You lose the pounds and they find you again.

Perhaps like many of us you have tried diets, slimming clubs, gyms and more only to lose weight and put it back on.

How long have you been trying to lose weight and keep it off?

Perhaps like many of us you have tried diets, slimming clubs, gyms and more only to lose weight and put it back on. I know how this feels. I spent many years like a hamster on a wheel going round this cycle. Diets rarely work long term, you can feel deprived and constantly exerting willpower is exhausting, for most of us this can’t be sustained. Using mind power instead of willpower I have dropped 3 dress sizes easily and naturally and my clients have had similar results.

Here are the facts.

Weight gain isn’t just about overeating or under exercising, there are often emotional and social reasons behind it. We might eat or drink as a reward after a hard day’s work or as a comfort for feelings of stress, loneliness etc. It might be due to boredom or habits ingrained since childhood. Cravings can also be powerfully emotionally charged. Diets and willpower alone don’t really address this, so no wonder they rarely last!

Now here’s the big question.

Since diets and willpower rarely work long term, what does work?

The good news is that I’m going to introduce you to a new research-based method for weight loss and the fantastic results it is delivering. This technique is designed to help users turbo- charge their motivation and confidence to lose weight and keep it off. It has also been effective for increasing fitness and enabling other positive behaviour changes.

Users have described it as a ‘mind-set shift’, where they exercised or ate healthily because they wanted to, rather than feeling they had to.

When I talk to clients, friends and colleagues or even consider myself, I am struck by the fact that most of us know what we need to do to lose excess weight. So it’s rarely about discovering the right method, rather it’s about getting and maintaining the motivation and confidence to eat less or differently and to exercise a bit more, then being able to keep it going, even in the face of challenges. What’s your take on that? Do you find it hard to become and stay motivated too?

Here are the proven facts.

Research published by the University of Plymouth and Queensland University of Technology showed that overweight people who used a new motivational intervention called Functional Imagery Training (FIT) lost an average of five times more weight than those using motivational talking therapy alone. In addition, users lost 4.3cm more around their waist circumference in six months – and continued to lose weight after the intervention had finished.

It is a new way of supporting behaviour change by strengthening motivation.

It uses particular counselling techniques to help people think about their most important goals, and mental imagery exercises to strengthen desire for those goals. It teaches self-management techniques so individuals become their own therapist and continue losing weight by themselves. FIT aims to produce a ‘mind-set shift’ where individuals exercise or eat healthily because they want to, not because they have to. You can read more about the research at Plymouth University

Professor Jackie Andrade at Plymouth University explains that this new method is “based on two decades of research showing that mental imagery is more strongly emotionally charged than other types of thought.” This is what can make cravings so powerful. Functional Imagery turns that around and uses that powerful, emotionally charged imagery in a positive way to help you achieve your goals. Incidentally, there is also a fantastic cravings buster exercise designed to get you through any weaker moments and keep you on track for success.

What do people who have used this method say?

Participants in the research study have said:

“It’s all about changing one’s mind-set isn’t it? I feel so positive and motivated because I never looked at it like this before.”

“I find it so easy now to keep the weight off because the imagery has become second nature, no effort. A lapse over a holiday or weekend is no big deal I simply go back to basics and use the imagery exercises to get me back to where I want to be.”

Here’s the big deal.

Dr. Linda Solbrig who completed the research as part of her PhD studies describes how the study involved only four hours (approximately an hour per session) of consultations between the specially trained therapist and each participant. She said “It’s fantastic that people lost significantly more weight on this intervention, as, unlike most studies, it provided no diet/physical activity advice or education. People were completely free in their choices and supported in what they wanted to do.”

She goes on to explain that this study is exceptional, as people continued to lose weight even after the treatment ended. Demonstrating the sustained effectiveness of this new method.

Bonus tip:

Imagine you are in your kitchen. You open the fridge door and see a lemon on the shelf.You reach out and pick up the ripe yellow lemon. You feel the weight of the lemon in your hand..you slide your fingers over the smooth waxy skin… feel the dimpled texture… You lift the lemon to your face and breathe in that lemony smell… and then you take a knife and slice the lemon open.

As the bright yellow flesh is exposed you see the juice run out… a lovely lemony citrus aroma fills the room. You cut a slice of lemon and put it in your mouth. You bite down on it …. the juice runs over your tongue… your mouth fills with the taste of taste of lemon juice.

If, like most people, you could taste and smell the lemon that’s the power of mental imagery.

Check out this interview with Professors Jackie Andrade and Jon May of Plymouth University.

What’s the bottom line?

I am delighted to be one of a small number of therapists in the UK offering this approach.One of my clients recently commented

“Still very much on target and maintaining my motivation and focus, which I definitely attribute to the FIT (functional imagery) and hypnotherapy sessions.”

If you have had enough of the yo-yo weight or diet treadmill, get in touch. You are unique so, together, we can create a personal weight loss plan for you. It might include hypnotherapy and/or functional imagery to harness the power of your imagination and unconscious mind. This can boost your motivation to achieve and maintain successful weight loss. It is not a quick fix or magic wand, but if you want to change for good and are prepared to work with me, it can be very effective.