Archives 2019

It’s ok – you’re not alone!

I know most weight loss programmes tell us we can’t eat chocolate.

But let’s face it, those kinds of programmes make us feel deprived, which means our chocolate cravings go through the roof.

You might be relieved to know that the virtual gastric band programme, no food is off limits. And yes, that includes chocolate!

Here’s my 2 tips for how you can lose weight and still enjoy chocolate.

1. Quality over quantity, every time!

Think about how often during a normal day you end up eating chocolate that isn’t even that good.

Maybe it’s chocolate someone offered you at work. Or a gift from a kind soul.

Often its low quality chocolate or flavour or type that you don’t even like.

But we still eat it!

The easiest thing to do is make a pledge to yourself:

“I only eat high quality chocolate or chocolate that I really love.”

As soon as you do this, you can more easily turn away substandard chocolate and, save yourself for chocolate you truly love.

2. Savour the chocolate

Stop eating chocolate on the run, or having chocolate as a quick snack.

Instead, make sure that any time you eat chocolate, it’s a deliberate, conscious choice.

Sit down.

Focus on the chocolate.

Give it your full attention.

Savour the flavours and thoroughly enjoy it!

If you really do love chocolate – like you say you do – isn’t it worth the time, the space and the focus to really savour it?

You can eat chocolate and still shift the weight. It just requires a little discernment from you about how you eat it, when and what type.

If you’re ready to feel more in control and confident around chocolate, the virtual gastric band hypnosis can help. C’mon over to Lighten Up.

Will hypnotherapy make me reveal deep, dark secrets?

Or do embarrassing things against my will?

It’s a great question.

You’d be amazed how often I’m asked.

Many women are understandably nervous about the idea of ‘mind-control’.

Fortunately, it’s a myth.

That is propagated by many stage hypnotists, who like to push the rather silly but hilarious idea that they have absolute and complete power over the participant in their stage hypnosis show.

What we see in the movies and Hollywood is pure and utter fantasy as well.

Hypnotherapy is NOT a method of me magically controlling your mind.

Instead: it’s a way of YOU learning to have more control of YOUR own mind.

Contrary to popular belief and myths, no hypnotherapist can make anyone do anything that is against their fundamental value system.

Because our unconscious mind has natural defences built in which will automatically reject any suggestions it deems as harmful. The unconscious mind is really clever like that.

If you choose to participate in my Virtual Gastric Band programme – or if you decide to work with one of the many wonderful hypnotherapists around New Zealand – YOU WILL REMAIN IN CONTROL AT ALL TIMES.

I hope you found that reassuring – and soothing – and I look forward to seeing you next week.

If you’re ready to feel more in control and confident around food, the virtual gastric band hypnosis can help. C’mon over to Lighten Up.

This week’s making peace with food tip is all about stacking the deck in your favour in the workplace.

But you can use this at home as well.

What do I mean?

As you sit there now, look about yourself.

What foods are in your line of vision?

Maybe they’re not just looking, but calling out to you…Eat me!

Think about the layout of your workplace or home.

Are there often tempting foods lying around?

What I encourage you to do is remove all the food from your line of sight.

Out of Sight, Out of Stomach

You probably know this already intuitively.

But recent research has shown that food within your line of vision is much more likely to be eaten.

Doesn’t it make total sense?!

It was shown in this study, in an office setting, when sweets were placed in a bowl with a clear lid, as opposed to an opaque lid – many more sweets were eaten.

Whether you’re at home or work, clear all of the tempting foods from sight.

It’s a super simple way of supporting yourself. Go do it now!

And stack the deck in your favour!

Have you noticed how zip-bustingly enormous portion sizes have become in the last decade?

It’s insane.

My husband arrived home yesterday with one my favourite treats – caramel slice – and I kid you not – it was the size of two iPhones pluses.

He showed me the receipt to prove that despite it being large enough to feed a small family, according to the till, it was one portion size!!!

So how can we continue to enjoy our favourite upsized foods, without upsizing our favourite jeans?

Your mother was right

It turns out, your mother was absolutely right when she insisted that you share your food.

But it’s not about being kind to others. It’s a way of being kind to yourself.

Sharing takes advantage of a very phenomenon called unit bias.

Sharing food takes advantage of an interesting phenomenon called Unit Bias.

Unit Bias is the tendency for individuals to want to complete a unit or the task.

What that means in English is if someone gives you a large slice of chocolate cake, you’re likely to eat the entire thing.

But if the serving size was 25% smaller, you’d still eat the cake without feeling deprived.

We just want to finish the portion.

So when you’re sharing for your food, you’re using unit bias to your advantage, rather than being a victim of it.

Makes sense right?

So share your desserts, share your entrees. It’s such a lovely way to sample all the flavours of life – without being upsized!

Are you a night-time eater?

Many of the women I work with in the clinic or the online programme Lighten Up, are night-time eaters. It’s a very common issue.

Many women talk about how it’s easy to stay on track during the day at the office, but from about 4pm onwards, things start to deteriorate.

Is that you?!

Here are three tips to help you ease back on evening overeating:

1. Are you robbing Peter to pay Paul?

Make sure you’re not cutting back so much on your portion size during the day, that it leaves you hungry in the evenings.

Yes, we can probably all cut back on our portion sizes, but often what we’re doing is cutting back so much that you are more likely to want to snack, nibble and graze after the evening meal.

When you think about it, it’s cruel to make to cut back on our portion sizes so much you make yourself hungry – and then be angry at yourself for wanting to eat!

So just check in with yourself to make sure you’re not robbing Peter to pay Paul.

2. Are you restricting the foods you’re eating?

Remember the more you say “I’m not allowed to eat this”, the more you will feel cravings for that exact food.

It’s the old what is repressed becomes the obsessed.

The key point is – all foods are on the menu. Nothing is repressed in this weight loss approach.

As soon as you’re allowed to eat whatever you want, and you don’t feel guilty for it, a lot of the drive to consume large quantities late in the day, just goes away.

3. Are you lonely?

Check-in with yourself. Despite social media and having oodles of facey friends, many clients recognise that they feel lonely but aren’t aware that they did.

We’re social creatures – no man or woman is an island.

For a lot of people, night time is when they are more likely to be alone. This loneliness can lead to extra eating.

Many clients find it freeing to have an awareness that food doesn’t have the capacity to be their friend – or at least not a very good one anyway.