Understanding Your Relationship With Food
Do you ever feel out of control around food? Do you continue to eat until you are uncomfortable even though you’re not hungry? Do you choose to eat junk even though you know it makes you feel fat and uncomfortable? Do you eat “comfort foods” even though they make you feel really “uncomfortable”? Do you wake up in the middle of the night to eat? These are the issues I get regularly from clients. I always begin by asking, “who are you angry at?”I’ve noticed a pattern that overeating habits are often about anger. Sometimes its not what you eat, its what’s eating you!
Eating Is A Reflection Of How You Feel
Anger is really the ‘fear of being out of control.’ If you focus on the anger you have, it is usually because you could not control someone or a situation. Anger is a normal emotion but only becomes a problem when you turn it inward or when you hold on to it. Most of the over eating issues that are from anger stem from childhood. Even though there could be current anger triggers, it’s the ones from the past that need to be addressed to successfully remove them.
Eating Habits Are Learned Early
Eating habits are developed early in life and so are beliefs and feelings around food. Generally when food is a reward for a young child or the happiest memories are those that are focused on food, that programming is pretty powerful. Some people have established the habit of using food to fill a void or to medicate uncomfortable emotions. Eating becomes a way to pass time instead of nourishing the body. The most successful weight loss clients change their relationship with food so it is only thought of as fuel for the body. Making healthy choices becomes easier. Choosing to eat junk is a habit, just like smoking, and can easily be eliminated. Removing the emotional component is the secret to success. In some cases I teach alternate behaviors to deal with stress without reaching for food.
Recently a client was unable to change her habits after the first session and it was uncovered in the follow up session that she was not permitted junk food as a young child and felt deprived and sad as a result. As an adult, she over indulged in junk food and did not understand why. By helping her to resolve the past she can feel in control of herself and avoid the junk that is causing her problem with over eating. Another client had a fear of being thinner because unconsciously she associated being heavy with staying safe and isolated. We were able to remove those beliefs since she was able to lose the unwanted fat.
My clients are always surprised they can recall events from their earliest years while in hypnosis that they cannot remember otherwise. Because of the nature of the unconscious mind, where all your life experiences are stored, the good, the bad and the ugly, hypnosis is the most effective modality to access it. Although many people experience results immediately, many require more sessions in order to get to the underlying issues that are getting in the way of their goals. Sometimes there are layers of issues to uncover like peeling away the layers of the onion. When the issues are resolved, the effects are remarkable. Eating out of control is a red flag that indicates you feel out of control. It is often about childhood when your life was out of control because parents had the control! Hypnosis works when nothing else does to give you back the control you had all along but didn’t know it!
Although people often come to me as the “last resort,” after they experience hypnosis they often tell me they wished they did not wait so long!
Hypnosis works, but only if you use it!
