Maybe you're like my Dad... who for years would regale us with tales of how he was going to start exercising 5 days a week "as soon as we get back" from whatever vacation we were on at the time. Love him as we do, after 30+ years of hearing the same promises (and watching them go unfulfilled), we don't take his words too seriously anymore.
I remember the years when I'd go through this same ritual during the holidays:
- Grazing on candy dishes, snack trays & cookies until I was sick
- Eating HUGE portions of rich foods at parties & family gatherings
- Going back for seconds (thirds?)
- Passing out on the couch
- Feeling simultaneously bloated and empty/unsatisfied
- Watching the numbers go up on the scale
- Feeling sluggish, tired and guilty
- Rinse
- Repeat
Boy, do I miss those days! (Uh, not really)
Seriously, though... most people can identify with at least portions of this ritual. And the worst part is that's it's all supposed to be so much FUN. How many times have you justified these insane behaviors, either in your own mind or out loud to friends, by saying something like:
- "So what? It's the Holidays!"
- "I'll go on a diet after New Year's!"
- "But Mom only makes this once a year!"
- "I've been good all year... I deserve this!"
Right, as though you deserve to put on another 10 pounds. You deserve to hate the way you look in the mirror. You deserve to have trouble fitting into your clothes. You deserve less confidence and self-esteem.
These attitudes and behaviors are based on some false assumptions. Namely:
Being Good = Eating Healthy Foods
Being Bad = Eating Foods You Like
Food = Reward
More = Better
Pay special attention to that last one. Yes, we in America, after decades of relentless, repetitive advertising, mainly delivered via a medium (TV) that studies have shown induces a hypnotic state, have come to believe that more actually does mean better.
- Super-Sized
- XL
- Double-Decker
- Quarter Pounder
- Big Gulp
- Super Big Gulp
- Big Montana
When you can't sell quality... sell quantity.
This, in spite of the fact that with respect to food, more is often completely useless. Once your stomach is full, trying to stuff more food into it makes no more sense than trying to pump more gasoline into a full tank.
However nonsensical and irrational this belief may be, it functions as reality for many, many people... causing them to feel deprived if they don't indulge in an over-sized portion of whatever it is they're having.
Why?
Let's go back to the TV for a minute. Yeah, you know you want to...
It just feels so nice to crash on the couch in front of the tube and tune out, right? Did you ever wonder why it feels so nice to crash in front of the TV and turn off your brain for a while?
Could it be... hypnosis?!?
"Oh, come now," you say. "I've never been hypnotized. What nonsense."
Let's ask Herbert E. Krugman, who was the manager of corporate public opinion research at General Electric. He produced a landmark paper entitled "The Impact of Television Advertising: Learning Without Involvement" in 1965.
He found that "Repeated exposure to advertising can lead to changes in the perceptions of what is important about a brand without the conscious or verbal recognition on the consumer's part." [my emphasis]
Take another look at that statement. "Without conscious recognition" means that the recognition is unconscious. Therefore, while watching TV, including (and especially) advertisements, you are receiving messages that are being accepted without your direct, conscious awareness.
You know that thing that happens when you're watching TV... when your husband/wife/mate calls your name repeatedly to get your attention, but you're so involved in the show that you don't even hear them until they practically shout it into your ear?
Thought you were the only one, huh?
So many of my new clients express frustration at knowing their eating behaviors are irrational, while feeling increasingly incapable of changing them. "It just doesn't make sense," they say. "I know which foods are good for me. I know I should be eating less. I just can't seem to change it."
It's time to face facts. We are being marketed to on a daily basis by advertisers whose job is to create wants and needs... who need us to consume more in order for their businesses to grow. Whether you like it or not, you're being bombarded with messages that are completely counter to your health, happiness and well-being.
So who's going to be responsible for delivering messages to your subconscious? A bunch of marketing execs who want more of your cash, or you?
It's time to start filling up that brain of yours with messages that will produce the results you're looking for. Hypnosis is one way of doing that. There are others as well.
You don't have to wait until you've buried yourself under more weight during the holiday season. You can turn things around now.
Unless, of course, you decide that you deserve more of the same.
He found that "Repeated exposure to advertising can lead to changes in the perceptions of what is important about a brand without the conscious or verbal recognition on the consumer's part." [my emphasis]
Take another look at that statement. "Without conscious recognition" means that the recognition is unconscious. Therefore, while watching TV, including (and especially) advertisements, you are receiving messages that are being accepted without your direct, conscious awareness.
You know that thing that happens when you're watching TV... when your husband/wife/mate calls your name repeatedly to get your attention, but you're so involved in the show that you don't even hear them until they practically shout it into your ear?
Thought you were the only one, huh?
So many of my new clients express frustration at knowing their eating behaviors are irrational, while feeling increasingly incapable of changing them. "It just doesn't make sense," they say. "I know which foods are good for me. I know I should be eating less. I just can't seem to change it."
It's time to face facts. We are being marketed to on a daily basis by advertisers whose job is to create wants and needs... who need us to consume more in order for their businesses to grow. Whether you like it or not, you're being bombarded with messages that are completely counter to your health, happiness and well-being.
So who's going to be responsible for delivering messages to your subconscious? A bunch of marketing execs who want more of your cash, or you?
It's time to start filling up that brain of yours with messages that will produce the results you're looking for. Hypnosis is one way of doing that. There are others as well.
You don't have to wait until you've buried yourself under more weight during the holiday season. You can turn things around now.
Unless, of course, you decide that you deserve more of the same.
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