Lose weight using hypnosis; lower your risk of cardiovascular disease

We're now living in an age where 41% of adults aged between 65-74 are now classified as obese (ABS 2018a), the same age where people are also more susceptible to cardiovascular disease (i.e., atheroma, thrombosis, heart attacks/disease, angina, stroke, aneurysms, etc) (Rodgers et al., 2019).

Obesity and overweight increase our likelihood of developing many chronic conditions in addition to cardiovascular diseases, such as asthma, back problems, chronic kidney disease, dementia, diabetes, and some cancers (AIHW 2017). It is also associated with a higher death rate when looking at all causes of death (The Global BMI Mortality Collaboration 2016).

Excess body fat can contribute to raised blood pressure and abnormal blood lipids and increase our risk of type 2 diabetes. It also means the heart has to pump blood through several thousand more miles of blood vessels around the body e.g., 1lb of fat = 5 miles of blood vessels. So given our heart pumps 100,000 times a day, every excess lb of fat means the body has to pump an extra 500,000 miles of blood vessels! (Kopecky, 2017). That's a lot of pressure/resistance for our heart to sustain and it requires more energy and effort as well as stress and strain for it to do that. 

Overweight and obesity are signs that we're carrying excess body weight and usually occurs because of an imbalance between the energy we consume from food/drink and the energy we expend through physical activities and bodily functions. This energy imbalance is influenced by a complex interplay of individual, environmental and societal factors (AIHW) 2017).

Rates of significant risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, such as smoking and hypertension have steadily reduced in some countries such as the US, AUS and UK, in line with more education and awareness raising as have death rates from Coronary Disease, however, other risk factors are becoming more prevalent.

The risk factors of cardiovascular disease are shifting e.g., cholesterol, lifestyle, diet (high salt, sugar, alcohol and low fresh fruit and veg and whole foods), and diabetes (reaching epidemic levels). So we’re moving into an era where one set of risk factors is being replaced with another.

All the advice from recent research is that we need to gain and maintain a good lifestyle by watching our weight which will help to reduce high blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and have a moderately active lifestyle (30 mins a day of brisk walking). 

Many of us struggle with changing aspects of our lifestyle despite knowing the risks to our health, and what we should do, need to do, want to do, and even how to go about it. Acting on our intentions needs more than simply having good intentions.

We all know consciously that making different lifestyle choices for the long term can be a game-changer in managing our weight. Consciously we want to stop eating unhealthily but our unconscious mind continues to pester for excessive or inappropriate food. This is why diets and good intentions so frequently fail.

Our conscious mind, whilst rational and seemingly in control, can also be defensive, sensitive, overly critical, overcome with negative thinking, and not always in the mood for helping us change. When using hypnotherapy, our conscious mind relaxes, allowing the therapist to communicate with a more receptive subconscious mind by providing suggestions and interventions based on our desires to overcome our obstacles and achieve our goals.

Conscious motivation can be short-lived and soon fizzle out if we don't see results quickly. With our bodies taking way longer to adjust to changes than our minds, we soon start flagging and wonder whether it's all worth it. Consciously we know exercise is good for us but our unconscious mind de-motivates us, making exercise regimes difficult to maintain over the longer term.

The sub/unconscious, in addition to its more positive aspects, is where impulses, habits, negative emotions and memories, and irrational thoughts reside. Hypnotherapy works very differently and more effectively than most kinds of psychotherapy and counselling services.

Hypnotherapy is an evidence-based approach where an altered state of consciousness (i.e., relaxed state of mind and body) is induced, and the subconscious mind, hidden beyond our awareness most of the time, becomes, open, insightful, helpful, and onboard and available to therapy and the new changes can be implemented more effectively and with more ease.  

Learn more about how using hypnotherapy can help you to manage your weight and reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, especially in your senior years!

Or schedule a call for a friendly chat: https://www.hypnotherapy.training/hypnosis-to-reduce-weight