How to make weight loss long-term and not just for the holidays

This time of year is very exciting, but also can be the worst. We are enjoying the warmer weather and getting ready for our summer holidays. That means our layers come off and we start looking in our wardrobe for what lovely summer clothes we can wear.

For some of us though, this fills us with dread. It means we expose our skin and we become even more visible than ever before. If we do not feel comfortable in our own skin, we are not going to feel comfortable in a swimsuit.

Winter is good at letting us forget what we look like because we are covered up. Summer is a time when we are faced with our bodies and that is not always a good feeling.

It can be natural then that we have a knee-jerk reaction and vow that we are going to have to lose weight for the holidays. This can send us into a hyperdrive to lose weight and we head straight onto a diet. If we are under time pressure, this could be a very restrictive diet.

This is not good, because restrictive diets are extremely hard to stick to. This can then send us into a spiral of falling off the diet wagon, feeling bad and angry with ourselves because we have not been able to stick to a diet. We think "what is the point?’ and then eat more because we are fed up that we fell off our diet.

How can we lose weight continually?

1. Decide what you want

When we want to change, we often know what we do not want. We might not want the same body anymore. So, work out what we do want. What do we want to change? What will it mean for us when we do change? Being specific about what we want can give us a sense of direction and purpose.

2. What are you prepared to do to get there?

This is starting to have a plan. We need to come away from the knee-jerk reaction of wanting to lose weight. Think about what we must change and what are we prepared to do in the long-term to help us get there. Think about the lifestyle that you would like. Think about how you want to feel in your body. Too often when we want to lose weight, we think about making big actions and this can be overwhelming. Think about lots of small actions over time. Hypnotherapy is a great tool to help you visualise your life how you want it and to help you overcome the unconscious objections that you are putting in the way.

3. Look at your previous eating patterns

To help you know what to change, it is helpful to know what your patterns are to be able to change them. Awareness is always the first step to change. Hypnotherapy helps you to bring more awareness to your life. By learning to relax the conscious analytical brain, the unconscious becomes more prominent. By being more relaxed, it is easier to start taking an overview of our lives than being stuck in the detail. It means we start to see eating patterns improve without even trying to do something.

4. Get help

It can be hard to reach out for help, though doing so can improve your eating habits and life drastically. Weight loss can be hard on your own when you do not know what you are doing to cause your weight gain. A therapist is like a mirror and sees your blind spots. They will help you in an empathetic way and without judgment.

5. Build new habits

Hypnotherapy can help you to stop focussing on what you do not want and help you focus on what you do want. It helps you to be more positive within yourself. When you are feeling more relaxed and confident within yourself you can start to visualise new habits and do them easily. A therapist will help you make these new habits sustainable and enjoyable for you. The hypnotherapist will also help you clear any unconscious blocks you have that will stop you from achieving your weight loss goals.

By thinking long-term and not having a knee-jerk reaction to your weight goals, hypnotherapy is a great tool to help you achieve it in a safe, sustainable, and healthy way.