more about Hypnosis and more importantly: Hypnotherapy

Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy - Learn the Truth

The Health Education Authority has said: “Research shows that there is more scientific evidence for Hypnotherapy than any other Complementary Therapy...by using hypnosis people can perform prodigious feats of will-power and self-healing.”

So what exactly is hypnosis?

Hypnosis is the application of a number of natural methods to induce trance – an altered state of consciousness – in the patient. (‘Trance’, ‘hypnosis’ and ‘hypnotic state’ all mean the same thing here and can be used interchangeably in this context.) In the hypnotic state you become more relaxed than usual and more able to concentrate. You become more susceptible to suggestions made by the therapist (or yourself), and more able to access memories and emotions from the past. One or more of these characteristics of hypnosis is utilised by the therapist, depending on the type of treatment employed.

Trance itself is entirely normal and natural. We all go in and out of various levels of trance spontaneously on a daily basis. We enter trance when we become so absorbed by one thing that, for a while, we are completely unaware of anything else. This could be while watching television, reading a book, listening to a lecture, driving, or when startled. We also enter trance when we are relaxing, day-dreaming or half asleep. The only difference between this and hypnosis undertaken with a therapist is that, with a therapist, you are guided into the state by somebody else for the purpose of achieving an agreed goal.

There are a number of methods available to the therapist to induce trance, but the most common is simply talking. The therapist asks you to close your eyes and talks to you for a while about relaxation, sleep, hypnosis or trance. You may be asked to do some relaxation exercises, and/or to imagine certain things – often being in very beautiful and tranquil surroundings. Sometimes you may be asked to focus your eyes on one particular spot for a short period of time, known as eye fixation, while the therapist continues talking. There are also a number of quick methods of inducing trance that can be used when appropriate.

Most people experience hypnosis as pleasant and relaxing, or not very much different from normal (see Hypnosis Myths below.)

What is hypnotherapy and what is the benefit of it?

Hypnotherapy, in short, is the combination of hypnosis with psychotherapy and counselling methods to bring about therapeutic change. As a hypnotherapist AND psychotherapist/counsellor I believe that hypnotherapy can be successful where other therapies are not, and that it can speed up the process dramatically.

Many of our difficulties are deep rooted or the result of subconscious programming. It is the subconscious mind that stores past experiences, emotions, and habits or responses that may be hurting us. Counselling and psychotherapy alone do affect the subconscious, but rather indirectly via the conscious mind or behaviour change. Hypnotherapy attempts to treat the subconscious more directly, bypassing the conscious altogether.

But the conscious mind must not be left out of the equation. As we work with the subconscious we also need to integrate our experiences into our conscious life, to rationalise them and give them meaning. Therefore, hypnotherapists should work with a variety of hypnotic and psychotherapeutic techniques, so that hypnosis is used for some, but not all, of the time.

Click here for information on different types of therapy available

Hypnosis Myths

Myth 1. When you are hypnotised you are asleep or unconscious.

You do not go to sleep and you are not unconscious. You will remain aware throughout the session, no matter how deep the trance. Some people find that their senses seem to be heightened and that they are even more aware.

Myth 2. The hypnotist takes control of you – like on the television or stage show. (See also caveat 1 below)

There is no question of losing control or being made to do anything against your will by using hypnosis. You are in control throughout the session. This has been tested experimentally and no evidence exists to indicate that hypnosis increases the control of the hypnotist, or exerts any unique form of control, over and beyond that already present prior to the hypnotic induction. (Ref 1) The unwanted or noxious suggestion usually causes the person to wake up from the hypnotic state and is always rejected.

Television and stage shows are easily explained. The hypnotist is skilled at knowing which people want to take part and are highly suggestible subjects. He can tell this by observing the behaviour of people in the crowd and/or doing certain tests. Many people enjoy the excuse to have fun and show off. Although subject-volunteers feel compelled to act upon the suggestions given, the hypnotist does not suggest they do anything that they might really object to. Together with rapid induction techniques (which require moderate skill and a lot of confidence), this creates the illusion of control. People who don’t want to play the part do not get called, and people who are especially unwilling don’t attend. If a difficult participant does make it onto the stage he will be given a more ordinary role to perform, like fetching a chair or being the recipient of someone else's behaviour.

You should also bear in mind that stage hypnotists are skilled illusionists. They employ a number of tricks to fool both audience and volunteers that have nothing to do with hypnosis.

Myth 3. "But I didn't feel hypnotized/I didn't go under."

There is no such thing as a ‘hypnotised feeling’ as such, and a lighter trance might not feel very different from normal. Individuals vary in how deeply they go into trance, yet a light trance is all that is needed for many types of therapeutic work. The therapist has a number of ways to tell when a suitable level of hypnosis has been achieved to begin treatment.

Myth 4. After the session everything that took place in the session will be forgotten.

This is generally untrue. Most of the time you will remember generally what the therapist said. It is very rare that the therapist will attempt to make you forget what happened, because ordinarily there is no benefit to this and the suggestion usually wears off anyway in time.

However, if you enter a deep trance you might find that you’ve forgotten most of the details of what the therapist said. You may realise when you wake up that you missed certain parts altogether, and wonder whether you fell asleep. If you responded to suggestions to wake up at the end of the session, it is unlikely that you fell asleep. In a deep trance the conscious mind more or less switches off and stops creating conscious memory. This gives the sense that you were ‘out’ for that time, or asleep, when really you were still aware.

Myth 5. You can just be hypnotised and your problem will go away.

This is usually not true. Hypnosis is only a tool to go along with the real work of psychotherapy. It is not an instant fix for most problems, and you may find that you have to participate in joint effort with your therapist over a number of weeks or months to get better. This is in common with other psychotherapies. Hypnosis is a powerful therapeutic aid and it can usually speed things up, but it is not magic.

Myth 6. "I can’t be hypnotised."

This is almost the opposite of the last myth, in that it unduly predicts failure.

Although the level of trance achieved varies from person to person, almost everyone can be hypnotised to a level deep enough to begin some kind of therapeutic work. This is good news: it means that by far the majority can benefit from hypnotherapy. The few exceptions include people who are intoxicated with alcohol or drugs, people who have a learning disability or dementia, and one or two uncommon mental and neurological conditions. All told these probably amount to no more than 1% of the population. If you are capable of reading and understanding this text and forming an opinion about it, then you almost certainly can be hypnotised to some degree!

Myth 7. Hypnosis is un-Christian or spiritually dangerous – by giving up control you become more susceptible to immoral or demonic influence.

This is a common belief within certain church and religious circles. Potentially this has some merit but not within the context of what we do here.

We have carefully researched this issue and found it to be untrue within the context of what I do in terms of psychological/clinical work. In Christian circles the fear stems from Old and New Testament verses that speak against sorcery, witchcraft, spirit channelling, and other pagan religious practices. In the Christian bible, all references that can be translated to relate to any kind of trance/hypnotic behaviour are in that context. Therefore, it is not the trance state itself that is the problem, but what the trance helps to achieve. Prayer, for example, is a trance state for many people. In my work trance is used only to bring about psychological and health benefits. I do not practice past-life regression, psychic or intuitive counselling. There is no connection to Spiritism or any kind of non-Christian religious practice. (see caveat 1 below).

As stated earlier, we all enter trance spontaneously on a daily basis. Concerns about hypnosis on spiritual grounds must assume that trance facilitated by a therapist is inherently different from trance that we enter spontaneously, or that deep relaxation is somehow different when facilitated by a therapist. But neither are; trance is trance, and relaxation is relaxation, whether or not they occur with a therapist. You can see that if spirits could enter or attack us in the hypnotic state without invitation everyone would be being spirit possessed everyday!

You will recall also that you are not giving up control; you cannot be made to do anything against your will or that you would morally object to. (see caveat 2)

Caveats:

1. Not everyone is the same as me on this issue, and some complementary therapists do include practices that are strictly forbidden in the Christian bible. Always check first if you are concerned about this.

2. Be aware that stage (entertainment) hypnotism may not involve any kind of vulnerability/risk assessment and has caused a minority of subjects to become markedly distressed. Avoid it if you have any reason to think you might be vulnerable to any kind of mental illness.

Ref 1. Orne MT (1972): Can a hypnotized subject be compelled to carry out otherwise unacceptable behaviour? a discussion. Int J Clin Exp Hypn Apr 20(2):101-117

[Cut & Pasted from David Kay]

Weight loss with hypnotherapy

Hypno Weightloss

Reporter: Rodney Lohse

Emma Everleigh-Anderton has lived a full life -- well at least she thinks she has. The thirty six year old has done what many find impossible -- lost weight and kept it off by literally thinking herself thin. Using hypnotism to make herself think she had a gastric lap band -- surgery that shrinks the size of your stomach -- she lost 25 kilograms in 6 months "The gastro band surgery is part of a bigger process -- four sessions -- but you go into some quite clinical environment and I don't know how it works - there are sounds, smells and you're led to believe you're in a hospital environment-- so you're mind can be completely relaxed and open into believe you're having the gastric band", Emma said.

The mother of two dropped from a size 18 to a size 8 and is among the first patients to undergo a treatment called Hypnoband Therapy. "When we see food if we see the same amount of food on a big plate as a small plate, if we see it on a small plate and consume the food, we will feel full. If we see it on a big plate we'll still feel hungry and feel as if we have missed out", said Antoine Matarasso, a practicing hypnotherapist and President of the Australian Hypnotherapists Association.

"All of our actions emanate from our thoughts and using hypnotherapy we can begin to think differently so we act differently", Antoine added.

While he cautions hypnotherapy doesn't work for everyone, he says for some it can be an extremely effective way to lose weight "No pain, no anaesthetic, no long recuperation time. You get up out of the chair feeling absolutely great afterwards and that's the start of a really good weightloss process", Emma said.

Emma underwent four sessions costing $1,700 Australian dollars and the way Emma looks at food changed -- she now eats healthier and smaller portions. "I jog and that's all part of the process -- to get motivated, to get out there, get fit. But it's effortless -- I eat less and I'm less hungry, its fantastic", Emma said.Using hypnotherapy to reprogram the brain isn't new. Hypnotherapists have successfully weened smokers off cigarettes; gamblers off the punt and even been used to enhance fertility. What is new is the use of hypnosis to replicate the outcomes of actual medical surgery.

Exercise ideas

Exercise

Being more active is essential to help you look and feel good. It’s important to incorporate at least 30 minutes of moderate* activity everyday. Activities needn’t be strenuous or challenging, they just need to be regular. Try some of our ideas below and see if you notice the difference ^. Remember, becoming more active in your everyday life is a vital step towards a healthier you. So don’t stop after the challenge – keep it going to help keep you looking and feeling good.

To get you personal 2 week eating and exercise plan, register or log in now.

Proper Preparation

It’s important to warm up before you exercise, to ensure your muscles and joints are more flexible. Try to spend 5 minutes doing some light stretching before you start and after you finish your exercise routine.

Go to Kellogs Special K website

Make an Exercise Plan

Commit yourself

Try to stick to a regular time each day

Put exercise appointments on your calendar

Keep a diary of your activities so you can track your progress

Sign a contract committing yourself to exercise and stick it to the fridge

Walk the Line

For many of us, walking is the easiest , cheapest and safest way to exercise. Make sure you have a goot pair of walking shoes, dress comfortably, fill your mp3 player with tunes and hit the road, street, park, beach

It’s advisable to start with short walks (maybe during your lunch hour) then build up to longer walks of 30 minutes or more. If you need more of a challenge try taking a route with lots of hills or steps, or if you live near a beach try walking on sand to really tone up those thighs.

Sticking With it.

We know it’s hard enough starting and exercise routine, let alone sticking to it! Here are some tips to make your exercise plan more manageable

Choose something you like doing – if you don’t like running, don’t run! Choose something that suits your lifestyle and that you really enjoy.

Mix it up – you’re likely to get bored doing the same exercise everyday, so try to vary it. Swim one day, walk to work the next, take a dance lesson or a yoga class to keep it interesting.

Find a friend – exercising with someone is more motivating and means you can have a good chat whilst you’re getting fit.

Forget ‘no pain – no gain’ – while you might feel a little achy when you first start exercise, pain isn’t normal. If it hurts, stop.

Don’t forget the fun – try to make exercise fun. Watch TV while riding your exercise bike, do house work at a fast pace with the music turned up loud or take your walk round your favourite shops.

We can doweightloss surgery without scalpels, without blood, without anaesthesia.

Weight-loss surgery could beat diabetes

• by: From correspondents in Chicago
• From: AP
• March 27, 2012 3:00PM

NEW research gives clear proof that weight-loss surgery can reverse and possibly cure diabetes.

Two studies, released today, are the first to compare the benefits of stomach-reducing operations to medicines alone for "diabesity" - Type 2 diabetes brought on by obesity.

Both studies found that surgery helped far more patients achieve normal blood-sugar levels than medicines alone did.

The results were dramatic: Some people were able to stop taking insulin as soon as three days after their operations. Cholesterol and other heart risk factors also greatly improved.

Doctors don't like to say "cure" because they can't promise a disease will never come back. But in one study, most surgery patients were able to stop all diabetes drugs and have their disease stay in remission for at least two years. None of those treated with medicines alone could do that.

"It is a major advance," said Dr John Buse of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a leading diabetes expert who had no role in the studies.

There were signs that the surgery itself - not just weight loss - helps reverse diabetes. Food makes the gut produce hormones to spur insulin, so trimming away part of it surgically may affect those hormones, doctors believe.

Weight-loss surgery "has proven to be a very appropriate and excellent treatment for diabetes", said one study co-leader, Dr Francesco Rubino, chief of diabetes surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

"The most proper name for the surgery would be diabetes surgery."

The studies were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine, and the larger one was presented today at an American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago.

More than a third of American adults are obese, and more than eight per cent have diabetes, a major cause of heart disease, strokes and kidney failure. Between five million and 10 million are like the people in these studies, with both problems.

For a century, doctors have been treating diabetes with pills and insulin, and encouraging weight loss and exercise with limited success. Few very obese people can drop enough weight without surgery, and many of the medicines used to treat diabetes can cause weight gain, making things worse.

Gastric Lap Band Surgery--with scalpels--- fraught with danger

Friday, August 07, 2009

Weight Loss surgery death rates down? No evidence of this!

An article on aol news with the headline of "Obesity Surgery death rates low" reads:

-Obese, but worried that surgery for it might kill you? The risk of that has dropped dramatically, and now is no greater than for having a gall bladder out, a hip replaced or most other major operations, new research shows.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Now you can have a gastric bypass and have it only be as risky as gall bladder surgery i.e. 1 death in 7000 surgeries.

But wait! First of all the study didn't exactly say that at all.

The finding of the study, another Dr David Flum study to be published in the NEJ on August 13th, which looked at the medical records of 3,412 gastric bypass patients and 1,198 given stomach bands i.e. adjustable lap band, was that there were 3 deaths in 1000 patients so that's still _a lot_ more risky than gall bladder surgery. 
[to be fair with statistics: there are multiple articles stating that in Australia the risk is only 1 death in 1000 patients. However one death is one too many.~~Michael]

Flum's own studies of 62,000 gastric bypass patients 6 years ago, found that 1 in 50 died within 30 days.

The "less deaths now" are attributed to "newer methods" and lap surgery. However, if you average the very LOW death rate of the adjustable lap band surgery in with gastric bypass, that's far more likely where the lower death rate figures come from.

That is the death rate on adjustable lap band surgery is 1 in 7000 or the same as a gall bladder surgery. And I sincerely doubt the death rate on gastric bypass has been reduced that much in the 6 years since Flum's other study (report delivered to the College of surgeons in Oct 21, 2003.[Study title: The Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Patient Survival: A Population-Based Study]) which was never formally published and which concluded by comparing desperately ill fat people hospitalized for other reasons than WLS, that even with such a high death rate it was slightly more risky to be fat than to have a gastric bypass.

It's called "cooking the books" and it's easy to see how they arrived at those figures. In 1198 lap bands, there were likely no deaths! And in 3412 gastric bypasses, there were likely 68 deaths within 30 days of surgery, however they probably took the table death figure which is 1 percent so that's 34 deaths.

Now lump them all together and that's 34 deaths in 4610 WLS surgeries or 8 deaths in 1000 surgeries. That's still more than the 3 per 1000 surgeries they are claiming so more cooking must have occurred. Simply, I have read nothing about the study being randomized and greatly suspect it was not randomized which means they could pick and choose the members of the cohort. That is, at the 10 hospitals they studied, there were likely far more patients than 4610 who had WLS but many were not included in the study for this or that reason.

Anyway, you get the gist. The gastric bypass isn't likely, any safer than it was in Dr Flum's study, 6 years ago. They just uh..re-computed because the results from the 2003 study which studied 62,000 cases of gastric bypass done in one hospital, didn't look so good (2 percent death rate within 30 days).

Fortunately for those providing gastric bypass, few will "do the math" or notice that the study was not 'randomized'. Unfortunately for those patients who have gastric bypass which Dr Terry Simpson emphasizes is over 100 years old (is essentially a modified Billroth II surgery originally done for duodenal ulcer), many may go in thinking that by some magic, the gastric bypass is now "safer".

I would suggest those who question, go to Dr Simpson's website and listen to the part of his online seminar about why he prefers the lap band to the gastric bypass and duodenal switch.

Posted by SueW 


 For informatino relating to VIRTUAL GASTRIC LAP BAND SURGERY,  with no scalpels, no pain, no anaesthesia, no blood, no side effects go to  Grassel Hypnotherapy

What exactly is Hypnosis?

The state of hypnosis is a condition that involves increased responsiveness and suggestibility, and in which the inner world of the imagination and feelings is granted a degree of importance usually given only to outward ‘ordinary’ reality.

It’s easier to describe than define. Under hypnosis, no stress hormones are released, the breathing and heart rate slow down and blood pressure drops. The stomach produces less acid and the bronchi dilate within the lungs. It also seems that hypnosis may boost the immune system, because within the blood vessels of a hypnotised subject the production of lymphocytes (white blood cells) is increased, and these defensive cells cling more firmly to the insides of the veins qnd arteries. These discoveries would seem to support the belief that hypnotharpy can help alleviate all manner of physical complaints, from asthma to cancer.

Scientists at Stanford University in California, have also discovered that during hypnosis the brain emits alpha waves—tiny rhythmic electrical impulses generated by brain cells.  Alpha waves denote a condition of mental alertness coupled with physical relaxation; they are also produced instates of meditation and when practising yoga. 

Freud taught that the unconscious is the repository of memories and impulses that are repressed by personal consciousness. [I think Freud had some serious mother issues]

Imagination if perhaps the most powerful function humans possess. Imagination and creativity have been the sole domain of humans for centuries. New studies, using non-human criteria, which is very hard to do, being humans and all, have shown creative problem solving abilities in dolphins and a few species of monkeys/apes.  Human imagination, creativity, fantasies, inspiration and intuition all bubble forth from the unconscious mind. The ability to put two unrelated things together to make something totally new is what makes us who we are.  Adding friction to a hunk of wood made fire for the caveman. Compressing highly flammable fuel and adding fire makes an explosion. 

Putting an explosion in a sturdy cylinder makes a cannon. Shrinking the cylinder, adding a little projectile makes a rifle. Putting cylinders around an axle makes an engine. Putting an engine on a kite makes an aeroplane. Putting the combustion chamber inside the projectile makes a rocket.  We do this all the time. We do this with everything. There are a zillion cookbooks in print. Each recipe has come from someone who said, “I’ll just add a bit of this and a bit of that, and see if it tastes good.” Sure cave men ate bird eggs, but somewhere down the line we found that whipped eggwhites, sans yolks, can be baked into Pavlova.

Humour is, for the most part, a story with a funny ending. The whole purpose of having an intellect that enables us to recognise the vignette, is so that we can learn from past experiences and predict future outcomes with the same recipe of experiences. Our minds race ahead to the anticipated ending, and the joke-teller makes a right turn and the last minute, a surprise ending. 

When in a relaxed state, we can imagine feelings and experiences. We actually feel the emotions that are attached to the experiences. And we can change the emotions attached to an experience. “What if I change my frustration towards my mother-in-law to pity? Then I’ll feel much better about her upcoming visit.”

 original author unknown

 For more information, go to: Grassel Hypnotherapy

Where most diets fail

Where most diets fail: 1)  They’re not specific; everybody’s body is different. What works for one celebrity movie star of model, won’t work on everybody, or maybe not even any average person.

Learn your metabolism type to guide you in selecting foods for an ideal fat burning environment in your body.

Find the right sized portions for your body. Tiny, bird-sized portions are just as bad as gorging yourself.

Where most diets fail: 2)   They make you eat foods you don’t like: mung beans or cooked spinach or wheatgrass goat’s milk shakes.  You must eat food you enjoy or it won’t work. Willpower isn’t a muscle we like to use.

MKG: Chinese definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result .”

The Mindset of Optimism

Learned optimism more useful than truth

From an Omni interview with Martin Seligman, monitored for the Institute by Roger Knights.

'High scores for optimism are predictive of excellence in everything from sports to life-insurance sales'

Martin Seligman, researcher and director of clinical training at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and author of 'Learned Optimism', has developed an Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) which ranks individuals on an optimism-pessimism scale. In a longitudinal study of school children, those scoring highest for pessimism were most likely later to suffer depression. High scores for optimism are predictive of excellence in everything from sports to life-insurance sales (a finding that saved Metropolitan Life millions of dollars in personnel selection).

'Analysing campaign speeches for the prevalence of optimism, Seligman predicted the election winners'

Optimism wins votes as well. Analysing campaign speeches for the prevalence of optimism, Seligman predicted the winners of the 1988 presidential and Senate elections more accurately than veteran political forecasters.
'I used to be an agent of both truth and happiness,' says Seligman. 'That's still a central premise of most therapists. But research in our lab and others is increasingly challenging that view. Even when offered a monetary incentive for accuracy, optimists consistently overestimate their ability. Optimists have a set of self-serving illusions that enable them to maintain good cheer and health in a universe essentially indifferent to their welfare.

'Optimists are more resistant to infectious illness and are better at fending off chronic diseases of middle age'

Optimists are more resistant to infectious illness and are better at fending off chronic diseases of middle age. In one study, we looked at 96 men who had their first heart attack in 1980. Within eight years, 15 of the 16 most pessimistic men died of a second heart attack, but only five of the 16 most optimistic men died.
Good therapy for depression may entail bolstering a set of benign illusions. Depressed people may need to adopt the same self-serving illusions that most normal people hold. We can choose how we think. Styles of thinking can become habits. We can control our thoughts as we can our muscles.

'My goal would be to get that person to speak to him- or herself more kindly, the way a loving friend might'

Specifically, if something goes wrong, pessimists tend to have hopeless thoughts. They tell themselves, 'I'll never get it right,' or 'I always screw up,' or worse, they stamp themselves with a negative label - 'I'm a jerk.' My goal would be to get that person to speak to him- or herself more kindly, the way a loving friend might. The person might learn to say, 'Things didn't go well today, but I learned a lot from the experience, and I'll do better tomorrow.' Instead of negative labels like 'jerk', the pessimist would learn to say, 'Sometimes I'm not as considerate as I'd like to be, but overall, I'm a kind person.'

'My recommendation is to do something pleasurable that will distract you from your troubles'

My other advice for overcoming pessimism is not to ruminate about bad events that happen to you, at least not immediately afterwards. If your boss fires you or you fail an important exam, my recommendation is to do something pleasurable that will distract you from your troubles. I recommend fun distractions because studies show, if you think about problems in a negative frame of mind, you come up with fewer solutions. And you're likely to spiral into deeper depression. By boosting mood and self-esteem, people with pessimistic tendencies can break that cycle and free themselves to think more creatively.It takes most people a few weeks to get the knack, but once the technique is learned, the less likely they are to relapse. That's well documented.

A 'pathologically optimistic' genius

'Mozart was almost pathologically optimistic'

A psychological analysis of Mozart's correspondence shows that he was almost pathologically optimistic, with an exuberant self-confidence. Optimistic people who suffer setbacks tend to attribute them to external causes that are temporary and can be changed. Writing in The Psychologist, Professor Andrew Steptoe of St George's Hospital Medical School says that towards the end of Mozart's short life, when he suffered the deaths of four children, serious illnesses and repeated professional and financial disasters, his optimism actually rose.
This last paragraph is based on an item by Jeremy Laurance in The Times.

10 Reasons  Why You’re Tired

1. You’re under-stressed.  We all know stress can lead to fatigue, but research shows being too laid back can also make you tired. In short bursts, stress not only stimulates you, it helps boost your immune system. Try an acidity that takes you out of your comfort zone.
2. You’re buzzed.  Researchers in Sweden found using a mobile phone an hour before your bed may interfere with sleep pattern and lead to less time in deeper sleep stages. “Keep electronic gadgets out of the bedroom.” Says associate professor Delwyn Bartlett, from the Woolcock institute’s sleep and circadian group.
3. You’re dehydrated. Dehydration reduces your blood volume, making your heart work  harder so you feel tired. Dr Simon Floreani, chiropractors association of Australia president , says you should drink 30 ml of water a day for every kilo you weigh.
4. You’re out of balance. “when your body is out of balance it puts stress on isolated areas.” Says Allan Mourad, director of the wellness club. ‘this places pressure on organs such as liver and kidneys, which cn be draining.” So make sure your lifestyle is healthy.
5. Your liver is lack lustre. Scientist and Naturopath analysis course says an under-functioning liver could be responsible for unexplained exhaustion. “the liver is the main detoxifying organ in our body. If it’s overwhelmed or working incorrectly, your body will feel sluggish,achy, and lethargic.” Food liver foods include artichokes, beetroot, broccoli, garlic and onion.
6. You lack vitamin C. “ vitamin C is critical when you are fatigued as a reluslt of prolonged stress, illness or surgery,” Course says. “adrenal glands generally support  us in times of stress, but they need vitamin C to keep fatigue at bay.” The recommended daily intake for adults is45 milligrams ( up to 60 mg when pregnant, and 85 mg  while breastfeeding) good sources include apples, broccoli, berries, asparagus, cabbage cauliflower, watermelon, citrus fruits, kiwifruit, fortified foods, dark leafy greens and tomatoes.  For  example,eat one banana(10.3mg) one apple(12 mg)and one tomato(25 mg) a day.
7. You need magnesium.  “Low magnesium levels are one to fht most overlooked nutrient deficiencies and often result in symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome,” Course says, “Magnesium becomes depleted by excess alcohol and the oral contraceptive pill.” Adults need 320 to 420mg per day. Try 6 brazil nuts (107mg) 100 grams of tuna (64mg), a cup of plain yoghurt(42mg) half acup of broccoli (16mg) one cob of corn(31mg) and a cup of greenbeans(99g). 
8. Your alarm clock is wrong. “Having the same waking time each day is more important than the time you go to bed, as it communicates the end of your sleep cycle to your brain and body,”   Professor Bartlet says. This is why sleeping in for more than an hour on the weekend can mak you feel jet-lagged. The perfect waking time? According to our research , 7:22am is ideal.
9. Your thyroid is under-active.  Your thyroid sets your metabolic rate, (the rate at which you burn food). If you are tired, sensitive to cold, forgetful, and have gained weight, see your doctor for a thyroid test.
10. You’re exercising too much. Personal trainer Pete Tansley says: “Exercise releases seretonin and adenine, which help regulate sleep rhythms.”  Too little exercise and you miss out on these. But too much, particularly  at night, can lead to higher stress levels.  “exercise elevates the stress hormone cortisol, leaving you tired,” Tansley says.  “Stay clear of alcohol after exercise and have a routine to set your body up for sleep.

          for more information go to:  http://www.grasselhypnotherapy.com.au/

 I have lost my notes as to the original author of this article. If you are the author, please advise and I will give you full credit.
 

Diet Hints From Experts, Not Movie Stars

Sugar is your # 1 enemy

Eat breads made from rice, spelt, and sprouted grains.---not white, wheat, or whole meal bread/pasta/biscuits

Eat millet & quinoa grains

Eat sweet potatoes with a little butter & cinnamon

Eat fruits & veggies: mix and match: try fruits in your salads, try veggies in a blender puréed fruit drink

Fats ain’t fats. Some fats don’t make you fat. The right kinds of fats make you burn off existing fat from your body.  The right kinds of fats increase your metabolism.

Eat the right kind of fats and you’ll burn fat. Eat the wrong kind of fats and you’ll store fat.

Avoid: Hydrogenated oils, canola and vegetable oils, margarine, substitute fake butter products

Eat these fats: Real butter, eggs, coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, nuts [it’s a misconception that saturated fats are bad for your health. These have no sugars, so they work well with your metabolism, to burn off unwanted, stored fat.

Processed foods are enemy #2

Most processed foods contain a lot of sugar. Most processed foods contain lots of chemicals to make it more tasty, salty, sweet, appealing to our taste buds.  Artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and processed soy products,

Processed foods contain artificial colouring [inks/dyes] to make the food look more appealing.  Real beef is not bright red. Ask farmer who has butchered his own lifestock.

Processed foods contain ‘anti-caking agents’ to keep things like flour from getting lumpy. Would you put ground up chalk in your porridge just to keep it from getting lumpy? I like lumpy foods.

Manufacturers add preservative chemicals to make it last longer, like embalming fluids… would you buy a head of lettuce/ or a cucumber if it was brown and mushy? NO! 

Read the ingredients label: is there anything you can’t pronounce? Don’t eat it if you can’t pronounce it. If you don’t know what it is, your body won’t know what to do with it either.

Your liver: breaks down fats and filtering our harmful substances.  When your liver is filtering out all the artificial chemicals that your body doesn’t need, can’t use, then your liver is too busy to efficiently break down fats. If you had two big jobs to do each day and spent all your time and energy working on one, what would happen to the other job? It would just pile up.

Simplest hint: only buy, only eat foods that contain only one ingredient.

It’s not the number of calories that matters; it’s the quality fo food you are eating and the metabolic enhancing effect on your body.

Just eliminate[stop ingesting] the bad stuff that your doesn’t need, can’t use and can’t process.

Don’t worry about the calories. Worry about the sugar. Worry about the artificial additives.

If you eat, well, actually WHEN you eat the right foods, you can eat a lot.  Did you ever hear anybody say about a thin person: “He eats like a horse and never gets fat.” Or “That kid must have hollow legs.”

Calorie restriction may lead your body into ‘starvation mode’ where your body thinks you’re having a really big dry spell, so it saves up every bit of fat for emergencies…

For more info on how to lose weight, slim down and tone up: see Grassel Hypnotherapy