Having a Fat Day...

I must start listening to my hypnotherapy CD. I've slipped and now I crave Mexican food, burgers, sweets, and...I love food. I love food, but I let it control me instead of the other way around. Promising myself that I will get back on track. Writing it down helps to seal it into my mental to do list.

Not looking forward to sitting in a five hour meeting with senior managers today. The room we meet in is long and narrow, with an 18 foot oval table, 16 high back leather chairs, and hot! Imagine all that male testosterone sinking into the leather. The smell is atrocious. Not a good combination and me with a sinus headache to boot.

I just can't wait until the day I can walk away from the dreaded day job. Hey! That will help with my food fetish, too. We won't be able to go out to eat very often if I'm not bringing in the extra paycheck. Now if I can only convince hubby of that...

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Hypnotherapy--I'm Convinced

Four weeks, three sessions, and six-and-a-half pounds lighter. I love the new me. Not the outside me, but the inside me. Taking the hypnotherapy along with having all the stress in my life has helped to heal me internally. Believe it or not, I'm able to handle stress without going overboard and beating myself up, or shall I say, eating myself to death. Perhaps it comes from my upbringing where food became a balm to soothe hurts and tears.

Going through this hypnosis has given me a new lease on my emotions and why I eat. Now I'm in control, not food. I eat whatever I want, whenever I want, BUT, I seem to only want to eat at meal times. I'm satisfied easier, and I eat less and I'm not having the horrible bouts of heartburn any longer. I don't snack or cram down a whole bag of chips. Every day I make progress, and it's a "whole-body" experience.

I'll give another report a month from now. If any of you reading this blog is having a problem with weight, smoking, or anything you can't control, I highly suggest checking out hypnotherapy. Just make sure you find someone who is legit and comes highly recommended.

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Hurray for Hypnotherapy!

This is day four and all I can say is I feel free! No more worrying about dieting. I know diets don't work for most people. I'm one of them.

Over the years, I've tried every new diet that has come along. I've tried health clubs, diet pills, exercise gimmicks, South Beach Diet, Atkins, and just plain calorie counting. Sure, they all work...short term. And then, guess what? All the weight is regained, plus a few more pounds. This is what is known as yo-yo dieting. (Raising hand here. I'm guilty.)

As a last resort I decided to try the hypnotherapy route. I didn't go into this without doing some research. I didn't want to do the group hypnosis thing either. This is a personal venture for me and I'm different from every other person. How can a group session be geared specifically to me? I knew it wouldn't work. But I found a wonderful lady here in my home town who specializes in hypnotherapy for various things, one being weight loss. We talked on the telephone for about twenty minutes before my first session on Thursday. I felt very comfortable with her and with her process. So, I scheduled an appointment.

When I walked into her office, I sat in a chair next to her desk. She offered me a water and then handed me several papers to fill out. One was to list all the family history diseases and to list any medications I'm currently taking. Then I read over a two page sheet of "symptoms" and highlighted every one that applied to me. These were the tools to help her focus in on my specific problems and needs. We talked for another fifteen minutes about why I was there, what I had tried and she explained why diets don't work. She also explained the hypnosis session, what she would be doing, and what I would be doing. I felt good to know that she wouldn't be in control of my mind, but that I would be in control all the time. I would be listening to her suggestions. Interestingly, I learned that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

Next we went into a room which had low lighting and I sat in a wonderfully comfortable soft leather recliner. I could control how far back I wanted to recline. Once comfortable she turned on ocean sounds which were very soothing. Then she proceeded with the actual program. I was totally aware of everything she said and could remember each word and suggestion. They all made sense to me. Throughout I felt as if I were floating on a raft on a calm body of water. After she brought me out of the hypnosis, I wasn't sure I had truly been hypnotized. She said I had been a great subject and that my movements had shown her that I had accepted her suggestions and that I had gone under quite deep. Amazing!

I left feeling very positive. One of the suggestions she gave me before the session and during the session was to make a fist with my hand. The size of my fist is the size of my stomach. Then I opened my fist and that is the size of the food portions that would fill me up.

Armed with a CD to listen to each night and a book which explains the reason diets don't work, I am prepared to believe. I attest that it is working. I don't know about weight loss. I can't weigh myself for a month. But I cannot believe how much less I've eaten for the past three days. I get full and I'm satisfied. Best of all, I don't really think a lot about food. I can eat whatever I want! That in itself is freeing. I don't worry about the calories, the fat, any of those "diet" words. Thus, I don't feel deprived. I just eat less. It's a wonderful feeling.

Hubby took me out to eat for Mother's Day. I wanted to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant. I ordered my usual grande burrito, which I would usually eat. All of it. Every morsel. Not so now. I ate 1/3 and was full! The rest is in the fridge and will be my lunch for the next two days. Need I say more?

Thanks for joining me on this journey.

Happy belated mother's day to all the mothers who are reading my blog.

Writer's Block, Hypnotherapy, and Me Time

I don't believe in writer's block, but I do believe that real life can sometimes take so much mental energy that you have to allow yourself to step back and recoup. With all the things happening surrounding moving my mother from Illinois into our home in Ohio, my mental energy is truly tapped out. Couple that with having new windows installed on Monday, along with a new furnace and central air at the same time, company coming from Michigan on Friday, that's a lot. Sometime between Tuesday and Thursday, I have to clean the clutter, put all the furniture back and buy groceries.
The following week my grandson gets married on Saturday, then Sunday morning we are off to Illinois.

I'm giving myself permission to step back from writing until June. My best advice to you other writers is to know when you need to step away from the computer and tend to the issues that are most important. I know you've heard "write something every day." You can still do that. Just don't push yourself to come up with the next scene or chapter of your book. If you have a blog, post something there.

If, like me, you also have a full-time job, sometimes there just isn't enough energy left at the end of the day when you have other pressing issues. Remember, relationships are very important. In the long run, the relationships you build with people will bless you. Don't ever beat yourself up because you feel like a failure for not pushing yourself beyond your limits.

Last night I began the journey into hypnotherapy for weight loss. I'm happy that I did this FOR ME. I love the knowledge that it is the total package of mind, body, and spirit. No, she didn't hold a shiny watch in front of my eyes and tell me I was getting sleepy. It doesn't work that way. But the power of positive thinking can do wonders in anything you attempt. Yes, even in completing your latest manuscript.

Just received Patty Lacy's new book, "What the Bayou Saw" by Kregel Publications. I can't wait to read it. The cover is beautifully haunting. Patty has a way with characters. They reach out of the page and grab you by the heart.

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Creative Minds Want to Know About...Hypnotherapy

As a writer, I'm always curious to experience new things to help me paint a better picture with my words. As a scorpio, I'm always curious to experience new things because it's my nature. I've always been interested in things that are "out there" so to speak. I've always believed things aren't just black and white. The gray area exists and it entices me to delve further into situations and issues. Usually able to see both sides of a question, I walk a narrow road at times. But, I'm diverting from my mission.

If you follow my blog, you know my battle to lose weight. I've tried so many things and the one and only one that seemed to make sense to me was the Paul McKenna "I Can Make You Thin" book and CD. And it works. That is, the left brain side of me understands the theory and why it will work. But this is when I'm consciously thinking about it. Problem: I don't always think about it. I'm busy. I'm in a hurry. I inhale my food and then go on about my business, only later chastising myself for not following his golden rules.

A friend went to a hypnotherapist to quit smoking. She highly recommended this person and I've been toying with the idea of doing this for some time. I listen to the CDs with the self-hypnosis. I just don't think it works for me. So, I thought about it for a long time and decided I should seek help one-on-one with a hypnotherapist and maybe then it would work. I'm not convinced I can be hypnotized...or allow my right brain to accept the suggestions which will remain with me and help me beat the weight loss thing. Right brain accepting the suggestions plus left brain understanding the concept should equal success. Right? After speaking with this lady, I feel very positive. In fact after I hung up I wondered if I had already had some messages planted in my brain because I've been energized and consciously thinking about what I eat and how I eat.

I'm going to begin my journey the evening of May 7, and I plan to share that journey with you here on my blog. I also plan to use this in my book. How? Well, I never tell the twists and turns of my novels before publication. So, have I created a little suspense here?

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!