NLP can be useful for people struggling to lose weight. In fact, wanting to lose weight is a fairly common reason for why people seek NLP, Herts. Whilst NLP is by no means a magic diet pill, it can be very useful in addressing the issues associated with over-eating such as confidence, self-esteem, motivation and negative coping strategies. This article discusses seven NLP tools, which can help you in being slim and healthy.

1. NLP Communication Model – This model underlies any change work in NLP and a good therapist will explain this model to you. It is very important as it tells us how people use language in specific patterns, during thinking. Depending on the nature of the way you talk to yourself when thinking, you could be undermining the efforts you make to eat healthily and be slim. The NLP communication model can help you to begin to be much more aware of the language you use during thinking, in order that you can develop positive thinking habits. Since how you think has a massive effect on how you feel, it also effects how you behave. Change your thinking patterns and you will get different behavioural results. In the case of weight loss, this can be a change in your eating or exercise habits.

2. NLP Presuppositions – These are a set of convenient beliefs which if you subscribe to them, can lead to you feeling much more empowered. For example, one of the presuppositions is that all behaviour has a positive intention. This does not mean that everything a person does it morally good or good for society. It means that each person, only always carry out behaviours that are positive for them in some way, i.e. meet some higher human need. So, if you feel frustrated at yourself for overeating when you feel you really shouldn’t, its time to begin to think about what needs you meet through food. Only, then can you acknowledge that you have been doing the best with the resources available to you at the time and begin to plan how to meet the need met by food in a more positive way.

3. NLP Frame – Cause is greater then effect. NLP frames are frames of reference that guide the individual towards taking responsibility for themselves, how they feel and what happens in their lives. During NLP therapy you will be encouraged to BE at CAUSE. This means that things happen in your life because of you, not too you. NLP does not claim this to always be the case, it asks you to try to live your life guided by the frames. Being at cause means you get the credit for all the great things you achieve, of course, it also means that you have to take responsibility for outcomes that your not so proud of. How does this relate to dieting? Well as a person who used to smoke and who tried to stop for several years before I was successful, I know that I felt much more comfortable about lighting up, if I had a reason (excuse). So, it was the fault of my stressful day, argument with boyfriend, because I’d had a glass of wine, because I needed to relax and not because I was choosing to smoke over other behavioural options. This can be the case, with bingeing or snacking. Once you begin to stop kidding yourself during thinking and actually begin to stop and say, actually I don’t have to eat this, I can act in a different way, I take responsibility, you have taken a big step towards the slimmer you.

4. NLP Formal Change Techniques – There are several formal change techniques, which are useful for helping with weight-loss. The most appropriate technique will depend on your unique problem. Here are a few: 1) The Swish Technique can be used if you wish to replace a highly contextualised problem behaviour with a more positive behaviour. It works to eliminate behaviours that occur in specific situations after specific triggers. 2) Parts Integration is very useful at uncovering the positive intention of your unhelpful eating habits and dealing with incongruent behaviour and feelings. If you’ve had the experience of thinking ‘how have I just eaten that, I’ve been doing so well’, this technique could help you! 3) Like To Dislike – This technique is based on information about how we code memories in our brain. We tend to code things we like in a different way to things we don’t like. So, if you have a particularly problematic food type, its possible to change the memory of the problematic food type into the memory of a food you can’t stand. This technique works really well if you have a food that you really hate! 4) Hypnosis with positive suggestion – many NLP therapists will have studied hypnotic techniques based on the Ericksonian model, during NLP training and will utilise these techniques during therapy sessions.

5. Getting Leverage – NLP therapists are skilled at getting leverage. This basically means helping the client to recognise and experience the impact of the problem behaviour, such as overeating, on themselves and those around them. It will help you find your motivation and will identify those who are not motivated.

6. Setting Well Formed Goals. NLP takes goals setting seriously and has developed criteria for goal setting that results in the goals being much more achievable and likely to be reached. Your therapist can support you in working towards your weight loss goals.

7. Developing Positive Coping Strategies. Acknowledge that your problematic eating has served a purpose in the past, in that it has likely been a method for coping. Now you want to develop positive coping strategies that serve you in the present and future. When would now be the right time to be good to yourself?

These are just a few of the ways that NLP can help you develop new options in thinking and behaviour. I have found these techniques effective during NLP, Herts at my NLP practice, Herts, when supporting clients in losing weight.