Positive Changes Week 9

Well...I decided to quit the program. I am so happy I did. I had signed all this paper work, so I thought for sure I had signed away my right to get my money back, but I hadn't! You see, you have the option to pay it all up front, but I couldn't afford to do that. They put me on a monthly payment plan. So since I quit the program I don't have the monthly payment anymore! I am so glad because one of the reasons why I was staying with the program is because I thought I already had said I would pay all the money, and it would be a waste of money to quit the program. I thought I might as well keep going. I was getting really unmotivated and I stopped going to the different appointments. I also stopped listening to the hypnosis cd. At one point I was determined to tell them I quit the program, but the hypnotist was so manipulative, that I couldn't do it! She said that everyone gets to the point that I'm at, and they would help me to become motivated. The problem was that it didn't work. I felt more motivated to bake pumpkin cupcakes (which I did)! Since being on the program I've actually gained weight! I think what I need to do is lose weight in my own time and in my own way. Like incorporate healthy habits into my life at my own pace. I don't want anyone telling me what to do or breathing down my neck. Also, I feel like I wasn't really being hypnotized. My doctor told me that sometimes it doesn't work. He said the research is mixed about whether hypnosis really works. He was very skeptical about it, and I should have listened to him to begin with. I thought he was just being negative. I have been trying to be more positive. When I did quit the program, it was actually pretty scary. I went in to meet with the coach, and I had to fill out this paper about my goals. I said my goal was to quit the program! The coach literally stared me down! I just diverted my eyes and kept saying I want to quit the program. She asked me if I had been listening to the CD's and I said no. She asked me why, and I said because I don't like the CD's! I felt like I was being really rude, but I wanted at the same time to be totally honest. Then all of a sudden she got a fake smile on her face, and in an overly cheerful voice said we should go up to the front desk. I was supposed to speak with the manager, but the manager was in a meeting and would call me back. When she called me, again the person was very manipulative and made me feel very uncomfortable. I can be a pushover, but I was determined at this point to quit the program. I kept telling her over and over again, "I want to quit the program." Finally, she gave up and said, "OK" and was about to hang up on me, but I was like, "Wait. What about the money?" She said, "I didn't have to pay it anymore!" Then she hung up! I was soooo relieved! I don't like how they made it so difficult for me. It was like a cult or something! I think they thought I was weak, and would cave in. But I can be pretty stubborn about something once I get my mind to it. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders!

I still want to lose weight, but I want to do it on my own. I found this lady on Youtube who every Saturday makes healthy smoothies. Today she did an apple pie smoothie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_5PkNTBZgY. And last week she did a pumpkin pie smoothie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHsK6OaYMik. I haven't tried these yet, but they seem really tasty. They have enough ingredients that it could be a meal. I actually don't like pie, but what I don't like is the crust and that is not included in the smoothies. I do like the ingredients, so I think I would like these. Her Youtube name is uppiesbeads59. She does a lot of anti-aging videos.

If you want I will make blog posts updating about my weight loss or I can do posts about things I have found that have helped me on the road to losing weight and getting healthy. Leave a comment if you have any tips for me or anything you want to say!

Positive Changes Week 8

I didn't know if I was going to keep going with this program. I felt really discouraged. I haven't lost weight, and I felt like the program wasn't working. The last hypnosis cd I got was all about what not to do, and everyday I was doing what it was saying what to not do, so I felt really guilty listening to the cd. I ended up stopping listening to the cd altogether because it made me feel bad. I skipped going to some of the classes. I just felt like I was ripped off. I can't get my money back. I had a session with another hypnotist and I decided to be totally honest with her. I told her I was ready to quit the program and I wasn't listening to the cd. She was really encouraging to me and she said that I can move at my own pace. I can slowly make changes. It's not like hypnosis takes away my free will. I choose what I want to change. And there was a reason why I came to the session. I could have not come at all. I'm glad I told her what I did because she made an encouraging cd that I want to listen to. That's what I'm going to have to do for my hypnosis sessions is emphasis I need motivation and encouragement. I don't need someone telling me what I'm doing wrong. I feel like I start beating myself up. I think it is hard for me because I am a perfectionist and I want to make all the changes right away. But that is unrealistic for me. I need to take baby steps. It might take me more than a year to lose all the weight I want to lose, but when I do lose all the weight I will have good habits set into my life, so I won't be likely to gain back the weight. I wish it wasn't so hard.

Are you trying to lose weight? What do you do to be healthy? Can you give me any tips?

Positive Changes Week 7

I feel like I keep gaining weight one week and losing it the next. This week I gained 3 lbs. It's very discouraging to me. I have a plan for exercise. I've been walking even when the weather is bad! I have been good at eating breakfast, and not skipping it (which is what I would naturally want to do.) Sometimes I skip lunch because I'm not hungry for it. Then I get really hungry later in the day and I don't want to eat anything healthy. I met with a coach at the beginning of the week and it came out when I was talking with him that I didn't want to listen to the hypnosis cd because I felt guilty. It is telling me all of these healthy changes to make, but I am reminded of how I haven't made the changes, and I feel bad. So I avoid listening to it. I'm supposed to listen to it three times a day! The coach said I need to not be so hard on myself and understand that I am a person with flaws, but I am doing a good job. He had really good things to say and I felt encouraged. Unfortunately, I don't have him in my mind at all times. This week what I want to do is get some ingredients to make a healthy dinner. I will try not to get overwhelmed. I will eat three meals, so I wont get really hungry. I will make myself listen to the cd 3 times a day, no matter how it makes me feel.

Do you have any helpful tips for me? How do you stay healthy and in good shape? Do you have the same problems as me? Do you know of any good recipes?

Positive Changes Week 6

I have been doing good on the program! I lost 2 lbs this week! I walked 6 days of the week! The accell class was about exercise. I'm now wondering if these hypnosis cd's are sort of like brainwashing, but they don't want to call it that. I am aware of everything they say, and I agree with it, so nothing is outside of my control. I just felt very motivated to walk this week. And I think that's the number one thing that helped me lose weight. I didn't eat extremely healthy, but I wasn't over eating or eating poorly. I have been drinking water, and eating three meals a day. I have been eating fruits and vegetables. One of the days I had a class, but I didn't go because I was feeling really worn out. That's the first time I missed an appointment. I don't plan on making that a habit. I haven't been good at listening to my hypnosis cd. I find that it makes me tired, and I don't want anything slowing me down during the day. I was listening to it before bed, but then I stopped doing that because I felt too tired to listen to it. They say we should listen to it 3 times a day! I'm not exactly sure how I will do this. I guess I need to just make up a schedule and stick to it. I don't like listening to it repeatedly. I guess that is to brainwash us. (But they don't say it that way.) If they were telling me something I didn't like or agree with, I wouldn't listen to it. But they are telling me to do healthy things, and things I agree with. Someone I was talking to about it was wondering if I was being hypnotized and not remembering what happened afterwards. That isn't the way it works. I remember everything. I feel really relaxed and I'm listening to someone speaking. They help me to relax my muscles and imagine I'm in a relaxing place like the beach and then they will start talking to me about the positive changes I want for my life, like exercising and eating healthy. I'm visualizing myself doing the healthy things. And I think it is supposed to motivate me to carry out the visualizations.

If you have any helpful suggestions please leave a comment! What do you do to be healthy?

Positive Changes Week 5

This past week was motivating for me. First, I had a personal session with a hypnotist. We have to fill out a sheet answering questions, like checking off personal successes we feel like we have achieved and writing down what are struggles are. It asked how confident I was feeling on scale from 1 to 10. I put myself down as a 2. So the hypnotist looked at my paper, and he was concerned that I was not very confident. I was totally being honest. I feel like I have been a failure on this diet plan, and I didn't feel like I was really going to lose much weight. I feel like I have been scammed sort of because you have to agree to pay the money up front, so there is no way I can get my money back. I mentioned that I had lost 4 pounds, but that was just the first week. The program says you will lose 1-2 pounds every week. So the hypnotist had reminded me it had been 4 weeks, so I was actually doing normal on the program. I just felt bad because I hadn't been continuing to lose weight. So he made me feel good. Also, since I have been exercising I might have been gaining muscle which may have reflected on the scale. They say to throw your scale away, but I like to measure myself every week. This hypnotist focused on helping me with my cravings. I hope it works.

The second day I went I went to accell where you listen to a hypnosis cd and wear the weird light glasses. I'm getting more used to it, so I think I can relax and listen to one of the voices. It was talking about how you are not on a diet program. This is changing the way you eat. I still feel like I am on a diet though because I feel like I go off the diet when I eat something unhealthy.

I wish I was better at eating healthy and exercising. There is a part of me that wants to lose weight, but then there is a part of me that wants the freedom to eat whatever I want to eat. I also don't want to waste the money I spent for this program. Part of me wants to stop making these blog posts because I'm embarrassed that I'm not doing very good, but I feel like this is keeping me accountable. It is nice to write down my feelings. I don't want to feel like a failure either. I want to finish well what I start.

Do you have any tips for me? What keeps you motivated? What do you like to do for exercise? How do you eat healthy?

Positive Changes Week 4

I feel like I got lucky this week. I weighed myself earlier than the normal day I weigh myself (Saturday), and it said I gained weight, so I felt like I could eat whatever I wanted since I already gained weight. Well, I weighed myself on Saturday and I lost the extra weight, so I'm still the same weight as I was before. I still haven't lost weight.

On one of the days I had an accell class and I remember feeling like I had been hypnotized. I had gone there feeling tired and in a bad mood, but after being hypnotized I felt well rested and in a good mood. I don't remember what it was teaching because it focuses on a subject.

The next day I went was a class, and it was about how to hypnotize yourself. I remember feeling bored.

I still struggle with overeating. I exercised 4 times this week, so that was really good.

If you have any tips for weight loss, please comment below!

Positive Changes Week 3

I'm so disappointed! I didn't lose any weight this week. I honestly don't feel like I'm being hypnotized. I feel like I'm listening to the CD's and trying to be healthy during the week. One day I went for a personal coaching session. That was my first time doing that. The lady was really pretty and nice. She did motivate me and gave me a lot of papers about eating nutritiously. She said next time she would talk with me about exercise. I read over everything she gave me, and it all looks like the standard nutritional advice that I have heard before. She listened to my issues and took notes, for when I would be hypnotized next. I left feeling really motivated. I got home and cooked a healthy dinner and ate well the whole day! Unfortunately, the motivation didn't last the entire week.

On another day I went to a class. This time we didn't watch a video, there was a teacher and she taught us the common misbehaviors of overweight people. I thought this was interesting.

1. Compelled to open the fridge. (I don't think I have this problem.)
2. Grab candy off a coworker's desk. (I don't have this problem.)
3. Whatever is on your plate, you have to eat all of it. (I do this.)
4. Candy at the checkout stand. (I don't have this problem. I did when I was little.)
5. Eat when you are not hungry. (I do this.)
6. Eat when stressed. (I do this.)
7. Drink things other than water. (I do this, but I have been getting better with drinking water.)

Then she taught us this technique for changing an unwanted behavior. I thought this was interesting. I don't know if it works. We did it in class, but I haven't done it on my own yet. They say you are supposed to do this three times in a row.

1. Close your eyes.
2. Imagine a food you want to stop craving.
3. Imagine a picture frame.
4. Put the food in the picture frame.
5. Hold your arms out in front of you and imagine you are holding onto the frame.
6. Create the desire for the item while holding it away from you. Imagine the way it looks, smells, and tastes.
7. Imagine the tension is building. You can feel it in your arms. Once it is maxed, imagine it flies 200-300 feet behind you. Say, "Whoosh!"
8. Then say, "Nothing tastes as good as thin and healthy feels."

I did this while imagining Chicken Pad Thai. I haven't wanted it since. So I don't know if it is because this technique worked, or I just haven't wanted it.

Afterwards, we put on our goggles and our headphones and listen to a hypnotizing CD. This time I brought tissues so the lights wouldn't be so bright. I tried to relax, but I just felt uncomfortable the whole time. The lights bother me, and the voices talking two at the same time is hard for me to focus on. I feel like I'm not being hypnotized. I just feel stressed. I don't know if my subconscious is listening either. One voice is telling you to imagine something, and I try to imagine it but I miss what it says because the other voice grabs my attention.

I didn't do a good job exercising because I had to go back to work a couple days last week and I was given this task to move boxes and paper and it really hurt my back. I'm not in good enough shape to do what the task required. My back hurt for the rest of the week, so I didn't exercise.

I do a good job eating healthy in the morning and afternoon, but at dinner time I have strong cravings and I want to eat high calorie type foods.

I'm also tired of listening to the hypnotizing CD's.

I'm so discouraged because I really want this program to work. I really want to lose weight. And this program is expensive. I'm afraid maybe I'm not a person that can be hypnotized.

This next week I go to accell, which is where you listen to a hypnotizing CD and there is a class on another day. My goal is to exercise this week. Also, I'm going back to work, so I don't want to turn to food to ease my stress. I need to persevere with listening to the hypnotizing CD's. And I should try that new technique taught in class. Hopefully I will lose weight this week.

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.

Positive Changes Week 1

I didn't know if I would share this on my blog because I feel a little weird about it, but it might be helpful to someone. I have been struggling to lose weight for about 10 years now. I'm about 90 lbs over weight. I have been doing the Jenny Craig plan for several years. I have lost weight, but then gained it back. This past week I decided to join Positive Changes which is a place that can help you quit smoking or lose weight. I'm not sure what other things it helps people with. It uses hypnosis technique! I have never been hypnotized before. I have had my first session and the first thing they did was ask me some questions about my goals for myself and supposedly random questions about myself, like what I like to do for fun. He used the answers to my questions to guide his hypnosis with me. They made me wear glasses that had lights blinking. I was reclined in a chair. I felt awake the whole time. I kept thinking about how I was not being hypnotized, like I didn't think it was working. And the back of my neck was hurting from the reclined position (I have arthritis in the back of my neck.) I think the next time I go I will bring a towel or something for the back of my neck. After he was done I told him that I didn't think it worked. He asked me if I remember being at the beach and I said that I remembered going to the beach because when he was talking about being at the beach I tried to picture myself there. He asked me if I remember having spasms in my arms! I totally didn't remember that. At one point my eyes started blinking, with my eyes closed, and I was trying really hard not to open my eyes because he told me to keep my eyes closed, and I didn't want to get hurt by the blinking lights, so maybe that has to do with hypnosis. I totally don't remember my arms spasming. He recorded it on a cd, and I'm supposed to listen to it once a day. They say if you listen to it three times a day it is best, so I've been doing that. I have noticed spasming in my fingers as I listen. It is so weird because I still don't feel like I'm being hypnotized, it just feels like I'm relaxing and listening to someone speaking.

It says that I might fall asleep, and if I do it's ok to keep sleeping, it will speak to my subconscious! This morning I was listening to it, and I fell asleep! I woke up and realized what had happened. It was so weird!

These are the changes I am trying to make in my life:

1. Eat 3 meals a day. Don't skip meals.

2. Eat fruits and vegetables.

3. Eat protein at every meal.

4. Park farther away then I need to.

5. Take walks.

6. I want to exercise more. So I'm thinking about doing stretches every day and some strengthening exercises.

7. Drink water a lot! This is very natural. I have been craving water since starting the program. Even writing this now, I'm starting to yearn for water! It is so weird.

8. Eat more slowly.

I had a friend in college who's Dad did hypnosis for weight loss. He found himself eating less carbs. He didn't do it on purpose. He just naturally didn't want to eat bread and stuff. He lost a lot of weight.

I really hope this program works for me. I have tried so many things. I used to be at a healthy weight and have a healthy relationship with food. I used to regularly exercise. I'm not sure exactly what caused the change.

I always feel funny paying so much attention to my makeup when it is just a small portion of my overall look. I know that I would look so much better if I would lose weight. I would lose weight in my face and it would be better than anything I can do with makeup.

I struggle with using food to make me happy and I find that I feel like I need it to comfort me. The foods that are unhealthy for me, are the foods that calm me emotionally. It is very much a psychological issue. When at Jenny Craig, my counselors would tell me they didn't know how to help me in regards to my mental barriers. There is something in me that rebels against diets. Like if someone tells me what to do, I want to do the opposite. If you tell me to not eat something, all I can think about is eating it!

The hypnotist told me there were two parts of myself. One side of me wants to eat healthy and exercise, and do everything I need to do to lose weight. The other side of me wants to eat foods that give me pleasure and doesn't want to be told what to do. So these two sides fight with each other. It doesn't matter which side I choose, I always will feel bad. That's why diets don't work. If I choose to eat healthy, the side of me that wanted junk food feels deprived. If I choose to eat unhealthy, I will feel guilty for going off my diet. So what Positive Changes is trying to do is bring these two sides together, so they work as a team. I'm not exactly sure how this is going to work. But I really want it to work!

I go to the clinic twice a week. They have a morning hypnosis cd for me to listen to and an evening one. I go to an acceleration class. This is where I will be hypnotized, I think with a group full of people. We each will have reclining chair with the light glasses and headphones. I think we get to chose what we want to listen to. Next week, I will tell you what my experience was like. Then I have a class I will go to on a different day. I'm not sure what the class will be about. There is a class where you learn nutrition information and there is a class where you learn more about hypnosis. After class there is a hypnosis session. Also during the week someone is going to call me asking me how things are going. I hope I will be able to do all this when I go back to work. I work at a school, so right now we are on vacation. I hope I'm not too tired to do everything, but I guess it is ok if I fall asleep because my subconscious will still be awake. (That is so weird!)

I will let you know if I lose weight. I have already noticed a change in drinking more water and I have urges to exercise. I'm not someone that dislikes water. I don't mind drinking it, I just usually drink Pepsi instead or I don't drink at all. I have a tendency to think of every excuse to not exercise. So it will be interesting to see how I do about that.

This lasts 9 months, and it is supposed to not be a diet and I won't be able to do it again. They have no returning clients because this is supposed to last the rest of your life. It sounds too good to be true. I really hope it works.

Let me know what your thoughts are. Please feel free to leave a comment! I love getting comments, and I don't often get them.

I'm so sorry for the person who left a comment. Somehow it got deleted. Thank you for your comment. I don't know why my blog is not letting people comment. And when I want to reply it is posting my full name, which I don't want to happen. I'm trying to fix it. This isn't very user friendly, unfortunately.

Her comment was something like, she would feel nervous to get hypnotized. I was very nervous. My heart was beating so fast! But it is like what I have experience before listening to relaxation tapes. They help you relax your muscles and breathe slowly and deeply. Then they help you visualize something, like imagine you are at the beach. So you feel like you are completely relaxed and are daydreaming. It isn't anything scary. I wasn't even sure I was hypnotized because it felt so normal.