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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
I recently saw a
television advertisement for Weight
Watchers® that really summed up our often-complicated relationship with
food. In it, different people are shown eating various yummy morsels while a
take on the song “If
You’re Happy” plays in the background. The lyrics cover a variety of
emotions—happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, etc.—to correspond with eating
a specific food item.
I think this is
a very clever marketing tool because it subtly (and not-so-subtly) addresses
our tendency to justify or cushion our emotions with food, which can lead to
overeating. And isn’t that what so many of us do? The implication of this
advertisement is that we learn to associate eating with satisfying or
fulfilling an emotion. In this case, according to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John
Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind, over time and with repeated exposure food
becomes a “known” in our subconscious mental script. If your primary caretaker
“rewarded” a good grade with your favorite meal, or offered you a bowl of ice
cream when a beloved pet died, you likely developed a subconscious association
between food and important life events.
In a similar
way, food eventually becomes a subconscious emotional “anchor” that reminds us
of comfort, nurturing and even encouragement or protection when times get
tough. As adults, we continue this pattern by going out to eat to celebrate a
promotion at work or devour a container of Ben and Jerry’s chocolate
fudge-brownie ice cream to console ourselves after breaking up with a partner. And
just like the song lyrics go, when we feel frustrated we reach for some potato
chips and crunch through the entire bag as if devouring snack will also
macerate the problem. Even if eating this way is no longer pleasurable for you,
since the behavior is known, comfortable and safe you keep doing it.
For more
information about how hypnotherapy can help you change unhealthy eating
patterns and inappropriate associations with food and to take off extra weight,
contact me at (661) 433-9430 or send an e-mail to calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
