Rosa Smith-Montanaro blog
Rosa Smith-Montanaro is your virtual weight loss and wellness coach. She is the author of Mind Over Platter®: Train Your Brain to Think Thin and the award-winning creator of www.MindOverPlatter.com. Rosa is a certified Success Coach with an expertise in weight management and the mind/body connection. She is also certified at the Master level in Hypnosis, Neuro Linguistics Programming (NLP), Thought Field Therapy
TM (TFT), Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Herbal Specialist and Humanistic Neuro Linguistic Psychology. Rosa teaches seminars throughout the country on the mind/body connection and how to create a life that is a reflection of your values. Rosa and her husband live in Greece and have three children. She welcomes you to blog with her and discover how you can create a healthier, happier and balanced life. Rosa can be reached at MindOverPlatter@aol.com.
Third Hypnosis Myth
Third myth about hypnosis: you only need one session and you are fixed. First of all, you are not broken and don’t need to be fixed. Hypnosis is an excellent way to resolve past hurts, facilitate forgiveness and break negative habits while creating positive habits. None of those things occurred over night and they don’t go away over night. Success in contingent on a number of factors. What lies under the change, is there a secondary gain that has to be addressed? Are you ready to change at this point in your life and does the change resonate with your values and lifestyle. Change happens quickly when one is prepared and that takes time and often a strategy.
Suggestions stick with repetition and conditioning. It is not nearly as long as traditional methods, but still takes time. If a hypnotist tells you one session is all you need and you are healed ask for references and check them. I am not saying it isn’t possible, smokers are a good example, they are either going to quit or not, no in between with them. Often a one session hypnotist will charge more money because they are weeding out people who are on the fence or looking for an excuse to tell their mate “I even tried hypnosis and it didn’t work, now will you leave me alone!”
Second myth about hypnosis
Second myth about hypnosis: you are asleep and won’t remember a thing. Hypnosis is a trance, it is NOT sleep. If you relax very easily and have a good relationship with your hypnotist, then you will be in a dreamlike state and recall parts of the session. The more you trust your hypnotist, the deeper you will go and the less you might recall, but you are not asleep. If the smoke detector went off, you will immediately get up and respond properly. If my clients open their eyes when I ask them too, they were not asleep, they were in a trance.
Hypnosis myths part 1
While I didn’t actually watch this episode of CSI, my friends called me to ask me if it was true that someone would steal money based on hypnotic suggestion or even worse harm themselves.
I really detest those sensationalized attempts to make hypnosis seem like mind control. Honestly if hypnosis was a form of mind control, every hypnotist would be wealthy and they would have 100% success rate. So I ask you…”when was the last time you met a wealthy hypnotist who boosts a 100% success rate with all of their clients all of the time?” I rest my case, but will continue to defend the profession and debunk the myths because part of my commitment to my colleagues is to elevate our profession, not exploit it.
First myth about hypnosis: you are under the control of the hypnotist. This is not possible, you have to consent to being hypnotized and you are always aware of the suggestions made. It is a continuous dynamic much like meditation, martial arts or yoga, you must focus your attention on the task at hand and you must manage your thoughts and your mind for it to be successful. No one can do this for you, only you can manage your mind.
Don't believe what you see
Don't believe everything you see is our theme for the week. These are crazy times and it can create fear within you, so I am going to invite to do something different. Focus on a positive future, the potential of your vision and what is the best use of your time today. Keep your eye on the goal.
Resolving what is eating you
I have received a lot of email about this topic, people relate to eating due to avoiding their emotions. The next question is how do you can this pattern?
When you are engaged in a pattern, my approach is to identify the trigger of what sparks what is eating at you. If you are unsure, think about what happened right before a binge or splurge. Be with that experience and acknowledge the feelings you have. Think about where this came from, write in your journal, explore what your hidden beliefs are about what just happened.
Then do something different, remind yourself that you have choices, eating is not going to solve anything. You are doing what people do, make the pain go away and find a way to feel good. Food is a form of comfort, but it is short term and not worth the consequences, which is weight gain. Being overweight and unhappy in your body will feed into the whole unhealthy cycle. Think, talk to naturally thin people, read my books and blogs because the next piece is important, put a plan in place. You will have one to avoid the trigger when possible or do something completely different as a response to the trigger. This is called a pattern and you are creating a new one.
You can do this, don't let it be a wait until tomorrow thing, start focusing on it today. This is worth the time it takes, it will take time to condition a new pattern, once a plan has been determined. You my friend, are so worth it.
Time to transform your self talk
Your words have power, they can boost confidence or they can cause great pain. Listen to the words people choose and how it effects you within moments. Compare the words, doomed verses challenged, being doomed implies certain failure, challenged could mean success if you are up for it. How do you view life and your day to day experiences? Do you think you are an unlucky person or a that you have the midis touch? Your words can be the very reason you fulfill your beliefs.
When I was going through my divorce years ago, I heard a lot of negative comments about how women failure financially or emotionally because it was so hard to make it alone, etc. I was taking some of my NLP (Neuro Linguistics Programming) classes, which focuses greatly on the effects of language on the mind, I realized that saying life was hard was not going to empower me. Instead I came up with a good come back, I would think to myself and say to friend, it is going to take more than this to knock me down. That thought would fire me up and infuse me with the desire to push past the challenge I faced, allowing me to move through the experience in a positive and confident way.
Using what we call transformational vocabulary will allow you to change your perspective on any given situation. The economy will bounce back feels ten times better than we are headed for a depression. Nothing tastes as good as a thin body feels feels better than I can eat that. Swap out words and notice how you feel, say choose instead of can't, deserve instead of wish, challenge instead of problem and if you want something say it on it's way, rather than thinking it is not in your procession, it's not here YET, it's on it's way.
Now more than every those wonderful neuro transmitters need to fire in a direction that will trigger a smile not a frown. You deserve a little optimism in your life, that healthy slim body is yours, it is only a matter of time.
What are some typical words you use and what you have found to be a better substitute. Share with our readers, they will benefit from this practice.
Stress Eating
We are being bombarded with negativity and doom and gloom. It can easily impact the nervous system leaving you feeling uneasy and anxious. Eating due to stress is a common reason people gain weight. Let's face it, times are changing and we can't do much about the price of gas but they can enjoy a piece of chocolate.
What can you do if you are a stress eater? First understand what is happening in your mind and body. Your brain does anxiety by focusing on a problem, putting out into the future in your MIND while vividly imagining an unfavorable outcome as if it were real. This causes your nervous system to react in a flight or fight response, to calm your nerves, you eat. Eating fills your stomach, changing your breathing pattern which then stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system causing you to feel relaxed.
Try a new pattern, first stop reading, watching or listening to depressing news, believe me when I tell you that anyone within five feet will keep you informed, you won't miss a thing. Then try breathing, it is remarkable, close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and imagine a wave of relaxation from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Breathing in itself will stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system.
Some ways to stop stress eating are to have an alternative in place that is seamless to reach for instead of food. Herbal teas are good because the aroma will help you relax, going for a walk is excellent because it changes your physiology, motion creates emotion, shifting your focus. Listening to soothing music is great, if you have a table top water fountain, focus on the sounds of the water. The rhymetic pace will slow down your brain waves to a calmer alpha state. When you do eat, preselect foods that are low in calories and easy to reach for in a few minutes. Try cutting vegetables and having them with dip, or a handful of almonds, maybe a little peanut butter on some soy chips, will do the trick. The point is not to feel full but to avoid feeling deprived and binging.
Dealing with stress is a way of life, we are living in a fast paced society with information racing towards us. Slowing things down and taking a few deep breaths is always an option. You can choose the way you deal with stress, pick a healthy way that doesn't result in weight gain. Start right now, make a new choice, one that won't add further cause you to feel anxious and want to comfort yourself with food.
