Eat a Snack!

(This blog was originally posted on December 21, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

     Last year, Weight Watchers® ran ­a television advertisement for 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/.

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