Psychotherapy for weight loss
When working with people who want to lose weight I’m always aware of a deeper issue involved. At some point we will normally do some work with the subconscious. Think about it, If it was up to the conscious mind alone it would be easy to lose weight because so many people say “I know what to do, but just can’t seem to do it”. This is where psychotherapy comes in, using the techniques available we can explore deeper reasons for inability to adjust eating patterns. Psychotherapy for weight loss is extremely beneficial as you’ll discover.
What prevents us from losing weight ?
If there was no deeper reason for weight loss then we would all simply make a decision to change some aspect of our diet and it would be done. If it was only your conscious self involved it would be a simple decision, followed by simple action, and the solution would happen effortlessly. But our eating patterns are deeply ingrained and often attached to some emotional aspect of ourselves.
So when using psychotherapy for weight loss I’m always looking for the deeper reason to why this person are having so much trouble losing weight. There is always a Will to change, and the knowledge to change but change seems impossible because the subconscious wins out every time, frustration and disheartenment is often the result and the old cycle begins again.
A bad eating habit can form at a very young age. A client had tried all the diets but nothing had worked. When I took her in for a deeper look she discovered a very old pattern, from when she was a little girl her parents pushed her for success and used food as a reward when she had done well. This created a deep unconscious pattern to use food for self reward and self soothing. Once found this unhealthy relationship with food could be undone. Another person who came in for therapy had a mother who was a Nutritionist. Right from a young age her mother pushed for the healthiest options. This gave the person a sense of having no control, and as soon as she was able to she rebelled and began to eat all the things her mother had forbid her to eat for all of her life.
Old eating patterns can remain long after the wisdom of maturity arrives. Another client, a nurse was stuck in a self loathing pattern, using food to punish herself for an inner belief that she was a disappointment to her parents. They wanted her to follow her father’s footsteps into science but it was just not her calling. Using psychotherapy I was able to help her go back to her childhood and change the inner story, which changed the inner perspective and the story about herself as being a failure. She was easily able to change her eating habits after this work.
So Psychotherapy for Weight loss is valuable, almost essential for people who want to lose weight quickly and effortlessly.
Food as comfort
Many people fall into the trap of using food as a comfort. When we experience some emotional disruption, a break up, work loss, illness in the family, financial stress etc. trauma, we can turn to food to manage those emotions. There are two main benefits to this;
- Food is pleasureable, experiencing the pleasure of the taste of food is a real distraction from our current issues.
- It dulls down our ability to feel emotions, therefor reduces the intensity and providing relief (albeit short term).
Food as addiction
We get addicted to certain foods by first experiencing the pleasure and re-emperiencing the pleasure. We set up addiction through this repetitive action. Our body develops the addiction and we craving for that food when we don’t have it. The craving is actually the body withdrawing from the substance. Having more of that particular food makes the withdrawal pain / craving go away, so why wouldn’t we keep having that food.
What percentage of Australia’s population is overweight ?
In 2014/15, six million Australians aged 18 and over were overweight (BMI of 25.0kg/m2 to 29.9kg/m2). This accounts for more than a third (36%) of adult Australians. More than 3.5 million Australian men were overweight, or 42% of all males aged 18 and over.
Just over 2.5 million Australian women were overweight, or approximately 29% of all females aged 18 and over.
% Overweight by age and gender
| Age group | Male | Female | Total |
| 18–24 | 26.9% | 17.0% | 22.0% |
| 25–34 | 41.9% | 25.1% | 33.4% |
| 35–44 | 47.5% | 27.6% | 37.4% |
| 45–54 | 46.7% | 28.6% | 37.6% |
| 55–64 | 44.5% | 33.3% | 38.8% |
| 65–74 | 42.2% | 36.1% | 38.9% |
| 75–84 | 44.0% | 41.4% | 43.4% |
| 85+ | 47.3% | 35.0% | 38.8% |
| Total | 42.4% | 28.8% | 35.5% |
These statistics (provided by the HeartFoundation) show that obesity is a real problem in this country. And guess what ? Most people simply don’t realize the deeper reason for their weight issues because it’s hidden in their subconscious. So they continue to suffer, trying to find an answer, trying the latest diet or willpower when often it has little hope of success.
One of the main ways I help people to lose weight is through Parts Therapy. The truth is there are many parts of us, eg. “I want to lose weight, (and in the same sentence) but I Loooove pizza”, there are 2 part at play, the one wants to lose weight is being sabotaged by the part that Looooves pizza.
We can make huge inroads into becoming our ideal weight once the subconscious bought into the light of consciousness.
Your relationship with Food
Our relationship with food forms one of our most important relationships in our lives. If our relationship food is not good then the rest of our lives will be negatively affected.
It is only when we begin to really value ourselves at a deep level that we start to consistently choose foods that are life affirming (full of vitamins, nutrients, minerals, goodness).
For example a meat pie, a can of coke and sugary cake for lunch will leave you feeling very different than if we chose a wrap full of salad and greens (and a protein) and a fresh squeezed juice and a piece of fruit. The choice is always ours to make (once we work through any subconscious issues). Ultimately we will create an ideal ideal when we start to love and value ourselves.
There is another reason why psychotherapy for weight loss is so effective. It helps us develop a high level of Self awareness.
In finishing I’d like to say that everyone has the ability to lose weight (unless there is some medical condition that prevents you). The reason people find it so difficult is an internal subconscious block (belief system, old issue, addiction). So it makes sense that without psychotherapy for weight loss it’s going to a difficult battle and perhaps a losing battle for many people.
If you’d like to start work why not book a session today, you have nothing to lose, well actually you have a lot to lose !
Check out some of my other articles or give me a call or a text on 0414 586 910 to book a session. Hope to be helping you soon. Warm Regards, Steve
