The Signs of Emotional Eating

With the big eating day looming before many tomorrow, and with answers on the holiday stress poll, it appears that we could all use a little help to maintain our stress and perhaps our eating habits. I recently was able to focus on the fact that when I get frustrated, I start craving the worst of the worse when it comes to junk food. With this I was able to utilize self-hypnosis to help me through some of the more pronounced frustration triggers.

But what if you need help figuring out if you are an emotional eater and you do do not have a hypnotist handy? Here are some questions to ask yourself.

• Do you find that hunger comes on quickly or urgently?
• Do you crave unhealthy food (who me)?
• Do stressful or unpleasant events cause you to want to eat?
• Do you find yourself suddenly eating and have no conscious memory of eating so much?
• Do you continue to eat even after you are full?
• Do you feel hunger anywhere other than your stomach?
• After you satisfy your hunger, do you have feelings of regret?

These are the signs of emotional eating as specified by Dr. Roger Gould, a board certified psychiatrist who is one of the world's leading authorities on emotional eating and adult development. He is also a pioneer in online programs for weight issues. If you find that your eating fits any of these questions, you may have emotional eating issues.

So you are probably saying, "Great. Now what?" If so, he has an interactive (you answer questions) website to help you understand your emotions and eating habits in relation to holiday stress. Then he offers a free Holiday Survival Guide .

I am a big believer in every little thing helps. To those of you on the poll who mentioned stress being a part of your holidays, this may offer a little relief.

Let me know what you think.

The Grey Puzzle

Ah, a cup of tea, a fire large in the fire place; one can almost look forward to the winter. Maybe.

I had an interesting client yesterday. She wants to change her eating habits before they cause problems. But she is a person definitely into the New Age school of thought, and I so enjoy those. I guess this is because I tend to fall on that side of philosophy. Well, it was a fabulous session. I guided her to a location where her issue was housed. And there it was, in the second chakra (here is the thing - I know little about the chakra's - only what Ken Wilber has written about them in his book Up from Eden - and I am only on chapter four). And the answer to helping herself with her eating habits is the word "baby."

It is so tempting and hard sometimes not to interpret these mind messages for others, but I tend to believe it is a message only the client can decipher. However, it will not stop me from writing about it here (my dearest client from yesterday, stop reading here. Just kidding). What interest me is that one could take it literally or not. It had not really occurred to me that when doing this type of hypno work, the mind maybe (and is) sending symbols to be deciphered. Puzzles, if you will. It reminds me a little of dream interpretation and all the potential symbols that Jung believed were delivered to us (I just cannot completely go with Freudian sexuality in everything). In my client's case, she just had her first child. The child was a bit unexpected but welcomed none the less. However, it has been a bit difficult on many levels for her, and now she describes the second chakra as being an empty void. It is fascinating how many things that "baby" could mean in terms of this emptiness.

I think we tend to look at literal translations when we get these sort of messages, wanting them to be black and white. But I suspect they are rarely anything but grey.

Reward Systems

One of my weight loss clients has taken my advice on a reward system and it seems to be working for her.

Being that I believed pleasure is a way to inspire or motivate oneself as a reward for accomplishments, I usually take clients through an exercise before we begin hypnosis. In this exercise, one visualizes success in making their changes and how good it feels (or at least imagine what it would be like). Then I have them see this new image of themselves engaged in something pleasurable that utilizes components of the change. For smokers it could be something like doing a day hike on a picturesque mountain and realizing their lung capacity has increased. For nail biters, imagine having a luxurious manicure done and showing off one's finger nails the next day or buying a new ring that showcases their healthy looking nails.

Well, the client who lost the weight has just planned her "reward." She has lost ten pounds and to keep her going, she is taking a weekend trip down to St. Augustine, Florida. She wants to show her accomplishment off to her long-distance boy friend who is meeting her there on November 24 for Uptown Saturday Night on San Marco Avenue. She is looking forward to dancing in the streets, but her boyfriend collects rare books and apparently there is much in the way of incredible antique bargains. She has even bought a new dress just to stroll through the romantic Mission of Nombre de Dios.

I looked into Uptown Saturday Nights and they wonderful. Art, antiques, music, free parking at the Mission. Can't beat that. Plus there are antique workshops, opportunities to hobnob with artists, and just enjoy the ambience of the evening on this historic street. They just had one last weekend on October 27, and the next is November 24. These events are from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. I know there are a few of you reading this who may live near by, so you may want to attend these St. Augustine events. I also imagine that my weight loss group may start clamoring for a field trip to this. Hmmm. Wonder if they would allow meditation at the Mission?

Battling the Buldge with My Dancing Feet

The other thing I have going this week is my mini-session weight loss group. We are using meditation and guided imagery, but it is also beginning to feel like "pop culture" weight loss. Doesn't that sound less scary than hypnotic weight loss? I am almost kidding here.

Well, after talking with the group last week, exercise is definitely something that seems fairly absent. There is predictable moaning about the subject. It isn't fun. I don't have time. It doesn't feel good. I hate exercising alone. And so on. You get the picture.

I personally am in somewhat agreement. Running hurts my knees. There is such little time in the day. I am not dressed to exercise. Excuses, excuses, excuses. They are every where. However, I prefer my exercise in doses of fun or relaxation - I like it disguised as something else. I am faithful to Yoga and dancing. You have heard about the yoga, but probably not the dancing. I have a personal desire to get into competitive ballroom dancing (tango, thank you very much).

I am forcing this upon my poor weight loss group. Once a week, during happy hour, I am clearing my floor and cranking up the sound system. Welcome to Ellie's Very Small Dance Hall. And dance we shall. Thanks to DanceCrazy.com, we can use their dance videos to learn all the right steps. Started by SalsaCrazy.com, they have expanded their repertoire. A little disco (do the Hustle), a little swing (it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that...), and heck, maybe even a measure of ballet (just kidding, but it is a possibility). It is step by step, world class dance instruction.

Anyway, Rumba sounds more fun than running. Salsa sounds satisfying. Waltzing maybe just wild. It will be a great way to let off steam and a few pounds without noticing the pain.

To to Incorporate Subway into a Hypnosis Session

So, I sit there listening to the group discuss weight woes. The tea pot has boiled the water hot and I have offered this small group of hypno-weight loss devotees each a cup of green tea (and it is not as if I am being uncivilized, there is skim milk, lemon, honey or even pure sugarcane to top it off). Yet, here I sit, drinking my green tea black, alone, while one drinks a diet soda, one has a large litter-like, disposable, fast food beverage, one has a loaded energy drink, and one, bless her heart (and praise be) has bottled water - with saccharine flavoring.

They are bonding over their common issue - the need to lose a few pounds and honestly, if they could just watch their diet a little more and say, well, exercise every so often they would all be in great shape. Yet, these are the stereotypes who seem to come to my weight loss hypnosis programs. As they continue their struggle, and a struggle it is, it beginning to sound like a commercial for Subway. My big but comes from having a nine to five that binds me to the chair and all those fries go straight to the butt. My love handles? I love the extra burger and side order of grease on my sandwich. And if I eat cottage cheese, won't the cottage cheese on my thighs be worse, cottage cheese is a cheese after all.

I am not sure which at this point really would be more helpful to them - twenty minutes trancing out to my voice or just playing with the new Subway site. It has more rapport and commonalities with them than my skinny-legged self. As they continue to bond and share the horror stories (and when the hurricane hit, I couldn't even get a candy bar at the convenience store), I actually pull up the site.

There is the familiar drive through. There is the hysterically appropriate "Burger Town" guy to take the order. As they talk, I click on the menu for an order of "badunkadunk but" and out comes the dripping sarcasm. The group, once chatty, now becomes very quiet. I click randomly on the menu for a dish of condescension. There is actually a moment when I feel guilty. The group looks appalled, faces war torn from fad diets and exercising binges.

"What are you doing?" one of them finally ask and I turn the laptop around and show them. They crowd around, and initially after a hair raising moment, smile, then laugh. One writes down the site URL. Ice broken. Luckily, the site also offers some good advice on healthy eating and exercise. Jared is their hero and I wonder briefly about the likeliness of him coming to hang out with us.

Now they are pumped, ready to go, all committing to this program. I wonder if I really even need to give self-esteem or decreasing craving suggestions during the hypnosis or perhaps sharing the site was enough. At first, I feel a little threatened. Why come to me when there is always a Subway down the street?

Then I realize what an interesting tool it makes. The session ends. They all say they feel so relaxed and inspired. They agree that after the next meeting, they will have lunch at Subway and then go power walking in the park.

Goodbye badunkadunk but.

A Heavy Question for Sunday

Mmmmm. I am indulging in fresh whipped cream in my coffee (the kind you beat yourself with no sugar).

So, as I am adding the caloric intake to my drink, I think we will settle on weight loss hypnosis this Sunday.

Here's the question:

What has been the most helpful and successful way (suggestions, duel modalities, etc.) to lose and keep off weight that you have found in your life and/or practice? Was it suggestions given during hypnosis, sheer will power, drinking more water, exercising more, lifestyle changes or something like sleeping better?

I will let you answer this one. You can talk about hypnosis successes and not so successful instances or anything related.

Esoteric Celebrity Weight Loss

Good morning! Coffee, coffee, coffee. So, let's see. I think today we will address the trivial news side of hypnosis. That is not really being fair, it is not trivial to the person involved, and its been a nice thumbs up for hypnosis.

I am talking about Lily Allen's recent jaunt from a size 12 to size eight using hypnosis. Not familiar with the creative compositions of Ms. Allen? Well, I cannot leave you wondering...




According to the DailyRecord.co.uk in their article How Stars Turn To Hypnosis And Other Diet Techniques Lily paid £300 an hour for hypnotic suggestions to increase her desire to exercise. If she does not exercise, she feels bad.

So, kudos to Lily!

The article also features some other ways in which celebrities engage in weight loss. The purple diet...hmmm....

Tipping the Scales

The other problem children? The one I think most of us deal with in one way or another is those wanting hypnosis for weight loss. Now, I have complete and utter empathy here ('cause I love food). There are so many factors with weight issues. Now these people, so far, have never really been hateful, though I hear a lot of self-loathing.

There seems to be two camps when it comes to weight loss hypnosis or just weight loss in general - how one measures the results. Some say to measure the waistline and such and others prefer scales. I tend to go with the one the client feels the most confident with, but add a lot of codicils (muscle causes weight gain, women can bloat up to five pounds or more a month at various times in their cycle and so on).

So, I have been looking at scales for the office. I am rather infatuated with a particular brand at scalesetc.com. These are Phoenix line bathroom scales from My Weight. They do have ones that talk, but I think that might be unnecessary for the office. Not only do they show body weight, but they decipher body fat percentage and water percentage. In my mind this takes care of the muscle and water retention issue nicely. Oh, and they have a lifetime warranty in the US (thought I might say the UK, didn't you?).

A quick note about these, though. If have clients using the scale that have certain implanted medical devices such as a pacemaker or have one yourself, using a body fat scale is not recommended. The scale may cause interference with the device. So, I think a traditional non-digital scale is a good thing to have as well.

Another useful tool for clients who are dieting (weight loss, weight gain, diabetics, etc.) are the food scales. Not only do they give the actual weight of food, but by using an index and punching in the code numbers for various food items, the scale can tell you exactly how much fat, salt, calories, carbohydrates, cholesterol, and proteins are in that item. This can be a real weight saver in the diet planning stages...and if you have one at the office and are working with weight loss clients, you can always have a few things to demo to give them an idea about what they are ingesting (compare a candy bar to a few grapes).

Scalesetc.com also offers other digital scales, as well, including postage (hand for those of us with merchandise that gets shipped out) and pocket scales (you can measure that grape at a restaurant).

Redundant Sessions

So, have you looked at the world from an upside down perspective, yet? I am looking at the world from a sleepy perspective at the moment.

Here is a question (no, I am not waiting until Sunday): Where are people getting the idea that they need a potential booster session or that they need some sort of reinforcement for hypnosis to be truly effective?

Is it because hypnotists tell them this in order to get more business? Is it a lack of self-trust?

I do offer a more than one session option in my pricing, but I do this for the concept that there may be several things that the client would want to work on, such as is the case with weight loss, where one might need suggestions for portion control, self-esteem, and exercise motivation. So, I would do three sessions for this, not the same thing over and over again.

What I also wonder is if the brain occasionally rebels against repeating the suggestion over and over again for instance as one might do with an audio product. If they use the same audio to help them fall asleep at night, might it get to the point where it does just the opposite?

Thoughts on a Complimentarty Procedure and Hypnosis

She looks in the mirror. It hides nothing, revealing all. There is the skin-tight spandex hugging the body like a grape. Sometimes it conceals and pushes the body, accommodating a few weaknesses. But other than that, she might as well be standing in public naked. At times, she wishes there were no mirrors, at others she is grateful for a few moments of unadulterated grace that she see before her. These are fleeting, though. And then reality sets in, her reality, the one that says she is overweight, clumsy, unappealing to anyone other than the marketers for the candy companies. She sees the pounds in their gruesome honesty or so she thinks. Now the truth be told, she has lost a lot of weight, but more still needs to come off before she can even see a change.

This seems to be somewhat how several of my weight loss clients view themselves. In fact it is exactly (though in my words) how one client described her weight-issues. As hypnotist, very often we get the people who have tried just about everything and are feeling quite a bit desperate to loss the weight. Though intelligently we all know the weight is not going to just melt off (if only we could make that happen), there they sit in my chair hoping that hypnosis will be the answer. And for many it really seems to help. The problem, as I see it, is that it takes awhile. Most people seem to want to lose five pounds a week, not one.

So, I have begun to wonder, for some, if it would be good to combine something like lap band surgery with hypnosis. According to Journey Lite, a nationwide network of lap band surgical facilities and surgeons who specialize in this, lap band procedures reduce the stomach capacity and restrict the amount of food that can be consumed. It helps by giving clients a feeling of fullness with less food, staving off hunger. It is less invasive than other surgeries because it only requires a few tiny incisions. A micro-camera is inserted along with the lap band so that the surgeon can tell where to put it. The band is then fastened around the upper stomach to create new, smaller stomach pouch. Thus, less room to hold food.

Also, the surgery is reversible. The Journey Lite site offers more information on this as well as how to tell if someone should or should not consider being a candidate for this procedure, what to expect, and options for financing it (remember at a certain point, a client can deduct weight loss expenses from their taxes provided they have a physician who has recommended weight loss to improve health).

Hypnosis would go with this really well. It could help with the healing process, and the brain-shift from being over weight to accepting the weight loss. Hypnosis could help achieve the self-image that goes with the new body. It would also be beneficial in making the lifestyle changes involved - healthier eating, exercise, and the like.

Have any of you worked with clients who have undergone this procedure?


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