How to take control of your weight for 2016

January is the one month most associated with dieting. And what the magazines and talk shows avoid discussing is how dieting, on the whole, never works long term. Weight loss in principle is a straightforward process with an achievable goal – eat less, exercise more and you'll look/feel so much better. Yet the struggle to maintain a healthy weight can be one of the most testing times.

There are many complexities behind overeating, and each person has their own individual relationship with food based on their life experiences. At times of stress or upset, easily available snacks such as chocolate are reached for. Similarly in times of celebration and social occasions, convenience foods are desired. Or when watching television, using the laptop or iPhone – you find yourself eating without even fully realising it. Only afterwards with the empty packet beside you, you can really see what’s been eaten. And the amount consumed.

The feelings of comfort these processed convenience foods bring offer short term pleasure but long term setbacks. They are a quick fix to an underlying issue, a substitute for some other need. If this need for whatever reason isn’t satisfactorily met, it can lead to it becoming habitual. A cycle of behaviour based on reward is soon formed, and when personal problems arise, the quick fix prevails.

To help achieve your desired weight, and maintain a healthy lifestyle, you need to regain that true sense of self. To remind yourself, truly and honestly that:

“I can take control”.

A powerful sentence, and when believed empowers you to take responsibility for your diet and overall wellbeing. Rewarding your body with healthy nourishment and exercise is the care it rightly deserves. You have the power and ability to bring that fresh new perspective into your daily life.

Changing that relationship with food can be overwhelming at the start, so to look at it in smaller sections can be helpful. Looking at what foods you reach for and crave, and at what times of day, show you a pattern of behaviour and association that can altered. Importantly how you are feeling at the moment before, during and after you overeat. These are times which need to be identified, and by doing so can be altered gradually to bring about a new and positive lifestyle change. Alongside hypnotherapy, relaxing you into a perfect state of inner peace, these new alternatives can be accepted and reaffirmed in a peaceful, trusting environment.