Embrace Your Body As You Move Toward Your Weight Release Goal

Our family gets together every Mother’s Day in Palm Springs.  In May, the weather is warm but not too warm and it’s a chance to get away, enjoy the pool and relax.  Here’s a picture of me and my youngest granddaughter, Adina, enjoying pool time.  It is important to me that my granddaughters love their own bodies and I am modeling that to them.  While I’m not at my goal weight, I am much more comfortable in my current body than ever.  I’m using the hypnotherapy tools that I use with my clients to steadily close in on my goal.

One potential challenge to effective weight management is yo-yo dieting, which can occur when your subconscious is not comfortable with your new goal weight.  You reach your target and then your mind rebels and helps you to regain that weight. Healthy weight management is a great application for hypnosis.   An affirmation cementing in your goal weight can change your subconscious so that when you get to your goal, you are comfortable and able to maintain that weight.

Women and men give a variety of reasons they want to release weight and there are different challenges you might experience on your weight release journey. Here are some of the most common reasons and challenges:

Common Reasons Adult Women Want to Release Weight:

• Improving Health and Reducing Disease Risk: Many women aim to lose weight to lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.

• Enhancing Physical Appearance: Desire to look and feel better, fitting into clothes more comfortably and boosting self-esteem.

• Increasing Energy Levels: 1To feel more energetic and capable of handling daily activities and responsibilities.

• Boosting Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem: Improving body image and confidence in social and professional settings.

• Improving Mobility and Physical Fitness: Enhancing the ability to participate in physical activities and reduce joint pain.

• Preparing for a Special Event: Weight1 loss in preparation for events like weddings, reunions, or vacations.

• Managing Stress and Emotional Well-being: Reducing weight to help manage stress, anxiety, and depression.

Common Reasons Adult Men Want to Release Weight:

• Improving Health and Reducing Disease Risk: Reducing the risk of conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

• Enhancing Physical Appearance: Desire to achieve a more muscular or fit physique, often for self-esteem and social reasons.

• Increasing Physical Performance: Improving1 athletic performance and physical endurance in sports or exercise.

• Boosting Energy Levels: To feel more energetic and productive throughout the day.

• Improving Mobility and Reducing Joint Pain: Alleviating discomfort associated with excess weight, particularly in the knees and back.

• Enhancing Self-Confidence and Professional Appearance: Improving confidence in social and professional settings.

• Preparing for Military or Physical Fitness Requirements: Meeting weight requirements for military service or other physically demanding occupations.

Common Challenges Women and Men Encounter on Their Weight Release Journeys:

• Emotional Eating and Stress Management: Using food as a coping mechanism for stress, anxiety, or depression.

• Lack of Time for Exercise and Meal Preparation: Balancing work, family, and other responsibilities makes it challenging to

• Inconsistent Motivation and Willpower: Struggling to stay motivated and committed to long-term weight loss goals.

• Social Pressure and Influence: Dealing with social events, peer pressure, and cultural norms that encourage unhealthy eating habits.

• Plateaus in Weight Loss Progress: Hitting a plateau where weight loss stalls despite continued efforts.

• Physical Cravings and Hunger: Managing cravings and hunger, especially when reducing calorie intake

• Body Image and Self-Esteem Issues: Dealing with negative body image and low self-esteem, which can affect motivation and progress.

No matter what reasons you have to lose some weight, hypnotherapy can help you release excess weight if that is your goal.  You can train your mind to permanently achieve and affirm your personal healthy weight goal. 

Here are 10 key ideas and practices that you can use to embrace your body as you move toward you weight release goal with help from hypnotherapy:

• Cultivate Self-Love and Body Acceptance: The journey toward weight release begins with embracing and loving your body as it is now. Cultivating self-love and body acceptance lays a positive foundation for sustainable weight loss. Hypnotherapy can help you develop a compassionate and appreciative mindset toward your body, which fosters motivation and resilience.

• Listen to Your Body's Signals: Understanding and honoring the mind-body connection is crucial for effective weight release. Hypnotherapy can teach you how to tune into your body's signals, such as hunger, satiety, and energy levels, promoting intuitive eating and healthier lifestyle choices.

• Set Realistic and Positive Goals: Setting realistic and positive weight release goals that align with overall well-being rather than focusing solely on numbers on the scale. Hypnotherapy can assist you in defining and visualizing your goals, creating a motivating and achievable path forward.

• Overcome Emotional Eating: One of my favorite tools is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or tapping.  It is good for identifying triggers for over eating and focusing in on specific goals. You can address the emotional triggers and underlying psychological factors that lead to overeating. Hypnotherapy can help you recognize and manage emotional eating patterns, providing alternative coping mechanisms that support your weight release journey.

• Empower Yourself with Positive Affirmations: You can establish a daily positive affirmations practice to build self-confidence and reinforce a healthy mindset. Hypnotherapy can guide you in creating powerful affirmations that align with your weight release goals, and embedding these affirmations in your subconscious mind, fostering a positive and empowered self-image.

• Create Sustainable Lifestyle Changes: You can shift your focus from quick fixes to gradual and sustainable lifestyle changes. Hypnotherapy can support you in developing lasting habits around nutrition, exercise, and self-care, ensuring that weight release is maintained over the long term.

• Replace Negative Beliefs and Self-Sabotage: Negative beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviors can hinder and block successful weight release. Hypnotherapy can uncover and reframe these subconscious blocks, enabling you to move forward with confidence and clarity.

• Visualize Success and Celebrate Milestones: You can learn to use visualization techniques to envision success and celebrate milestones along your weight release journey. Hypnotherapy can enhance your ability to see and feel your progress, making the journey more enjoyable and motivating.

• Build a Supportive Environment: Creating a supportive environment including relationships, physical spaces, and routines, can nurture your weight release journey. Hypnotherapy can help you identify and cultivate supportive elements in your life, boosting your chances of success.

• Embrace the Journey, Not Just the Destination: It is important to focus on the journey of weight release rather than just the end goal. Hypnotherapy encourages you to appreciate the small victories and personal growth that occur along the way, fostering a more fulfilling and balanced approach to weight release.

Working together with your hypnotherapist using proven hypnotherapy techniques in a series of hypnosis and counseling sessions, you can discover/clarify your beliefs and concerns about your current weight, establish and prioritize your weight release goals, envision the thoughts, feelings and activities that will support your goals, craft customized personal affirmations and  establish a daily affirmations and gratitude practice that reinforces your positive mindset, and celebrate the milestones as you embrace your body and move through your weight release journey toward the successful achievement of our your specific wealth release goal.

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

Sincerely,

Cinda

HypnoNews and Resources

For more in depth information about weight release reasons, challenges and goals, please see the following references:

Health and appearance reasons for weight loss as predictors of long-term weight change

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6299317/

20-reasons-you-are-not-losing-weight

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/20-reasons-you-are-not-losing-weight#why-am-i-not-losing-weight

Freedom from Negative Habits - Tapping - Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

What if there were a simple, easy technique that you could do in your own home to get rid of a behavior, a feeling or a craving?  EFT could be that for you.

I was first introduced to Emotional Freedom Technique, EFT, or tapping when I was a student at Hypnosis Motivation Institute (HMI).  The demonstrations were amazing!  A woman who had craved chocolate her entire life suddenly was not interested in the least.  I was curious – how to change, in a few minutes, how you viewed something you have loved your whole life.

Fast forward to last week.  I continue to struggle with maintaining a healthy weight.  I decided to try tapping on not eating carbs.  Low and behold I went to a lunch networking event and looked at the rolls and potatoes like they were foreign objects and definitely not something I would ever eat.  Dessert? Not a chance, I didn’t even check it out to see what it was.  It can be an amazing tool and I was reminded to use it with my clients.

What is tapping? 

Tapping works with the body’s energy system – the meridians that carry electrical impulses throughout the body.  These meridians were first used (and are still used) in acupuncture and acupressure.  We tap on the end-points of the meridians while repeating a problem statement (eg. My addiction to carbs). In acupuncture, you are needled on a specific point for a specific problem. In tapping, we just tap on all the upper body meridians and assume that one will be the correct meridian.  Tapping is part of a group of therapies called ENERGY PSYCHOLOGY, because they are believed to affect the body’s electromagnetic energy fields.

Where does it come from?

A psychologist, Dr. Roger Callahan, discovered tapping by accident while working with a client with a water phobia.  When she complained that her stomach hurt, he tapped under her eyes, the end point of the stomach meridian, and her stomach pain and water phobia went away.  This discovery was used by Gary Craig to expand tapping and come up with a simple system that can be used by anyone. Gary has had great success with Vietnam Vets with PTSD.  When they tell their stories while tapping the emotional intensity of the stories goes from 10 to 1 or zero.

How do you do it?

We begin by creating a setup statement: “Even though I have this addiction to carbs, I deeply and completely love and accepts myself.” At first, this negativity bothered me – shouldn’t we be focusing on the positive? I was listening to Nick Ortner’s broadcast during the 14th Annual  Tapping World Summit.  He runs Tapping World and is now a leader in the field.  He had the same question about the setup statement and he asked Louise Hay why we start with a negative. We know Louise Hay was all about positive affirmations (as am I) and I was intrigued to hear her answer.  She wisely said “If you want to clean the house, first you have to see the dirt.”

Tapping works on the theory that our unresolved negative emotions are major contributors to most physical pain, disease and anxiety. The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system.

We were trained to be negative from the earliest times.  Those who survived were the ones who were watching the bushes for any suspicious activity, were there tigers in the bushes? – those blithely playing in the open did not survive.

I usually do a session with my clients and then give them the recipe so they can do it whenever they want.  And when I say do a session with my clients, I tap along with them so they don’t feel silly – at first it can seem an odd thing to be doing.

Sound interesting? Give me a call 818-929-4944 to set up a session and I will teach you how to do EFT your way 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 about EFT-tapping:

From WEB MD, What is EFT tapping? 

https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-is-eft-tapping

From Medical News Today, A Guide to EFT tapping,

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326434

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.

From Wedding Dress to Cardiologist - Hypnotherapy and Your Healthy Weight Management Journey - Part 1

The first time a doctor told me I needed to lose weight was as I as preparing to get married.  Who doesn’t want to look great at their wedding? So I bought into his suggestion that I lose 15 pounds.  Many years later, my cardiologist insisted that I lose weight. This time it was 40 pounds and it wasn’t for looks, it was for health.  Yes, I know about the weight management journey. I’ve been there and still struggle sometimes. Safer at home has actually been good for my weight. It has kept me out of restaurants and lots of tempting delicious food.  I only buy healthy foods that are on my eating plan.  Do I occasionally stray? Of course, but by and large, I am doing better than usual.

The healthy weight management journey starts with awareness and desire. It consists of two stages, (1) losing weight to achieve your healthy goal weight and (2) adjusting your routine to maintain healthy weight management on an ongoing basis. No matter where you are in this journey, hypnotherapy can help. Here’s how it works:

Much of our eating and exercise behavior is managed by our subconscious minds which have been conditioned by parents, teachers, childhood experience and the media. Your attitude and mindset toward weight management may be significant factors holding you back from losing weight.  Or maybe your living situation is difficult; maybe you need to change from a stressful job. In hypnosis we can strengthen motivation, relieve stress and update mindset to better serve you as you make the behavior changes that will lead to successful healthy weight management.

Hypnotherapy helps with healthy weight management by changing your subconscious view of your weight.  We all have a vision in our minds of what we look like.  It may or may not be realistic.  In weight management hypnosis, we work to change that subconscious view to your goal view.  We also work to change your ideas about what you need to do to manage your weight.  We work together to find a weight loss plan that will fit with your lifestyle.

You choose an eating plan that will be best for you. We work out an exercise program specifically for you.  Exercise is an integral part of weight management.  Maybe it’s walking several days a week, maybe it’s using the trainer you’ve already paid for at the gym – we will work together to figure out what works for you.

We work out an exercise program specifically for you.  Exercise is an integral part of weight management.  Maybe it’s walking several days a week, maybe it’s using the trainer you’ve already paid for at the gym – we will work together to figure out what works for you.

Once we have established an eating plan and an exercise plan, in each subsequent session we discuss what is and what is not working for you.  If necessary, we make adjustments in your plans while monitoring how you are progressing toward your goal.

At goal, we celebrate the new you and then continue the journey by adjusting your eating and exercise plan to maintain healthy weight management on an ongoing basis.

If this is something you might want to tackle at this time, please call me for a private consultation.

Wear the Bathing Suit-Embrace Your Body As You Move Toward Your Goal

On vacation with my family in Corfu, Greece, we visited a beautiful secluded small beach.  It was warm – much warmer than I am used to in California – and everyone else was enjoying the shade umbrellas on the beach and swimming in the quiet water when it got hot.  I wasn’t;  I was sitting in my very warm capris and top, sweating. 

I didn’t like the way I looked in a bathing suit so I had left it at home.  Not a good idea.  I thought that someone’s possible negative opinion of how I looked was more important than enjoying a lovely afternoon with my family.  I was too hot and uncomfortable to really enjoy the outing while everyone else was having a great time.  What did I learn that afternoon? 

1. Embrace my body -- even though like many women I’d like to lose 25 pounds. 

2. No one cares how someone else’s (my) body looks.  They are way more concerned with how they look.

3. If I’m really unhappy with my weight – get off my tush and do something about it.

Hypnotherapy can help you release excess weight if that is your goal.  You can train your mind to permanently achieve and affirm your personal healthy weight goal.  Here’s a recent testimonial from a client:

“I started hypnosis in May 2019 after losing approximately 3.8 pounds per month since the beginning of the year.  By the end of November 2019 I had lost 50 pounds more, which is the fastest weight loss I've ever experienced. With Cinda’s help I was able to lose more weight per month than on my own."

One potential challenge to effective weight management is yo-yo dieting, which can occur when your subconscious is not comfortable with your new goal weight.  You reach your target and then your mind rebels and helps you to regain that weight. Healthy weight management is a great application for hypnosis.   An affirmation cementing in your goal weight can change your subconscious so that when you get to your goal, you are comfortable and able to maintain that weight.

If weight release is your goal, please contact me for a free private consultation.