Developing a mindset for successful reduction in weight

When we start to look at food I always find it interesting. My clients have many and varied concerns when it comes to food, eating, weight gain or weight reduction, so today I wanted to talk about what can be done to achieve the reduction in weight you want and to keep it off permanently.

Habitual eating

One issue stopping successful weight reduction is that you may be one of the many people that simply have to eat everything that they see (visual eater). This is generally the case when you may not even be hungry. You may have just had either breakfast, lunch or dinner, and see some chocolate cake, tea bun, pastry or other type of unhealthy food. This may be at work, in the lunch room, at the shopping centre, a coffee shop, getting the groceries or on the table when visiting friend - there are many situations this occurs. Here it is as if the cake, bun or pastry is calling to you, calling out your name, "come and eat me, I am delicious".

Internal dialogue (self-talk)

Herein begins the internal dialogue, "wait you are not hungry, but oh look how nice it looks, you know that this is your favourite and tastes ever so deliciously yummy. No one will know, there is no-one watching you". It is almost as if there is a good angel bad angel scenario going on in your head, just like a game of tennis back and forth. One thought says "it's OK", whereas the other thought goes "no, no".

This is usually followed with the validation thoughts like you can go to the gym or go for a walk later and that makes it OK to eat it.

"Go on... I have just worked hard at the gym or some other form of exercise and I deserve it (reward eating). I can take a cholesterol tablet after eating a cream bun and that will make it disappear. Oh well, I blew it. I have tried every diet and so I might as well eat the whole lot now. I manage OK until I get home then I cannot stop eating and so I pig out and then think what the heck I might as well keep going now.

Then of course there is the repercussion dialogue after having indulged, when one gets angry with oneself for eating that.

"What is wrong with me? Why oh why do I keep self-sabotaging? I cannot believe that I have done that and not only did I just have one piece but several or finished it off completely". (Famine, emotional eating)

Then the other thoughts and feelings about your shape, size and figure and how we feel with-in our own skin begin to appear.

Stress and emotional eating

It is also important to consider the role of 'stress eating' or 'emotional eating'. What else is happening in your life that we need to put coping strategies in place for? Perhaps it is a busy work environment where there are deadlines to be met or the children are pushing your buttons? Perhaps there other are circumstances and feelings you are experiencing such as loss, grief, separation, loneliness, or sadness. There really are many varied reasons for emotional eating. To control emotional eating you must first address the emotions that are driving this. It is important to look deep and be honest with this because we often create excuses within to justify this type of behaviour.

Stopping eating once you are full

We also need to put in place some techniques that make sure that you always get the message from the stomach to the brain when you are full. These messages need to be like...

"I am full, I have had enough and can't fit anymore in".

"I am not in a famine and don't need to store anymore food."

"When my body is properly nourished I stop eating."

This is all about taking the focus off food as a pleasure mechanism and towards it being there to give your body the nourishment and energy it requires to properly function. Furthermore, we need to change your perspective towards eating healthy, creating desire for healthy foods like stir-fry's and salads etc. and to feel satisfied after you have eaten these.

Final advice

There are many reasons why we eat... reward eating, emotional eating, eating for the sake of eating, boredom eating, secret eating, famine eating, visual eating, stress eating and self-sabotaging eating. Considering these, successful weight loss is not just about curbing your eating - it is about identifying the underlying mindset and emotions and changing these to facilitate proper change. It is about making healthier choices in what you eat and also enjoying the food you eat knowing and believing that healthy food can taste amazing. You must change the old thought patterns and habits and not follow the old way of thinking that takeaway or unhealthy food was quicker and easier just because it saves time. It is about making sure that all avenues of the your life are addressed, looking at the whole picture and rounding it off.

If you are in Perth and would like some additional assistance implementing what I have spoken about here, please contact me to book in a hypnosis session for weight reduction and healthy eating below. I look forward to helping you.