Despite the popularity of the Atkins Diet, it is often greatly misunderstood! Popular, yet slightly exaggerated depictions of the diet portray dieters eating nothing but vast amounts of meat and fat. Although the diet is not quite this simple, many people under the program have successfully lost weight and improved their health.
On this program, dieters follow a highly specific regimen 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 4 phases in the Atkins program :
Induction : During this two-week phase at the start of the diet program, dieters can only have up to 20 grams of carbohydrates each day. Dieters can ingest high protein foods such as meat and poultry, fats such as oils and butter, and other foods with little to no carbohydrates. Many foods with carbohydrates are not permitted at all, including alcoholic drinks.
This initial phase is intended to help the body go from burning carbohydrates for energy, as it usually does, into burning stored up fat (a process called ketosis). Most dieters start to see weight loss during this phase.
Ongoing Weight Loss : During the Ongoing Weight Loss period, dieters gradually increase their carbohydrate intake by adding 5 grams of carbohydrates into their diet each week. Dieters fine-tune their diet, losing weight to put themselves within 5-10 pounds of their goal weight, before moving into the Pre-maintenance stage.
Pre-maintenance : Dieters use this 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 phase.
Lifetime Maintenance : For lasting results, the Atkins program is supposed to be maintained throughout the dieter's lifetime. Using the strategies that helped the dieter reach their goal weight, the dieter maintains an eating and exercise program to stay at their target weight. Individuals can revert to previous stages if they ever start to regain weight.
Dieters who can commit to the Atkins diet are often successful in losing weight ; unfortunately, many people are unable to keep up with the program and end up quitting early on in the difficult induction phase. In general, most diets fail because dieters cannot stay on the plan.
Many people struggle to stay on diets because they experience strong food cravings, have problems with compulsive overeating, cannot control their appetites, or simply lack the motivation to lose weight. Overcoming these mental obstacles is the hardest part of losing weight.
One reason why many people struggle to control their eating is because they are emotional eaters. Such individuals eat in response to their feelings, such as when they are sad or angry. However, this habit 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 and again.
Hypnosis works by helping our unconscious minds disassociate our eating habits from our emotions. To extinguish the conditioned response to overeat, a hypnotherapy weight loss program is used to break the association in the unconscious mind between overeating and specific "trigger" behaviors.
For instance, if you tend to overeat when you get bored, hypnosis can disassociate boredom from eating in your unconscious mind. Hypnosis can then be used to replace the overeating response with another activity, such as exercising. That way, the next time you experience boredom, instead of going to eat, you will feel motivated to exercise.
Hypnosis is an effective tool for stress relief as well, helping us deal with our stressful feelings and relieve tension without eating. As a relaxation tool, it calms the mind, helps you use new strategies to manage stress, and boosts your self-confidence to promote natural weight loss.
Hypnotherapy can also be used to eliminate the emotional stressors that keep you from losing weight. Many overweight people hide behind their weight for emotional protection. For instance, 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 think more positively and focus on having better health instead of becoming overwhelmed by our emotions.
Not only is hypnotherapy a powerful motivational tool, it relieves tension, eliminates the conditioned responses that cause overeating, and can be used to overcome many mental obstacles that prevent weight loss. Hypnosis is very effective at helping people stick to a diet program, such as the Atkins program, and lose weight.
By : Alan B. Densky, CH
