There are many reasons why some people find it difficult to reduce weight, some of which maybe familiar to you. Even if people do achieve their goal to be their ideal weight, many find it difficult to remain at this weight. So why is this?

Many people turn to food to deal with emotions, particularly when they are in a situation that they find stressful or difficult to deal with. Stress and old habits are the most common reasons for people to over eat.  We tend to learn new patterns of eating from our parents and this usually carries on in later life.  This is quite common as I have seen many people where parental control is still an issue even when people are in their 60's. We also tend to start habits when we are in stressful situations and they tend to carry when the 'situation' or trigger has passed. 

Some of the other reasons why some people are unable to achieve weight reduction and remain at their target weight are listed below:

•  Lack of self belief
  
  
• Lack of self discipline
  
  
• Allowing food to control the individual
  
  
• Negative effects of guilt after following a diet
  
  
• Negative thought processes and eating habits
  
  
• Addicted to certain foods (e.g. chocolate)
  
  
• Lack of willpower
  
  
• Lack of confidence
  
  
• Bringing childhood rules taught by parents into adult life.

To address these issues and to resolve problems concerning food we need to understand how the mind is made up. Our mind is made up of the conscious and subconscious. The conscious mind is responsible for analytical thinking and questioning and this is the part of the mind where we make the decision to reduce weight. The subconscious mind is responsible for habits, urges, emotions and where our beliefs are stored. By using hypnosis in a safe and controlled way we change the habits, urges and emotions in the subconscious mind, and as a result both minds then work in harmony to achieve the desired result.

During the initial consultation we have a brief look at dieting, because research suggests that 95% (1) of diets are unsuccessful in the long term, which is due to a variety of reasons. Dieting restricts what we can eat and traps you into a cycle of deprivation and guilt. If we are deprived of certain foods, especially sweet foods, then we will crave them all the more. Many overweight people tend to spend their entire lives on a diet and as a result food becomes the enemy. (This will sound familiar to many people so we look at this during one of the sessions in greater detail).

The programme looks at this in detail and uses advanced techniques to overcome emotional eating, lack of self belief and to put you back in control of what you eat. Any negative eating patterns are resolved and hypnosis gives you the confidence to succeed.

In addition to emotional eating the programme looks at many other areas of weight reduction including the following:

• Discovering and dealing with any emotional eating
  
  
• Which drinks support/discourage weight reduction
  
  
• Why changing our habits and routines helps us
  
  
• How some foods discourage weight reduction

The weight reduction programme consists of 5 one to one sessions with Peter. These five sessions are generally taken over a 3-5 month period depending on how much you wish to reduce weight by and are then followed up by two 15 minute sessions either on the telephone or in person to discuss the progress you have made.

In order for us to deliver the best possible results, we ask you to complete a detailed questionnaire about your eating habits and to complete a food diary for one week before our first consultation. By completing a food diary, we can have a detailed look at your habits and what and when you eat.

During the five consultations we include hypnotherapy and these sessions are individually tailored to your specific needs and requirements. This programme is designed to reduce weight gradually and therefore to keep the weight off permanently. Over the course of the sessions you become attracted to eating healthy natural food to enable you to easily reduce your weight. Remember that no food is off limits so that occasionally you can have something that is unhealthy. Some of the hypnosis sessions are recorded so that you are given a CD of that particular session to take home, and then you are able to go into hypnosis in your own time.

During the first consultation, I will give you a booklet which I have written which has a wide variety of information to enable you to reduce and maintain your weight. Water is very important in various body functions and this is covered in the booklet in detail. During the hypnosis sessions we discuss ways to deal with and overcome stress (hypnosis is one great way!), and to understand and deal with any reasons for emotional eating, so that you can reduce your weight naturally and keep it off.

There are many therapists who offer weight reduction or management and it is important to remember that there are very many aspects to achieve successful weight reduction.  Peter has successfully completed advanced training in weight reduction and help to deal with and overcome eating disorders.

(1) bbc.co.uk