Are You Plagued by Cravings for Sugary or Salty Foods? Help Is Here!
There ARE effective techniques for stemming cravings! Some use the tools of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), and that’s what I’ll describe in this article by providing a video and a script for you to use.
(You also will see some astonishing statistics about the effectiveness of NLP under “Interesting Factoids.”)
In a separate blog Food Combos ~ Do Your Habits Hurt or Enhance Your Health?, I offer information from experts about the proper selection and combining of the foods you eat in each meal.
These affect your health, your weight, your complexion, and more.
In order to make the most of your desire for good health, you can learn all about it by viewing both articles in quick succession.
Note: NLP can be used for an enormous variety of issues (e.g., overcoming fears, phobias, or PTSD) or desires for excellence in achieving (e.g., business success, happiness, harmonious relationships, or spiritual growth), to name a few.
Using your imagination, you can discover many ways in which it could help you in both professional and personal life. If you want to learn more or to book me for a free initial consultation, email GetWellStayWell@Outlook.com and put NLP Inquiry into the subject line. But, first, let’s read this blog!
An Informal Video About Overcoming Cravings
If you can find the patience to watch this short video, you might discover something that can help you – either quickly or with just a teensy little bit of practice! Yes, it’s 15 whole minutes long! For some of you, that’s “forever,” but the information can save you a lifetime of ill-health and excess bodyfat! That would seem to be worth it, right?
(If you prefer, just watch the first part. It is a bit of an NLP exercise about substituting a desire to replace cravings for sugar and flour laden desserts with a desire to eat fruit. It runs to about 6 1/2 minutes into this informal presentation. Skip the rest of the nutritional info and, then, you can scroll down for the NLP script plus the other tips.)
NLP – The “Swish Pattern” and More
Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) Can Help You Overcome Cravings and Other Habits – or Fears – or Limiting Beliefs!
How does it work? By engaging your subconscious mind and making great substitutes in your thinking and feelings through employing visuals and the other sensory abilities!
According to Psychology Today,
NLP has been used to treat fears and phobias, anxiety, poor self-esteem, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, and overall reduced quality of life due to various psychological issues.
NLP is intended to help clients understand their own minds, how they came to think and behave the way they do, and to learn to manage their moods and emotions and reprogram the way they process information so that it leads to more acceptable and successful behavior. At the same time, NLP is designed to help clients see ways they have been successful in the past and determine how they can most easily and efficiently repeat that success in other areas of their lives. NLP therapists believe that their clients have the answers to their problems within themselves; it is simply a matter of helping them draw out those answers.
NLP and Hypnosis are a Dynamite Combination Among Tools for Success!
Speaking of Hypnosis
…which we weren’t, but now we are…
Are you surprised to learn that most religions accept hypnosis as a safe, natural, legitimate tool for constructive change? The Catholic Church endorsed the use of hypnosis in 1956.
In 1892, the British Medical Association was among the first professional organizations to investigate hypnotherapy as a potential treatment. and the American Medical Association (AMA) did so in 1958. In 1961, the AMA’s Council on Mental Health further upped the ante on its endorsement, recommending that medical students and doctors complete 144 hours of hypnotherapy training.
Despite that, I’ve never had a doctor even mention hypnotherapy to me. On the other hand, one surgeon acknowledged my use of it. He said no-one had EVER (in the history of Western medicine throughout the world) recovered faster than I did from a major surgery in 2003!
Interesting Factoids
Dr. Yvonne Oswald
This is my gorgeous and world-renown author and Master Hypnotherapy/NLP Certification teacher, “Dr. Yvonne.”
In class, she shared with us some research about the effectiveness of various forms of “therapy. Here are the results ~ with apologies for my having to paraphrase and for not having the exact citations. I took that class a long time ago.
- Psychoanalysis ~ 38% of clients recover after 600 sessions.
- Even if you went for therapy every week, it would take 11 1/2 years – double that if you only went twice a month!
- Dr. Yvonne said, “You can get better results by talking with your friends!”
- Behavioral therapy ~ The outcomes were a little better. 72% of the participants felt significantly improved after 22 sessions.
- Once a month = almost two years.
- Twice a month = almost one year.
- Etcetera.
- However, with Hypnosis, 93% of clients had significant accomplishment after only 6 sessions.
- When NLP and hypnosis were used in combination, it took only 2 or 3 sessions! Sometimes, it takes only ONE session to overcome the obstacle, fear, or limiting belief.
Hypnotherapy is Different from Hypnosis per this Excerpt from the American Psychological Association.
“Hypnosis works and the empirical support is unequivocal in that regard. It really does help people,” says Michael Yapko, PhD, a psychologist and fellow of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. “But hypnosis isn’t a therapy in and of itself. Most people wouldn’t regard it that way.”
Hypnosis can create a highly relaxed state of inner concentration and focused attention for patients, and the technique can be tailored to different treatment methods, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy. Patients also can become more empowered by learning to hypnotize themselves at home to reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, or alleviate some symptoms of depression or anxiety.
The NLP Swish Pattern Script
What You Need to Know First
Of course, I didn’t do the whole “Swish” exercise in my video, much less repeat it. Consequently, I’ll now provide a script for you to use if you want to practice overcoming specific cravings. These concepts actually require more explanation than I can give in a blog. However,
- “Break State” means you (or the person leading you through this process) should make a sudden loud noise (like loudly clapping hands together or asking a completely unrelated question (“Do you smell popcorn?”). Breaking state helps separate and solidify the images so the subconscious can use them without confusing them in ongoing conversations (in the mind or with other people).
- The purpose of the exercise is to replace one Internal Representation (image) with another, so a negative behavior can be switched to a positive behavior per these examples:
- procrastination to appropriate action
- cravings for unhealthy food to desire for healthy food
- fear of something to a neutral or positive response to it.
- When people imagine they are looking at something, it could be as if they were seeing it externally (like looking at it from above or from a distance). Alternatively, they could be looking at it as if they were seeing it “internally” through their own eyes and their own viewpoint. It is as if they were looking at it directly and close up. We’ll use both in the exercise below.
Swish Patterns – The Script
You – or the person helping you – will be called “Therapist.”
Therapist: Close your eyes, sit back, and relax.
“What behavior would you like to change?
When you think of that behavior, do you have a picture? Let the picture fully come to you.
BREAK STATE (claps hands loudly after person has a picture firmly in mind)
“How would you like to feel/act instead?”
When you think of that new _whatever the person is trying to create)__, state of being/ thing, or /behavior, do you have a picture?
Step into your body and look at it with your own eyes. Experience it with your whole body.
Now, adjust all the colors, sounds, feelings. – How do you feel? What colors do you see? Are there sounds? What are the sounds nearby or in the distance? Describe (to yourself) what you can smell? How do you feel now that you have immersed yourself in all the colors, sounds, feelings, smells, and sights?
Good, now step out of the picture, so you see your body in the picture.
BREAK STATE (Clap hands together loudly, ring a gong, or say something surprising and say it louder than the voice in which you have been talking, etc.)
- Now, can you take the old picture and bring it up on a movie screen? Make sure that you are looking at it through your own eyes.
- Good, as you have the old picture on the screen, can you see the new picture in the lower left had corner, small and dark? Make sure you see your body in the picture.
- Good, now have the new picture expand big and bright onto the screen, and have it explode up so that it covers the old picture, while the old picture shrinks down and becomes small and dark in the lower left hand corner, and do that quickly. Ready, 1, 2, 3, SSSWWWIIISSSHHH!
- Now, clear the screen.
- Break State (Clap Hands. Or, Smell popcorn?
- Again!
REPEAT 5, 6, 7 & 8, and 9 UNTIL THE UNWANTED STATE OR BEHAVIOR IS NOT ACCESSIBLE. 3 TIMES USUALLY IS SUFFICIENT.
That’s Done!
Meanwhile, back to the general issue of having cravings for sweets and salty treats dot dot dot …
You can learn more in a couple of ways:
1) by going to my NLP page. Click on these links if you want to read more posts about NLP or NLP + Hypnosis.
2) By reading the companion blog about actual food and combining various kinds. The link is below, and here is a “teaser.”
What Is In the Companion Blog About Food Choices?
Here’s the link to the “companion blog,” “Food Combos ~ Do Your Habits Hurt or Enhance Your Health,” The information is designed to help us get over sugar and salt cravings by changing food consumption habits.
One related topic is about Alkaline versus Acidic foods. Click Here to learn why you should care about your choices. Then, we’ll move to the meat of the subject (pardon the pun). It begins like this.
Proper Food Combining Helps You Lose Weight and Avoid Cravings!
What is wrong with these beautiful pictures by “tookapic” and by Rita E?
The bottom line is that proteins and carbohydrates require different (and opposing) enzymes to digest your food! So, when you eat a typical American meal, you have just created a war in your stomach!
This is a quote from a website I encourage you to explore: https://yurielkaim.com/food-combining-rules/
Many people have also reported weight loss and clear, glowing skin simply by changing the combinations of foods they eat….
Eat to Live
We’ll also explore Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s work and his book, Eat to Live. His emphasis is on phytonutrients.
My Personal Experience
I can attest to the fact that, when I do eat a meal, that is replete with phytonutrients, I can escape cravings – even while binge-watching television shows or movies!
If I use proper food combinations and do NOT eat proteins and carbohydrates in the same meal, I have more energy, am less bloated, and digestion proceeds correctly.
Maybe We Should Try His Nutritarian Diet!
Dr. Fuhrman has created a “Nutritarian” diet, and he offers recipes, as well as education about nutrient-rich, plant-based diets. He has demonstrated they have a “tremendous ability to heal, achieve optimal weight, and slow the aging process.”
In Closing, Contact Me to Chat
I hope these concepts are helpful, and your feedback is welcome. I am not a nutritionist, so don’t ask me for that kind of information or advice. However, I am certified in hypnotherapy and NLP.
Questions? Contact Me for a Sip & Share Session
I am not a nutritionist, so don’t ask me questions about food as relates to health. Go to the experts for that. However, I am certified in hypnosis and in Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) both of which offer tools that may help you want to make changes that enhance your health and well-being.
Please contact me for a free initial consultation (15 – 30 minutes)if you have questions about this. Contact me also if you would like to book one or more sessions (or to put me on retainer for several). We’ll coordinate schedules, and then I’ll send you a link so that we can chat online to determine your needs and how they match with my offerings. It is NOT a high-pressure sale pitch. We’re just exploring options.
GetWellStayWell@outlook.com is the best email address. Please put NLP (or Hypnosis) Inquiry into the subject line, so your email comes to my attention out of the thousands I get!
DISCLAIMER: Neither I nor this website makes any claims about prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or cure for physical illnesses or symptoms. I am merely recounting my own experiences or sharing content from experts. This material is for informational and educational purposes and does not provide individual medical advice. Contact your health provider with any questions about your situation and any products you choose to use.
FDA DISCLAIMER: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA ( Food and Drug Administration). The information shared on this site is intended for educational purposes only. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Anyone suffering from any disease, illness, or injury should consult with a physician.
Let’s Get Well, Stay Well, and Live Well
