Why Can't I Lose Weight? As a certified hypnotist, I get this question a lot. I am often the last resort as people are so frustrated that they can't "stay on a diet." We now know more than ever before about how the mind and body work and therefore weight loss is less of a mystery. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it is less about what you eat and more about what's eating you! Until you deal with the emotions you are trying to avoid by eating, you cannot lose weight. Food is a drug that we use to try to comfort ourselves. However, we forget to notice that we feel very uncomfortable when we are finished eating! One of the biggest causes of weight problems is stress. Many report that they eat for stress and are stressed because they are over weight. You can imagine the vicious emotional cycle. The amount of stress you have is not actually the problem; it is the way you choose to deal with it that is the problem. That will be a different article. Stress is a weight related problem for several reasons. One reason is that stress elevates our cortisol levels and cortisol, although essential for the creation of energy, chronically elevated cortisol levels contribute to the storage of abdominal fat. It is not the cause of the fat, it is only one small part of the problem. Excess sugar and insulin resistance promotes excess body fat, which promotes elevated cortisol. The factors, besides stress, that contribute to elevated cortisol levels are processed food and excess body fat. This is a lot of science that is often misinterpreted for the purpose of promoting more pills and other products to sell. The real simple truth is that we are eating and drinking way too much sugar. It should also be noted that sugar is a major source of nourishment for all the yeast, fungus, viruses and cancer cells that live in your body. Unused sugar turns to fat and the cycle continues. We have done a tremendous disservice to our children by programming them early, to drink sweetened beverages. Soda, lemonade, Kool Aid, Gatorade, PowerAde, Snapple, Smart Water, Crystal Lite and the list goes on, are all different ways to put unnecessary sugar into our bodies. The connection between "sports" drinks and sugar is really disgusting. The only thing that is worse is the addition of excessive levels of caffeine that has been put into some of those drinks. The best sports drink is water. I wonder who started the lie that athletes need extra sugar? The electrolytes that are promoted in "sports" drinks are only needed by marathon runners. No one else needs them! The other major contributor to excess body fat is processed foods. Our bodies know how to digest and metabolize processed food but although they are edible, they are not food. Our body stores them as fat because they have no other value. Did you ever wonder why you would put something into your body that is not real food? The answer goes back to early childhood programming. Junk food, appropriately named, is usually made in a chemistry kind of lab situation, not someone's kitchen. Diets don't work! Everyone knows that but it does not stop people from going on every new diet that shows up in a magazine, or talked about on Dr. OZ. One of the reasons that diets don't work is because your unconscious mind is so literal that when you are "on a diet" you may find it easy to stick to it for a while but, when you can't stand it anymore, your unconscious mind returns back to old habits and feelings and the weight returns. Usually, you put on more pounds than you lost, as your body tries to recover from the starving diet you experienced. Weight loss programs are a billion dollar business and there is always a new one to try. Although the solution is simple, many believe it is not easy. What if they are wrong? What if it really can be easy? The most effective way to lose weight is to change your relationship with food and change your relationship with your body. Food is for nourishment and fuel. Your body needs food, real food. Emotional eating is at the root of most weight loss problems. Hypnosis is the fastest, most effective way to deal with those emotions. Until you face the emotional issues, you cannot be successful in losing weight. When you eat for emotional reasons, that unneeded stuff turns to fat. While emotionally eating junk, or "pleasure foods", you stimulate the pleasure center of your brain. This is the same part of your brain that is stimulated by sex. When you are finished eating the junk, your pleasure subsides and you begin to feel bad, guilty, disgusting and the cycle continues. When you learn to see your body differently, you will treat it differently. See your body as something that has been very good to you even though you have not been very good to it! Most of us who have pets are very careful to only give them the food that is suitable and healthy for them. We are also careful to be sure our pet gets proper exercise. Not because they are on a diet, but because exercise is important for their health and wellness. How many of us take as good care of our bodies as we do our pets? When you love and respect your body as much as you love and care for your pet, you will take care of it properly. When you know better, you do better! Change your relationship with your body beginning with no longer saying negative unkind things to it. Begin with, "I'm so sorry, look what I did to you!" When you begin there, you will begin to make changes that will allow your body to begin to let go of the unwanted weight. You don't have to be a scientist to understand how to lose weight. You only need to eat only real food, drink real water, get enough sleep, only eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied, not full. Your body will do the rest! Your body will let go of the fat as easily as it created it when it is properly cared for. Create a plan for finding emotional relief away from food, or find a hypnotist who can help you to make it easy!