Weight loss: does hypnosis work?

Seanchai

I'm 118kg in weight, and I should be 88kg. I've a long way to go, but I have to do it, and keep it off, this time. I'm now looking for a bit of help.

I remember somebody years ago telling me about a hypnotist that she went to for smoking, and ended up never smoking afterwards. I don't want to take diet pills or the like, but I'm wondering does anybody have any personal experience of a hypnotist helping them to lose weight?

There seem to be quite a few people advertising hypnotherapy whose qualifications are dubious at best, so if you could have recommendations that would be helpful. What sort of qualification should I be looking for? Also, is it really expensive to go to a hypnotist for this? How many times would I have to go?

Are there any other methods for changing my attitude to food that you might recommend (besides the standard eat less and eat healthily)?

Dixie Chick

Unfortunatley I dont know if I believe in hypnotism to work in changing your metnal attitude to food. I mean certainly if you go and it works then its money well spent but I think you shouldnt pin your hopes on it completely. I found personally for myself that to change my own views on food I went towards a more scientific view for ages, as in looked at the science of food and the effects of sugar on my body. Then after a good 6 months i eventally found that I naturally made better choices but like, ill never be "cured" when it comes to thinking about food just better in control?

Have you been to a dietician ever?

columok

Look into a low carb diet. You can have fantastic results without starving yourself.

Would agree with Dixie Chick that its about understanding your choices better and understanding your own weaknesses and therefore being able to work with them.

Amtmann

Seanchai, you could probably lose that 30kg in about 38 weeks or less if you put your mind to it, re-evaluated your foods and did some brisk walking or stationary bicycle exercises, etc. A hypnotist could cost big bucks and might not work.

Bottle_of_Smoke

I can't say hypnotherapy would or wouldn't work for you but I think it is great you are addressing the emotional aspect of over-eating.

Allen Carr(the easyway smoker guy) has a book on it. I'm reading it at the moment out of general interest and I think it could be of great benefit to you.

I could see hypnotherapy working for some people but it will be expensive whereas you could pick up this book for less than a fiver on ebay.

I really coulnd't recommend against going to a dietician enough, and I'm studying Human Nutrition/Dietetics. Everything they can tell you about food/diet is available online and they are not trained in psychology aside from maybe a short module they did in first year which they probably didn't show up for half the time (the exam for that is usually MCQ questions)

EileenG

I felt I was eating too much sweets and junk recently and went to a hypnotist who specialises in stopping smoking. I said I wanted to stop eating the chocolate and sweets, and he did his thing.

It's possible I should have thought it through a bit better, because now anything sweet just tastes really nasty to me. I can't even take Borocca vitamins anymore. And I'm just back from France where they had the most amazing desserts, and I couldn't eat any of them. I couldn't even had a mulled wine without wanting to wash my mouth out. But I can still drink ordinary red wine, and eat non-sweet food.

I suspect it's easier to get hypnotised for something specific (no cigarettes, no sugar) than something like smaller portions.

Amtmann

What did the hypnosis consist of, Eileen? Just one session, or several?

EileenG

I'd had an earlier session months ago, which didn't seem to do much, because I was very vague about what I wanted. This session I focused on sweets, and it was almost too effective.

Bottle_of_Smoke

EileenG wrote: »

I felt I was eating too much sweets and junk recently and went to a hypnotist who specialises in stopping smoking. I said I wanted to stop eating the chocolate and sweets, and he did his thing.

It's possible I should have thought it through a bit better, because now anything sweet just tastes really nasty to me. I can't even take Borocca vitamins anymore. And I'm just back from France where they had the most amazing desserts, and I couldn't eat any of them. I couldn't even had a mulled wine without wanting to wash my mouth out. But I can still drink ordinary red wine, and eat non-sweet food.

I suspect it's easier to get hypnotised for something specific (no cigarettes, no sugar) than something like smaller portions.

Off topic but a similar but funny story - A few of my mates went on a sun holiday one year. They were at a show with a hypnotist - he asked for a volunteer, as one of the lads wanted to quit smoking the hypnotist said he'd help him out.

The result was he just bacame panicky around cigarettes, couldn't have anyone smoking them near him. Like putting a massive tarantula in a room with someone scared of spiders.

Got so bad (the rest of the lads were smokers) they ended up spending half a day tracking down to hypnotist to ''de-fear'' him of cigarettes.

lachin

I have a very sweet tooth and I'm all or nothing when it comes to food. Hence I've been to two hypnotists in the states and several over here and my honest opinion.... Complete waste of money!!! But that's just me. However what I do feel helps put me in a better mindset is listening to the alan carr weightloss cd in bed, I normally fall asleep to it but I think it still gets into your subconscious. But I do feel so many hypnotists are so gimmicky and money rackets, many keep bringing you back for top up sessions, etc, extracting more and more money and I was foolish enough for too long to give it. Unusually though I do have a few friends who have used it to stop smoking and it has been a success for them, maybe smoking being more specific and something you can give up entirely has something to do with that?

EileenG

Does Allan Carr not push fruit for a lot of meals?

I have listened to various self-help CDs but most of them have a big section on self-confidence and believing in yourself, and my kids begged me not to listen to any more, I didn't need any more self-confidence.

frag420

EileenG wrote: »

I felt I was eating too much sweets and junk recently and went to a hypnotist who specialises in stopping smoking. I said I wanted to stop eating the chocolate and sweets, and he did his thing.

It's possible I should have thought it through a bit better, because now anything sweet just tastes really nasty to me. I can't even take Borocca vitamins anymore. And I'm just back from France where they had the most amazing desserts, and I couldn't eat any of them. I couldn't even had a mulled wine without wanting to wash my mouth out. But I can still drink ordinary red wine, and eat non-sweet food.

I suspect it's easier to get hypnotised for something specific (no cigarettes, no sugar) than something like smaller portions.

I was wondering if this would work the other way around and make things like brocoli, brussel sprouts, colliflower etc more pallatable for someone like me who has the taste buds of a sugar addicted child!! I have looked into this before but could not find anyone that could be recomended.

Who did you go to Eileen?

celticsparkles

Hi

I just came across this post now. I have, and three friends, attended a Hypnotherapist for weight loss (one of the girls for smoking too).

We had three sessions and enjoyed each one of them. It cost three hundred but we did two people per session so halved the cost. Its excellent!

We ate well, but too often and portion sizes were too big. Now I have simply no interest in eating outside of meals, feel fuller for longer with less food and have zero interest in sweet things. Not aversion as such, just absolutely no interest. I can recommend our guy very highly. His name is Stephen Millard, hes a psychologist along with hypnothreapist. Based in Blackrock. Google him if you are interested, really excellent!

theresaloo

I went to one about 3 years ago didnt work for me, it cost me €100, i felt the exact same when i came out, dont know if it just didnt work on me or he was just bad at it!!
If you want to change your mindset on food you could try cognitive behaviour therepy (CBT), its used for many things to change your thinking such as obessive complusive disorder (OCD) and depression among other things, but also used for changing your thinking towards food, it works for some people and maybe worth looking into if you think diet and excerise alone is not enough to change your mindset. I think we all know how to lose weight as in eat less move more but its easier said than done and some people need help in changing their mindset and attitude towards food before embarking on a diet/programme to make it more effective, i know i did.

bimdin28

I had heard that lots of people had really good results using hypnosis for weight loss, but I couldn't afford to spend a bunch of money to do it. Then I found this track on iTunes by Brittany Bullen that's only 99 cents! Do yourself a favor, skip the expensive classes and CDs and just download that! Thought I'd share the wealth... here's the link:

Hypnosis for Weight Loss - Hypnosis for Weight Loss - Single

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hypnosis-for-weight-loss/id412512232?i=412512346&uo=4


Happy pound-shedding! --Erissa

crashbangwollop

Just stumbled across this thread now...

I read the Allen Carr book to give up smoking almost two years ago. I quit for a few weeks but went back smoking. I subsequently listened to the CD that came with it a few nights as I went to sleep and I haven't smoked since and have no desire to.

I have just finished reading his book 'Lose Weight Now' and I am pretty confident it will work for me, once I can listen to the CD that comes with it... Fingers crossed!

Has anyone read 'Lose Weight Now' or 'Allen Carr's Easy Way to be Successful' by any chance?