Have you considered they way you talk to yourself, may play a part in the difficulties you experience with weight and dieting?
Language and neurology
In the field of Hypnosis, we use many different labels for different patterns of language; one which is really interesting is Negation. It is easier to give you an example of a Negation first before explaining it, as it's totally impossible to process a negative (Negation) in your neurology. For example don't whatever you do, please don't think of a dancing dog. What is in your mind? Yes a dancing dog, as you have to think about the dancing dog in order not to think about it. We do this all the time, consider parents advising their young child "don't touch the paint" what does the child do they do touch the paint.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we all talk to ourselves, you know that little voice in your head. We often don't really pay too much attention to what we say to ourselves, as this inner commentary is running on autopilot most of the time. However it can be quite shocking when we do pay attention, as it is usually unpleasant.
Can you imagine, if you spoke to friends or family in the same way? You are probably thinking that you wouldn't have any friends. How many of the thousands of things you say to yourself every day, is positive and how many are about how bad, rubbish or what a failure you are? That voice in your head could actually be responsible or certainly play a part in your successes or lack of successes or dare I say it failures in any area of your life. But it is YOUR voice, which places you in a great position to change it doesn't it?
If we put this into the context of weight loss, you are on another weight loss diet, you have to follow the rules of the weight loss diet, you must eat this and not eat that, let's say on this weight loss diet, chocolate is forbidden, its bad food. So you say to yourself" I won't eat chocolate" I don't want to eat it, its bad food. Think of the term negation, the unconscious will process your words as this "eat chocolate", and then you find yourself craving for the chocolate, and you feel so weak for having the craving, wouldn't it be better if you really didn't want to eat the chocolate to say yourself simply " I'm ok"
You could also think of other examples of how our inner dialogue can impact upon our results, lets continue with in the context of weight loss, you wake in the morning you are on your weight loss diet, what are your initial thoughts? Previous clients have told me they have thought "Oh god how will I get through today" "this is so hard" " I can't do it" within your mind you have to picture all of the statements in order to make sense of them, within your mind you will create an internal representation of today being hard and possibly thinking back to times in the past when you have been on weight loss diet and really struggled, how motivating is that to start the day?
Of course you could chose to believe that you have no control over what you think or say to yourself, which is an excellent belief to hold onto, if you want to continue to talk to yourself in a negative way.
DON'T Try this exercise whatever you do. Sorry I could not help it..
Allow yourself to feel silly just for a moment Say aloud..
"I'm pissed off" ok, now say "I'm peed off" and now say "I'm weeded off" and finally "I'm tinkled off"
What did you notice during that exercise? Interesting isn't it? This can emphasise how the words we use have a profound effect upon our neurology. Here is another exercise imagine now putting a lemon into your mouth, I bet your mouth reacted, produced more saliva, your body reacted as if it was true, that you were actually putting a lemon into your mouth. Words do not just reflect reality, they can create reality. The job of the unconscious mind is to follow them not to question them.
What would happen if you made yourself accountable for your own internal chatter and external dialogue what you say to others? A huge percentage of emotions come from how you talk yourself. How much benefit would you get from spending some time monitoring, what you say to yourself in your head? What would you do if someone came up to on the street and said this stuff to you? I know if someone had said the stuff I used to say to myself in past if would have been really insulted and hurt by what they said. It's profound how we seem to think its ok to speak unkindly to ourselves. In truth it's not ok its can be quite damaging.
How many times do you say?
"I can't" when you really mean you won't
Or" I'll try" when really, your choosing not to
There is not try, you either do it or not do it
Remember you become, what you think and talk about most of the time, now strictly speaking, that would mean my teenage daughters would in fact become boys, however the point I'm making is successful people talk about what they want and yes unsuccessful people talk about and think about what they don't want.
You become what you focus on, that is why your entire life until now, is a reflection of the quality of questions you ask yourself, decide from today to ask the right questions, which lead you to what you do want. Of course I'm not suggesting this will be easy, just possible.
If you would like further information on how Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP can help you lose weight, or change your relationship with food
Alexia Elliott is a leading specialist in weight related issues.
For further details on Empowerment Hypnotherapy's weight loss system, please visit Alexia Elliott Empowerment Hypnotherapy Leicester Hypnotherapy in Leicester with hypnotherapist Alexia Elliott.
For further details on Empowerment Hypnotherapy's weight loss system, please visit Alexia Elliott Empowerment Hypnotherapy Leicester Hypnotherapy in Leicester with hypnotherapist Alexia Elliott.
Free consultation session at Empowerment Hypnotherapy Leicester www.weightlossleicester.co.uk
Alexia Elliott a Leicestershire based Clinical Hypnotherapist, Master Practitioner of NLP & TLT, explains how the words we use affect our body and motivation to weight loss.
