How to lose weight through hypnosis?

Going against the grain of diets, hypnosis can help you lose inches, but without frustration. A gentle method to limit compulsions, by learning to better manage your emotions. Explanations.

Put an end to snacking once and for all, change (bad) eating habits... Going through the door of a hypnotherapist's office can help get rid of a behavior that has made us fat. Before consulting this professional, a piece of advice: identify the origin of the problem, the one that led to the gain of a few superfluous kilos. The goal you want to achieve can be ambitious, while remaining realistic. You don't climb Everest all at once! This objective must be formulated in a positive way.

 “In any case, with hypnosis, we are not talking about weight loss, insists Carine Grzesiak, psychologist and hypnotherapist in Paris. Indeed, the brain does not like loss. We are therefore going to banish this word loss. This is an important prerequisite for achieving your goals. »

food and emotions

At the beginning of the session, the therapist asks his patient the purpose of his visit, in order to be able to offer him tailor-made sessions. “Very often, when someone always eats very fatty and/or very sweet, there is a connection to emotions. We will try to see what emotional crutch food represents for this person. Food is only the tip of the iceberg. Once the emotions have been exteriorized, the work can begin. “Making emotions speak has a very calming effect. The patient will need less food. We also reflect together on what could be put in place to soothe, find other solutions that do not go through food. This requires in-depth work, generally 10 to 15 sessions. » Count on average from 70 to 120 € per session, depending on the location of the practitioner.

Between waking and sleeping

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness. It's the state we find ourselves in when we drive home from work, on a route we've taken a thousand times, and the brain goes into "autopilot" mode. When you push the door of your house, you realize that you have no more memories of the journey, or part of the journey. In the office of a hypnotherapist, the patient is immersed in this state, to allow him to more easily receive the suggestions of the practitioner. The latter will, for example, suggest to him the pleasure he takes in eating healthier foods. During the session, the patient is asked to close their eyes, but it is not mandatory. He is seated or lying down, calm, without any external disturbance. The therapist invites him to take three deep breaths, to relax, a prelude to the installation of a modified state of consciousness.

Far from the show hypnosis

The patient remains an actor throughout the session. He is at no time manipulated, or forced to do anything that does not suit him. Little by little, he changes his vision of certain foods.

He can thus detach himself, make foods identified as “comforting”, such as chocolate or crisps, less desirable, and reinforce his attraction to fruits and vegetables.

The unconscious part of the brain comes into play during the session to modify the behaviors that hinder daily life, "break" automatisms sometimes installed for many years. For example, the chocolate bar or the packet of cakes eaten every evening in front of the TV, without even thinking. He is then asked to find ideas for “replacement”: read a good novel, slip into a hot bath, make a phone call to a friend, or simply do nothing. Old habits are replaced by new ones, more in line with his goals. This allows, back home, to take a step back, to be less stressed, and therefore less in compulsion. By changing your eating habits, hypnosis can therefore help you reach your ideal weight. No magic wand, but a few sessions accompanied by a good dose of determination could allow you to lose 2 to 3 kilos per month.

Long-term work

Hypnosis is for anyone who needs it. Better, of course, to be particularly receptive to it, it will increase the chances of success, because you have to accept the idea of ​​letting go. If you resist, it will be more complicated, and will take longer to get results. A few sessions with a hypnotherapist can also allow, if the person wishes, to learn the basics of self-hypnosis. A real asset for perpetuating, over the long term, the results obtained, and stabilizing its weight. Because the adoption of new reflexes, to replace the old ones, is not done in a week. Repeating the exercise at home, again and again, increases your chances of success. A gentle method, like mindfulness meditation, to be practiced without moderation. “Only psychotic or epileptic people should abstain, as a precaution. »

The limits of HYPNOSIS

“When a person tells me that they would like to stop sweets, or aperitif biscuits, it is possible to do a session so that they rather want something else, like carrot sticks. But be careful, this only works when a single food is concerned. If the person wants to stop eating burgers, pasta and pizza, and crave fish and green vegetables, it is doomed. For hypnosis to work, it must be validated, fully accepted by the patient. Similarly, some pose – virtually – a gastric band under hypnosis. This is intended to push the person to eat as little as if they had actually gone to the operating room to perform this heavy operation. “Personally, I would never do it, because I find it very violent. This maintains the idea that the person is not autonomous in relation to that. In addition, for the therapist, it is very complicated to properly dose the ring, it can be dangerous. »