Weight Loss Miracle – Self-Hypnosis Plus The Atkins High Protein System

Despite the popularity of the Atkins Diet, it is often greatly misrepresented! Popular, if slightly exaggerated depictions of the plan portray dieters wolfing down nothing but vast quantities of meat and fat. Although the diet is not quite that simple, many people following the plan have successfully lost weight and improved their health.

On this plan, dieters follow a very specific program based on limited carbohydrate intake. Emphasis is placed on the nutritional aspects of the diet over exercise and other factors, although getting physical activity is also a key to weight loss. There are four phases in the Atkins program:

Induction: During this two-week stage at the start of the diet program, dieters can only have up to 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. Dieters can ingest high protein foods such as meat and fish, fats such as oils and butter, and other foods with little to no carbohydrate content. Many foods containing carbohydrates are not allowed at all, including alcoholic beverages.

This initial phase is supposed to help the body switch from burning carbohydrates for energy, as it usually does, into burning stored up fat (the state known as ketosis). Most dieters start to see natural weight loss during this stage.

Ongoing Weight Loss: During this stage, dieters gradually increase their carbohydrate intake by adding 5 grams of carbohydrates into their diet every week. Dieters fine-tune their diet, losing weight to put themselves within 5-10 pounds of their target weight, before moving into the Pre-maintenance stage.

Pre-maintenance: Dieters use the Pre-maintenance phase to find out the maximum amount of carbohydrates they can consume without experiencing weight gain. During this stage, dieters increase carbohydrate intake by 10 grams a week. Once dieters reach their target weight and can keep it stable for a month, they move into the Lifetime Maintenance stage.

Lifetime Maintenance: For lasting results, the Atkins program is supposed to be maintained throughout the dieter's life. Using the strategies that helped the dieter reach their target weight, the dieter develops an eating and exercise plan to stay at their goal weight. Individuals can revert to previous stages if their weight starts to rise again.

Dieters who can commit to the Atkins diet are often successful in losing weight; unfortunately, many people are unable to keep following the program and end up quitting early on in the difficult induction stage. In general, most diet plans fail simply because dieters cannot stay on the plan.

Many people struggle with dieting because they experience strong food cravings, have problems with compulsive overeating, cannot control their appetites, or simply don't feel the motivation to lose weight. Overcoming these mental obstacles is the hardest part of losing weight.

One reason why many people cannot seem to control their eating is because they are emotional eaters. Such people eat in response to their emotions, such as when they are sad or angry. However, this eating style programs a "conditioned response" into the unconscious mind. This means that when individuals experience the same emotion that made them initially overeat, they will feel compelled to overeat again.

Hypnosis works by helping our unconscious minds disassociate our eating habits from our emotions. To eliminate the conditioned response to overeat, a hypnosis weight loss program is used to break the link in the unconscious mind between overeating and specific "trigger" behaviors.

For example, if you tend to binge eat when you get bored, hypnosis can disassociate boredom from eating in your unconscious mind. Hypnotherapy techniques can then be used to replace the compulsion to overeat with another activity, such as exercising. That way, the next time you suffer from boredom, instead of having an urge to overeat, you will feel motivated to engage in physical activity.

Hypnosis is an effective tool for stress relief as well, helping us deal with our stressful emotions and relieve tension without eating. As a relaxation tool, it calms the mind, helps you develop positive strategies to cope with stress, and boosts your self confidence to promote natural weight loss.

Hypnotherapy can also be used to remove the emotional stressors that keep you from losing weight. Many overweight people use their weight for emotional protection. For example, after ending a relationship, people often find themselves becoming overweight so they can avoid new relationships and avoid experiencing emotional pain again. Through hypnosis, we can turn our negative thoughts into positive ones and focus on having better health instead of becoming overwhelmed by our anxieties.

Not only is hypnosis an ideal motivation tool, it relieves tension, extinguishes the conditioned responses that trigger overeating, and can help you overcome the mental obstacles that prevent weight loss. Hypnosis techniques are extremely effective at helping people stick to a diet plan, such as the Atkins diet, and naturally lose weight.

Alan B. Densky, CH is an NGH Certified Hypnotherapist. Visit the self-hypnosis website for Free NLP videos, newsletters, and downloads. He offers several ways to lose weight, including NLP to lose weight DVDs and weight loss hypnosis CDs.