Hypnosis and Weight Loss Articles
More people turning to hypnosis for weight loss
CNN.com 9/5/05
(AP) -- Imagine a world where chocolate cake holds no temptation, where celery is an indulgence and food cravings float away in a balloon.
Now open your eyes to the trancelike world of Americans who are turning to hypnosis to drop extra poundage.
In a nation where two-thirds of the population is overweight or obese, some dieters are hoping hypnosis will finally break food's spell over
them.
It's working for Cynthia Lewis, a San Diego resident who is no longer tempted to polish off a plate of cookies when she smells them baking.
"Now just smelling (the cookies) is enough," she said.
Despite its hokey, magic-show aura, hypnosis is used as an alternative treatment in medical institutions to manage everything from pain to
smoking to weight loss.
And as waistlines continue to bulge, hypnotherapists say they're seeing more patients desperate for a way to control their eating.
"The country is getting fatter and fatter, so different weight-loss methods are getting more attention," said Jean Fain, a psychologist who
uses hypnosis at Harvard Medical School's Cambridge Hospital.
In the past five years, Fain said, the number of patients she treats for weight loss has doubled. For many of those patients, hypnosis is a last
resort.
That was the case for Lewis, who grew tired of dropping and gaining the same 30 pounds on various liquid diets.
Three months ago, she began seeing Brian Alman, who teaches self-hypnosis for Kaiser Permanente, the Oakland, California-based health
insurer. So far, Lewis said the therapy has helped her change her lifestyle.
Generally, the hypnotic state is defined as a state of focused concentration -- a condition akin to being so absorbed in a good book that the
outside world seems to fade away, said Guy Montgomery, president of the Society of Psychological Hypnosis, a division of American
Psychological Association.
It's during this state that patients become more open to suggestion.
For a stress eater, Montgomery might tell patients to picture themselves in a relaxing place whenever they feel the impulse to overeat.
Whether hypnosis will bring results varies from person to person as in any other treatment, Montgomery said. "We don't view (hypnosis) as
a stand-alone therapy, but as an additional technique," he said.
Kevin Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale, said it's probably the range of therapies that aids weight
loss, not the hypnosis alone.
"The prevailing thought is that there's really not much to hypnosis for weight loss on its own," Brownell said. But people become so
frustrated trying to lose weight that they give anything a try -- especially something that seems as simple as hypnosis, he said.
But for those who dreamed hypnosis might be the long-awaited magic weight-loss bullet, practitioners and patients alike caution that it's not
that easy.
Patients often come to Fain hoping she'll snap her fingers and knock out their impulse to overeat. In fact, she said it can take months --
sometimes years -- to help patients get a handle on the underlying causes of their overeating.
For Lee Hubbard of Orange County, California, who learned how to go into a hypnotic state through Alman's tapes, hypnosis came easily.
Now whenever she feels like overeating, she takes a deep breath instead of reaching for the bowl of Hershey's Kisses. She closes her eyes
for a moment and pictures herself walking toward the candy bowl. As she is about to grab a fistful, she instead pictures herself walking
right past the bowl.
Hubbard remains fully awake -- she is simply calmer, focused and more relaxed.
"It's like a movie screen where you observe yourself in the situation. It lets you control the arena of your thought," she said.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Losing It: The Ultimate Diet Challenge
Dateline NBC New - 2004 January
by Paul L. Cerrato
They're six members of the class of '78, looking forward to their 25th high school reunion this fall. The problem is that they all need to lose
weight. What might work for them? The class secretary is going to try and extreme exercise program, the class flirt will visit a hypnotist,
and the math whiz gets her own personal exercise coach. They and the others will each have a different weight loss plan, and they are all in
it together. Who will go to the head of the class?
Meanwhile, the lady's man back in school, Marc Merlis, tips the scale at 245 pounds. His task is even greater, to lose 50 pounds - which
might be tough, given his occupation. He's a pastry chef with a major weakness for good food.
What's happened to Marc is that around the time he had kids, his exercise fell off and he developed poor eating habits. Today his cholesterol
is 322 and according to his doctor, dangerously high.
Marc agreed to let Boston hypnotist Tom Nicoli help him. At his first session, the hypnotist takes Marc up and imaginary flight of stairs.
The journey lasts a half an hour. The goal is to revisit his thinner days and envision a healthy lifestyle.
The next day back at work, Marc is reeling from the experience.
Marc: "And the strangest thing, I see this big belly - the belly button was a big red hole with fire coming out of it."
Don't laugh. After one week under hypnosis, are you ready? Marc lost 13 pounds.
Over at the Merils household, someone's happy with the hypnotist.
Cheryl Merlis: "Did you tell him your wife's all excited 'cause now she can run up, she can actually jump on you and wrap her legs right
around you?"
Now, the man who couldn't get motivated can't be held back. Marc's got himself a fitness trainer, religiously listens to tapes made by the
hypnotist, and all he wants is healthy food. For lunch he's having a black bean burger, asparagus and a salad.
In January, Marc wouldn't even get into his varsity jacket. Now his wife has a nickname for him: Droopy Drawers. After only three months
under hypnosis, Droopy Drawers has lost the most so far, a staggering 40 pounds.
Results from the Ultimate Diet Challenge
1st Place
All of it seems to help. He says his gut is gone, and are you ready? After three months on Atkins, the former football tough guy has lost
more than anyone - 50 pounds, a third of the way toward his goal.
2nd Place
The pastry chef lost the second-most - 40 of his 50-pound goal - with the help of hypnosis.
3rd Place
With the help of her own personal coach. And our homecoming queen Kathy is next, almost halfway home, down 18 pounds on Weight
Watchers.
4th Place
Maybe the only surprise is that Lynne Frank, training hard for the marathon, has almost lost the least - only 14 of her 35- pound goal. But
remember, Lynne is replacing fat with heavier muscle.
5th Place
And finally, there is Gio, the injured athlete, who of all six, can exercise the least. On Slim Fast, he's lost 10 of the 35 pounds he wants to
shed.
That's progress all around, but remember, their reunion is six months away. That's plenty of time to lose more weigh - or gain it all back.
"Dateline" has been with these dieters since January, and we'll continue to check in with them over the next few months. We'll also take you
to their 25th reunion in October, to see the results of the Ultimate Diet.
ABC News
Hypnosis Can Help Shed Weight Without Pill Popping
Weighing the Pros and Cons of Losing the Pounds with Hypnosis
Sept.. 19, 2005 - As Americans gain girth, and yo-yo dieting or diet pills rarely have lasting effects, many are at a loss when it comes to
losing weight.
The latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics show that 30 percent of U.S. adults 20 years of age and older -- more than 60
million people -- are obese. And kids are following suit, with the number of overweight young people tripling since 1980.
Being overweight or obese increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Hypnosis is an age-old technique designed to speak to your subconscious mind and alter your behavior. Known to work well to quit
smoking, can it re-program your eating habits?
Tried-and-True Weight Loss
Judy Lederman has struggled with her weight all her life, and said hypnosis helped her lose 95 pounds.
"I've tried every diet known to man," she said.
Not wanting to deal with another diet, she went to a hypnotist. At the time, Lederman weighed 224 pounds.
Initially, she was skeptical. Not so, when she saw the results.
Her hypnotist, Rosemarie Schulman, uses a two-part process. First, she gets the patient to understand his or her behavior. And then,
through a relaxed state of mind, she suggests they alter their habits.
"When they are completely relaxed and open to suggestion,'' said Schulman, "then you go into saying things like, 'The sugar cravings you
have in the afternoon no longer interest you. The wonderful smell of fresh fruit, and taste, now interest you and make you feel very strong."
Three years since Lederman's first session, she now weighs 129 pounds and still works with her hypnotist to maintain her healthy lifestyle.
"I used to go out of my way to find the best bakery or the best cakes or pastries," Lederman said. "At this point, I would go anywhere to
find the best hypnotist, the best gym. My whole way of thinking has turned on that. And the pastries, they can just sit in the bakery."
Can Hypnosis Work for Everyone?
Dr. David Katz, an ABC medical contributor and a professor at Yale University, said hypnosis is not the definitive solution to weight control
or weight loss. He also recommends exercise and seeing a nutritionist.
"Hypnosis can make a contribution [to weight loss] but it's not the be-all, end-all," Katz said.
He believes hypnosis has gained ground because people feel frustrated that nothing else seems to work.
"People who are more submissive tend to be more hypnotizable," said Katz.
If you're resistant to the idea of hypnosis, it may not work, he warned. "It's not magic; it's a form of psychotherapy," he said.
About 15 percent of the nation's population is highly hypnotizable, while 10 percent to 15 percent can't be hypnotized at all, according to a
study by Stanford University.
Hypnosis is a temporary, altered state of consciousness. It's a condition akin to being so absorbed in a good book that the outside world
seems to fade away.
Recommended Practitioner
Because you're in a compromised state during hypnotism, it's important to check the person's credentials.
"Hypnosis itself is non-toxic," Katz said. "But if you're very impressionable, someone could take advantage of you."
Choose a hypnotist who is a credentialed health care provider, like a clinical psychologist or someone with psychology counseling.
The only downside may be that you've wasted money if it doesn't work for you, Katz said.
Hypnosis can have numerous other applications besides weight loss. For instance, athletes turn to hypnosis at times to improve their
performance. Clinicians have been known to use it as therapy for victims of incest, rape and physical abuse.
Hypnosis can also treat sleep disorders, migraines, anxieties, ulcers, nausea and depression.
Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures
|