If you could change one thing...

What would it be?

Would you lose weight?

Yes if only! Every year this is a New Year’s Resolution. I join the gym, start the latest diet (done them all – Weight Watchers, Rosemary Conley, Atkins, South Beach, Low GI) and by February nothing has changed and the small amount of weight lost in January through hard slog and deprivation is firmly back in place and the waistband is as tight as ever.

Would you give up smoking?

Yes but I’ve stopped 3 times before only to succumb when stress, boredom or cravings got the better of me.
Yes but I’ve tried everything – patches, group help, on-line help, NHS quitline, nicotine patches and gum and nothing works.

Would you be more confident?

Yes but as soon as I’m in a social environment everyone seems more self assured than I am and I feel like I want to shrivel and die in the corner. Why do I bother making the effort?

Would you improve your relationships?

Yes but I’m in an unending pattern of always meeting the wrong guy/girl.

Would you manage your stress better?

Yes but life is increasingly stressful, there is nothing that can be done and it’s not just me, everyone is stressed these days!

Change One Thing for Life

I’ve heard all the ‘yes buts’ and ‘if onlys’ but I truly believe that everyone of us has every resource we need to make lifelong change and achieve the best we can in our lives. All that is missing sometimes is someone to help breakdown the problem and bring some alternative solutions.

If I could describe in one word what I do it is ‘facilitation’. The dictionary definition of the word ‘facilitate’ is ‘to make easier’ and that is what I aim to do. You have the problem to solve or goal to achieve and through a mixture of different tools and techniques and good old fashioned ‘support’ my role is to make the process easier.

What do you need to do? Just decide. Decide the one thing you would like to change and then call me to book your initial consultation to see how I can facilitate – make the process easier for you. I look forward to your call!

Supersize vs Superskinny

I watched Channel 4 programme Supersize vs Superskinny last night and more interesting to me that the extremes of the subjects' diets was the success of hypnosis on Anna, the reporter. Here is the extract from the website www.channel4.com/health

'A somewhat sceptical Anna Richardson decides to try out a different approach to weight loss this week – hypnosis. Can the power of the mind control those pangs of hunger or is it all, as Anna says, 'a load of old baloney'?

Before she tries it Anna has lunch with Catherine, a hypnosis success story who now only eats until she's full. After finishing Catherine's pasta as well as her own Anna is willing to give it a try.

Can Anna's brain be re-trained? Under the watchful eye of an expert Anna is hypnotised and in response to questions she talks about her childhood memories of having to eat everything on her plate whilst her hypnotist talks to her about no longer letting food control her life. Coming out from hypnosis Anna's feels like she's been asleep for years and actually quite enjoyed the sensation.

A day later she discovers she is content to eat small amounts and can even resist the lure of her favourite carbohydrates – 'what's happened to me' she asks, 'where has the old porker Richardson gone?'.

Anna decides to seek expert advice about whether or not hypnosis really works. She learns that there's not a lot of evidence that it does work but there are ideas why it might work. She hears about the idea of focused attention and reduced anxiety levels which may unlock early childhood memories and help isolate them and then deal with them.

She goes back for another session to top up her will power and find out how to create a different relationship with food that will last forever.

The result – Anna has lost 3lbs.'

Her experience is not unusual and typically I work with clients to achieve a minimum of 8-10lbs weight loss and put them in control of their eating habits for a lifetime.