Despite the popularity of the Atkins Diet, it is often greatly misunderstood! Common, but slightly exaggerated depictions of the plan portray dieters eating nothing but huge portions of meat and fat. Although the program is not quite that simple, many dieters under the program have successfully lost weight and improved their health.

On this program, dieters follow a very specific regimen based on limited carbohydrate intake. The nutritional aspects of the plan are emphasized over exercise and other factors, although getting physical activity is also a key to weight loss. There are four phases in the Atkins program:

Induction: During this two-week stage at the beginning of the diet program, dieters can only have up to 20 grams of carbs per day. Dieters can eat high protein foods such as meat and eggs, fats such as butter and oils, and other foods with little to no carbohydrate content. Many foods with carbs are not permitted at all, including alcoholic drinks.

This early phase is intended to help the body switch from burning carbs for energy, as it normally does, into burning fat stored in the body (a process called ketosis). Most dieters begin to shed pounds during this stage.

Ongoing Weight Loss: During this stage, dieters gradually increase their carbohydrate consumption by adding 5 grams of carbs into their diet every week. Dieters fine-tune their diet, losing weight to put themselves within 5-10 pounds of their target weight, before transitioning into the Pre-maintenance phase.

Pre-maintenance: Dieters use this phase to find out the maximum amount of carbs they can consume without gaining weight. During this stage, dieters increase carb intake by 10 grams a week. Once dieters reach their target weight and can keep it stable for a month, they move into the Lifetime Maintenance stage.

Lifetime Maintenance: For lasting results, the Atkins program is supposed to be maintained throughout the dieter’s life. Using the techniques that helped the dieter reach their target weight, the dieter develops an eating and exercise program to stay at their goal weight. Individuals can revert to previous stages if their weight begins to rise again.

Dieters who can stick to the Atkins diet are often successful in losing weight; unfortunately, many people are unable to maintain the program and end up quitting early on in the difficult induction stage. In general, most diet plans fail because dieters cannot stay on the plan.

Many people are unable to stay on diets because they experience strong food cravings, have problems with compulsive overeating, can’t control their appetites, or simply lack the motivation to lose weight. Overcoming these mental obstacles is the most challenging aspect of losing weight.

One reason why many people cannot seem to manage their eating is because they are emotional eaters. Such people eat in response to their emotions, such as when they are bored or upset. However, this habit programs a “conditioned response” into the unconscious mind. This means that when people experience the same emotion that made them overeat initially, they will feel compelled to overeat again.

Hypnotherapy works by helping our unconscious minds disassociate our eating habits from our emotions. To eliminate the conditioned response to overeat, a hypnotherapy weight loss program is used to break the association developed in the unconscious mind between overeating and certain “trigger” behaviors.

For instance, if you tend to overeat when you get bored, hypnosis can disassociate boredom from eating in your unconscious mind. Hypnosis can then be used to replace the compulsion to overeat with another activity, such as exercising. That way, the next time you become bored, instead of going to eat, you will feel motivated to exercise, resulting in natural weight loss.

Hypnosis is an excellent stress relieving tool as well, helping us cope with our stressful feelings and relieve tension without eating. As a relaxation tool, it calms the mind, helps you develop strategies to manage stress, and boosts your self-confidence to motivate you to lose weight.

Hypnotherapy can also be used to end the emotional stresses that keep you from losing weight. Many overweight people use their weight for emotional protection. For instance, after a painful end to a relationship, people often find themselves becoming overweight so they can avoid new relationships and avoid having to endure emotional pain again. Through hypnosis, we can turn our negative thoughts into positive ones and focus on improving our health instead of becoming overwhelmed by our worries.

Not only is hypnotherapy a powerful motivation tool, it relieves tension, eliminates conditioned responses that trigger overeating, and can be used to overcome many mental obstacles that prevent weight loss. Hypnotherapy techniques are extremely effective at helping people stick to a diet program, such as the Atkins diet, and naturally lose weight.

Alan B. Densky, CH has spent over 30 years specializing in weight loss. He offers several ways to lose weight, including lose weight CD and hypnotism to lose weight DVD. Visit his hypnotism CD website for Free hypnosis videos, newsletters, and downloads.

- Alan B. Densky, CH

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