How we become anxious about our weight

We get a lot of information from a huge range of media - magazines, telly etc - where people are trying to sell us something.

There is masses of information coming to us about food - not just the tv programmes and adverts, but the variety of food in the supermarket and the range of eating places in the high street. These are "messages to eat".

And on the other hand, we get messages about what we should look like. There was a report published this week seeking to control the images of women portrayed in the media, with all that airbrushing, which puts pressure on girls to present themselves as sexy before they are old enough to know what is going on. And at the same time, these images encourage men to consider women as only interesting if they are sexy.

This sort of advertising puts a huge pressure on women to conform to unrealistic expectations. And is the major cause of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder and body dissatisfaction and perhaps surprisingly, obesity.

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Using your belly as a bin

The generation that was told to eat everything on their plate find leaving food very tricky.

So when you go to the fridge and see the remains of a meal, there is a powerful urge to eat it, to avoid waste. Don't tidy your fridge by eating up the contents.

These suggestions from your childhood are persistent and powerful. What can you do to overcome them?

Well, hypnosis can embed new suggestions, permitting you to throw food away. In hypnosis, you can learn to always leave your plate half eaten. Breaking the instruction to eat everything up needs a bit of support. However, many of us feel strongly about food waste. Hypnosis can help you develop new habits, simple things - like cooking smaller quantities or cooking a bit more so that you can store some in the freezer. Sometimes we just need to be able to focus.

You may feel that to be eco-friendly, you can't use the oven to heat up or bake just a small portion. So you could think about getting a small table top oven.

You might keep a dog - scraps and bones are apparently the ideal diet! Or chickens, so when you throw food out it doesn't feel so wasteful. Whatever works for you.

But your belly is not the bin. Don't fill it with rubbish.

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Do I have to exercise?

Well, to be honest, only reducing your calories will reduce your weight. I was going to say, only reducing the amount you eat - but that is not so. You can eat lots of water-rich food and lose weight. It is the calorie-dense food that we all need to avoid, even though it tastes lovely.

What exercise does is reduce the amount of abdominal fat. This fat is packed into the abdominal cavity and in between the internal organs. It is also called organ fat or visceral fat. This is the fat that you are losing when you find your waist is getting smaller. Abdominal fat is linked to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. This is the natural place for fat deposits in men, whereas for women it is the buttocks, hips and thighs. However, after the menopause, fat moves to the organs.

So, rather than keep miserably eying the scales, measure your waist. When you reduce your waist measurement, you are losing fat and are back on the healthy slopes. And a hypnotherapist will help you keep to your goals.

www.carolinebrowntherapy.com