14 DAY TRIAL // Whenever we tackle the issue of losing some weight or shaping up for a special event or just to lead a healthier life, part of us must wish we didn’t have to go through the early stages of accommodation to the changed lifestyle or, at the very least, that things were less difficult. Divorce attorney Suzie Gibbs managed to do all that with the help of hypnotherapy, which has made her believe she’s actually exercising while she sleeps, the Daily Mail reports.
Not only is Mrs. Gibbs in a better shape, but she’s also lost 8 dress sizes, and all she did was see a therapist and allow herself to be put under. Of course, at first, she did not want to believe the new approach to exercising and weight loss would return any result but, as she puts it, she was sick of dieting, would not exercise and, quite frankly, was desperate about what was happening to her body. Moreover, she was so overweight that she was told her health was in danger if she didn’t do something about it fast.
One month after starting hypnotherapy, she’d already lost 1 stone (over 6.3 kg). “The transformation involved three hypnotherapy sessions where she had to visualize herself exercising and doing sit-ups. She also listened to a hypnosis CD each night for a month. The ‘exercise in your sleep’ program was so effective, she said, that her stomach muscles contracted as she slept and her metabolism sped up, meaning she burned off calories quicker. The hypnosis also reprogrammed her mind into believing she loved exercise, leading to her become more active in her waking hours,” the Mail writes after speaking to Mrs. Gibbs.
“My first thought was that it sounded a bit weird but, to be honest, I was desperate. Within a week I’d lost a pound and I carried on gradually losing weight. My muscles felt more toned and tight all over. I also found myself dreaming about things such as riding a bike and lifting weights in the gym and I was loving every moment of it. Within a few months I actually wanted to work out during my daytime hours – something I’d never felt before in my entire life. I took up walking and cycling and joined a gym. Now, instead of my heart sinking at the thought of exercise, I look forward to being active,” Mrs. Gibbs explains for the aforementioned publication.
Surely, she says, her transformation is not entirely down to exercising in her sleep: she also watches what she eats now and is more active, even if that only means walking more. Peter Matthews, secretary of the UK Confederation of Hypnotherapy Organizations, says for the Mail that hypnosis is actually useful in changing the attitude patients have towards food and exercising, which is why it’s actually effective as regards weight loss.