Health

Find calorie-counting a bore? One of our alternative treatments might just be right for you...

Weight-loss options, hayfever, beat the bloat

Hypnotherapy

COULD HELP IF YOU CAN'T STOP OVEREATING How often do you eat when you’re not really hungry? Or when you’re bored, stressed or sad? Overeating can be a deep-seated habit stored in the unconscious mind. The good news? Hypnotherapy, or hypnosis, can break that habit. BREAKING THE HABIT “Most people are aware of what constitutes healthy eating,” says therapist Margaret Warren. “Let’s face it, we’re bombarded with messages about it every day.”

It’s true – while we know exactly the hows and whys of a healthy diet, our ingrained eating habits soon send even the hottest new weight-loss plan into crash-and-burn mode.

“Hypnotherapy can help break the habit of overeating and tackle underlying reasons for eating when you’re not physically hungry,” explains Margaret. “Whereas diets can often lead to obsessing about food – ‘How many calories in this piece of chicken? How much rice am I allowed?’ – hypnotherapy can restore control at an unconscious level.

“So your relationship with food will be relaxed and you’ll be more aware of when you are full.”

Ayurveda

WILL REBALANCE YOU WHEN DIETS JUST DON'T WORK Ayurveda, a holistic healthcare system, is all about balance and eating the right foods for your constitutional type. SMOOTH DIGESTION According to Ayurveda, being overweight has to do with the smooth running of your digestion, rather than overeating.

Practitioner Sebastian Pole says, “If your digestion is good, your metabolism will be good and you’ll have a balanced weight.” EASY RULES OF AYURVEDIC 1 Eat a small piece of fresh ginger before each meal to perk up digestion. 2 Sip warm water with your meal, but don’t drink a lot of fluids afterwards. 3 Chew each mouthful of food properly. 4 Leave four to six hours between meals – no snacking at all, please! 5 Stop eating when you’re half full of food and a quarter full of liquid.

Emotional freedom technique

WHEN CRAVINGS DEMOLISH EVERY DIET! Chocolate, biscuits, cakes... all can wreck a diet in the time it takes to chew. But you can curb cravings with emotional freedom technique (EFT). EMOTIONAL HEALING Think of EFT as psychological acupressure that uses finger tapping rather than needles. It relieves symptoms by tapping on various locations on your body.

“Giving in to cravings is often a way of avoiding feelings or reducing stress,” says practitioner Sally Canning.

“Diets don’t address emotional issues and the lost weight will return unless the anxieties built up have been identified and eliminated.”

Dynamic yoga TO DETOX YOUR BODY AND CHANGE YOUR MINDSET

If you’ve always felt yoga was for relaxing and couldn’t possibly reshape you in the way the gym can, then you need an update. CAN IT REALLY WORK? “Yes,” says top yoga teacher Claire Missingham. “Regular practice will motivate you to think more about your overall wellbeing, including your diet.”

The key is regular practice, so get out that yoga mat!

WORKING INSIDE OUT

Choose a dynamic style, such as Vinyasa, Ashtanga or power yoga, and you will find that it can detox and reshape your body while reinventing the way you feel about food.

“A dynamic, flowing style promotes detoxification on a cellular level,” explains Claire.

“When we move and breathe deeply in yoga, it massages the internal organs, stokes an inner fire to burn calories, sweats out impurities and encourages our mind to let go of tension, so we feel fresh and clear.”

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