What are you leaving behind in last year?

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2015. 

It's an exciting time, with many changes happening in the world around us (and in the UK, if you are interested, it's a general election year). It's a time for new opportunities and I think  'personal choice' about our wellbeing fits into that view.  If you want to make a few changes or improve on what you already have, its a great time to get focused on that idea. All good intentions start with an idea..  If over Christmas you've faced relationship or family challenges, put on a few pounds, been hibernating or getting over an illness, it may be time to spend a bit of time looking after your body and your mind. 

Sometimes it's a challenge to get motivated to begin afresh. With spring around the corner (I say with all good intention) it's a good time for us to take care of personal maintenance routines. It's why you often see people at the gym as they set out to lose weight and get fit. 
I personally prefer not to set 'resolutions' as they can seem so set in stone and are quite scary. Things change, so I think choices and goals need to have some flexibility. Sure, go to the gym and gradually increase what you do rather than going 'full tilt' on the running machine. Your body will thank you for building up exercise gradually. 

Setting an intermediate goal with small steps towards a bigger plan gives you a chance to celebrate achievements along the way.  Even taking one small step towards a target can give you a boost of motivation 'I did it!' you say, so you keep going. The ability to see changes and feel them happening through those small steps enables you to keep moving forward and not give up with changes to lifestyle. 

Of course, I believe in the power of the mind in supporting transformation. If you want to know more about the boost that hypnotherapy, counselling, coaching or weight management (Hypnoshape ®) can give, just get in touch.  Here's to the best year ever!

See:
angiegiles.co.uk
Twitter: angie_therapist
Facebook: Angie Giles Hypnotherapy

About the Author: Angie works as a hypnotherapist, counsellor and coach at the Norfolk Clinic Complementary Healthcare Clinic, 38-40 Magdalen Road, Norwich. 

Call Norfolk Clinic reception on 01603 660792 or Angie directly on 07773 610816. She loves helping other people achieve their potential at work ,life and find greater happiness using a range of therapeutic techniques.

Employment gains - or weighty issue?

I recently wrote about the job search blues and the challenges facing those seeking work. But what of those actually in work and facing tough times? In this article I'm focusing on the issue of weight and discrimination at work. 

Employment can sometimes be clouded by more issues than the printer breaking for the 12th time in one day! It can also be a place where personal issues, like weight, can affect someone's chances of keeping their job and enjoying being at work. What of those people who had been affected at work because of their weight?
A recent study in the US (of nearly three thousand people) found that those who were overweight had faced employment discrimination of one type or another. 

The areas of discrimination can be things like being the target of negative humour and negative comments from co-workers and supervisors, and being treated differently because of weight, not being hired, being denied promotions, or even being fired because of carrying excess weight.
The survey participants classed as 'overweight' responded being 12 times more likely to have been discriminated against. Those classed as 'obese' were 37 times more likely, and 'severely obese' respondents were 100 times more likely than normal-weight respondents to have said they had faced employment discrimination. In this study, women were 16 times more likely to report weight-related employment discrimination than men.  What a horrible thought. Because weight is viewed in such a negative way, even if you are the most talented person in your company, you may at worst face losing your job because of your weight. 

I always thought that to keep a job there were some basic steps. Turn up on time, remember to work hard, achieve or exceed objectives and (usually), be part of a team. I hadn't considered that being a 'normal' weight was going to be one of those steps! Well now we know differently. 

If things go wrong at work, usually a plan is drawn up to sort it. There are also steps to take when it comes to improving our health and particularly to weight. We know we should eat healthily and be active. Sometimes it takes a bit more than knowing it though, doesn't it? If you want to move towards making a change in eating habits, plucking up the courage to seek help now may help you toward a healthy career, as well as a healthier lifestyle.  

I deal with the whole issue, not just the weight, it's about the person too.  If you think you would like to know more about making changes to your lifestyle, I'm here to help. 

About the Author: Angie loves helping other people achieve their potential at work and in life and achieving happiness using a range of therapeutic techniques. Based at the Norfolk Clinic (Complementary Healthcare Centre), 38-40 Magdalen Road, Norwich, Norfolk, UK.  Tel: 07773 610816 or email info@angiegiles.co.uk 

Neurons and Obesity - the next big thing?

A recent study on obesity being linked to changes in the brain was published today.
The findings from this study on mice and rats (and human brain structures compared using scans) points toward the neurons in the brain being affected over time. A specific part of the hypothalamus, to be precise, is affected when people have eaten a high fat diet for some time and are obese. The researchers are suggesting that the brain might be 'damaged/changed' and 'control' over weight diminished. This, the researchers think, might then lead to a continued desire to keep eating a high fat diet. More work is to be done to determine if this is factually correct.

The traditional response will most likely be 'give a pill' to re-set that energy balance, and perhaps (ker-ching!) the pharmaceutical companies step in, smiling all the way to the bank! OK, so I may be a little cynical here, though I'm not against this type of intervention.  I just would like there to be at least enquiry into alternative ways of supporting those who suffer with obesity. Also into the sort of interventions that would stop the problem in the first place (and I should introduce HypnoShape® as something I jointly devised with another therapist that tackles obesity as well as those gaining weight worried about their health).  

What I would like to consider is another problem area where brain changes have happened because of the trauma, and yet a non-chemical treatment is on offer and proving successful.  

People with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) given access to 'talking therapy' and 'art therapy' have been shown in studies that even when a part of the brain is affected (hippocampus, affecting memory and learning), they can feel and get better. Art therapy and talking therapy enables them to express their feelings and reduce stress. They adapt, they cope better, but little research is available into how much their neural pathways in their brains have adapted. Perhaps that's where we should be focusing research now, particularly in supporting those with depression? 

Brain medicine, has made great strides in recent years, however it does not yet have all the answers. We know now that the brain has about 100 billion neurons. We know that there is vast processing of information and that the brain is active in controlling our body in every way. The hormones released that deal with weight and gender specific controls, our thinking, our emotions - all controlled by the brain. It is exciting to think we have yet to establish quite just how adaptable our brains are when a part of the brain is changed or damaged. I look forward to seeing additional studies prove how adaptable our brains really are.  

Incidentally, I've met some extremely adaptable-minded people who had weight issues and came to see me either in a HypnoShape group or working one to one with me. The changes some made and stuck with are proof to those people that (even if they had a damaged brain as this latest research suggests!), they were somehow able to focus their attention onto a new lifestyle and make it fit them. Maybe that's why I felt compelled to write about this?  Having one person tell me of their continued weight loss of 18 pounds over 6 months is an example and one where they made small changes that continue to add up month on month.

The feeling of 'little control' is what many clients have when they first come to see me. I empathise with how hard that can be and particularly so if they are feeling in a cycle of despair after dieting. I believe the client chooses, as they walk through my door, if they really want to be in control of their mind and their eating habits. I do sometimes see clients who are not yet ready to make the changes they say they want to, seeming to want me to sometimes make changes for them. (I provide motivation and back up) In their mind they agree with the latest research exactly or they have in their mind 'father/ mother etc was big, so I will be too'.

I'd like to give all my future clients a gift. The challenge of trusting their mind is vastly capable of helping them to make changes!  How else would we be such an amazingly advanced mammal if not for our ability to think and adapt to new situations so well? 

Please do let me know what you think, comments are welcomed. Is this the next big thing to shake up the world of weight management?

Angie Giles Hypnotherapy for Hypnotherapy, Counselling and Personal Coaching
At the Norfolk Clinic (Complementary Healthcare) on 38-40 Magdalen Road, Norwich and 86 St Benedicts Street, Norwich (by appointment only).
Tel: 07773 610816

Angie Giles Hypnotherapy website

Angie Giles on Facebook

Angie on Twitter

Men and weight gain - a sensitive subject

When it comes to men and weight, very often men are worried about this but don't always seek the help. They bury their head in the sand.  People hope the problem will go away by itself.  But it just doesn't work that way, does it? So whenever I hear from a man finding out how I may be able to help them get a healthier lifestyle, I know it takes bravery for that man to accept they need to change. Let alone to 'want' to commit to that change.  There's a myth that commitment can scare some men off, after all! 


It's a known fact that your heart, other major organs and your joints do not do well under layers of fat. Did you know another thing affected by a continual gaining of pounds in men (whether diabetic or not) can be bladder control and sexual performance? 


These unfortunate symptoms can affect up to 40% of the overweight diabetic male population*. The attached article links to research carried out on the effects of weight loss on diabetic men in Australia, (*statistic comes from this article).
  
sex lives of diabetic men increase with weight loss


It's a good idea to first see your Doctor if you think you need to do something about your weight. They can recommend changes. They'll also check your blood pressure and give you the go ahead for any change in exercise, particularly if you haven't done any for a while. 


There are many reasons for changing your eating habits. If you are a man and you're reading this, maybe this gives you a perfect reason to commit to a change of lifestyle. To commit to your own wellbeing.  


“It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”~ J.K. Rowling

stress and eating

I have been aware for a while of a hormone in the human body - and from reading research information also observed in mice - which is triggered and affected by stress. It's not a newly discovered hormone, but one that has increasingly been studied in understanding depression, overeating and obesity. More research is needed, though at least hormones are being taken more seriously and gradually the stigma surrounding people with obesity will begin to fall away. I speak to many who are deeply ashamed (feeling of social stigma) and are personally unhappy with how they feel, their behaviour around food and how they look. More research is underway on the hormonal links, I'm just not sure how quickly that knowledge will filter down. Also whether a pharmaceutical solution comes into play rather than therapies like hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or counselling which could all address the stress or depression in the first place (save taxpayers money in the long run too!).


If someone 'feels' depressed the depression itself may be organic (back to the old favourite 'mind body connection') so if we work on the depression, the 'mind' - then perhaps the hormonal balance might be tipped. That makes logical sense to me. I have seen some great results with my clients on balancing out their emotions as well as their eating habits. I help clients to tackle losing weight and to manage stress through individual or group sessions.

http://angiegiles.co.uk/