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!
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Monday, August 20, 2007
7 Fat Loss Strategies For Busy Moms
Would you like to "jump start" your metabolism and lose
your 'mommy belly' once and for all? If so, the following
seven tips are exactly what you need to improve your
workouts and ignite your metabolism. Try some or all of
these tips, but beware, the result may be a number of
admiring second glances and the need to pull your 'skinny
jeans' out of the closet.
1. The majority of your workouts should be composed of
free-weight, bodyweight or cable exercises.
Compared to machines, free-weight, bodyweight and cable
movements often require more skill, create muscular
balance, and have a greater metabolic cost. For example, it
is more difficult to balance the weights, and to coordinate
muscles when performing free-weight exercises. Although
this may sound like a disadvantage, it is actually a
benefit. By balancing and stabilizing free-weights or
cables you are working more muscles through a greater range
of motion resulting in more muscles developed and more
calories burned.
2. Use exercises that work more than one muscle at a time.
When focusing on fat loss, you can't worry about "shaping"
exercises, instead you should use exercises that'll get you
the biggest bang for your buck and work as many muscles as
possible. Isolation exercises can be used at the end of a
workout to work on a specific target area, but they just
serve to supplement your core movements.
Virtually every savvy fitness professional is privy to the
fact that compound exercises recruit the most muscle groups
for any given body part.
If you seek lean, toned muscles and the increase in
metabolism that comes with them, you must choose exercises
that work as many different muscles as possible. One of the
main reasons why squats are superior to leg extensions for
improving your body is that they also work your butt,
hamstrings and inner thighs in addition to toning your
quadriceps while leg extensions focus on just the front of
your thigh and don't really offer any other benefit. That
same rationale hold true for arm exercises too. That's why
dumbell presses and dips will are more valuable for your
arms than triceps kickbacks and pushdowns.
A good rule of thumb is to use movements that will allow
you to use the most weight. These will have a systemic
effect on your body that'll help maintain or increase your
lean muscle, and in turn ignite your metabolism.
3. Pair exercises.
Pair your exercises together so that you alternate between
upper-body exercises and lower-body exercises or between
exercises that target opposing muscle groups (e.g. chest
and back).
This type of approach will keep your workouts short and
efficient by eliminating much of the downtime that comes
between sets of a single exercise since you are working on
one movement while resting from another. This approach can
also yield huge benefits in your mission to burn fat. Since
you'll constantly be moving and keeping your heart rate
elevated, you'll be burning far more calories than you
would during a typical workout.
4. Keep your reps between 8 and 12.
Through research, it has been determined that the best
range for building lean muscle is roughly between 8-12
reps. Since the main focus of your resistance training
efforts is to gain lean body mass and stimulate your
metabolism, this rep range fills the bill perfectly. "High
reps for tone and fat loss" is one of the biggest (and most
unproductive) training myths! Somehow the aerobics, yoga
and Pilates' community have convinced us that when we
perform bodyweight exercises or light resistance training
for high reps, our muscles magically take on a beautiful
shape without growing or bulging. On the other hand, if you
challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body
will take on a bulky, unflattering appearance. If you
believe this, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy!
5. Rest only 30 to 60 seconds between sets.
When you keep the rest periods under one minute, it's
easier to stay focused on the task at hand and keeps your
heart rate elevated. In addition, it forces your muscles to
recover more quickly between sets, along with keeping your
nervous system revved up.
If your first movement in an upper/lower body pair is
squats, you might want to rest 60 seconds before attempting
your second movement. However, if your first exercise is a
fairly "easy" exercise, like lat pull downs, you might only
wish to wait 30 seconds before doing the second part of the
pair.
6. Perform total body workouts.
You must drop the notion that muscle groups work
independently of one another. Muscles work together and
should be trained that way. Besides, not only does this
approach mean less time in the gym, but by working the
whole body three times per week, you'll be maximizing the
fat burning effect of your program.
7. Cardio is not the cure-all for fat loss.
Cardiovascular exercise aids in the creation of a caloric
deficit, but the caloric expenditure during cardio is
temporary. Strength training addresses the core of the
problem by permanently increasing the rate at which the
body burns calories by adding muscle. The best programs
will include both strength training and cardiovascular
training, but the core or the programs effectiveness is
resistance training.
Take these strategies and incorporate them into your
workout routine. Not only will you save a lot of time, but
you'll also soon see a leaner and more toned body. Not to
mention a few more turned heads and the re-emergence of
your skinny jeans.
----------------------------------------------------
Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women's fitness
coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of
the internationally popular e-book - The Busy Mom's Fat
Loss Bible. Go to http://www.busymomsfatloss.com to get
your FREE copy and discover everything you need to know to
losing unwanted fat and how to keep it off for good.
your 'mommy belly' once and for all? If so, the following
seven tips are exactly what you need to improve your
workouts and ignite your metabolism. Try some or all of
these tips, but beware, the result may be a number of
admiring second glances and the need to pull your 'skinny
jeans' out of the closet.
1. The majority of your workouts should be composed of
free-weight, bodyweight or cable exercises.
Compared to machines, free-weight, bodyweight and cable
movements often require more skill, create muscular
balance, and have a greater metabolic cost. For example, it
is more difficult to balance the weights, and to coordinate
muscles when performing free-weight exercises. Although
this may sound like a disadvantage, it is actually a
benefit. By balancing and stabilizing free-weights or
cables you are working more muscles through a greater range
of motion resulting in more muscles developed and more
calories burned.
2. Use exercises that work more than one muscle at a time.
When focusing on fat loss, you can't worry about "shaping"
exercises, instead you should use exercises that'll get you
the biggest bang for your buck and work as many muscles as
possible. Isolation exercises can be used at the end of a
workout to work on a specific target area, but they just
serve to supplement your core movements.
Virtually every savvy fitness professional is privy to the
fact that compound exercises recruit the most muscle groups
for any given body part.
If you seek lean, toned muscles and the increase in
metabolism that comes with them, you must choose exercises
that work as many different muscles as possible. One of the
main reasons why squats are superior to leg extensions for
improving your body is that they also work your butt,
hamstrings and inner thighs in addition to toning your
quadriceps while leg extensions focus on just the front of
your thigh and don't really offer any other benefit. That
same rationale hold true for arm exercises too. That's why
dumbell presses and dips will are more valuable for your
arms than triceps kickbacks and pushdowns.
A good rule of thumb is to use movements that will allow
you to use the most weight. These will have a systemic
effect on your body that'll help maintain or increase your
lean muscle, and in turn ignite your metabolism.
3. Pair exercises.
Pair your exercises together so that you alternate between
upper-body exercises and lower-body exercises or between
exercises that target opposing muscle groups (e.g. chest
and back).
This type of approach will keep your workouts short and
efficient by eliminating much of the downtime that comes
between sets of a single exercise since you are working on
one movement while resting from another. This approach can
also yield huge benefits in your mission to burn fat. Since
you'll constantly be moving and keeping your heart rate
elevated, you'll be burning far more calories than you
would during a typical workout.
4. Keep your reps between 8 and 12.
Through research, it has been determined that the best
range for building lean muscle is roughly between 8-12
reps. Since the main focus of your resistance training
efforts is to gain lean body mass and stimulate your
metabolism, this rep range fills the bill perfectly. "High
reps for tone and fat loss" is one of the biggest (and most
unproductive) training myths! Somehow the aerobics, yoga
and Pilates' community have convinced us that when we
perform bodyweight exercises or light resistance training
for high reps, our muscles magically take on a beautiful
shape without growing or bulging. On the other hand, if you
challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body
will take on a bulky, unflattering appearance. If you
believe this, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy!
5. Rest only 30 to 60 seconds between sets.
When you keep the rest periods under one minute, it's
easier to stay focused on the task at hand and keeps your
heart rate elevated. In addition, it forces your muscles to
recover more quickly between sets, along with keeping your
nervous system revved up.
If your first movement in an upper/lower body pair is
squats, you might want to rest 60 seconds before attempting
your second movement. However, if your first exercise is a
fairly "easy" exercise, like lat pull downs, you might only
wish to wait 30 seconds before doing the second part of the
pair.
6. Perform total body workouts.
You must drop the notion that muscle groups work
independently of one another. Muscles work together and
should be trained that way. Besides, not only does this
approach mean less time in the gym, but by working the
whole body three times per week, you'll be maximizing the
fat burning effect of your program.
7. Cardio is not the cure-all for fat loss.
Cardiovascular exercise aids in the creation of a caloric
deficit, but the caloric expenditure during cardio is
temporary. Strength training addresses the core of the
problem by permanently increasing the rate at which the
body burns calories by adding muscle. The best programs
will include both strength training and cardiovascular
training, but the core or the programs effectiveness is
resistance training.
Take these strategies and incorporate them into your
workout routine. Not only will you save a lot of time, but
you'll also soon see a leaner and more toned body. Not to
mention a few more turned heads and the re-emergence of
your skinny jeans.
----------------------------------------------------
Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women's fitness
coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of
the internationally popular e-book - The Busy Mom's Fat
Loss Bible. Go to http://www.busymomsfatloss.com to get
your FREE copy and discover everything you need to know to
losing unwanted fat and how to keep it off for good.
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