Positive Changes Week 2

Well, it seems to be working! I lost 4 lbs! I'm so happy about it. I was afraid I wasn't being hypnotized. I had a doctor's appointment and while I was there I told him about Positive Changes, and being hypnotized. He seemed very skeptical about it. He was very discouraging. He was talking about how some people can't be hypnotized, and that the results are mixed. I left feeling really depressed. The thing that is funny about this program is it is all about positive changes (hence the name). I tend to be negative and I don't like change, so this program is out of my comfort zone.

Every day I listen to an AM and PM CD that is hypnotizing me. What happens is I close my eyes and lay down, and the cd prompts me to relax. Then it has a lot of positive messages and tells me what to visualize. I'm using my imagination. I do get really relaxed, but I didn't know if I was being hypnotized. It encourages me to exercise and eat healthy. To imagine myself in a year. Also, when I went to my first session where I was hypnotized, they taped it for me and I'm supposed to listen to that CD 3 times a day. By now, I'm kind of tired of the CD's because it is so repetitive. I was listening to it once a day because they say that is good, but I found out later in the week you really are supposed to listen to it 3 times.

I went to my first accell class, which is where you go into this room filled with reclined chairs. There were two other people in the room, one was an overweight man and the other was an elderly woman. This time I brought a pillow to support my neck because the first time I had neck pain (I have arthritis in my neck). You put on these glasses that are extremely bright and do weird swirly motions. You have your eyes closed. Then you put on headphones. Every time they play a different CD. This CD was about saying yes and no. My glasses weren't working, and I should have said something, but I didn't realize it until after it was done. I found out later that you can be hypnotized without the glasses. I remember thinking about this time in my life where I should have said no to someone, but I didn't. The CD was weird because there were two voices speaking in different ears. You could choose which voice to listen to. There was one voice that was louder and one that was quieter. I tried to listen to the quieter one because I was curious. I remember it saying that junk food was black and white or something like that. After the CD was over I noticed the plug wasn't plugged in all the way on my glasses and only one eye was working. So I felt like I hadn't really been hypnotized, but who knows.

The second time I went to the clinic I went to a class. There were about ten people there, all ages and body types. We sat in reclining chairs and they had a paper on a clipboard for us to take notes. We watched a video about the benefits of exercise. It said what can happen to your body if you don't exercise. It gave ideas of what to do to add exercise into your life. It also talked about "rebounding" which is jumping on a trampoline. It seemed like they were advertising it. I bet you can buy it through the clinic. Any type of exercise is encouraged: aerobic, strengthening, and stretching. They said 30 minutes 3-5 days/week is good. I'm going to try to walk 3-5 times a week around my neighborhood. That's what I did this past week. One day it was raining so I watched a video On Demand. It was a beginner walking video. I'm also making playlists on my iPod, to listen to when I exercise. After the video we put on our hypnotizing glasses and listened to a CD about exercising. I found the glasses to be really annoying. This time I made sure it was working, but it was so bright. I found myself not really relaxing or listening to the CD, but being really distracted by the glasses. Again, I felt like I wasn't hypnotized.

On Saturday I got a call from the clinic and a hypnotist had a short conversation with me. She encouraged me to drink 8 glasses of water every day and listen to my CD's 3 times a day. I told her that I lost weight, and she seemed surprised. I told her that the glasses didn't work the one time and that they were too bright. She said you can get tissue and put it in the glasses. They turn the glasses up to the highest setting. When I am one on one, they will turn the glasses to a setting that is appropriate for me. She said that you don't even need the glasses to be hypnotized. I feel like when it is so bright it actually keeps me from being hypnotized, but I will use tissue the next time.

I have been eating healthy and drinking lots of water. I still have overeaten and I can tell I am an emotional eater. I didn't always make the best choices in food. This week I am meeting someone one on one for a coaching session. I don't think I will be hypnotized. On another day I have a class. It's called, "Forgetting Fattening Foods and Think Yourself Thin." At the end of every class is a hypnotizing session.

So this is all very interesting to me. Since I lost 4 lb. I feel like it must be working. I feel motivated to eat healthy and to exercise, which is a good thing. So this program may actually work for me. I really hope it does.