A study published today by Oxford University estimates that 3,700 deaths from heart disease, strokes and cancer could be prevented every year if everyone in the UK ate as healthily as in England. 

The findings in the BMJ Open Journal show that Scotland has the worst diet of the UK. 

The study was carried out using four years of Family Food Survey Reports published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 

It found that in England, the average number of calories consumed a day is 2,300 – in Scotland the average was just around 100 calories higher.  This doesn’t sound much – but over time these calories mount up, leading to higher fat levels. 

A recent Scottish Health Survey has shown that 65% of Scottish adults are now considered either overweight or obese.  But Dr Elisabeth Weicheselbaum of the British Nutrition Foundation said: ‘People in England may have slightly better eating habits compared with Scotland, but the reality is that the whole UK population should improve their eating habits.’

In hypnotherapy, I work with the Hypno-Band program to help clients lose weight.  What’s important with Hypno-Band is how you feel, what you are thinking about and what you do and how those areas are affecting your eating habits.  Hypno-Band is not a just another diet. 

Using hypnosis a ‘virtual gastric band’ is fitted to the stomach using guided visualisation and suggestion.  You actually feel as though a real gastric band has been fitted, in a real hospital by real surgeons.  However, Hypno-Band is pain-free, there’s no recovery time like in actual surgery and costs a lot less.  It works so well because the subconscious mind does not know the difference between reality and fantasy. 

Recent NHS trials revealed Hypno-Band results as high as 95%. This is higher than real gastric band surgery, where the success rate is currently only around 85%.  

HypnoBand is a long-term solution for feeling full more quickly and eating less often and is in fact a very simple and very relaxing process.  It does involve some motivation however and is best for people who have a Body Mass Index over 25.  Contact me on: 0141 255 0520 to arrange an initial consultation.

Of all the many efforts to find an alternative treatment for tinnitus none has been more successful in decreasing the sounds of tinnitus than the use of Tinnitus Hypnosis or Tinnitus Hypnotherapy .

Tinnitus hypnosis  is at its most effectual where stress is either the cause of the condition or has become a major factor in exacerbating it. Medical practitioners have been treating people afflicted with stress and anxiety symptoms with hypnotherapy for many years now.

Tinnitus hypnosis treatment aims to decrease or negate the impact of tinnitus rather than to treat the tinnitus itself. The process behind tinnitus hypnosis is to move the sufferers focus away from the threatening sounds of tinnitus and change the attention towards a more positive outcome. Once the threat caused by the sounds of tinnitus is lessened the stress associated with that threat can reduce too.

Stress is frequently the fuel driving a vicious spiral in which tinnitus produces stress, that stress causing louder tinnitus; the louder tinnitus causes greater stress and the greater stress causing even louder tinnitus. That is where tinnitus hypnosis  can be such a great provider. By arresting this vicious cycle, tinnitus relief can be delivered in a relatively short space of time.

The great advantage for many tinnitus sufferers is that tinnitus hypnosis  can be very successfully practiced at home with the aid of pre-recorded materials. Studies of self hypnosis  have shown average improvement rates at between 60 and 75 per cent for tinnitus sufferers.

With so few options available to deal with tinnitus symptoms the case for buying a tinnitus reduction program using self hypnosis techniques in your own home becomes a very powerful one. Consistent use of tinnitus self hypnosis can result in a significant reduction in stress levels and a welcome increase in the ability to relax as well as a quietening of tinnitus noise. A tinnitus hypnotherapy programme which includes an element of self hypnosis is without doubt a valuable asset for all tinnitus sufferers.

It may be that the reason that more people with tinnitus don’t embrace hypnotherapy is the negative perception given to it by the media. Hypnosis  has been the subject of a number of tv programmes where people from an audience have been hypnotised and persuaded to make themselves look rather foolish. the result of this is that the common perception of hypnotherapy is abadly informed one, as in truth this portrayal of hypnotherapy and hypnosis is very wide of the mark.

There are many tinnitus sufferers who have found joyfull relief using tinnitus hypnosis and for whom other mainstream treatments have proved totally ineffective. Of all the alternative therapies available to reduce the effects of tinnitus, hypnotherapy offers sufferers the most likelihood of success today. Tinnitus hypnosis represents an important path towards your own tinnitus liberation.

One in five people have an eating disorder and of those, three in every five are compulsive eaters, according to the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP).

As reported by The Daily Mail, the IoP's guidelines define binge-eating as "eating an amount of food that is considered excessive ... by an individual ... associated with a feeling of loss of control over eating."

Most, although not all, compulsive eaters are obese, 60% are women and almost half of sufferers experience depression.

The Daily Mail was granted access to Overeaters Anonymous, where Annabel, a project manager, confessed the extent of her condition. "When I got home from work I would lock the door, draw the curtains, turn on the TV and eat," she said. "At the weekend I would spend all day walking from the sofa to the refrigerator and back. I wanted to be with food rather than people."

Annabel continued: "I was unhappy with myself, and my weight, but I couldn't stop. The unhappier I became, the more I buried my feelings with food. Coming here has helped me realise I don't have to do that."

Lisa, another compulsive eater, used to weight 25 stone. "People say, 'well, you're just fat, stop eating.' But it is an illness. The moment I eat something, I'm thinking about the next mouthful and I can't stop."

The 29-year-old property developer from West London told The Daily Mail about her last memorable binge: "It was a Saturday, after lunch, and I went to the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop at Harrods, planning to buy four doughnuts. But the guy behind the counter persuaded me it was better value to buy a dozen."

Lisa told how she ate six doughnuts and felt sick, so she then binged on a litre tub of ice cream in the hope it would make her feel better. It didn't, so she thought something savoury would and cooked two chicken kievs and a huge portion of ships. Then she finished the doughnuts, had another tub of ice cream and some chocolate.

By working with the subconscious, hypnotherapy helps clients understand the reasons behind their binge-eating. Instead of relying on will power to reduce eating, hypnotherapy helps overcome the compulsive eating triggers to help sufferers break free of the addiction.

The charity for Mental Health, Mind, has discovered that the current economic recession has caused such stress in workers that one in ten have seen a doctor for help.

The charity carried out a survey of 2,050 workers and found that nearly half were concerned about job security. 
This being the case, it would appear that an increasing number of people could benefit from anxiety hypnotherapy  to tackle stress.

It is thought that mental health problems cost businesses £26 billion a year, a huge figure, but Mind believes that with the right support, this figure could easily be cut to £8 billion.

Mind's Chief Executive Paul Farmer said to the Daily Telegraph, "No employer can afford to ignore mental health.  Investing in wellbeing does not have to be expensive. Businesses that look after their staff reap the rewards in reduced sickness absence and increased productivity," he said.

Suzie Gibbs, 54, a rail announcer from Southend, Essex, told the Daily Mail how hypnotherapy sessions helped her to reprogramme her mind so that so believed she enjoyed exercising.  Following these hypnotherapy sessions, she dropped from a size 22 to a size 14. 

Suzie had had enough of failed diets and back pain and so gave hypnotherapy a try, "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," she said to the Mail. 

The hypnotherapy sessions also led to her becoming more active during the day "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, cycling and joined a gym," she added.

"I do watch what I eat, but exercise has been the biggest factor in the changes I've seen in my body. It's truly astonishing and I'm thrilled with the results" she said.

Last week, The Portsmouth News reported that 62 year old Sue Renalt, has overcome an overwhelming fear of heights for the first time in her life. She said that she wanted to be able to visit local attractions like the 170ft high Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth with her grandchildren.  Last week she did just that after attending a hypnotherapy session. 

"I was so nervous on the day," she told the Portsmouth News. "I can't explain how it worked, but I was surprisingly calm. My legs were a bit wobbly stepping out of the lift, but I wasn't the quivering wreck I would normally be. It really is a miracle."

Speaking to the News, one of the hypnotherapists said: "It was a resounding success – she achieved her goal to go to the top of the tower and walk on the glass floor. We also addressed some real issues with fear and gave her new opportunities in life."

Right now I am working with many people who want to lose weight.  With new clients, we firstly look at why they want to lose weight.  Do you want to be healthier?  Would that make you feel more confident?  Would you perhaps then feel content and calm about yourself?

Having reasons for losing weight are essential.  Hypnotherapy  for weight loss helps you to make choices based on these motivations and to become really aware of what you are eating and why.

It can be an emotional journey for some - you could feel like you are embarking on a truly life-changing journey so with ongoing support and encouragement the results can be remarkable!

Over the past few weeks, I've been working with four different teenagers - most of whom asked their families to find help for them. 

For most of them, I have been supporting them with anxiety issues.  The really great thing about working with children is that most of the time they have amazing imaginations so they can visualise change pretty easily.

It takes a lot of courage for anyone to ask for help to make change happen in their lives but especially so for children and teenagers.  I work with children from the age of 8 upwards.  From this age, children have the reasoning capacities necessary for hypnotherapy .  Of course, working with young people is very sensitive.  But at the same time, hugely rewarding!

For years Sheffield man Nik Brear has had a very unusual phobia - of butterflies.  He remembers being afraid of these little winged creatures as a young boy.  He even felt they were going to 'come and get him'.

So, he looked into hypnotherapy  to help him combat this fear and reprogram his way of thinking. 
Fear is our natural protection against danger but with phobias, the mind can overreact to the situation. 

With hypnotherapy , Nik began to focus on his fears, rather than avoid them.  He did this by visualising himself writing his fear on a blackboard and then smashing the board and also imagining himself in the Sheffield Butterfly House then draining the image of all colour and brightness.  He then felt in control around butterflies - an experience which would previously have caused him so much fear. 

The amazing thing that Nik found was that following hypnotherapy , he felt really different when he visited the Sheffield Butterfly House.  He recalls that ''I walked inside and as I headed down the first aisle, butterflies dancing around us, the sensation was very odd. I remembered what it was like to feel the fear, could just about recall the ghost of the feeling, but when I looked at the butterflies and tried to feel what I had, I couldn't.
It was like trying to recall the name of a song you know on the radio but can't quite place. It was just out of reach - and instead I felt calm.''

Hypnotherapy  has definitely helped Nik to combat his phobia for good.
An amazing success - well done Nik!

If you feel apprehensive about an upcoming event in your life, here's a really good way to feel better -

Remember a time from the past when you felt really in control and confident, remember what you could see, hear, feel, smell and taste in this place at this time.  It's easier if you close your eyes to do this so that you can recall these more easily.

Then, focus on how confident and in control you felt in that place - imagine these feelings of confidence and control spreading through your body and bring these feelings back to now.  Open your eyes again - you've taken yourself back to a time when you felt so confident and in control. 

Practise this once or twice a day and notice how you much more in control you feel. 

Glasgow Hypnotherapy  http://www.hypnotherapyglasgow.net

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