This is the first in what will be a series of articles from our Licenced Practitioners, relating experiences of the Hypno-Band.
Martina McKeough runs Balance Hypnosis and is a specialist in weight loss hypnotherapy, binge eating and eating disorders. Her main clinics are based in Nottingham and Newark with a satellite clinic in London. Online sessions are available on Skype and Facetime. A range of our hypnosis downloads can be found online as well as on Amazon, Itunes and Google Play. Visit Balance Hypnosis Here
At Balance Hypnosis in Nottingham and London we have been using the Hypno-Band weight loss program to help our clients create healthier lifestyles and shed pounds in weight. Over the past five years we have seen hundreds of clients and the vast majority have gone on to lose weight. It is difficult to keep track of all of our success stories but in recent years one of our clients Alan stands out.
When Alan started his weight loss journey with us he did not even know exactly how much we weighed because an average bathroom scale did not have the ability to go over 19 stone. He did however know that his weight was impacting his energy levels and could seriously impact his health. He therefore resolved to visit his local hospital after our first session together because he knew that they had some scales that could measure his weight accurately.
During our first appointment together we had a long discussion about his eating patterns and the types of food he was eating. We also discussed emotional eating and how this can impact our food choices even when we are not hungry. He was also given a food diary to fill out between each of his sessions but I asked him to add additional information. Not only did I want to know the food he was eating each day I also wanted him to scale his hunger from 1 to 10 and write it down against everything he ate (1=zero hunger and 10=starving). This helps a client build an awareness of real hunger versus emotional hunger. He was also told to aim to eat at level 7 out of 10 as we never want our clients to go hungry.
I also asked Alan to now eat his meals without any distractions. No TV watching and eating, no reading the paper or looking at a mobile phone. Again taking the time to be mindful about eating assists a client in building an awareness of their hunger levels rather than being preoccupied doing something else.
During that first session Alan was also given a short hypnosis session which used suggestion hypnosis to help him visualise his stomach reducing down in size. In addition I added in extra suggestions to deal with any comfort eating that was occurring. Alan was then sent away with a Hypno-Band hypnosis audio to listen to daily before our next session.
Two weeks later Alan came back to see me feeling energetic and enthusiastic. He told me that he had managed to arrange a visit to the hospital weighing scales and had found that he weighed just under twenty seven stone. Clearly he needed to lose a significant amount of weight but I asked him to focus on just losing half a stone at a time. Taking small measurable steps towards a weight loss goal is much simpler than feeling overwhelmed by the long journey that was ahead of him.
During this next session we spent time going through his food diary and identifying the times of day where he was eating food out of habit rather than real hunger. We discussed strategies to overcome his triggers. Alan quickly understood that being mindful about what he was eating rather than mindless had already made him eat and drink less. He quickly realised that he was also drinking a number of pints of beer after work to unwind which were not helping with the weight loss so he resolved to have only one drink a night of a spirit with a diet mixer. Over our coming sessions even this habit began to dwindle. We also continued our hypnosis sessions and the suggestions that he would eat less and feel full more quickly.
By session three is was clear that the process was working. Alan was losing weight quickly and easily and the nurse at his local hospital who watched him come in for the weekly weigh in was impressed with his progress. His weekly food diary also began to show huge improvements as his old snacking habits began to disappear and instead he had just three meals a day which were incredibly balanced in terms of food choices. Our suggestion hypnosis sessions also continued and because of his amazing progress we began preparation for the virtual surgery in the next session.
By session four six weeks after Alan had begun his journey he had lost a total of a stone and a half. He had also begun to start going on regular walks and was starting to feel fitter. To continue to train the subconscious to eat less we now conducted the virtual operation to install the Hypno-Band.
At the end of my sessions with Alan I asked him to stay in touch with me so I could support him on rest of his journey. Without fail every Monday morning I would get an email from him detailing his latest weight loss. My May of that year he was at 23 stone and ½ a pound (he was annoyed by the half pound!). By Christmas Day he was at 20 stone and a ¼ pound (yes he was frustrated by that as well).
Now a couple of years later Alan has settled at a weight which is around 17 stone a whopping 10 stone less than where he started. He feels healthier and fitter and he looks amazing. On his last email to me he sent me some pictures of him wearing his old clothes which are hanging off him. What an amazing client and weight loss journey that I am proud of have played a part in.
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