As the UK lockdown ends, have you found yourself in a different shape than when you went in? Lots of people are turning to google to ask ‘how can I lose weight?’ While we were all tucked away at home perhaps the stress baking took its toll, stress eating certainly became a feature for many of us as we sought to soothe our anxieties with snacks. Being out of our routines lead many to tread a well-worn path between the fridge and the (office) couch, and that’s not even accounting for the extra booze that many of us put away, both as stress relief and to give ourselves something to do.

From a cosmetic point of view, the weight gain isn’t that appealing but it’s also not good for our health. Although lockdown has officially ended, the pandemic is still well and truly raging and the evidence is clear – obesity and the associated ‘lifestyle’ health issues that go along with it like diabetes 2 and high blood pressure mean there’s a much higher risk of complications from contracting Covid-19. Boris Johnson blames his stay in intensive care on his weight.

Roughly 2/3 of adults in the UK are overweight and 30% are classified as obese. This extra weight makes us more prone to complications from Covid-19 including hospitalisation, strokes and permanent lung damage.

The second wave of coronavirus is forecast to surge in the autumn, so this is our window to get on top of the weight gain and get ourselves into the best health that we can. In fact, the Government is launching a ‘war on obesity’, teaming up with organisations such as Slimmers World and Weight Watchers. The thing is, (mostly) this isn’t our first rodeo with weight loss. For the majority of adults in the UK, the struggle to keep their weight under control is a lifetime battle, with cycles of losing and regaining gradually leading to waistlines becoming larger and larger year upon year.

So, what to do? Did you know that hypnotherapy has actually got pretty credible results in clinical trials, not only helping people take weight off, but keep it off? The whole point of stress eating and self-medicating with food is that it’s meeting a need that we have that we’ve developed this particular strategy to meet. Hypnotherapy, in conjunction with stress management tools, psycho-sensory techniques, and lifestyle interventions (yes, sorry, you probably WILL have to get a bit more active) can help change those old patterns and help bring insight and awareness to behaviours leading to the changing of emotional responses. This works for overeating, binge eating, being out of touch with your body’s satiety signals, and other unhelpful self-medicating behaviours.

By focusing on the ‘why’ and looking to find new and positive ways to meet those needs, we can start to behave in new and different ways. Unlike fad and crash diets, there’s no revolting concoction to mix up and try and gag down, and you’re not relegated to eating only eggs for a week (scary but true), you’re empowered to find ways or eating that work for you. As you’ll know, if you’ve ever tried to diet before or had a food allergy, food is a massive part of our social life. Hypnotherapy for weight loss means you’ll still being able to socialise and eat the same things that your friends and family are eating, at least some of the time.

Hypnotherapy can help you tune into your body and learn what it’s actually asking for, changing lifelong negative habits around food. It can also help with improving body image, focusing on acceptance and self-love at any size.

If you’ve been struggling with your weight and body image, haven’t you done the same thing for long enough? Let’s have a chat about how I can help and start approaching things a different way.