Symptom vs. Cause in Weight Loss
Treating the symptoms of being overweight is like putting a band-aid on an infected wound. Learn how treating the cause as well as the symptom helps you to lose weight permanently.
The other day one of my clients said to me: ‘I have a friend who tried hypnotherapy for weight loss, but it didn’t work for her.’ She was wondering why some people seemed to respond to weight loss hypnotherapy, while others did not. I explained to her that not all hypnotherapy is equal; that some therapists focus very strongly on eliminating the symptoms of being overweight, which are usually overeating, lack of motivation to exercise, sugar/fat addiction and alcohol addiction.
Many people believe that their eating patterns are simply habit, and that hypnotherapy can help them to break that habit. In some cases this is true. But in many cases, the overeating is serving a purpose. Sometimes it alleviates anxiety. Sometimes it provides comfort. It may even serve to numb emotional pain. Whatever the case, it is not the vice that is the problem, but the need for the vice.
This is not to say we should ignore the symptoms of being overweight. These are definitely part of the problem and they need to be addressed; but if you treat the symptom without addressing the cause, it’s like trying to heal an infected sore with a bandaid. It will not work; or at best, it will work only for a short while, and then the symptoms will return; usually even more rampant than before. This is essentially why dieting doesn’t work. When you go on a diet, you are looking for a short term fix (whether you know it or not), and you’re not addressing the real issue, which is your attitude towards food.
In fact, food restriction sometimes exacerbates the problem because when you decide to reduce your food intake, you may find yourself becoming fixated on food, preparation of food and what you are going to eat for your next meal. By trying to eat less food, you are focusing on food and therefore creating a paradox. It’s kind of like saying ‘Don’t think of an Elephant!’ So instead of trying ‘not’ to eat certain foods, try in stead to focus on changing your eating habits.
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