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5 Psychological Weight-Loss Strategies

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Hi, I am Vana, I am a hypnotherapist and have also studied psychology.  I am mainly interested in sharing the strategies and techniques of psychological health.

Today I will discuss the study titled:  “Effectiveness of hypnosis as an adjunct to behavioural weight management.”  The study was published in 1985, however, the strategies are still very relevant to the current times.

I will share with you the 5 strategies that helped 109 clients with their weight loss goals.  More specifically I will discuss the following behaviour-focused and emotion-focused strategies:

The behaviour-focused strategies are the following:

1. motivation strategy using monetary incentives

2. tracking with self-monitoring skills

3. restructuring the environment with stimulus-control techniques

4. adopting weight-loss rules

5. The emotion-focused strategy is self-hypnosis and in particular the practice of self-suggestions. 

Background of the study: All of the one hundred nine participants completed a 9-week behavioural treatment programme for weight loss. They were split into two groups, approx half of the 109 participants completed the program without the addition of hypnosis and the other half received hypnosis training.  At the end of the 9-week programme, there was significant weight loss for all participants.  However, only the hypnosis group showed significant long-term weight loss at 8-month and 2-year follow-ups.

Now I will explain the strategies in more detail.

Behavioural strategies

1st strategy: Monetary Motivation. Before the programme, all participants were charged a deposit of £61 in today’s money Year 2020, refundable based on the successful completion of the programme.  

It is true that monetary incentives work, for example, you could give £50 to your best friend with the instructions to pay you back only if you reach your weight-loss target otherwise they must donate it to a political party or charity that holds an opposing ideology to yours. Say you are a vegan then the money should be donated to a pro-hunting charity. 

Hmm….this type of motivation sounds a bit evil!  

My view is that even though monetary rewards work I do not support them for long term behavioural change. The reason is that a money reward is extrinsic or otherwise called an external motivator.  A monetary reward does not bring personal satisfaction in a new eating regime but it comes from outside of the individual.  An intrinsic motivator is when someone enjoys the process of weight loss, this is where the sweet spot lies.  It is about finding that, and there are ways of finding that intrinsic reward.

2nd strategy: Tracking with self-monitoring skills. During the programme, self-monitoring skills were taught. Self-monitoring skills involved the maintenance of a food diary and the charting of weight changes. 

My view is that tracking is incredibly valuable.  Tracking is essential because measuring the progress towards a goal is self-motivating and more importantly it makes you aware of your behaviour.  Tracking wakes you up!  This reminds me of the quote by the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung, he said “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate

3rd strategy: Restructuring the environment with stimulus-control techniques.  Stimulus control techniques are essential to behaviour modification and they were taught to participants. The main tenet of stimulus control is that the environment and surroundings influence behaviour. Behaviour modification requires that the environment is manipulated.   Stimulus control techniques include buying healthy foods, keeping healthy foods in the house, eating only at certain times and places and avoiding all you can eat buffets.

My view is that environmental restructuring is necessary for success. The quote by the author Benjamin Hardy is very relevant, he states that “If you do not shape your environment, it will shape you”.

4th strategy: Weight-loss rules. Three weight-loss rules were adopted by the participants.  

1st rule: Weight loss can only result from permanent changes in eating patterns and not from fad diets and short term alterations in activity levels.

2nd rule: Weight loss requires mindfulness.  In other words weight loss requires increased attention to food-intake behaviours e.g. eating only when hungry, slowing down food consumption by experiencing each bite of food with all the 5 senses (sight, sound, touch, smell and taste), perhaps using chopsticks or a knife and fork to eat hyper-palatable foods or counting bites per meal.

3rd rule:  Weight loss requires modification of the environmental cues that lead to poor food consumption.  Some examples of controlling the cues to food consumption are the use of smaller plates, the preparation of shopping lists, not eating in front of the tv and avoiding all you can eat buffets.

Participants were asked to write down their understanding of the 3 rules including how their eating habits and weight will be affected. Additional rules were presented if the participants had difficulty in losing weight. The participants were also taught progressive relaxation and were instructed to read the rules in a relaxed state once a day preferably before a meal.

My view is that rules are absolutely necessary for success in any weight loss endeavour, they create consistency and guide eating behaviour towards desired results.   Promising yourself that you’ll try to do better next time is not good enough.  The absence of bright-line rules means confusion.  However, rules need to have a degree of flexibility and should be individualised.  Let me give you an example of my own 3 rules: 1 fast in the morning, 2 no snacking, 3 no sugar. By having clear rules, it is easy for me to track my daily progress.

Hypnosis intervention

Both the behavioural and hypnosis groups received the behavioural intervention. However, the participants in the hypnosis group were asked to practice self-hypnosis daily instead of progressive muscle relaxation, preferably before each meal. They were asked to give themselves self-suggestions of the programme rules and guide their thoughts to the importance and benefits of the weight-loss rules.  As I mentioned before at 8-month and 2-year follow-ups only the hypnosis group continued to lose significant amounts of weight. 

The study suggests that the practice of self-hypnosis motivated long-term healthy eating behaviours. Also, the study recognises that hypnosis on its own will not lead to weight loss, but as an adjunct to a behavioural weight loss programme, hypnosis facilitates the acquisition of desired behaviours.   

I agree that hypnosis creates the desired emotions, motivates and facilitates behaviours that lead to weight loss e.g. if you feel that tasks such as keeping a diary or exercising are mundane, hypnosis can create motivation and excitement about them.  However for hypnosis to work the rules of the new behaviours should be agreed from the beginning. 

5th strategy: Self-hypnosis and in particular the practice of self-suggestions

It is my view that the key to the long term success of weight loss in the hypnosis group was the formulation of self-suggestions and not self-hypnosis in general.  The study mentions that the book Self-hypnotism by Leslie Lecron was used as a guide to teaching participants self-hypnosis.  I have Lecron’s book and the chapter on formulating suggestions is excellent, even though the book is a little bit outdated!  Here are my 6 guiding rules for creating a powerful suggestion inspired by Lecron’s instructions:

  1. The suggestion should be as specific as possible.
  2. The suggestion should have a positive element.
  3. Associating a visual image to a verbal suggestion will make it more potent.
  4. Hooking a strong emotion to a suggestion will make it more effective.
  5. The mind should not be burdened by too many suggestions at a time, and
  6. The suggestion should be repeated at least 3 times or more.

Here is an example of an effective self-suggestion that follows Lecron’s instructions:  Overeating is damaging and hurts me, I look forward to protecting my body by eating mindfully and enjoying every mouthful at the dining room table.

Conclusion

I have discussed the 5 behaviour and emotion-focused strategies: monetary motivation, tracking with self-monitoring skills, restructuring the environment with stimulus-control techniques,  rules and self-suggestion in self-hypnosis

For a successful weight loss programme, I would suggest that the client is first taught

The tracking strategy because it creates awareness, followed by the establishment of weight-loss rules.  Then self-hypnosis and in particular the use of self-suggestions can facilitate the adoption of the rules and create desired emotions.  Finally restructuring the environment can promote healthy eating behaviours and increased physical activity.

Future vlogs

In addition to the strategies mentioned in this study, there is plenty of recent scientific evidence that supports the effectiveness of 3  current psychological models. The 3 models are practical and very simple to implement.  They are called:

  1. Implementation Intentions
  2. Mental Contrasting
  3. Tiny Habits

These 3 psychological models can supercharge a weight-loss endeavour and I plan to speak about them in future vlogs.

That is all from me.

I hope you found this blog thought-provoking and please don’t hesitate to comment or ask questions.

Have a Great Day! 

Vana

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