We’ve all heard it or even said it one time or another: “I can’t lose weight because of my metabolism.” It’s convenient to blame our extra pounds on an abstract idea like metabolism, but let’s look at the real importance of metabolism – and better yet, how you can get the most “burn” for your buck by recharging your metabolism.
In the most basic sense, metabolism includes all of the physical and chemical changes that occur inside the cells of the body. Most often, though, metabolism refers to the process in which the body obtains and uses energy from food, so it really does play an important role in weight gain and loss.
Not everyone is born with the same metabolism, and our rates actually change throughout our lives, so someone who blames their metabolism isn’t necessarily making excuses. Age affects metabolism, which will slow about 5% every 10 years after age 40, and by gender, as males typically burn more calories at rest than females and by the amount of muscle mass you have (more muscle generally means a higher metabolic rate). Heredity also impacts metabolism, not to mention pregnancy, as well as whether a woman chooses to breast-feed.
Despite all of the wild cards, the simple fact is that if your calorie intake exceeds your metabolism, excess energy will get stored in the body as fat. Though some of the factors affecting metabolic rate can’t be changed, fortunately, there are ways to rev up the metabolism you’re born with.
The first rule is to eat the right foods in the correct amounts. When you skip a meal, your body goes into starvation mode, which slows metabolism to conserve calories, because it doesn’t know when it will be fed again. And when the metabolism slows down, so does your weight loss.
When you finally do eat after having skipped a meal, instead of burning the calories in the food you’ve just eaten, your body converts them to body fat to store for the next “fast.” To keep your metabolism efficient, eat 4 – 6 small meals spread evenly throughout the day and try to eat close to the same times each day. Most importantly, never skip a meal.
You can also step up your metabolic rate with exercise, including both aerobic workouts and weight training. Aerobic activities, such as running, biking and dancing, burn more calories in the short term while weight training will build more muscle, which boosts metabolism and burns more calories in the long term – even when you’re sitting still, muscle uses more calories to function than fat.
In fact, every pound of muscle burns 35 calories a day, while each pound of fat burns just 2 calories per day. Despite this, you may be surprised that the more weight you have, the faster your metabolism is likely to run. Simply put, the extra weight makes your body work harder to maintain its processes.
This is partly why it’s almost always easiest to lose weight when you begin diet, and gets harder as you go along because, when you are significantly overweight, your metabolism is already at a high rate, so that even a minor reduction in calories will give you an immediate weight loss.
But what happens after that immediate loss, when a plateau occurs and motivation seems to go by the “weigh” side? Old cravings and compulsions can quickly return, and when they do, don’t overlook a valuable resource – weight loss hypnosis. Hypnotherapy can actually retrain your unconscious mind so that, in essence, you can eliminate food cravings. When we look at why we snack, understanding why weight loss hypnosis works so well becomes clear.
For most of us, snacking has become a habit – perhaps you do it automatically when you’re watching TV or driving or when you’re under stress. Hypnosis can actually reprogram your thoughts to break those associations, leaving you to watch TV or drive without feeling the need to eat.
One of the most successful Lose weight hypnosis methods for breaking the snacking cycle is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP, which relies on negotiating with the unconscious and getting it to use the same thought processes that are creating your appetite, to eliminate your appetite. NLP takes many years of study and practical experience for a hypnotherapist to learn and master, but positive results can come very rapidly and seem almost magical to someone who has always suffered from cravings.
NLP can be just as important as exercise and motivation because, as you read above, because it can help make sure that you eat the right kinds of foods at the right times, and this is a key element to turbo-charging your metabolism. If you want to keep your metabolism at full speed and make sure that all of your exercise and hard work aren’t going to waste by giving into your food temptations, Weight Loss Hypnosis and NLP can be a secret weapon to eliminate your cravings altogether.
By Mike Lang
For as long as I can remember my parents and teachers told me that I had so much potential that I should expect to achieve great things in my life and anything less should be unacceptable. While they were filling me with promises of a great life I always felt elated until the feeling wore off, replaced by those other inner voices that told me I wasn’t good enough and didn’t deserve those “great things.” It was almost as if I had a war going on inside my head and the “brass ring” was always just out of reach. This ongoing inner conflict has caused me great pain in my life and got to the point where I was reluctant to even try to better myself. So I began to settle for whatever cards I was dealt.
Self-Confidence
A close friend who had great success with a self-hypnosis program suggested that I give it a try. So after a brief online search I came across a program produced by Alan B. Densky, CH and his company Neuro-VISION. Mr. Densky had enough credentials to satisfy me, as he is a certified hypnotherapist and Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner who has treated over 10,000 clients face-to-face since 1978.
On his website he made the statement that, Ordering this program will make you will feel good about yourself in every situation, and fill you with a feeling of self-confidence and self-worth. For some reason that simple statement immediately clicked with me and the next thing I did was order Neuro-VISION’s Self-Confidence! Hypnosis program which consisted of 7 audio sessions on 2 CDs.
I must admit I was excited about the prospect of possibly feeling good about myself in every situation, but was a little skeptical after having wasted a lot of time and money on previous attempts to develop my self-esteem. When I received the program from Neuro-VISION, I wasted little time and read that the program is broken down into chapters, so that once I’ve gone through the educational portions of each session, it would be easy to jump directly to any hypnosis or NLP portion of any session. Sounded like a sensible approach, so I began.
The first CD began with Alan Densky introducing himself and describing the behavioral changes that were about to take place for me. He then discussed the various therapeutic approaches he used and how to achieve the best results while having realistic expectations. He also said that my daily rituals and the way I talk to myself would have a great effect on my confidence level.
Now it is not that I haven’t heard similar statements made before, however there was something different about the way things were explained in this program. Another reason why I think I was so receptive to the sessions was the way Alan Densky spoke in a very soothing but authoritative manner. It was actually pleasurable to listen to and I found myself looking forward to the next session.
It was kind of cool the way Densky introduced me to hypnosis, in the second session, utilizing an almost unnoticeable method that guided me into a deep state of relaxation. He then used, what he called, post hypnotic suggestions that were meant to eliminate stress and build a foundation of positive expectations for myself and the world around me
It was after the second session that I started to sense that something was happening within me and I was eager to continue. I also felt confident that I would complete the entire program, which I haven’t always done with others in the past.
CD Sessions 3 through 5 introduced me to things like NLP or Neuro-linguistic programming and Ericksonian Hypnotic Metaphors, which seemed intimidating at first. However, once again Densky simplified everything so that by the time the session was over I did not feel overwhelmed with the knowledge. He accomplished this by giving me simple and clear explanations of the techniques used in each session, so that it always made sense before I began the next hypnosis or NLP session. Very professional! Densky wrapped everything up very neatly in the last CD, Session 7, by explaining that it would not always be possible to have access to the CDs, so he taught me how to induce a hypnotic state using self-hypnosis, so I can relax and give myself post-hypnotic suggestions to make me feel confident anytime and anywhere.
Wow, what a blessing it’s been to find a program that actually took me step by step through a process and actually deliver on the promises made in its promotional literature. I am now more productive at work and unafraid to share my ideas with the boss. I am considerably bolder with the opposite sex as well, and am now looking to go back to school and explore a career change, which I have wanted to do for a long time.
Admittedly, I had come to believe that all of the self-help type products that were being promoted on TV and the Internet were pure hype and I had pretty much given up on them until I discovered Neuro-VISION’s Self-Confidence! Hypnosis Program. I am now looking to get another one of Neuro-VISION’s programs that deals with loosing weight and getting fit, which is another self-improvement thing on my agenda. I expect to have as much success with those programs as I’ve had with the Self-Confidence program. Thanks, Mr. Densky!
