‘Being slim is a state of mind!’

How to lose weight without going on a diet - 5 easy steps

Hypnotist Aaron Surtees convinces Dr. Xand into trying insects.

When wanting to lose weight, most people look at changing their diet and exercise regime. But is a drastic calorie-controlled diet or exhausting fitness regimen the answer to shifting those pounds? Aaron Surtees, a Hypnotherapist and founder of City Hypnosis believes the answer to weight loss lies in harnessing the power of our minds.

“Before embarking on a weight loss journey, it is key to understand why you’ve been overeating,” Aaron said.

“The root cause for many over the last couple of years has been stress and uncertainty as we emerge from the pandemic and try and get back to our normal lives.

“In addition, with many worried about the cost of living and uncertainty in the world right now because of the war in Ukraine, I predict these worries will accelerate.

“Many people will alter their eating habits in an attempt to feel better, feeding a vicious cycle.

“It is true you will feel better temporarily but this feeling won’t last, and you will end up feeling worse as you will feel uncomfortably full, bloated, and fatigued - even over time developing symptoms such as IBS.

“In the longer term, the excess weight gain will affect our health in several ways,” he added.

Aaron spoke about emotional eating and why it makes us feel good.

"Emotional eating – eating when we’re not hungry but for comfort – usually occurs out of boredom, stress, upset, or a combination of all these factors,” he said.

READ MORE: Princess Eugenie 'maintains steady weight' but is 'adventurous eater'

‘Being slim is a state of mind!’ How to lose weight without going on a diet - 5 easy steps

“The rush of endorphins caused by comfort eating help guard and deflect away from stresses and make us feel happier temporarily.”

So why does Aaron believe hypnosis is better than a diet?

“Hypnosis is all about fundamental mindset shifts that change your relationship with food,” the expert revealed. “This will lead to new healthy eating habits becoming naturally ingrained subconsciously for the long term.

“Weight loss is all down to the power of the mind.

“My techniques will have greater power than fad diets and will stop you from being at the mercy of your weighing scales.

“The techniques outlined below will help you to become happier and more confident and eventually you will be able to eat what you want without feeling shame or guilt.

"Being slim is a state of mind. It’s the way you think and behaves around food that makes a powerful difference.’’

The five-step hypnosis techniques:

1. "The first step is to visualize the new you at your ideal weight and size several months from now,” Aaron said. “This simple but powerful exercise, which you should do every morning, will train your unconscious mind to help you lose weight permanently.

“Sit or lay back in a comfortable place where you are not going to be distracted. It is important to make sure you turn off your devices.

“To help visualize, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel the weight of your body and imagine a reflection of yourself in a mirror three months from now.

“Notice the clothes that you are wearing in your visualization and how good they fit and feel on your slimmer body. This makes you feel good. See the confident smile of the new you.”

1. “Using an appetite control mechanism in hypnosis that will help to reduce appetite,” Aaron added. “This involves asking clients to imagine an appetite dial.

“A great tip to help you visualize this is to let your eyes close. Then take a deep breath and relax in a comfortable chair or lay back on a comfortable bed. Imagine a ruler where 10 is ravaging hunger and 0 is no appetite at all.

“Morning, noon, and evening before you eat, close your eyes as detailed above and see where your appetite is. If too high and close to 10 try to bring it down and notice if it will come down. Try to bring it down to three to four consistently. This will reduce your appetite to give your body only what it needs physiologically.

“Clients naturally consume less food to satisfy their hunger using this dialing system as the appetite dials can be dialed down using the above technique so that the client only eats when physiologically hungry and stops as soon as that hunger has been satisfied. This works on a mental and emotional level rather than physical level to manage appetite and not overeat.”

1. “Hypnosis will help you to see food as fuel,” the expert continued. “Clients learn the difference between real physical hunger and comfort eating which amounts to eating for the sake of eating and is driven by our emotions.

“Physical hunger gradually builds over several hours whereas emotional hunger is often sudden and linked to feelings of boredom, stress, or upset which will prompt a visit to the fridge.

“Hypnosis will encourage clients to listen to their bodies so that they can recognize the signs of genuine hunger.

“Achieve this by following the eye closure and comfort position technique, allowing that habit to become part of your day, becoming part of your daily routine. If you are unable to practice every morning because of work, simply swap to the evening instead.

“Remind yourself that food is also for enjoyment by repeating ‘I’m not losing out by seeing food as fuel’ and ‘I can enjoy food just as much as I did before because I eat just enough to fuel my body, I enjoy never feeling over full or guilty’. Learn these important anchor sentences by heart!”

1. “Mindfulness around food, becoming aware of what you’re eating and why,” Aaron said. “Hypnosis will teach you to focus on your food and nothing else when you’re eating.

“Clients are encouraged to slow down the speed at which they eat and to chew each mouthful properly. This alters the experience of eating as you no longer wolf food down but are taking the time to savor it, experience the food that you are eating and crucially you will hear a signal from your brain that will tell you when you are full.”

1. “The sugar addiction aversion,” Aaron commented. “An aversion to excess sugary and floury foods becomes the new norm when hypnotized.

“Hypnotic suggestions create a feeling of sickness and nausea when sugary foods are eaten to excess, creating contentment to stick clear of sugary foods and drinks.

“To achieve this through hypnosis, use the sit-down and eyes closed deep breathing technique. Then imagine eating a piece of chocolate or biscuit or some other sweet thing. And this time it tastes 10 times sweeter and 10 times sicklier than it ever did before.

“Imagine the sugar sticking to your insides and the sickly sweetness spinning your head (like a particularly unpleasant hungover). You want to get rid of the sickly sweetness and can’t imagine how you used to eat so many sugary foods. You now prefer getting natural sugar from fruits and feel free from the addiction to sugar.”

The Diet and Workout That Helped This Man Lose Over 50 Pounds in a Year

Terence Tan never really hit the gym much. Growing up on the "nerdy and geeky" side of things, he had virtually no experience with weight training prior to his weight-loss transformation.

Like many others who begin a similar journey, the 37-year-old Singapore man had spent most of his life overweight, and he had reached his breaking point.

"Physically, I was at the worst point in my life, having hit the heaviest weight that I had ever been," he says. "Mentally, it wasn’t much better, due to previous attempts at weight loss having failed spectacularly."

Before Tan found something that worked for him, he tried an all-liquid, low caloric diet—as well as intermittent fasting. However, every time, he would only see minimal progress before things became too difficult and the weight would ultimately return.

As a result, he began to have very little confidence that something would be able to keep the weight off for good, and to make matters worse, he was also dealing with chronic health issues.

"In the year leading up to that point, I had already received various pieces of bad news regarding the state of my health in quick succession," he says. "I found out that I had hyperlipidemia, reached the weight where I was obese by BMI standards and was also diagnosed with fatty liver disease."

So, on his wife's birthday in 2021, Tan decided to make a change for good, and sign up for a personal training program with UP Fitness. Despite his inexperience in the gym or with weight training in general, his personal trainer, Boon, helped him get going right away.

"At the beginning, I started with two sessions in the gym a week," he says. "By the end of the 50 weeks, I had grown to enjoy weight training enough to the point that I was doing five full-body sessions in the gym every week, along with one day set aside for cardio, where I would either attend a spin class or go for a 1500-meter swim."

For people starting an intense new workout routine, it can't be overstated how important it is to get your form down before injuries occur, so Tan heavily relied on his trainer, Boon, to keep him on point.

"My trainer has been instrumental in making sure that every rep in the gym is executed perfectly, in good form, and keeping me injury free throughout this process," he says. "With regards to training, he helped me learn the importance of quality over quantity and avoid ‘ego lifting’ as much as possible."

Not only did this workout plan help Tan lose over 50 pounds of fat in under a year, but it also helped him gain over 5 pounds of muscle in return. As a result, he's feeling better than ever—not just in the physical realm.

"It’s very cliché to say so, but getting fitter and leaner has helped tremendously with my energy levels," he says. "I am much more active than I used to be and able to engage with my family and play with my 4-year-old son. My confidence has of course improved massively, having finally attained a physique that I could only dream of in the past"

While his weight-loss transformation has been a continuous process, the reactions from his family have been resoundingly positive. Some of his close contacts have even said that he's inspired them to take on their own weight loss journey—one friend even lost close to 30 pounds by following the gym and diet routines Tan learned at UP.

"Oftentimes the friends and patients that I see on a regular basis have difficulty recognizing me when we meet in person," he says. "The funniest incident was when I was 10 minutes deep into a consult with a patient that I had known for years at that point, and she eventually asked were her regular doctor was and what happened to him that there was a new person taking over!"

He's also seen massive improvements in his chronic health issues. For starters, his blood cholesterol levels have all improved significantly, and a repeat ultrasound of his liver showed a marked reduction in liver fat, as compared to previous scans.

"Most importantly though, this journey has shown that my body composition is something that is under my direct control," he says. "I am no longer a passive passenger that’s just along for the ride, but the active driver and shaper of what I want to look and feel like. As someone who spent most of their life overweight, this has been the most significant paradigm shift."

After having done fat loss for close to a year, Tan is now eating at maintenance calories and focusing on muscle building with his trainer. He's also focused on getting more proficient in the more technically difficult lifts like the barbell back squat and conventional deadlift.

When asked about the number one piece of advice he has for people considering starting their own weight-loss journey, he says the following.

"The magic you are looking for is in the work that you are avoiding," he says. "Focus on keeping things consistent and sustainable."

I’m a body coach – here’s how to melt fat and lose weight WITHOUT ditching takeaways and wine

WE'VE all had that sinking feeling when you realize you can't eat your favorite things on your newest health kick.

Most of the time, you'll see influencers urging you to 'eat clean, which leaves little chance for a pint with your mates or a slice of pizza.

If you find yourself throwing away takeaways in the quest for your dream body, one expert has revealed that you don't have to credit: (Alami)

Body and mindset coach Adam Grayson said you don't need a complex plan to be healthy credit.

But one expert said that unless you want to be a competitive bodybuilder, there's no point going down a route you won't be able to maintain.

Body and mindset coach Adam Grayston says he's on a mission to help people 'melt' body fat without gyms, dieting, or complex programming.

The 34-year-old said you should stick to three simple rules when trying to lose weight.

Make it work for you

When it comes to getting into shape, Adam said you should allow yourself some flexibility and be realistic in your goals.

He explained that you should work with ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods from the beginning, with a realistic ratio.

"In terms of exercise, short, 20-minute bodyweight workouts without equipment have always been my go-to with my online clients.

"These workouts help them supercharge their metabolism and burn more body fat without spending all their hours in the gym, leaving them more time to spend doing what they want.

"So, if you want a beach body, don’t give up takeaways and alcohol, just be more realistic and you’ll soon see long-lasting results," he added.

Don't restrict

The Preston-based coach said whether you were trying to lose weight for an event or look your best on the beach, you will have to cut foods out following certain plans.

He questioned: "How long was it before you ended up eating something ‘bad’? How soon after were you flooded with guilt, feeling like a failure, and that all your hard work was becoming undone?"

The fitness guru explained that the stricter we become with food, the tighter the margin for error and the higher chances we’ll deviate from our plan.

This, he said, results in your wanting to give up because it's not working or you feel bad.

He explained: "By calling certain foods ‘bad’ or ‘cheat meals’ we’re made to feel as though eating them is something negative and naughty, almost as though you shouldn’t be eating said food at all.

"We then associate those foods with doing or being something wrong, as opposed to what they are: food.

"Just like when our parents used to take something away from us as a punishment when something is taken from us, we end up wanting it more. In the short-term? It works! But long-term? It’s a disaster."

Find balance

Adam said that when it comes down to the science behind successful weight loss, it’s calories in versus calories out, coupled with regular exercise, that leads to consistent weight loss results.

He said while alcohol and takeaways don’t make you fat, eating too many calories a day and not getting enough exercise does.

The coach explained that no food should be off-limits and a sensible approach is the 80/20 approach.

To do this, he said you should aim for 80 percent of the food you are consuming to be healthy and balanced, while the remaining 20 percent can be whatever you want.

He said you should couple this with regular weekly exercises that are in line with your current ability.

"With this method, you can eat a takeaway and drink alcohol when consumed in line with your daily calorie intake, and still lose weight!

"I have always used the food tracking app MyFitnessPal with my clients, using it to help them understand their body's nutritional needs, calorie tracking, and even macro intakes with an average aim of 2lbs a week weight loss," he added.

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