Weight Loss Using Hypnosis

Weight loss using hypnosis. How does it work? Why does it work? Heck, does it really work at all? Or is this just another myth, created by the same folks who push super-secret fat-burning pills and contraptions that promise six-pack abs in mere minutes a day?

Hypnotize The Pounds Away: Fact or fiction?
The idea of weight loss using hypnosis has been gaining steam for some time, thanks to success stories in the news. In this related article, Hypnosis for Weight Loss: National TV Investigates, I discuss a couple of these news stories in more detail, but here's the short version. There's been some pretty high profile success stories, featured in news programs including Dateline and Good Morning America. .

The Dateline story followed six people who were looking to drop some unwanted pounds for their 25th high school reunion – a common enough story until Dateline NBC entered the picture. What Dateline did was get each person to commit to a specific weight-loss method ranging from Slimfast to…yup, you guessed it, hypnosis.

It was a few years ago, and I actually remember watching this story on TV when it first aired. This was before I'd undergone any hypnotherapy training, and I was pretty amazed even back then by what I saw.

The man (named Marc) who used hypnotherapy to drop his unwanted pounds had such an easier time of it compared to his classmates. And it wasn't just that he lost the weight. It was that he seemed so much less cranky than his classmates.

The others? Well, some of his classmates lost the weight they wanted. Others didn't quite make their goals. But none of them looked as cheerful as Marc, who seemed to meet his goals without suffering half as much as his classmates, who looked progressively crankier and more discouraged as the weeks wore on.

Similarly, the Good Morning America story followed the progress of a woman named Judy who'd struggled to lose weight for years and years and didn't achieve the success she wanted until she discovered hypnosis. And in the end, it was hypnosis that helped her lose almost 100 pounds and keep it off three years and counting. In short, weight loss using hypnosis worked long-term for her when nothing else seemed to.

So, How Does Hypnosis for Weight Loss Work?
The simple answer is that hypnosis for weight loss works by reprogramming the way you think. This leads to healthier behaviors, which ultimately lead to weight loss. In its simplest form, it's a cause-and-effect relationship, with hypnosis on the front end, and weight loss on the back end (not to be confused with one's rear end, which should shrink nicely if one's hypnosis program is successful).

Basically, what hypnosis does is encourage your own brain to modify your own behavior. For example, I'm a sucker for ice cream, but is it always true hunger that leads me to open the freezer and gobble down a pint of Ben & Jerry's? (Their Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream is particularly delicious, by the way.) Sure, sometimes it's hunger leading me to the freezer. But if I'm honest, I snack for too many other reasons. These reasons can vary -- writer's block, boredom, fatigue, frustration, procrastination, or simply because ice cream tastes so darn good.

To be successful at helping you to lose weight, what a hypnosis program must do is change the thought pattern from "Gee, I'm bored, so I'm going to eat ice cream," to "Gee, I'm bored, so I think I'll go on a walk." This is a vast oversimplification, but you get the idea.

Weight Loss Using Hypnosis: The 3 Basic Steps

1. Relaxation/Induction. This is when you get relaxed and in the right frame of mind. During these important induction stages, you might be asked to stare at an object (such as a crystal or a watch) until you experience eye fatigue. Or, you might be asked to visualize yourself someplace relaxing. Some hypnotists create this relaxing place for you by "guiding" you to a warm sandy beach or a woodsy meadow. Others encourage you to create your own virtual place. Regardless, this is all designed to help you feel safe, relaxed, and open to the "suggestion" part of the session, the part that actually focuses on weight loss using hypnosis.

2. Suggestions for Healthier Eating, etc. During this stage, the real weight-loss focus begins. Because you're relaxed and in the right frame of mind, your mind should be especially receptive to the suggestions the hypnotherapist will "implant" during the session. Suggestions might range from making better food choices, drinking more water, to stepping up your physical activity, to visualizing yourself thinner, and even to boosting your metabolism. (For more about these hypnotic suggestions and how hypnotists might phrase them, please see this related article, Seven Hypnotic Suggestions to Lose Weight by Hypnosis)

3. Awakening.* During this stage, the hypnotist will gradually awaken you, usually with the suggestion that you feel terrific and refreshed.

*Another thing worth noting: For sessions focused on weight loss using hypnosis, like other sessions, it's not like what you see on TV -- and I'm not referring to Dateline. Unlike what you normally see in the movies or on those stage TV segments, odds are very good you'll remember everything you experienced while in the hypnotic state.

Five Reasons for Enjoying Weight Loss Hypnosis. Have you ever noticed that gaining weight is easy? That's the bad news. The good news is that when it comes to taking off those pounds, some weight loss methods are easier than others. To illustrate this point, here are five reasons why hypnosis for weight loss is worth considering.