Research at Tufts-New England Medical Center has proven that all of the popular diets are effective when a person can stick to them. Atkins - low carb; The Zone - low glycemic index; Ornish - low fat; Weight Watchers - low calorie.

But medical researchers have also proven beyond a doubt that only a very small percentage of people can stick to any diet because of their appetite.

So to be successful with a diet, weight loss hypnosis can be very effective.

Webster's Dictionary defines "Appetite" as: "The desire for gratification of some want, craving, or passion." So "appetite" is eating and drinking for relaxation and pleasure.

It's a mistake to confuse appetite with hunger. Hunger is defined as "The body's call for nourishment." In other words, when the body needs fuel, that's when you feel true on hunger. By that definition, it is not possible for a person who is overweight to "be hungry."

However, it is possible for you to have feelings that you interpret as "hunger." And the stomach contracting in expectation of being fed causes those feelings.

When you were an infant and you started crying, your mother would put a nipple into your mouth to distract you from that upset. You would get distracted, become relaxed, and often go to asleep. That sequence of events was repeated many, many times so that your unconscious mind was programmed: When something goes into your mouth, you get relaxation and pleasure from it.

Now that you are a grownup, if you feel upset, you crave something in your mouth for relaxation and pleasure - food!

People Also Get Cravings and Urges Because Of Conditioning.

When you connect eating with any other activity, the other activity will trigger cravings for food and a feeling of urgency to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example: If you eat when you watch a movie, you will automatically get an urge to eat each time you go to the movies.

What About Compulsive Overeaters Who Eat Because Of Emotional Reasons?

A compulsion is defined as an "irresistible impulse." One of the presuppositions of NLP is: There is a positive intention behind all behaviors. In other words, our unconscious mind only motivates behaviors that benefit or protect us in some way. In NLP terms, we say that being fat is a behavior when it provides a positive outcome or intention.

You may be wondering what the possible positive outcomes of being fat just might be. The list is as long as the list of people who are grossly overweight. But I'll give you a classic example: A person gets their heart broken in a relationship. So to protect the self from getting the heart broken again, the unconscious motivates the self to become fat to keep the self out of relationships and prevent another broken heart.

A big secret to eliminating your appetite is reframing. With reframing, we respect the fact that the unconscious mind is compelling us to consume food for relaxation and pleasure. And if we are eating compulsively because being fat is protecting us, we respect that also.

In an NLP six-step Reframe, we negotiate with our subconscious mind. In the case of eating for relaxation and pleasure, we ask our subconscious to assume the responsibility for substituting some new behaviors. The alternate behaviors must be as effective and available at providing the same relaxation and pleasure. But they must also be more acceptable to us on a conscious level. When the unconscious is motivating us into alternate behaviors that provide the relaxation and pleasure that we require - we lose our appetite on this score.

If you are a compulsive overeater, we do an additional reframe. We ask your subconscious to accept responsibility for finding new behaviors in place of being heavy. These new behaviors must be as effective and available at providing the same protections and benefits. But they must be actions that are more consciously acceptable to you. When your subconscious is motivating you into alternate behaviors that provide the same protections that you require, you lose the compulsion to overeat.

As far as feeling cravings because of conditioning (conditioned responses), we utilize various NLP and hypnotic techniques that erase those conditioned responses. That breaks the connection between the behaviors, and eliminates the cravings and urges.

Once your appetite has been eliminated, and all compulsions to overeat have been overcome, you can stick to any diet of your choosing indefinitely so that it becomes a permanent lifestyle change.

Alan B. Densky, CH is certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists. Alan started his practice in 1978. You can learn more by going to his Neuro-VISION website. He maintains his own free hypnosis article library. And he offers free hypnosis newsletters and MP3's.