Part 2: Harnessing the Power of Mindset: Achieving Weight Loss Goals with Hypnotherapy

The first time I tried hypnotherapy, I was desperate.  I had tried everything to lose weight after the birth of my third child.  Nothing worked.  A friend told me about hypnotherapy and I thought, “Why not?”  After explaining about how hypnotherapy worked and asking me about my goals, the kind and gentle hypnotherapist told me to relax in his big, overstuffed recliner.  I don’t remember much else about the session.

When I got home and started to make dinner that night, there was a definite shift in my mindset.  I knew I wanted to eat healthier and wasn’t tempted by the chicken nuggets and grilled cheese I made for the children.  The next morning, I woke up early and got dressed to go walking.  As I was tying my shoes, I realized that there had been a definite shift in my thoughts.  I was hooked.  I continued hypnotherapy for a while, lost 15 lbs. and was healthier all around because of my walking.

Can hypnotherapy help you change your mindset, eating and exercise habits to support reaching your health and weight loss goals? Definitely, that’s what it is all about.

Weight loss goals are among the most common health objectives you may strive to achieve. This segment of the series explores the intricate relationship between mindset and weight loss, and how hypnotherapy can be a powerful tool in supporting you on your weight loss journey.

Understanding Weight Loss Goals:

Weight loss goals vary in nature and scope, ranging from short-term objectives to long-term lifestyle changes. Common reasons for setting weight loss goals include:

• Health Improvement: You may seek to lose weight to improve overall health, manage chronic conditions like diabetes or hypertension, or reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

• Appearance Enhancement: Weight loss goals are often motivated by a desire to enhance physical appearance, boost self-esteem, and feel more confident in your body.

• Fitness and Performance: You may set weight loss goals to enhance athletic performance, increase stamina, or achieve specific fitness milestones.

• Disease Prevention: Weight loss can play a crucial role in preventing obesity-related health conditions such as joint pain, sleep apnea, and certain cancers.

The Weight Loss Mindset and the Mind-Body Connection:

Your weight loss mindset plays a pivotal role in determining your success in achieving weight loss goals. Through the mind-body connection, your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions (mindset) can either support or hinder progress towards your weight loss objectives. Here are some attitudes/beliefs associated with negative and positive weight loss mindsets:

Negative Weight Loss Mindset:

• All-or-Nothing Thinking: Believing that any deviation from a strict diet or exercise regimen constitutes failure, leading to feelings of guilt and self-sabotage.

• Self-Criticism and Shame: Engaging in negative self-talk and self-criticism based on perceived body flaws or past weight loss failures.

• External Validation: Seeking validation and approval from others based on physical appearance, leading to a reliance on external factors for self-worth.

• Fear of Failure: Anticipating failure or setbacks before embarking on a weight loss journey, leading to avoidance of challenges and opportunities for growth.

• Lack of Self-Efficacy: Doubting your ability to make lasting changes and achieve weight loss goals, undermining motivation and commitment.

Positive Weight Loss Mindset:

• Self-Compassion and Acceptance: Practicing self-compassion and acceptance of your body, embracing the journey towards health and well-being without judgment.

• Goal Orientation: Focusing on specific, achievable goals and milestones, celebrating your progress rather than fixating on perfection.

• Intrinsic Motivation: Finding inner motivation and satisfaction in the process of improving health and well-being, independent of external validation.

• Resilience and Adaptability: Embracing setbacks as opportunities for learning and growth, maintaining a positive outlook in the face of challenges.

• Self-Efficacy and Empowerment: Cultivating a belief in your ability to make meaningful changes, taking ownership of your health and well-being journey.

Hypnotherapy for Weight Loss Mindset Transformation:

Hypnotherapy offers a unique approach to transforming the weight loss mindset, addressing underlying beliefs and emotions that may be impeding progress. Through techniques such as guided imagery, cognitive restructuring, and positive suggestion, hypnotherapy can help you:

• Overcome limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging thought patterns.

• Cultivate a positive and empowered mindset towards diet, nutrition, exercise and weight loss.

• Enhance your motivation and commitment to healthy lifestyle changes.

• Develop coping strategies for managing cravings, emotional eating, and stress.

• Establish a supportive internal dialogue and self-care practices to sustain your long-term success.

Summary:

By harnessing the power of the subconscious mind, hypnotherapy empowers you to align your mindset with your weight loss goals, paving the way for sustainable health and well-being.

Working together with your hypnotherapist using proven hypnotherapy techniques in a series of hypnosis and counseling sessions, you can discover/clarify your general physical health mindset and specific beliefs and concerns about your current weight, establish and prioritize your weight loss goals, envision the thoughts, feelings and activities of an updated mindset that supports your goals, craft customized personal affirmations in alignment with your updated weight loss mindset, and  establish a daily affirmations and gratitude practice that reinforces your mindset, celebrates progress and propels you toward successful achievement of our your specific wealth loss goals.

If you are considering working with me as your hypnotherapist, I am available for a free 30 minute consultation for new clients. Please call me at 818-929-4944 or go to cindaroffman.com to book a free consultation.

Stay tuned for Part 3: Harnessing the Power of Mindset: Better Sleep with Help from Hypnotherapy, where we shift our focus to the importance of quality sleep in achieving optimal physical health and explore how hypnotherapy can support individuals in overcoming sleep-related challenges. Join us as we delve into the transformative potential of mindset in achieving better sleep with the help of hypnotherapy..

Sincerely,

CInda

HypnoNews and Resources

For an excellent article about one person’s weight loss journey and her successful experience with hypnotherapy after all else failed to help her reach her goals, please see the following:

https://clarity-hypnosis.com/hypnosis-thing-thats-helped-lose-weight/

Just 1 MORE Thing: Hypnotherapy for Weight Loss in the Home Stretch

Last month we talked about what 1 thing might be holding you back or keeping you from living your best life.  For many, it can be those stubborn 10 – 15 pounds that you just can’t lose.  You may have had great success with a weight management program, Weight Watchers, Lindora or any of the others out there but there are still those stubborn last few pounds. 

Every year I help clients who had been very successful in losing a large amount of weight but found themselves stuck, making no further progress, as they entered the home stretch toward their final goal.

One client had a trip of a lifetime planned and wanted to be at her goal weight for purchasing clothes and supplies for the trip. Here is how she described her challenge in our initial session. “Through diets and exercising I have lost about 30 pounds over the past 10 months. I’m about 12 pounds away from my final goal but I’ve stopped making progress. I’m not gaining, but not losing, just bouncing   between 145 and 142. I know that I have lost almost all the weight I set out to lose. I feel like I deserve a reward for that. Also, I’m having trouble accepting when I’m satisfied.”

After listening to her weight loss journey, we came up with a strategy – what specific actions could she take to get off those stubborn 12 pounds.  She decided to decrease her caloric intake by reducing her portions.  She already knew what to eat, she just needed to eat less of it.  She increased her outdoor activity, not being near food makes it harder to snack.   We then came up with a set of affirmations that could help her get across that finish line.  Her first one?  “I weigh 130 pounds.”   We also included affirmations about moving more outside and eating less.  It’s important to state clearly what your goals are.  I gave her a copy of her hypnosis session so that she could listen to it for added motivation whenever she wanted.

After working together, those pounds came off and she was able to keep them off.  She had a great trip and continues to successfully maintain her goal weight.

Hypnotherapy can help in the final stretch of weight loss.

If you are stuck in the home stretch toward your weight loss goal and you would like to explore how Hypnotherapy may help, please go to cindaroffman.com to book a free consult or give me a call at 818-929-4944.

Sincerely,

Cinda

How Does Hypnotherapy Help With Sustainable Weight Loss

I first learned about hypnotherapy many years ago when I was struggling to lose weight after 3 pregnancies.  It really helped me change my view toward exercise and drinking alcohol. After being hypnotized I did not have my usual glass of wine with dinner.  The next morning I got up and put on my walking shoes and went for a walk!  Neither of those things was my usual habit.  I was sold.  Hypnotherapy could make it easier for me to achieve the goals I set out for myself in weight loss.

Fast forward many years and I am now a hypnotherapist, helping others lose weight.  How do I do that? I help my clients identify their goals and explore what plan works best for them.  I am familiar with many weight loss plans and my clients usually are too.  We then decide on a plan and a timeline.  We work together to set up affirmations that will help them achieve their goals.

I usually suggest that one of their affirmations is their goal weight.  Sometimes our brain isn’t comfortable with a new number and wants to keep us at the higher number.  When the goal number is kept in focus it can make it easier for our mind to accept that new number.

Another affirmation can center around what specific plan the client will use:  “I follow Weight Watchers Personal Points” or “I follow the 28 Day Keto Plan.”

And of course movement is very important.  Having an affirmation about going to the gym, walking 3 times a week or playing tennis is a daily reminder of what the client has committed to.

Let’s not forget about sleep…  Research has shown that sleep in crucial in maintaining a healthy weight. 
“I get 8 hours of sleep every night” is a great affirmation for us all. 

If weight loss/weight management is of concern to you, please give me a call for a free consultation (818-929-4944) or join my free Hypnotherapy Q & A every Wednesday at 10 am PST.

You can register here.

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0lfu6trjIvGNZ8XkMGblRSB97cmXEKVT6p

Sincerely,

Cinda

HypnoNews and Resources

Here are some articles with more information:

Hypnotherapy and Weight Loss:  Does It Work?

https://www.healthline.com/health/hypnotherapy-weight-loss

What is Hypnosis for Weight Loss and Does It Work?

https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/health/a28187126/hypnosis-for-weight-loss/

20 Pounds Post-COVID! What Now?

True confession – I gained the dreaded COVID 20 pounds.  I know, I’m a hypnotherapist who has helped women and men lose hundreds of pounds.  When it came to listening to my own counsel, I fell short.

I know all the right things to do:

1. Eat healthy food you prepare yourself.  Focus on eating vegetables, low-glycemic fruit and healthy protein.

2. Plan your foods ahead of time.  A good suggestion is planning your food for the next day the night before to make sure you have what you need on hand.

3. Limit carbohydrates and alcohol. That’s where the calories are and the more you limit carbs, the more fun, fresh, veggies you can have.

4. Exercise more and regularly. Again, make a plan ahead of time so that you know when and how you exercise.  If necessary, put it on your calendar as an event.

5. Get plenty of sleep.  Study after study has shown that the more sleep you get, the easier it is to lose weight.

6. Have a specific goal in mind. This works better because you can see your progress and celebrate when you achieve your right weight.

7. Keep a written journal. Track your progress and celebrate your wins.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?  But with all the pivoting and planning to keep my business going, I put my health on the back burner and ended up where I did not want to be.  My doctor told me that I need to lose weight because of added stress on my knees which is causing pain and probably some damage.  That scared me into taking action.

What now? I am committing to 1-7 above. I’m also going to use a food and calorie app to track my food.  It does help to see what you are eating each day and exactly how many calories that food contains.  As I tell my clients, it’s more about what you eat than how much you move.  Don’t get me wrong, movement is important.  For me, after a good walk or work out I’m more motivated to eat the right food.

I may make an appointment to see a hypnotherapist; I hear they can be very helpful on this weight loss journey.

What about you? Did you gain the COVID 20 pounds?  Are you ready to make some changes? If you are, give me call, we can get to our right weight together. 

Sincerely,

Cinda

HypnoNews and Resources

Sleep More, Weigh Less - Yes, it’s true and here’s the article to prove it:  https://www.webmd.com/diet/sleep-and-weight-loss#1

Here’s an article from Psychology Today about how hypnosis helps with weight loss:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-integrationist/201412/successful-weight-loss-using-hypnosis

How to Choose the Right Hypnotherapist For You

As part of my training to become a hypnotherapist, I had to choose a mentor.  All the teachers at HMI were available as mentors, it was part of their job as teachers.  I took a while to decide.   When I finally did, I chose Cheryl because she was the teacher I could most closely relate to.  We are about the same age, she had had another career before becoming a hypnotherapist and she genuinely liked helping others.  I liked how she treated her students, her calm, gentle manner was very inviting.

Personal transformation is a common goal these days.  Changing what you think and what you do can bring about transformation.  Sounds simple but it is not that easy to achieve.  A hypnotherapist can help by accessing your subconscious mind (80% of your mind) and helping you to focus it on your conscious goals.  This makes achieving those goals much easier.          

How do you choose the best hypnotherapist for you?  Here some items to consider:

• Where did they go to school? How long was the training?

There are many “hypnotherapy schools” some offering a certificate in as short a time as a weekend. Hypnosis Motivation Institute, where I went to school is a yearlong program with almost 800 instructional hours, including an internship program.  It includes classes on counselling as well as an introduction to many different modalities.

• What additional training do they have?

I am trained and certified in many different techniques and areas:  Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), Therapeutic Imagery, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Weight Management, Coping with Loss, Hypnotherapy for Clients with Cancer, Preparing for Surgery, PTSD, Sports Performance, Fears and Anxieties, Smoking Cessation, and Hypnosis and the Special Needs Child.

• What is their certification? 

I am a certified hypnotherapist, certified by Hypnotherapist Union of the AFL/CIO #472.  I am on the board of the Union and we are very careful to only certify hypnotherapists who have extensive training.  We have a code of ethics and continuing education requirements.

• What is their specialty?

While I do see clients for a variety of issues, I specialize in weight management, anxiety, insomnia, test preparation and sports performance.

• How are they rated on Yelp, Google and LinkedIn? 

Ratings can be an important tool with objective ways to rate performance. 

• What is their website like? Does it include testimonials, areas of experience and a blog?

Again, one more tool to help you understand more about the person you are choosing.

• Do they offer a free consultation?

Choosing a hypnotherapist is a very personal decision.  Getting the chance to know, like and trust them before engaging with them is important.  You want to be able to relate to the person you will be working with.  Are they able to listen and really hear what you are saying?

If you would like to talk about working together, call now to arrange for a free, private, online video consultation - 818-929-4944.