Want to lose weight?

From Richard Simmons in the 70's to every nutritionist and exercise expert since, they all agree with the following: all the fruits and vegetables you can eat, nutrient dense foods when hungry which simply means foods that are grown on a farm, from a tree, a bush or from the ground, grains for fiber, low fat dairy foods, eat smaller portions and get plenty of exercise.

To put it very simply,  if it's naturally grown then it's good for you and if it's created in a factory then it's bad for you.

As a psychologist with a background in neuroscience, I tell overweight clients to write this down. "My body does not process sugary foods, soda, fatty red meats or alcohol. It stores it, which is why I'm getting fatter and fatter." Then, after they've read it out loud seven times, I ask them, "Knowing this, then why do you continue to do it?" The answers are all the same. Neurologically speaking, their pleasure neurons in the brain don't want them to stop, and those neurons will fight them every step of the way and prevent them from changing. This is where hypnosis comes in, which helps convince those neurons to choose healthier foods. You cannot enjoy healthier food choices you put in your body until you install healthier thoughts in your mind.

Neurologically speaking, the mind controls the body. Eating sugary foods and red meat has activated the pleasure neurons in your brain. Years of eating self-destructive foods has caused your brain to convince you to continue to crave those foods instead of healthy alternatives. By depriving you of these sugar and red meat pleasure neurons, you can  become very depressed which is why people on diets don't stay on their diets. No one wants to be miserable.

Psychologically and neurologically speaking, there is only one way to eat healthier and maintain that healthy lifestyle. And that is to convince your brain that the healthier foods taste yummier and are more filling than the self-destructive sugar and fatty red meat foods your brain has gotten used to. 

And this is how you do it. You need to write everything down. Because if you don't write it down, your brain will discard it because your brain does not want to change. It will fight you every step of the way. You need a constant reminder that the healthier food choices you have written down are yummier and more filling than the self-destructive garbage you have gotten used to. 

Grab a sheet of paper and in a column from top to bottom, write down every food that you see in your refrigerator and cabinets that contains sugar and fat, such as red meats. 

The second part will be more difficult for you because you have not yet trained your brain to enjoy the healthier foods. 

Grab a second sheet of paper and in a column from top to bottom, write down the foods that are naturally grown that you would actually enjoy more than the unhealthy foods you have written down. 

You may have to take a trip through the supermarket vegetable and fruit section, or walk through a farmer's market, or do a lot of research on the internet, typing in foods that are naturally grown that are healthier and more filling than red meat and sugary foods.

And again, neurologically speaking, when your brain has to make a decision whether it wants sugary foods or a healthy food that looks and tastes even better and more feeling, it will always choose the happier choice because your brain not just wants to be happy, but more importantly, it wants to be happier than it already is.

So let's say you created the two lists on two separate sheets of paper. And now you need to pick one of your self-destructive foods, then go down the list of the healthier foods and choose one that is yummier and more filling. This will be your healthier replacement choice. 

Then go to the next self-destructive food on your list and look down your healthy list for its replacement. It's very important that the replacement has to be yummier and more filling. Remember that your brain that releases the pleasure hormones wants to be even happier than it already is. And if you choose a food that is less enjoyable, then your brain will reject it which is why people go back to their self-destructive choices. 

In my opinion, choosing healthier foods is a lot like ending a destructive relationship and looking for one that is more enjoyable to be around. No one wants a new relationship that is as miserable as their previous one. In the case of a bad relationship, you should write down all the things that you do not want to see in a new relationship as well as all the things you would like to see that would make you happier. As you can see, writing down all the bad things and then riding down all the good things that would make you even happier works on many levels.

The above is all you need to know. However, I've included a few statistics that could help you.

If you have a beer belly, if you have a spare tire, if you are fat, obese or morbidly obese, then your body does not process sugar, animal fat or beer, it stores them as fat, so you need to stop ingesting them.

Did you know that cereal and soda are the two main reasons why parents think their children have ADHD? So then, what can get rid of ADHD in children? Medications? NO! The solution is to avoid machine processed foods that contain sugar, like high fructose corn syrup, because they give ADHD highs and depressive crashing lows which is no wonder why children who eats cereal for breakfast can't pay attention in school. 

Before sitting your children down to a bowl of sugar frosted cereal, think of this instead. Eggs are king. They are the most 100% complete whole foods on the planet with all 16 essential amino acids in the right ratios that are needed for the body to stay alert, reduce stress and maintain a steady energy level for at least the first half of your day without getting cravings before lunch time. Just four eggs gets a child 28 grams of protein which is plenty of muscle strength necessary for half a day.

For lunch, have a handful of mixed fruits and berries along with a couple slices of whole grain bread and maybe some Greek yogurt. The natural sugars in the fruits and berries will slowly break down giving your children the rest of the energy necessary for them to finish their day.

It takes 15 minutes for your brain to realize your stomach is full, so instead of shoveling food down your throat as fast as possible thereby causing you to unbutton your pants and feel exhausted, just eat slowly which helps your brain catch up to the food you're eating. Did you know that very few people chew their food completely before they swallow it? Imagine your stomach filled with huge chunks of meat and candy. No wonder people have stomach aches.

If you love french fries as much as I do, avoid buying them at a fast food restaurant because they're deep-fried, high in saturated fat, covered in salt, will raise your cholesterol, clog your arteries and perpetuates obesity. It's better to slice your potatoes at home, leaving the skin on, then drop them in boiling water for 5 minutes which will soften them up and remove the unhealthy starch, then rinse thoroughly until the water runs clear, then wrap them in a towel and pat them dry, line them up on a foil lined cookie sheet and season with your favorite seasoning like paprika, lemon pepper and Italian seasoning, then cook in an oven at 450 for 30 minutes or so. Or, after you boil them for 5 minutes, you can drop them in a skillet with the same seasonings but they will turn into hash browns, so it's your decision. 

There's no such thing as healthy cake and ice cream. And there's no law that says you have to eat them when you're at a birthday party. Try throwing a birthday party serving vegetarian style pizza and bowls of mixed fruit and berries instead. I know that sounds stupid, especially if you're a child, so try eating a healthy meal an hour before the party which can help you eat less of the sugar infested junk food.

You may notice fast food commercials showing double cheeseburgers with onion rings or french fries and bacon shoved into them. It's a heart attack waiting to happen and the food obese people love most. Cheeseburgers and french fries are addicting and a single patty cheeseburger and small order of fries is okay in moderation. But can you think of a healthier alternative from the list of naturally grown farm grown foods?

People who smoke cigarettes or vape believe in the lie that if they quit smoking they will gain weight. This is absolutely not true. It's your intake of sugar and animal fat that causes you to gain weight, not quitting smoking. Processed sugar makes you gain weight and animal fat raises your blood pressure to dangerous levels, clogs your arteries, causes a stroke and can give you a heart attack.

All diets work. They all work because every single one of them stresses to only eat nutrient dense foods, meaning foods that are grown on a farm, cut out all animal fats, salts and sugars, meaning everything created by a machine, and especially to eat smaller portions of the nutrient dense foods than you normally would, thereby lessening your caloric intake. The reason they didn't work for you is because you cheated. You consumed machine processed foods, especially sugary foods and sodas. So let's put the blame where the blame belongs.

There's no such thing as losing weight without exercise, regardless of what those "take a pill overnight and lose weight while you sleep without changing the foods you eat" manufacturers claim. If you're finally serious about losing weight then you need to exercise. Exercise to raise your heart rate, will increase your metabolism, which is how your body breaks down fat and eliminates it. Exercising without raising your heartbeat does nothing for you, like taking slow walks or using a very small pedal machine which moves your feet for you.

I hate statistics because they come from surveys involving very small and selective groups of individuals. Regardless, here's a thought. In the early 70s only 14% of Americans were obese with a very small portion being morbidly obese. By the year 2020, over 60% of Americans were obese with the majority of them being morbidly obese. The number one reason for this is because they have created an "I don't care" attitude. Listen carefully, because every fat person will either say "I don't care, I'm married" or "I don't care, if they don't like the way I look, screw them."

In the United States alone, more than 330,000 people die every year from obesity related illnesses. That's 913 die every day. There's no such thing as a healthy obese person.

Gastric bypass surgery is for weak-willed people who cannot consciously avoid shoving large amounts of sugary and animal fatty food down their throat. Just choose farm grown foods and avoid foods created and processed by machines. Also, recipe websites on proper nutrition can help you put together flavorful four-course meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Hypnosis is not the answer. Hypnosis cannot twist your arm and force you to throw out all the bad foods in your house and to buy and eat only the healthy ones. Psychological therapy is the answer, of which I can help you with. Only then can hypnosis be used to help you maintain what you are already doing by giving you words of encouragement and the motivation to continue.