You’ve heard it before, possibly more times than you care to remember. To lose weight simply eat less and exercise more. The problem is there could be nothing further from the truth. The concept is true—eat less and exercise more—but there is nothing simple about weight loss! Don’t let anyone try to convince you otherwise.
I could spend hours, no maybe days or weeks explaining why it is difficult. However, I imagine that isn’t necessary because you already know just how hard it can be. What’s worse is that losing the weight is only half the battle. Keeping the weight off can be even more difficult!
However, there is a secret to successful weight loss. Unfortunately, many people who learn this secret fail to recognize its power. Instead they are like those who seek a get-rich-quick scheme. They are easy targets for the next clever marketer who promises to reveal how to lose weight fast without a proper diet or exercise!
1. The secret or single most important concept to keep in mind for successful long-term weight loss has been well proven. You must choose a healthy diet and lifestyle that you can maintain for the rest of your life. That’s it.
Did you know that the true meaning of a diet is simply what you eat? You are already on a diet of your own choosing whether you think of it that way or not.
The good news is that you have control over what you select for your diet. And every day offers you an opportunity to make small changes to improve. Small changes maintained over time can result in significant results—weight loss, looking better, feeling better, and reduced risk for illness and disease.
The remaining 9 tips will teach you what you need to keep in mind when making changes to your diet.
2. Choose to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. The benefits of these choices are enormous! These foods are chock full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy phytochemicals.
Vitamins and minerals work overtime to keep your body functioning properly. Fiber adds bulk to the food you eat, gives you a sense of fullness and satisfaction, and keeps your digestive system working smoothly. Phytochemicals are the new kids on the block. They are the source of healthy antioxidants and other compounds that benefit us in a multitude of ways scientists have only begun to discover.
Add a small amount of lean meat and fish, and low-fat milk products to round out and balance your diet. But give emphasis to the fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans.
3. Eat fewer refined carbohydrates. Yes, this means cutting back or eliminating sweets and refined breads and cereals. Instead choose to eat whole grains whenever possible. Look for whole grain listed first on the ingredient list and products with more than two grams of fiber per serving. Four or more grams per serving are better.
4. Drink lots of water! Six to eight glasses of water are best. Tea and a small amount of fruit juice can be a source of some of that water. Reduce or eliminate your consumption of additional fruit juice, sugary drinks, or alcoholic beverages.
5. Avoid highly processed foods with added sugars, artificial sweeteners or excessive fat. Many low-fat cookies, cakes, cookies, chips, crackers, and desserts are high in refined carbohydrates and calories and have little or no fiber.
6. Determine how many calories you actually need. Be realistic! Calculate your basal metabolic rate and calculate the additional energy (calories) you need for daily activities. Most women need a minimum of 1200 calories and men 1600 calories a day to prevent their metabolism from slowing down.
7. Keep a food diary to keep track of your food choices and count calories at least for a week or two. Putting in the time and effort to do this may not be fun. But the benefits are HUGE. You will likely gain some essential insight about your current food habits and what you need to do to change.
8. Learn what triggers you to overeat. Jot some notes in your food diary each time you reach for food. Were you actually hungry or were you eating just because the food was there and you could? Was the food a reward or means of soothing your anger or frustration after a difficult day?
The key here is having an understanding of what you are feeling before you eat. This gives you the option to make a different choice.
9. Get support! Whatever the challenge you might be facing, having family or friends who are supportive is a big help! However, be aware of those who may want you to stay just as you are and instead of helping actually sabotage your efforts.
10. Exercise! What can I say? Exercise matters! Be creative and find a form of exercise that you will like.
Take these suggestions to heart. Make one small change at a time. Added up the changes you make with your diet and lifestyle could mean significant weight loss and better health for years to come! Lori Pirog, M.S. is a Nutritionist who shares her knowledge of healthy eating and weight management in her articles, blogs, and websites. To learn more about weight loss, diets, nutrition, and exercise for women visit: http://womenandweight.com/blog/WP Autoblog Software

A few months ago, I was at a phase in my life where I was ready and willing to try anything to lose some weight, including some of the most anticipated and hyped up ‘magic’ weight loss pills out there on the market. But I am certain that I am not alone in my quest and determination to lose some weight – a lot of us women have at one point or another at least considered taking the diet pill if we haven’t at least tried them ourselves.

And in our quest to lose this weight, we are most easily swayed over by the many television advertisements with satisfied men and women who claim to swear by the efficacy of the product – and then we too become easily fooled into trying these miracle products. But how do you really determine which is real and which is just advertising gimmick? How do you choose the best weight loss pill for you?

Weight loss pills can fall into one of two categories – the prescription pill and the non-prescription pill. The prescription pill is one that has been tested and approved by the food and drug authorities, and has been thoroughly researched to account for varying side reactions and other unwanted reactions that the user may have with the substances or chemicals that make up the drug.

Prescription pills for weight loss are however not recommended for the casual weight loss program; neither you nor I, the casual weight watcher, could or should try these. Why? Well first of all, you need your doctor to recommend it to your pharmacy before you can get it, and second of all, your doctor would not recommend it unless you are extremely overweight so as to be a health risk to your own self.

While most prescription weight loss pills are so strong or effective that they can cause severe side reactions in many users, if used under the careful admission of a professional health care provider or a doctor (hence the reason it is called prescription) you can greatly decrease the likelihood of something really bad going wrong. In addition, the doctor would be able to take your dosage up or down depending on your reactions and the results being obtained from the pills.

On the other hand, the non-prescription weight loss pill is the complete reverse. It is seldom researched with the enthusiasm of the prescription pills, and its use is not as closely monitored by the doctor. It is not food and drug approved, and its efficacy cannot be guaranteed. It is however the weight loss pill that either you or I would use to aid in our weight loss, and they can work in a number of ways that include influencing your eating habits, increasing metabolism, or relieving constipation. David Yu writes about Weight Loss and Skin Care. He has personally reviewed many of weight loss products and consider these products to be effective, then bring them to you at ==>www.tip4lady.comget a free wii

One popular weight loss supplements available in the market today take the form of tea. Stores all over sell slimming tea, dieter’s tea and others but all of them are actually the same. They may appear to be effective, but what is not seen may actually harm you.
One of the effects of drinking dieter’s tea is frequent bowel movement. This gives people the feeling of body cleansing. These people may get toxins out of their body but it isn’t exactly the only thing that slimming tea actually does to the body. Slimming tea contains herbs which are natural laxatives. These include aloe, senna, rhubarb root, cascara, buckthorn and castor oil. These are products which are derived from plants and are used since the ancient times because of their potency in treating constipation and to inducing bowel movement.
Cascara, castor oil and senna are substances which are recognized as laxatives available over the counter and are also regulated as drugs. Scientific studies show that diarrhea induced by laxatives does not absorb significant amounts of calories taken in the body.
The reason for this is that laxatives do not act on the small intesines where most of the calories are absorbed. Instead, they work on the large intestines. If taken in large amounts for prolonged periods, it can affect fat absorption of the body. This may lead to greasy diarrhea and loss of weight. Abuse of laxatives is common practice among people who suffer from bulimia and anorexia nervosa.
While weight loss can be guaranteed by overdosing on laxatives, it may also cause permanent damage to the gastrointesitinal tract and the weakening and softening of the bones, a condition known as osteomalacia. Drinkers of slimming teas may actually patronize the product because they are less axpensive and taste better than other laxatives sold in the market. Other people, such as those with eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia nervosa drink dieter’s tea because they work fast and produce watery stool and having loose consistency.
Women may even be more susceptible to the effects of slimming teas. Although they may are not known to interfer directly with the woman’s menstrual cycle and fertility, they should watch out if drinking them causes them to rapidly shed off weight. It is also not safe for pregnant women to be taking in laxatives of any kind. Wise and reponsible herbalists also discourage the use of senna and other herbal products with laxative properties for pregnant women and women who are trying to conceive.
One should be wary about these findings because the labeling of slimming teas in the market today can be absolutely misleading. For instance, they commonly refer to the laxative qualities as “natural bowel cleansing properties” and not specifically use the word “laxative”.Some even use the term “low-calorie” on their labelling. These products in fact, contain essentially no calories nor nutrients whatsoever; unless of course, if they are sweetened.
Adverse effects of misusing laxatives in the form of slimming tea generally occur when taken in more than or longer than recommended. These include nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, fainting, rectal bleeding,electrolyte disorder and dehydration as well as injury and worse, death. It was also reported that excess use of stimulant laxatives cause severe constipation and pain for long periods (as much as for decades) due to the colon losing its function. It eventually led to surgery removing the colon altogether. 1000s of Affordable Beauty, Cosmetics, Diet and Nutrition Products here -
WorldBeautyPages.com,
WorldCosmeticPages.com,
WorldDietPages.comand
WorldNutritionPages.comcharacter education

Aside from dieting and exercise, there aren’t many more options out there for people to use when it comes to losing weight. Unless you are interested in having a tummy tuck or liposuction performed to remove excess body fat. There are weight loss pills available for purchase at drug stores, supermarkets, health stores and on the internet that have been proven to help people lose weight along with their diet and exercise regimens.
Here we will compile a top 10 list of the best weight loss pills out there today as defined by www.consumerpricewatch.net.
Number 10: LipoSeduction 2250: This pill neutralizes starch in the foods you eat. It contains Chitosan, which helps block fat calories, reduces body fat, lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol. All of these features are important when leading a healthy life.
Number 9: 72 Hour Slimming Pill: This is an all-natural recipe that is designed to help its users lose anywhere from 7-15 pounds over a span of 3 days.
Number 8: Trimspa X32: This pill is fairly new to the United States, it was introduced in this country in 2003. This pill has been known to help people lose over 7 pounds during an eight week period if it is combined with exercise and dieting.
Number 7: AmbiSlim PM: Food eaten at night, before you go to bed, adds more fat to your body than food eaten during the daytime. This is a nighttime pill used to cut body fat. It is 76 percent more likely for people that get only five hours of sleep per night to be obese than people that get anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep per night. This pill helps to curb your craving for food during the evening hours.
Number 6: HydroxyCut Hardcore: This is one of the most powerful fat burning pills available on the market today. It uses a five step process to break up and remove fat from your body.
Number 5: CurvaTrim: This pill is the only pill specially formulated for women when they want to lose weight. This pill aids in weight loss, breast enhancement, acne and sexual vigor. This pill will help women lose acne, lose weight, lift and enhance breast tissue and give women the sex drive of a teenager.
Number 4: 7-DFBX: If you take this pill along with a smart carb diet, you will be able to lose 17 pounds in almost 7 days. This pill contains a total of 34 ingredients that work together to promote weight loss by flushing toxins out of your body.
Number 3: Noxycut: This pill is for men over the age of 18 only. No one under 18 should be taking this diet pill. This pill is for men that want a lean and chiseled body and an increased sex drive.
Number 2: Nuphedragen: This pill’s ingredients are extracted from chocolate and are considered responsible for a chocolate high sensation. This pill decreases one’s appetite to the point where you can’t even eat a normal meal.
Number 1: Orovo: This pill is one of the most effective pills available to lose 10 pounds in 10 days while having a clean, clear and smooth complexion. Wordpress Autoblog Plugin

The desire to lose weight and look good in smaller sizes is hardly a solitary phenomenon. Indeed, countless men and women each year yearn to be ten, twenty, even fifty or more pounds lighter. It is this collective desire that keeps the diet industry so profitable, with nearly millions of dollars spent annually on weight loss supplements, diet books, gym memberships, and specialized food for burning fat. Thousands of people, tens of thousands, face the new year with the same resolutions: take off the pounds and keep them off. So why is it, when we diet, we sometimes feel so alone? What is it about trying to lose weight that makes us feel like outsiders in a sea of people who seem content with their lives? Is it because we feel uncomfortable in restaurants, as if we’re forced to limit our option to avoid fatty fried foods and rich cream sauces? Is it because we’re ashamed to admit that we need to lose weight, and hence risk humiliation? There is certainly no reason to feel alone during a process in which so many people engage themselves. This is why companies like Weight Watchers have thrived over the decades, not so much because people find the weight loss plans effective, but because the sense of community is there to make the process of losing weight less clinical and less isolated. When you attend a meeting of men and women who want to lose weight, you gain a sense of camaraderie that establishes a better comfort level for achieving your dieting goals. Such meetings offer support to men and women so they don’t have to feel alone. What do you do, though, if such places don’t exist where you live? What do you do if your schedule is so demanding that by the time you are free to meet, the meetings are over? Truly, it can be inconvenient for a dieter to join a weight loss support group that meets during the day when you are working, more so if the meetings are too far away for even driving. This doesn’t mean you should count out the possibility of continuing a diet alone. Friends and family will always lend support when you need it, but to see a diet to success sometimes it takes more than a sympathizing soul to help push you away from the table. Sometimes it takes a diet buddy to help get you past the temptations and bolster the desire to move and gain a fit lifestyle. Think of it, as you will, like the partnership fostered in twelve-step groups. People seeking to end an addiction are assigned a “sponsor,” a person to turn to in times desperation. When recovering addicts are tempted to fall off the wagon, a quick phone call to their sponsors fortifies the bond between the two, which works to help the addict overcome the pull to stray. So can the concept work with dieters, yet in the case of having a diet buddy, both parties involved seek the support and have much to gain, and lose! Having a diet buddy to lean on in times of trouble and triumph can help the weight loss process. You have more than just a sympathetic ear, you have the wisdom of another person who is going through the exact same trials, shares the same goals, and is willing to help you for your benefit and his. From a diet buddy you can learn dieting methods that may work for you, recipes to help cut the fat from your daily regimen, and if the person is close by you have an exercise partner. If you should happen to find a long-distance buddy through the Internet, it shouldn’t prevent you from communication, either. Take a walk with a portable phone and match your progress together. Use an instant messaging device to recap the day’s weight loss program, and above all else show the encouragement you would want your buddy to give to you. Sharing your hopes and dream can be beneficial in that your own confidence is boosted, and hence your drive to lose weight is strengthened in a diet partnership bond. As you look forward to losing weigh, whether you plan to start now or in the new year, consider sharing your joys and burdens with somebody else who doesn’t want to walk the same road alone. You may find, with a friend, that you will arrive at your destination sooner than you realize. nail accessories

If you’re like the majority of women, especially those approaching menopause, there’s a good chance that you’re not satisfied with your weight and you have a strong desire to shed some pounds. And, just like most women, you’ve probably attempted weight loss on several occasions, only to give up after a short time. Maybe you’ve given up because you became discouraged, or perhaps you were facing a stressful period and you turned to food for comfort. Whatever the reason, there are diet strategies available that will assist you in successfully reaching your weight loss goal. The key is remembering these strategies. I strongly suggest you print out the following list and keep a copy on your refrigerator, in your purse, on your desk, on the dashboard of your car and anywhere else you may frequently look.
• Set Realistic Goals – Set a realistic, short-term weight goal. It’s best to take small steps so that you can feel successful with each accomplishment you make, even those that are small. In other words, set your first goal for 30 days from now, perhaps making that goal to lose 8-10 pounds. This is a very realistic and reachable goal if you stick to a well balanced diet. Once you’ve successfully accomplished this first goal, set your next for another 30 or 60 days and so on. In the end you will feel successful, accomplished and thin.
• Share Your Goals with Others – Yes, tell other people with whom you’re close exactly what your weight loss goal is. By doing so you’ll be more likely to stick with your goal due to the fact that you’ll likely feel humiliated and embarrassed if you should fail. Remind your friends that you only have so many days left before your deadline is up. This is sure to keep you in line because nobody likes to feel like a failure or think that they look like a failure to others.
• Be Organized and Prepared – Be sure to have your refrigerator and cupboards stocked with healthy, low-calorie and low-fat foods. This will prevent you from being tempted to reach for unhealthy snacks. You see, if healthy foods aren’t readily available and you’re looking for a shack, it’s quite likely that you’ll reach for whatever may be available. You’ll avoid this if you have a good supply of fruits, nuts and vegetables around.
• Think Before You Eat – If you’re tempted to grab a bite to eat, stop and think for a moment. Ask yourself if you’re really hungry or instead bored, stressed or perhaps reaching for food simply because it’s in front of you. If you decide you’re not really hungry after all, distract yourself by doing something productive, making a phone call, reading or even going for a walk. Just like with smoking, usually the temptation will pass.
• Keep a Food Journal – Make an entry for each meal and snack you consume, as well as the time and number of calories for these entries. This will assist you a great deal in ensuring that you’re not overeating or exceeding the calorie limit you’ve set for yourself. Even if you should grab a cracker while you’re on the run, be sure to log it in because every calorie should be counted. For a free journal, go to http://www.40isbeautiful.com
• Exercise – Make time to fit in a regular exercise routine, which includes weight training, as this will speed the time at which you lose inches. You see, by building muscle, you’ll be raising your metabolic rate and, therefore, burning many calories, even while you’re resting. I can’t stress enough the significant role exercise plays in weight loss.
No matter what your weight loss goal may be, it’s important to understand that you’re capable of reaching that goal. With a little determination you’ll be well on your way. As a matter of fact, you’re already past the first step because you’ve taken the time to search for information related to weight loss. You will succeed! Susan Megge is the founder of http://www.40isbeautiful.com, a website designed to assist women as they experience weight gain and approach menopause. Susan, a health and fitness expert, started experiencing symptoms of perimenopause and weight gain several years ago and researched various avenues to deal with these symptoms naturally. This led to her discovery of the significant role that exercise plays in making these years very manageable, and even wonderful. Susan Megge is the author of ”Being Beautiful Beyond 40,” a book dedicated to helping women to be inspired, confident and beautiful as they approach menopause.philippine travel agency

I am a proud, retired Air Force veteran and father of five. The days here in Kentucky are almost always nice, good for fishing.
I look forward to nice times with my family, and a little success with my internet business.Free WP Autoposter Plugins

Weight loss is all about burning more calories than you eat, but what’s the best way to do that? Knowing the basics of how to lose weight, how to exercise for weight loss and how to motivate yourself are essential for creating a program that works for you.If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you know it can be a difficult process. But, there are ways to make it easier. Understanding exactly what you need to do to lose weight is your first stepDespite what you may think, losing weight isn’t a mysterious process. In fact, weight loss doesn’t even have to involve strange diets, special exercises or even the ‘magic’ of pills or fitness gadgets. Want the secret to weight loss? Make small changes each and every day and you’ll slowly (but surely) lose those extra pounds.Rules of Weight LossTo lose one pound, you must burn approximately 3500 calories  over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. 1.  Calculate your BMR  (basal metabolic rate). Your BMR is what your body needs to maintain normal functions like breathing, digestion, etc. 2. Calculate your activity level. Use a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you burn while sitting, standing, exercising, lifting weights, etc. throughout the day. 3. Keep track of how many calories you eat. Use a food journal to add up what you eat and drink during the day. If you’re eating less calories than you’re burning, you’ll lose weight. Setting weight loss goals is probably one of the more difficult things to do when you embark on an exercise and/or diet program. How much do you need to lose? That question is hard to answer and often based on your particular goals. If you’re losing weight for your health, your goal might be more modest, say 5-10% of your current weight. But what if you have something more specific in mind like a certain clothing-size you want to fit into? How do you set a reasonable goal for yourself?The key to setting weight loss goals is to follow the standard of goal setting. It needs to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and tangible. Your first step is determining if you really need to lose weight.Do You Need to Lose Weight?If you talk to most people, you’ll probably find that everyone feels like they need to lose weight, even people who appear to be at a healthy weight. Often our weight loss goals are based on what we think we should look like rather than what’s reasonable for our bodies right now. In general, a candidate for weight loss may have the following characteristics: * A BMI of more than 25 * A Waist-Hip ratio of higher than .8 for women and higher than 1.0 for men * An Abdominal Girth measurement of more than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in men Of course, those aren’t the only clues that tell us we need to lose weight. There are those annoying indications like tight clothes, getting out of breath doing simple activities, or stepping on a scale for the first time in awhile. But, before you set goals based on what you think you should weigh, make sure you really need to lose weight.Set Your GoalsIf you’ve determined you do need to lose weight, your next step is to set a reasonable weight loss goal for yourself. You can base your goals on any number of  factors, but a great place to start would be the general recommendations set out by the American College of Sports Medicine which are 5-10% of body weight or one to two pounds per week.   Healthy Weight Loss Carl Matson is a writer and speaker on health and Weight Loss.
More information is available at:Healthy Weight LOSS orLose WeightLogo Design

Copyright (c) 2008 Mark Albertson

The escalation of obesity rates in this country has sparked a flurry of activity among both serious researchers and charlatans to discover the perfect weight loss method. A recent study of four diets revealed that the key to weight loss success isn’t the diet, but how closely you follow it. Investigators from Tufts-New England Medical Center (Journal of the American Medical Association, January 2005) have determined in a study of four popular diets that the key to successful weight loss is not the diet itself, but actually following the diet. In this one-year study of 160 overweight adults, the researchers split people into four diet groups:

· Weight Watchers (low calorie)

· The Zone Diet (low glycemic index)

· The Ornish Diet (low fat)

· The Atkins Diet (low carb)

The conclusion of the investigation was that all of these diets worked when the participants in the study followed them. The problem is that less than one in four were able to stay on their given diet for just this one year.

It should be noted that the hardest diet to follow was Atkins, followed by the Ornish Diet, but according to the authors of the study, “no single diet produced satisfactory adherence rates.” Hypnosis has been recognized as a both a method for helping people to adhere to their diets, and for re-training the mind to “think” like a lean person, in order to be able to give up dieting completely and to develop healthy eating habits that parallel the eating habits of lean people.

That being said, wild and exaggerated claims abound regarding hypnosis as it one of the more appealing methods dangled before the eyes of those who are hungry for a seemingly easy solution to a complex problem.

A careful review of the scientific literatures exposes many of the claims about weight loss through hypnosis on the internet as overly optimistic at best and openly fraudulent at worst.

Considerable controversy swirls around the mechanisms by which hypnosis actually contributes to weight loss. Leon (1976) suggested that hypnosis can help obese people team new healthier eating patterns and retain them. One author remarked that the hypnotic state is characterized by heightened concentration, suggestibility, and relaxation (Mott, 1982). Certain individuals are thought to be capable of achieving this state more readily than others. A so-called hypnotic “induction” whereby a hypnotist using certain procedures to bring an individual into the hypnotic state is not a prerequisite for achieving the state (Mott, 1982). Hypnosis, contrary to the claims of some intemet advertisers cannot magically reprogram people’s minds. In short, methods of hypnosis run the gamut from simple relaxation techniques to formal inductions administered by hypnotists, but should not be considered supernatural in its effects.

Studies showing weight loss as a result of hypnosis alone are few in number and suffer from methodological problems. Andersen (1985) reported that following 8 weekly treatment sessions and 12 weeks of practicing self-hypnosis subjects lost an average of 20.2 pounds. Cochrane and Friesen (1986) concluded that moderate weight loss was obtained by subjects using hypnosis. The experimental group, lost more weight than the controls and maintained the weight loss at a six month follow-up.

Mott (1982) stated that “although hypnosis is sometimes referred to as a method of treatment, it is more accurate to regard hypnosis as a facilitator of a number of different treatment methods.” The study concludes that the use of hypnosis for a moderate weight loss is effective using hypnotherapy. Hypnosis Plus Behavioral Weight Management A number of studies indicate that hypnosis combined with a behavioral weight management program contributes significantly to weight loss. Bolocofsky, Spinler, and Coulthard-Morris (1985) revealed that the addition of hypnosis to a behavioral program designed to alter eating patterns increased the amount of weight loss at 8-month and 2year follow-ups. Both the behavioral and hypnosis programs were tailored to each subject individually in the study. Bolocofsky et al. (1984) acknowledged that “the less a person weighed at the start of the program the more likely he was to lose weight and maintain the reduction”. Hypnosis combined with behavioral weight management seems to be more effective for small amounts of weight loss. Another study of 45 females found that supplementing a basic self-management program with hypnosis resulted in a slightly greater amount of weight loss at a 3-month follow-up (Barabasz and Spiegel, 1989). The group for which individualized hypnotic suggestions were developed lost more weight than those exposed only to a group procedure. Kirsch (1996) noted a weight loss of 6.00 pounds without hypnosis and 11.83 pounds with hypnosis based on a meta-analysis of six studies. Allison and Faith (1996), however, disagreed and maintained that hypnosis only enhances cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy slightly if at all. Long-term individualized hypnosis combined with a behavioral weight management program appears to contribute to modest weight loss and helps maintain it.

Hypnosis operates mainly as a way to increase participants’ attention to suggestions of behavioral programs as well as to reinforce their weight loss. Studies using behavioral treatments successfully “typically have developed incentive systems to bridge the gap between the short-term -reinforcers provided during treatment and long-term goal of weight reduction” (Bolocofsky et al., 1985). Hypnosis can fulfill this role by stepping in as a psychological reinforcer. Hypnosis may assist subjects in learning positive eating behaviors and creating healthy long-term patterns of food intake. Subjects are then more likely to incorporate the rules of a particular program into their behavioral regimes (Bolocofsky, 1985). Kroger (1970) points out the similarities between hypnosis and behavioral treatments which share an emphasis on visualization and imagination. The literature suggests that hypnosis is an ideal addition to behavioral weight management programs which tend to need supplementation to achieve long-term results.

The Hodgepodge Problem in Weight Loss Studies The use of subjects of varying ages and backgrounds represents one challenge that plagues studies of hypnosis as a useful treatment for weight loss. Andersen (1985) utilized subjects ranging in age from 21-56 years, a considerable spread. Subjects in another study ranged in age from 17 to 67 resulting in considerable potential differences between the control group and the hypnosis group (Bolocofsky et al., 1985). The fact that subjects were not matched with regard to age could exaggerate results of weight loss as a result of hypnosis that may more accurately be attributed to age differences. McCabe, Jupp, and Collins (I985) suggested a tendency for younger women to drop out of weight loss programs relative to older women leading to a possible masking of potential effects of age. Bolocofsky et al. (1984) indicated that successful hypnotic weight loss participants were higher in self-control, weighed less at the start of the study, married, and more expressive. A wide variety of factors influence whether a given subject will lose weight through a hypnotic weight loss program. Anderson (1985) cites the absence of matched subjects as a weakness in her experiment. More studies with subjects closely matched on various characteristics should be conducted to substantiate claims about the effectiveness of hypnosis for weight loss when combined with a behavioral program.

Most studies require weekly consultation with a hypnotist for 8 weeks or more in addition to self-hypnosis (Bolocofsky et al., 1984; Bolocofsky et al., 1985, Andersen, 1985; Cochrane & Friesen, 1986; McCabe et al., 1985). Internet advertisers who claim weight loss will occur following a single hypnotic session, especially a group hypnotic session, are frauds selling dreams to desperate customers. Allison and Faith (1996) underscore that “there is currently no panacea for the treatment of obesity and hypnosis is no exception”. Treatment using hypnosis then is not a quick and easy way out of weight troubles. In order to achieve any benefits from its use, hypnosis must be practiced on a regular basis for a significant period of time.

Conclusions and Limitations

Hypnosis has been shown to be an effective treatment for low to moderate amounts of weight loss. One qualification of this statement is that the hypnotic program should be tailored to each individual. Hypnosis is a process by which an individual enters a state of relaxation and heightened suggestibility, Transformation of the brain through some mysterious process defines only the hypnosis of pseudoscientists. Quick-fix hypnosis is probably much less effective than an 8 week program using both in-session hypnosis, at-home self-hypnosis, and behavioral weight management. The only people who claim hypnosis is easy, simple, and quick are those trying to sell people on their program. The largest obstacle in weight loss is its long-term retention, but follow-ups of hypnosis as a weight loss treatment have been conducted at the longest after two years. Weight loss tapes lack scientific evidence to support their success and should be purchased with this knowledge in mind. Weight loss through hypnosis has been largely ignored by scientists and more studies with control groups and large subject pools are required to understand its action and import. Mark Albertson is a Clinical Hypnotherapist in Washington State who now trains people interested in learning hypnosis. Mark also has a vibrant coaching business, helping people in clinical hypnotherapy to create profitable practices. You can visit his information website at http://themindcraft.com or his hypnotherapy training/coaching site at http://hypnoprofit.com .WP Robot Wordpress Autoposter

I am a proud, retired Air Force veteran and father of five. The days here in Kentucky are almost always nice, good for fishing.
I look forward to nice times with my family, and a little success with my internet business.Spain mortgages