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Walking by a bakery window, you see a Russian tea biscuit that seems to have your name on it. You've had a rough day. A little voice inside your head whispers, "Go ahead. You deserve it." Another voice says, "You'll gain weight and feel lousy. Don't do it."
How do you control which voice you hear? A little hypnosis can help.
I've been facilitating TRIM-LIFE, our shared medical appointment for weight release at Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, for more than a year now. After graduating from the program, I now get to share with patients the wisdom of living at the highest level through an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. We call it a weight "release" program because we do not focus on weight loss. We want patients to focus on quality of life. If that improves, the weight loss will follow.
TRIM-LIFE is a six-week, integrative medical weight management program. Our unique, interactive format empowers patients to manage both their hunger and their weight by addressing body, mind and spirit. Patients begin to adopt a new relationship with food. By incorporating mindfulness, relaxation and yoga during three-hour weekly sessions, people reduce stress eating, abandon yo-yo dieting andovercome food addictions.
"How can mindfulness and relaxation lead to weight loss?" you might ask. Mindfulness and relaxation techniques will help you identify and release feelings that promote cravings and unhealthy eating behaviors. Our facilitators use hypnotherapy (a form of hypnosis) to change our inner voice that can make sustained weight loss a challenge. Our mind is divided between the conscious and the subconscious. Interestingly, the conscious part only accounts for 10 percent of our mind, but think about how often that part sabotages our good intentions.
Let's go back to the bakery window. I may be having a challenging day and looking for comfort in food. I can hear the running conversation right now inside my head (and see the angel and devil images on my shoulders).
"I've had a stressful day, and I deserve that tea biscuit."
"Yes, but if I eat it my weight will increase, and I'll feel tired and bloated from the sugar and wheat."
"I really don't care about that right now – I just want that comfort food."
It's a no-win decision. If I don't indulge, I'll feel restricted and upset. If I do eat, I'll be angry with myself for not following my anti-inflammatory lifestyle. The answer? I have to change that inner voice to one of control. Through the power of hypnotherapy, I can learn to reply to that inner voice with, "I can have that tea biscuit, but CHOOSE not to."
Hypnotherapy can help shrink one's stomach to its normal size by making people feel satisfied with smaller portions. It helps eliminate the desire for foods that poison our body. Sugar, for example, is not only inflammatory but damaging to our cardiovascular systems. Refined sugar is as damaging to our blood vessels as tobacco smoke. Heart disease and stroke will never be eradicated by smoking cessation alone. As a nation, we must eliminate refined sugar in our diets or risk worsening our chronic disease epidemic.
Ultimately, we teach people how to identify what one is truly hungry for, and to work on attracting those foods into our daily life.
I am proud to be a graduate of TRIM-LIFE and feel honored to facilitate several of our weekly classes. Helping patients focus on proper nutrition, stress management and exercise can significantly impact our chronic disease epidemic. As I have preached so frequently, lowering inflammation will help all of us achieve the highest quality of living. Until next time, be well.
By: Daniel Neides, MD
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