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

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.