Mindful Eating
In my professional hypnotherapy practice, I always encourage weight loss clients to engage in mindful eating. I have found that many people have trouble with weight loss because they are eating way too fast, mindlessly and on auto pilot. We live in a very stressful society that really encourages multi-tasking and doing everything, including eating, very quickly. This not only makes weight loss extremely difficult, but it makes eating less enjoyable.
Many people have trouble slowing down and eating more mindfully by just willpower alone. Eating fast has become so ingrained in our culture, many people have a hard time changing. To address this problem, I have created a hypnosis recording, listed below, that makes the whole process easier and more automatic.
I have had several clients who lost weight during Thanksgiving week just by doing this one technique!
What is Mindful Eating?
I encourage people to participate in mindful eating to speed up their weight loss. Mindfulness is moment by moment awareness and focusing on one activity at a time. All we really have is the present moment. If you are washing the dishes in a mindful way, you simply focus on the act of washing the dishes. You focus on the warmth of the water, the texture of the different plates in your hands, the sound of the water, etc. It is the same with eating. Instead of surfing the internet, watching TV or reading a book while you eat, you simply just focus on your meal, the flavors, the textures, the tempearetc.
I encourage people to engage in mindful eating the same way that they would engage in getting a massage. You would never, ever go to a massage therapist and tell them to get the massage done as quickly as possible so you can leave. You would want to savor every moment. You would never cut your vacation to a tropical beach short so that you could work on your to do list. It is the same with your food. Mindful eating is about enjoying and savoring every bite.
I recommend that people focus on chewing each bite at least 20 times and look at a clock when they begin eating and make a conscious decision to spend 20 minutes or more eating their meal. When five minutes have passed, you should be done with a quarter of your meal. When 10 minutes have passed, you should be done with half of your meal, etc. Many people find that by the time they are three quarters of the way done, they start feeling full and don’t need to eat the rest of the food. Weight loss begins to happen naturally when you eat this way without feeling deprived.
Many people have a problem with not finishing their food and with throwing it away. Most people have been programmed from childhood to clear their plate and were told stories of the starving children in Africa. I tell people that it is now the 21st century and it is actually much healthier to throw food away sometimes. You can also put leftovers in a ziplock bag and make a pot of soup at the end of the week.
While you are practicing mindful eating, you should give thanks to yourself for providing such a healthy meal and for taking so many positive steps to improve your life. You should also acknowledge that eating this way will help you to lose weight. It is best to only eat while sitting down. You should create a beautiful environment to enjoy your food, with fresh flowers, a candle, nice dishes and a nice placemat, if possible.
Before you begin eating, really notice the beautiful meal you have put together. Next you should look at your food and admire the different colors and take in the aroma. As you begin eating, really be mindful to chew each bite 20 times, and think about the food nourishing and healing your body, knowing that is providing exactly what you need to lose weight. You should put your fork down in between bites and take a small sip of water. Take a deep breath or two. Notice the warmth or the coolness of the food. Notice how all of the different flavors come together perfectly.
Notice the different textures of the food. If you are eating with others, really enjoy their presence and the conversation with them. Let the meal be about the conversation and enjoying the company of your loved ones and let the food be secondary.
What Are the Benefits of Mindful Eating?
- It promotes healthier digestion. The body was never designed to digest large chunks of food.
- It is easier to eat less without feeling deprived.With mindful eating, It is best to spend at least 20 minutes eating your meals. It takes 20 minutes for the brain to recognize that the body is full, and when people eat slower, they find that they cannot eat as much, and feel satisfied with smaller portions. Mindful eating is a natural way of eating less without feeling deprived. Many people try to eat small portions but they eat it way too fast, inhaling their food, and then wonder why they feel deprived and unsatisfied, want to eat more a short while later and have difficulty losing weight.
- It saves money. Mindless eating causes people to overeat and overeating is expensive. When you eat mindfully, you eat less and you spend less money on food. In my hypnotherapy practice, clients have told me that when they slow down and engage in mindful eating, they find that they save a lot of money.
- It helps prevent the mind from constantly thinking and obsessing about food. When you slow down and savor your food, it is simply more satisfying and prevents you from constantly thinking about food.
Mindful Eating Steps
- Only eat when hungry.
- Set a beautiful table with nice dishes, candles and fresh flowers if possible.
- Only eat while sitting down.
- Give thanks to yourself for providing such a healthy meal and for taking so many positive steps to improve your life.
- Before you begin eating, really notice the beautiful environment you have created.
- Look at your food and admire the different colors and take in the aroma.
- Get a clock and put it where you can see it and consciously decide to spend at least 20 minutes eating your meal. Be mindful to chew eat bite at least 20 times.
- Focus on the food nourishing and healing your body.
- Put your fork down in between bites, have a small sip of water and take a deep breath or two.
- Notice the warmth or coolness of the food.
- Notice how all of the different flavors of the food come together perfectly.
- Notice the different textures of the food.
- If you are eating with others, really enjoy their company and the conversation with them.
- Stop eating when you are full.
- If there are leftovers, either put them in the refrigerator, throw them away or put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer and make soup at the end of the week.
- This is a process and know that it will get easier with each meal you have.
- Give thanks to yourself for loving yourself and making positive changes in your life.
Most people find that when they practice mindful eating, they become satisfied with less food, it is easier for them to digestive their food, it is easier to lose weight, they enjoy their food more, they feel happier, and they save a lot of money. The more you practice mindful eating the easier it will become and the easier it will be to lose weight.
Mindful Eating Hypnosis Recording
Eating mindless and quickly has become very ingrained in our culture and many people find it hard to break the habit. This is where hypnosis comes in. As a professional Hypnotherapist, to solve this problem, I have created a mindful eating hypnosis recording to program this new behavior into people’s subconscious minds, so it becomes more automatic and easier to implement.
Hypnotherapy is a technique where you are guided into a deep state of relaxation. While in this deeply relaxed state your subconscious mind is very open to positive suggestions and imagery. In this state, these take root at a deep level to allow you to more easily make big changes in your life. Hypnotherapy works because it reprograms subconscious mind which controls 90% of our behavior. Hypnotherapy helps you to get rid of bad habits, create healthy new behaviours, heal, succeed and move forward with your life.
This recording has cutting edge sound healing music in the background from the acclaimed Globe Institute of Sound and Consciousness . This music contains binaural beats, brainwave entrainment, intention and more to take you into a deep state of relaxation.
This recording will walk you through the whole process of mindful eating. Every time you listen to it, the suggestions and visualization will reprogram your subconscious mind, and make the process of mindful eating easier and more automatic. When you order this recording, you will get an MP3 file that you can download to your phone or computer. Listening to this once a day is ideal, but if you listen to it three times a week, you will still get good results.
Caution
Please Note: This should not be used while driving.
Private Sessions
Hypnosis recordings are a great way to reprogram your subconscious mind, and make it easier for you to make changes in your life. However, sometimes people need more help, or want to work on other issues. I offer private sessions in my San Francisco office or by the phone for people who don’t live in the area.
Private Session Costs
$150 – First session, $120 per subsequent sessions
The first session is 75-90 minutes.
Subsequent sessions are 60 minutes but can occasionally run a little longer to 70 minutes so please be sure to allow extra time.
Packages
Prepay for a Package of 5 sessions, and save 15% ($535)
Prepay for Package of 8 sessions, and save 25% ($742)
Please call me at the below number if you would like to set something up, or email me.
San Francisco Hypnotherapy Clinic, 915 Irving St, SF, CA 94122 (415) 336-6128