating with any other behavior, the other behavior will trigger cravings for food and an overwhelming desire to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example, if you eat as you talk on the phone, you will get an urge to eat each time you get on the telephone.

B. When you feel tense, you feel an urge to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure. This is because of programming that you received as a baby. When you got difficult, your mom put a bottle in your mouth. You got distracted, relaxed, and probably fell asleep. Now when you get cranky (anxious or tense), you feel compelled to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure.

C. There is a third unconscious program that is present for some people. It’s called emotional eating. Emotional eating takes place when an individual is motivated to make him or herself fat, because by being fat they will protect themselves in some way. For example, if an individual gets their heart broken in a relationship, their unconscious can motivate them into a behavior that would prevent them from getting their heart broken again. Example: They are motivated to gain weight to keep them out of another relationship, because that will eliminate the possibility of another broken heart.

So just how can self-hypnosis for losing weight overcome the above problems? Click here to read the remainder of this weight loss hypnosis article.

I’ve written several articles on this complex topic that available on my website. These articles illustrate some effective techniques for using hypnotherapy for emotional eating.

Alan B. Densky, CH is the developer of the Neuro-VISION Video Weight Loss Hypnosis CDs, which was granted a US Patent. He also offers Ericksonian Hypnosis & NLP CDs for appetite suppression. Visit the Neuro-VISION Weight Loss Hypnosis website and download a FREE Hypnotic Power Relaxation Program, or subscribe to one or more of the world-class hypnosis newsletters.

– Alan Densky