Ever get that battle in your head about what or how much to eat?

A lot of clients come to me for help with their relationship with food and eating. Regardless of whether they want to lose weight or not, the common factor is that they want to get back in control of what they eat and when they eat it. The other common factor is that they have battles in their head about over-eating, or making the 'wrong' choices. This battle is frustrating and baffling and causes a lot of negative self-talk. That's because intellectually we know what is good for us longer term, what would benefit us most. And yet the nagging voice that tells us to eat a high calorie, sugary or carby food immediately, now, this instant will often win! Why does it win? At some point in the past, you needed to feel a bit better, for whatever reason. You were maybe feeling down, or stressed, tired, or anxious. You needed some serotonin (our happy hormone). Your brain decided to help you feel better and to get you some serotonin and an energy boost. It knew that eating would achieve this. So it sent you a signal to go and eat. But it didn't choose a bowl of, say, porridge, which releases energy slowly and isn't a taste-bud tingler. No, it zoned in on foods which would give you a quick fix, that would hit your system fast and be tasty. Cake? Chocolate? Biscuits? Crisps? Pizza? You got your serotonin! And some dopamine! You felt good for a bit! Your brain yelled "#win!" So what happened the next time you felt tired or down or stressed? Your brain stepped in and said: "Ooh, I've got a solution for this! It worked really well last time, so let's use it again," and it sent you off in search of quick-fix food. And the signal it sends you every time to make you repeat this pattern is very strong. If you ignore it your brain just sends it again but with more force - and it will do this until you relent and eat the damned packet of biscuits. So next time that battle starts in your head or the self-critical voice pipes up, show yourself some compassion, try to calm your mind. Aim not to let your stress levels rise even further but rather bring them down. What small thing could you do, other than eat, to make you feel better in the moment?

Breaking the pattern of emotional or comfort eating can be difficult. When we do it we're in the grip of some pretty powerful neurological and physiological processes. Solution focused hypnotherapy is very effective at tackling the root causes of disordered eating and at changing the patterns we run in relation to food.

Please get in touch to have a chat about how this therapy can help you change your relationship with food and eating once and for all.