Now that the holidays are gone, you can lose weight by thinking smart. That's to say that there is non productive ineffective thinking. In fact much of how you think can actually keep you from losing weight.

Truth is that we can hypnotize ourselves into losing weight and we can hypnotize ourselves into staying heavy or actually gaining weight.

What you say to yourself is important. There are seven basic rules of thumb:

1. Say you want to stop eating so much, it's important to avoid using a negative--a "not"--in your thinking (suggestion) such as "I am not going to eat chocolate." The reason being is that the brain skips over "nots". To experience this first hand, if you are in a situation where you can stand, please do so and do the following. Alright, are you standing? The next instruction is "Please do not stand!" Did you sit immediately or were you somewhat confused thinking something like, "He just asked me to stand and now I'm supposed to do what??"

The truth is that the brain skips over the "not," and unless I had put you in a situation for you to question it, you would have continued to stand. This is why when you say, "I am not going to eat chocolate," the brain interprets it as "I am going to eat chocolate."

2. Avoid using "not" in the past tense. For instance, you'll find that with technique such as self hypnosis you'll lose weight. Avoid then thinking, "I don't eat chocolate any more." either consciously or as a self hypnotic suggestion. Even though at that moment you feel accomplished, it becomes like boomerang and for a while you'll be free of chocolate and then the habit of eating chocolate will return just as a boomerang returns.

3. Likewise avoid using "try." Avoid saying, "I'm trying to lose weight." Trying indicates that you didn't succeed--you tried but just didn't make it.

4. Avoid the phrase, "going to" as in I'm going to lose weight. If someone tells you that he/she is going to come visit you, what is the first thing you want to know? When, right? The word "going" causes anxiety which stands in the way of success. I'm going when? tomorrow? next week, next month, next year?

5. "Giving up" and "Doing Without"--avoid using both. Giving up is means the same as not being able to "cut the mustard," or "make the grade." "Doing without," is synonymous with being a bad girl or boy and made to go to bed without desert.

6. Avoid suggestions such as "I am less anxious." This suggestion will have you focus on being "anxious" and keep you in that frame of mind.

7. Also avoid suggestions with "I have to lose weight" or "I must lose weight" or "I got to quit eating chocolate." Psychologist find that when their patients think in those terms, they become more anxious and irritable which actually reduces their IQ making it more difficult to achieve their goals.

If you want to lose weight, in addition to many of the above problem suggestions, there are several others:

1. "I'm so hungry I could eat a house or horse." First, hungry is a powerful word that only results in empty feelings. Secondly a house or horse is a pretty big item.

2."I'll start my diet tomorrow." The word diet is "die" with a "t" on the end of it. It means starvation.

3. "I'll eat today and starve tomorrow." If you knew that you were going to starve tomorrow, what would you do today? Eat, right?

4. "I quit eating so much." The word quit is again a problem since elementary school. Afterall, do you want to be a quitter? Even though you consciously know how you are applying the word "quit eating so much," unconsciously it's connected to being a quitter. So why use the word "quit"--especially when so many other far more powerful words and phrases can be used?

5. "I'm losing weight." No one wants to be a loser. This is ingrained in each of us since elementary or preschool. So why use it in your thinking. Additionally your taught that if you lose something you want to find it, so if you lose ten pounds and someone points that out to you what do you have to do? Find it, right?

These are all no-no's. For more information on how to formulate affirmations and suggestions to lose weight (only use the word lose here for the search engines) successfully, see the resource box.