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Hypnosis, thanks to the movies, the very word conjures up the image of a beady-eyed hypnotherapist swinging an old watch repeating the words, "You are getting sleepy."

Use any Internet search engine and you will find hundreds of thousands of pages devoted to the subject. Unfortunately, many websites that sell self-hypnosis programs make wild and crazy, unsubstantiated claims. I've been in the industry since 1978. So I think that I'm more than expert enough to set the record straight on weight loss hypnosis.

First of all, post-hypnotic suggestion is a tool, just like a scalpel is a tool. Just as all of the various surgeons have varying levels of skill in the use of a scalpel, different hypnotherapists have varying levels of skill in the use of post-hypnotic suggestion. And to complicate the matter, there are many different methods of post-hypnotic suggestion.

Listen to a couple of the ridiculous assertions about weight loss hypnosis that I've read about on websites, along with the facts of reality:

"Hypnotherapy will speed up your metabolism." The truth is that post-hypnotic suggestion will never directly speed up your metabolism. But it can be very useful at helping to program your subconscious with increased motivation to exercise. And exercise can speed up your metabolic rate. Similarly, post-hypnotic suggestion to speed up the metabolism for quick weight loss can be effected by programming the subconscious to motivate the intake of increased amounts of protein, because that intake will step up your metabolic rate.

"Hypnotherapy will make you lose weight." This is false. But post-hypnotic suggestion can be used to help case out your appetite, so that you eat less. And eating less can help you to lose weight. Your appetite and urges for food and compulsion to eat are caused by two unconscious programs:

A. When you pair eating with any other behavior, the other behavior will trigger cravings for food and a desire to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example, if you eat when you watch TV, you will automatically get an urge to eat each time you sit down to watch TV.

B. When you feel stressed, you feel a strong urge to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure. This is the result of programming that you received as an infant. When you got upset, your nanny put a bottle in your mouth. You got distracted, relaxed, and probably fell asleep. Now when you get cranky (anxious or tense), you feel compelled to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure.

C. There is a third unconscious program that is present for some people. It's called emotional eating. Emotional eating takes place when an individual is motivated to make him or herself fat, because by being fat they will protect themselves in some way. For example, if an individual gets their heart broken in a relationship, their subconscious can usually motivate them into a behavior that would prevent them from getting their heart broken again. Example: They are motivated to get fat to keep them out of another relationship, because that will eliminate the possibility of another broken heart.

So just how can weight loss hypnosis eliminate the problems discussed above? Click here to read the conclusion of this weight loss hypnosis article.

I have written several articles on this complex topic that available on my website. These articles illustrate some powerful and effective methods of using hypnotherapy for emotional eating.