The Ultimate Weight Loss Program

This comprehensive program is divided into two modules of 10-weekly, 90-minute classes designated as Phase I and Phase II as follows:

Phase I (10 weekly classes)

It may surprise you, but the focus of the Phase I module really has very little to do with weight loss although some may occur; depending upon the initial physical fitness of some of the participants. Why? Because almost every weight loss program starts out with the wrong goal in mind - weight loss! That's right. That is why most people eventually lose the motivation and give up. They are overly focused on weight loss and are, therefore, way ahead of themselves.

They start out with the goal of getting out and exercising on a regular basis and also changing their diet and, after a few weeks of grunting, groaning, straining and sacrificing their favorite foods, they jump onto the scale hoping to reap the fruits of their labors only to discover that they haven't even lost a single pound. Some may have actually gained a few!

Unfortunately, most of these individuals then tend to lose their motivation and end up quitting in frustration. They just don't seem to understand the significant physiological changes that must first take place within their muscles and body over many weeks before they are going to be able to start to shed the unwanted pounds permanently. Most of those who do experience some weight loss during the early phase of any weight loss program are really only losing water.

Every participant will therefore be encouraged to weigh themselves prior to starting the program and then locking their bathroom scale in a safe until the beginning of Phase II. That's right. I am absolutely serious. The bathroom scale is, by far, the worst saboteur of whatever motivation individuals have ever been able to muster up toward becoming successful with almost every weight loss program that has ever been devised. Lock it up somewhere or throw it in the trash can! Then evaluate your progress during Phase I solely on whether or not you are able to maintain the appropriate lifestyle changes you are going to be establishing for yourself that will allow you to continue your weekly regimen of moderate exercise and whatever other, new activities you may have chosen to do over the course of the first 10 weeks of the program. By the end of the 10 weeks, your muscles should be in pretty good shape and ready to begin burning off fat calories during Phase II.

The primary goal of Phase I, therefore, is the development of a more active lifestyle that will improve the physical conditioning of your muscles to the point where it will eventually cause enough of an increase in your body's daily metabolic rate to insure that the weight will start to come off during Phase II as you increase your level of activity, begin to modify your diet, eliminate junk food and reduce your daily caloric intake. Consequently, the primary focus of Phase I is to enhance and sustain your motivation toward developing a more active lifestyle through walking, treadmilling, exercising, biking, hiking, dancing, gardening, sex etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera. Remember this as the golden rule. If you don't get your muscles in shape and then remind them once in a while to stay in shape, you will never be able to keep the weight off permanently. Why? Because only your muscles can burn fat and they burn most of it when you are not even exercising!

Think about it. If an individual sincerely hopes to ever lose weight and keep it off permanently, then their first goal must be the development of a more permanent, active lifestyle that gets their muscles in shape enough to maintain an increase in metabolism even when they are not exercising. There is no way around it - calories consumed verse calories burned. This will insure that, once you get the weight off, it will stay off permanently as long as you maintain a moderately active lifestyle after you have completed Phase II.

Each weekly session will begin with a topic such as muscle metabolism, physical fitness, proper nutrition, managing stress and other factors that will contribute to development of a healthier, more active lifestyle. The remainder of each session will be devoted to hypnosis to program in the cumulative goals developed each and every week. Hypnosis will be used to motivate you to make different life-style choices, motivate you to develop a moderate level of exercise, motivate you to be patient, motivate you to reduce stress, motivate you to sleep better, motivate you to enjoy a smaller clothes size, motivate you to remain more active and slender and motivate you toward getting ready to change your diet and eliminate junk food during Phase II.

That's right. For most participants, it will not be recommended to even attempt to modify their diet during Phase I. Attempting to become much more physically active and, at the same time, having to cut out favorite foods and calories can be too much of a sacrifice to ask of anyone who is just beginning to make the significant lifestyle changes that are required to become more physically fit. As a matter of fact, if you also decide to do anaerobic (weight bearing exercises) during Phase I to build up your muscle mass even faster, your appetite is going to increase significantly in order to satisfy your body's need to supply these growing muscles with the proper nutrients.

This factor also contributes to why many people just end up giving up in frustration during the early stages of any weight loss program. They just can't stand trying to fight off the hunger each day, so they end up giving in to the junk food they promised themselves they would not touch and then beat up on themselves afterward for being so weak. Again, they are trying to do too much too fast. The emphasis of Phase I is on taking your time, being patient and focusing on just becoming physically more active on a regular basis to get those muscles in shape enough to begin to burn calories during phase II.

Another important aspect of Phase I is to discover any of the psycho-emotional roadblocks that may have sabotaged your attempts at weight loss in the past. Even with the help of weekly hypnosis sessions, you may end up finding yourself hitting a roadblock to your intended goals. This is where private sessions of hypnotherapy can be extremely effective toward discovering what causative factors may be sabotaging your progress. Once these have been eliminated, you will be able to get back on track again and resume making progress. Private sessions of hypnotherapy will be offered to participants in the program at a discounted rate as needed.

Phase II (10 - weekly classes)

The emphasis of Phase II is two-fold. The first is to begin to increase the level of physical fitness developed in Phase I through an increase in either the duration or intensity of your exercise regimen as well as the frequency of the other lifestyle activities you may have chosen to pursue. Since your muscles have already achieved a moderate level of physical fitness during Phase I, it will now seem much easier for you to be able to increase your level of exercise to really get them into even better physical condition. The second goal of Phase II will be to begin to significantly change your diet and eliminate as much junk food as possible.

The combination of a significant increase in muscle metabolism in order to more efficiently burn fat calories throughout the day along with a reduction in caloric intake through a change to a more nutritional diet is the secret to permanent weight loss. This is when you will begin to feel your body starting to change as the pounds begin to come off and your clothes start to feel baggy. It's time to start thinking ahead with enthusiasm toward a smaller sized wardrobe!

Weekly classes during Phase II will continue with a relevant topic or discussion during the first half of each class as needed and participants will also have an opportunity to ask question and share their experiences. This will be followed by hypnosis to continue to build the motivation to sustain your exercise regimen and stay more active as well as to begin to change your diet and reduce your appetite. Hypnosis can be an extremely powerful way to stay focused, stay patient, stay motivated, change your sense of taste, curb cravings and reduce your appetite. It can even project you ahead to experience beforehand exactly how you are going to look and feel once you have achieved your ideal weight goal. Realistically, participants can expect to average about 2 lbs of weight loss per week during the early weeks of Phase II to about 3 lbs per week by the end of the program or about 20 to 25 pounds over the 10 weeks.

The Ultimate Weight Loss Program involves 20 weeks, 20 classes, 20 topics and/or discussions and 20 sessions of hypnosis to keep you patient, keep you motivated, keep you progressively more active, keep you eating the right kinds of foods, keep you sleeping better, keep you feeling better and keep you experiencing more energy to insure that, by the end of the program, you will be addicted to your new, active lifestyle so that you can continue on to your ideal weight goal on your own.

Of course, some individuals may want to re-enroll in a subsequent Phase II program to insure that they will be able to reap the benefits of continued support until they have achieved their ultimate weight goal. Others may just choose to just have a private hypnosis session periodically to keep them on track.