Hypnosis for Weight Loss : My Experience

The subconscious mind is a subject of much debate. Some
say that it wields more power over our everyday actions
than we know, while others discount it as more or less an
additional complexity of the vast human mind to be
pondered, but nothing so powerful as to control our every
choice. This is where self for weight loss hypnosis enters
the picture.

First, let's start off on a little history lesson on
hypnosis. Hypnosis as we know it today actually has its
roots (arguably) in several different cultures, at around
the same time, hundreds of years ago. It's roots go back
to early Hindu cultures as well as early European
civilizations as a means of healing one's body and treating
ailments.

Here's where it gets interesting. It is believed that
hypnosis may have crept into modern medicine and common
practice inadvertently through what may have been the first
failed "placebo" experiment on whether magnet therapy
worked or not, performed hundreds of years ago at the
request of the medical community.

Magnet therapy was put into practice and was believed to
have helped heal many people's ailments until it was put to
the test and found that the only effect it had on anyone
was what was called a "placebo" effect.

A placebo effect is basically an effect that is
physiologically real (you can feel it physically, and your
body obeys the suggestion of the mind), but is in fact
simply brought on, or conjured up, by the human mind. It
is essentially the power of suggestion at work, and that is
exactly what hypnosis is - the utilization of the power of
subconscious suggestion.

Hypnosis is a deeply relaxed "trance" state where
suggestions made verbally by the hypnotizer are grabbed by
the subconscious mind of the person being hypnotized, and
the power of suggestion is such that the subject's body and
mind obey the "orders" of the hypnotizer, without even
fully and consciously realizing why or how.

I experienced the power that hypnotism can have when I
purchased some weight loss CD's and attempted self hypnosis
as a means to help control my ballooning appetite - and
waistline, and was shocked at how it actually worked and
gave me an unshakable sense of self control and "calm" that
I'd never felt before.

My previous attempts at losing extra weight that I had
gained were not pleasant experiences. I am not
"overweight" by most standards, but I definitely fluctuate
in the ten pound bracket up and down all of the time
because I really do love food. Just experiencing the
different tastes and textures of food is such an experience
to me that I sometimes don't realize that what I'm putting
in my mouth is polluting my body and adding unnecessary
extra weight.

Not only are the foods I choose wrong many times, but I
also can tend to eat too much at one sitting, feeling
bloated and moody afterwards. So, I wanted to take control
of my eating habits again, and had always wanted to try
self hypnosis to see if it could help me gain that quiet
inner strength and that little voice guiding me to make the
right decisions, and quelling my appetite.

And it did. The first time I listened to the it I was, as
instructed in a deeply relaxed state which was accomplished
by following the hypnotist's instructions to take several
deep breaths. The soothing voice was accompanied by what
sounded like trance music, and I became so relaxed I
actually dozed off (which she said was ok, in fact,
expected).

I did it right before bed, and I woke up the next morning
pretty much forgetting that I had listened to it. I went
through my day without the usual cravings for sugar and
high fat, high salt foods that usually litter my day at
work due to stress or boredom with mundane tasks (can't we
all identify with that).

I tend to have somewhat of an oral fixation, especially
when at work, meaning that I like to always be chewing or
sipping on something. But I noticed this overwhelming urge
did not hit me, and instead I just sipped on my water and
some hot tea, and only ate when I was truly hungry.
Strangely enough, I didn't even have my usual mid-afternoon
craving for chocolate.

Often times I'd be hitting up the candy machine for Peanut
M&M's around that time, and the afternoon came and went
without the urge to eat chocolate. I thought this was a
major accomplishment for me, but I also wondered if it
wasn't some of that "placebo effect" entering in.

Since I knew that I had listened to the hypnosis CD, was I
actually "talking myself into" believing the hypnosis was
cutting my appetite and shaping my food decisions as well
as my intentions to work out?

Well, isn't that what hypnosis is - that is, a placebo
effect in itself? I suppose it doesn't really matter,
because the end result is that I saw a dramatic change in
my eating habits, all seemingly without the pain of a
constant internal struggle to not eat.

As far as the root cause of it, I really could care less.
It accomplished the task of giving me a renewed sense of
self control and eating to live, not living to eat, and
that is all that matters in the end!


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Danna Schneider is the cofounder of
http://www.dailydietblog.com/hypnotherapy-weight-loss/ ,
where there's more about the self hypnosis CD's mentioned
in this article, and more about people's real experiences
with hypnotherapy for losing weight. She also founded a
new blog dedicated to fitness and exercise equipment
reviews and discussions called
http://www.fitnessnewsmagazine.com , a blog about physical
fitness and health.