Hi everyone 

Does hypnosis work in helping people lose weight? See me using it here on GMTV's Inch Loss Island and you decide for yourself. 

Please make any comments that you have.

What you are about to see is three ladies in the same family and their amazing weight loss success working with me on ITV's This Morning

If social pressures to eat have brought you down in the past and you find it hard to say “NO” it doesn’t matter. You’re free to make up a whole new set of rules for dealing with situations in the future. Your circumstances might not change, the people around you might not change. But you can change!

So why do we find it so hard to say NO when we are offered tempting food? There are few reason for this, one being that we don’t want to hurt other peoples feelings when they offer us something. Another reason is the simple fact that these foods taste great and give us a high. In the western world most people eat, not because they are hungry, but because food stimulates their senses and makes them feel good.

We're biologically driven to feel good and our brain seeks out pleasure. Food fits the bill for a lot of people a lot of the time and this is why so many waistlines are expanding.  To help you, the next time someone offers you something and you are not hungry, stop for a moment and ask yourself the question “Do I like this food enough that I want to wear it?” Then picture this food on your thighs or on your backside. I am sure this will make you think twice and make it easier for you to say the magical word “NO”

In my last post, I was discussing the stuff we are made of and how important it is to eat food that helps our minds and bodies work to their optimum.

I know that, for so many people, this is easier said than done because as the pressures of modern day living increase, we can be left feeling squeezed from all directions. Many people respond to these pressures by reaching for food as a means of changing how they feel and a way of gaining an energy high. In a working environment, this may often be sugar or caffeine-laden, which can set in place an energy roller-coaster of highs and dips. If we use the motor car analogy, it is easy to ‘fill up’, but that doesn’t mean that we are nourishing ourselves. In essence, we are storing problems for later life.

Just because these products generate instantaneous energy and people use them, doesn’t mean they’re good for you. Relying on sugar doesn’t move you in the direction of generating energy from within. Sugar takes your power away by making you believe that you can’t do it alone. Before our minds became tainted with ideas of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods, we were able to tell what our body needed. I want to share with you a technique that will help you to regain this ability. Like any exercise, this needs to be practised until you naturally make healthy food choices based on your body's needs.

Think Before You Eat

First of all, think of a possible portion of food. Imagine smelling that food, tasting it, feeling it in your mouth and then imagine swallowing it.

• How would this food make you feel half an hour after you’ve eaten it and then an hour afterwards?
• What do you imagine this food looks like inside your body?
• Does it give you energy or take energy away?
• Do you feel tired or bloated?

If you think this is a food choice that your body needs and you think it will give you energy, put the item on to a mental list. However, if you don’t think this food will see you happily through the next few hours, then discard it.

Repeat the process with two or three other portions of food, or until you find something that feels right for you right now.

People who have used this technique over a period of time have found that they have rediscovered a better relationship with food and make better food choices.

You might also want to check out the 'Think Before You Eat' video resource from my weight-loss-program here at YouTube
See you again soon. Pete :)
 

So, the Vitality Show kicks of this Thursday the 27th in afternoon. It will be great to see any of you if you are able to make it there!

We'll have a stand there so you'll be able to find us and I am giving two live presentations every day. One is on Thinking Yourself Slim and the other is on Happiness and Friendship

Here's the schedule:

THURSDAY 27th
18.00  Happiness Theatre: Happiness and Friendship
19:00  Health & Nutrition Stage: Thinking Yourself Slim

FRIDAY 28th
10:00 Health & Nutrition Stage: Thinking Yourself Slim
12:00 Happiness Theatre: Happiness and Friendship

SATURDAY 29th
14:00 Happiness Theatre: Happiness and Friendship
16:00 Health & Nutrition Stage: Thinking Yourself Slim

SUNDAY 27th
14:00 Happiness Theatre: Happiness and Friendship
15:00 Health & Nutrition Stage: Thinking Yourself Slim

The Happiness Equation

In 2004, I defined a 'formula' for Happiness for the Holiday company Thomson. Our research that led to the scientific equation reveals that a person's happiness is determined by three key factors:

• Personal characteristics (including outlook on life, adaptability and resilience)
  
  
• Existence Needs (including health, financial stability and community / friendships)
  
  
• Higher Order Needs (beyond basic existence i.e. self esteem, expectations, ambitions, sense of humour):

This was hugely successful and resulted in the equally successful Happiness Campaign. I had requests to present the formula from 26 countries around the world including Brazil and Canada and Korea!

In my Happiness Presentations at the Vitality Show this week I will unlock some of the secrets to long-term happiness. If you are not able to make the event and you want to find out more about Happiness then go to my web site www.petecohen.com. You can even do the Equation on-line and find out just how happy you are.

All the background information and an explanation of the research we did is all there for you to read.

So let us know how happy you are in the comments... Ecstatic? Miserable? Nonplussed?

Our fabulous Inch Loss Girls have agreed to make some posts on the blog in the coming weeks... they've also got access to my petecohen.tv on-line weight-loss programme. So, if you're interested in learning some more Inch Loss secrets, watching their progress and even offering some words of encouragement, please watch this space. You can get an RSS feed here or subscribe to the blog-feed by email here so you don't forget to come back. See you soon. Pete

How to achieve your goals

Hi, I've got something for you to try:
Imagine stepping out of your front door not having a clue where you want to go.
Try it...

I'd probably just stand there for a bit, feeling vacant and not knowing which way to turn, maybe I'd wander aimlessly round in circles a bit (if no-one was watching) before slipping stealthily back indoors (if anyone *was* watching)

Now, is this a slightly mad thing to do? Maybe, yet so many of us amble through life in this way without any kind of direction or purpose. You can let life 'take care of itself' and you may well be OK; but most people would like a bit more of a guarantee that life will not only be OK - but that it will be great!

So, you know that when we focus on something, we are much more likely to get it - whether it's a job, house, car, weight loss or even a relationship. By sending a message of desire to our brain, we start to make pictures of that and, in turn, we do what we have to do to make it happen.

But, unfortunately, not all of us are focused on positive outcomes. Most people are obsessed by what's wrong with them and what's missing from their life - why is that!? They don't put their attention on what's great, what's working and what resources they have to create even more happiness and success.

I was in Edinburgh on Friday doing a corporate talk. It was only a flying visit but I did get a little bit of time to wander around the beautiful city. I even had a jacket potato with a haggis filling! Now I know that haggis is not everyone's cup of tea, but when in Rome...

It reminded me of a saying that I'm often repeating: if you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you've always got. In my case, I got a rather strange taste sensation, but it's important to recognise the power of doing things differently - things you wouldn't normally do.

The secret to breaking a habit is learning to do something else instead.

The first time you do something new or different, you're likely to feel a 'bit funny' because your brain is getting used to a new function. But once you've done something enough times, the brain starts to get used to the pattern and sets it as an auto-programme - and that's how habits are formed.

What are the two things in life that are a certainty?

One is that one day we are going to die, and the other is CHANGE. I want to focus today on change because, if you want to break habits, then you need to be more open to change and doing things differently.
 
Most of us do what we've always done without thinking about it and the thought of changing or doing something different can make some of us feel anxious - but that's simply because we're not used to change and breaking some routines.

If you want to break any habits then a good place to start is become a change junkie!

Rather than just changing the habit you want to stop, start doing as many things as you can differently so that you get comfortable with being out of your comfort zone. Sleep on the other side of the bed, change your usual sandwich order and have something new, etc. If you do small things like this, before you know it, you'll be addicted to doing things differently and be much more comfortable with breaking any unwanted habits.

Until next time, take care.