by Celeste Hackett
Somebody named Bob is spread out in my recliner. He is dirty from head to toe. I mean really dirty. I sit a little stunned. He is an abrupt departure from the usual BMW, Mercedes or Porsche-driving well-exfoliated white-collar clientele which I usually attract. A thought wanders in, “He has enough dirt under his fingernails to grow tomatoes.”
Besides the dirt, he smells. Kinda like sweat that only gets washed off on Sunday. He has a huge protruding stomach, no perceptible teeth, a deeply lined face covered in sun burn and gray stubble which cast a soft silver over his double-chin. He is here for weight loss.
I gather up all the important information. He is 64 years old. He works as a heavy machine mechanic. He has diabetes and high blood pressure and his doctor had ordered him to lose weight immediately. He is on 4 medications and says he has no time to exercise. “Besides”, he says, “Work IS a lot of exercise.” He smiles a toothless grin and says in a thick Texas drawl, “If this works for me, I’m sendin’ my wife over here too.”
Besides his health, Bob says there is also another reason he needs to lose weight. He has noticed other men over age 55, who are overweight, being slowly weeded out in his department at the company where he works. Younger, stronger men are taking over the mechanic jobs he and his friends have done for years. He says he’s had to train them. He even trained the one who took his best friend Eddie’s job. Eddie was 57. Bob is not sure why he has been so lucky, but he is one of the few old-timers left and he wants things to remain that way.
He agrees to listen to his weight loss CD at least once in between sessions, do his 7th path self hypnosis, and make better food choices. He, also, I discover, has been eating chicken pot pies every single day for lunch and he promises to eat something healthier both at lunch and at dinnertime. I make sure he knows his responsibility in this. “Hypnosis is supplementary to your efforts, Bob. That means you have to do your part.” He says he will.
I asked him if he knows what sort of diet he plans to follow. He says, “Oh, just eat less food, and healthier, I guess, like instead of chicken-fried steak, just chicken and instead of biscuits and gravy, maybe wheat toast. Also, I need to eat less dessert”. He chuckles and adds, “My wife is a good cook.”
I feel myself beginning to warm to him as his voice and mannerisms resonate with memories of the hard working men I’ve known in my life, my brother Kirt, a truck driver, my uncle Roland, a small appliance serviceman and all the hard workin’, country-music lovin’ cowboys of Houston I regularly mingled with at radio station events in Houston including many a Houston Livestock Stock show and Rodeo.
The hypnosis session goes smoothly through the first 10 minutes or so. When I suggest eye-lock and say, “Your eye-lids are twitching and tightening and locking down”, I see a bit of twitching, not a lot, but decide to go for it anyway, “Try to open your eyes and you’ll find that you can not, try but you cannot, TRY but you can not.” Bob’s eyes pop open and he looks at me.
“Crap!” I think, but then I laugh in a purposefully light-hearted manner and say, “Close your eyes Bob…..and NOW you know, NObody can control you even when you are in hypnosis.” I follow this with a couple deepening techniques (doing one right after the other.) and Bob looks more relaxed and tranquil with each word spoken.
Soon I am at the portion of the session where I do a thing called fractionation. The little script goes like this, “In a moment I’m going to count from one to three. On the number three and not before you will open your eyes and then I’ll snap my fingers like this (snap) and you will close your eyes and go deeper. We’ll do this a few times. Is that okay with you?”
The counting is done in a slow deliberate way to start then you slowly begin counting faster. Once you have a rhythm going you stop at the number two. Since you have instructed the client to open their eyes on the number 3 and not before, if they do not open their eyes it is an indication of contention, and at least the threshold of somnambulism. If they do open their eyes, then they need to be deepened. After which you would do fractionation again until they reach somnambulism.
I begin fractionation. Bob opens his eyes before the number three a couple of times, so I asked him if there are any remaining questions he has about hypnosis. He says no and shrugs. I ask him if he is comfortable with doing hypnosis with me. He says yes.
Sometimes clients are afraid of hypnosis and if you just take a little more time explaining things to them they’ll settle in. So just in case he needs it, I go over a few things again about hypnosis that I want to make sure he understands such as he is always in control etc. After this, I ask if he would like to continue hypnosis with me now he says yes. I deepen him and we began fractionation again.
Bob opens his eyes on the number 3 and closes them with the snap of my finger for about 8 times in a row. I think we are making progress then for no apparent reason on the number three Bob’s eyes remain shut. I sit quietly a few seconds. They still remain shut. I say, in a normal tone, “Bob, I said the number three.” Bob snores. I tap him on the hand and say, “Bob, I said 3” and he continues snoring. I finally say more firmly, “Bob! THREE! He says, “Oh! I’m sorry! And opens his eyes and laughs self-consciously. I snap my fingers and he closes his eyes and I take just a minute to remind him remind that hypnosis isn’t sleep. He says he understands. We continue with fractionation.
Eventually, we get Bob into somnambulism through fractionation and we even make it through the entire session eventually, but I have to work very hard by continually asking for a response out of him to keep him from falling asleep: “You are standing at the fork in the road of your life Bob. If you are with me nod your head”, I say, as I tap on his hand. He nods his head. “And you are asking yourself, should I continue to do what I have been doing in regard to eating. If you are with me Bob, nod your head.” Bob nods. This goes on through the whole session.
After taking him down the low road of continuing to overeat and what that will cause in the years to come, and then up the high road to how his life will be when he loses the weight, I give the suggestions for weight loss that I usually give. Every few minutes saying nod your head if you can hear me Bob. Finally, after what seems like hours, I emerge him from hypnosis with the usual, “And you do feel good, Don’t you?” Bob opens his eyes and stares ahead at nothing in a daze. “That sure was relaxing”, he says as he smiles. Then he runs his hands across his face as if to rub off a layer of thick fatigue.
As I reflect on the session, I begin to realize he is a very hard-working man who is very tired. I think about how hard it is to make a living myself and I add years and sweat to what my days already are in my mind in an attempt to understand him better. Lately, there have been a lot of people who are either out of work or overworked in my office.
Bob’s typical day looks like this. He skips breakfast and leaves for work in the morning at 5am. He works hard until lunch when he eats a chicken pot pie and reads the paper. He works hard for the remainder of the day often walking between two big buildings spread way apart carrying various parts he needs. Then, he gets home well after 7pm every day to his sweet wife who has 5 Pomeranians yapping at her feet when he walks in. They take care of grand babies most days to help out their daughters so the kids are there. He settles in and watches TV while eating something delicious that the wife made, his favorite part of the day.
After the session, he pulls out the money to pay in cash. He is going to pay by the session, the most expensive way to pay. He pays and then I notice he seems encouraged as he leaves with his CD and his 7th Path booklet. After that first session, you always look for signs if it went well. I think I notice that lighter step that is so common in Bob. I smile. I close the door and forget about him.
I open the door the following week and Bob is standing there.
Well, he came back. That’s a good sign, I think. I follow him to my office and he sits down.
“How did your week go?” I ask.
“Well, I slept a little better.”
He did look rested, but I took what he said as meaning maybe he didn’t do well with his dieting. Did you listen to your CD? I ask.
“I had a CD?”
“Yes, Bob.”
“Oh”, he kind of laughs and says, I didn’t do that.” He looks down like he is sorry.
“Did you do your 7th path?”
“That sentence you say to yourself you mean? He asks.
“Yes Bob.”
He says, “No, I was too busy.”
“Crap”, I’m thinking again, “Well how did your lighter eating go?”
“Oh, better, but my wife is a good cook. The other night she made Fettuccini Alfredo.”
I’m thinking, you mean a heart attack on a plate don’t you? But I say, “What about lunch, Bob? How did lunch go?”
“Oh, I’m having chicken pot pies.”
I sit stunned again.
I don’t say anything for a minute as I try to figure out how he could have not remembered anything we agreed on. Finally, after adjusting myself in the chair a couple of times as I try to figure out how to proceed. I remember how much he paid for the session and how this one is going to cost him just as much. I imagine the grandbabies, the daughters and the Pomeranians.
“Bob”, I say gently. “Ya gotta do those things. They’re important. I don’t want to waste your money. You’re driving a long way to get here on your lunch hour. This may not be right for you. I tell you what; I am not going to charge you for today. Go home and listen to your CD, do your 7th path and have a talk with your wife. Tell her to support you. Does she know how to cook healthy meals?”
He says yes sheepishly.
“Okay then”, I say, “If you can do all that this week then come back next week, otherwise this isn’t going to help you, so just stay home.”
Bob sits stunned this time. He rubs his hands over his face, sighs and gets up. He leaves looking a bit bewildered.
“He ain’t comin’ back”, I think out loud as I watch him drive away, and I forget about him again.
The following week I look at my calendar to see who is next on my list. I notice Bob’s name and realize he didn’t cancel. He probably forgot and won’t show, I think to myself, but the doorbell rings. It’s Bob.
We go into the hypnosis office and sit down. He’s doing a bit better. He is still eating what he wants just a little less of it. He says he is having a little snack instead of dinner. He listened to his CD, but he fell asleep when he did listen (something I cautioned him not to do). He is still having Chicken pot pies for lunch.
I feel a little irritated with those damn chicken pot pies. I notice my voice takes on a slightly more parental preachy tone than I mean to as I say, “Bob you are doing a little better, but do YOU think you can actually lose weight on chicken pot pies?”
He looks a little nervous and sits upright quickly and says fast, to make sure he gets it in before I kick him out again, “I lost 12 pounds.”
I sit stunned.
My eyes blink in disbelief.
It seems like an eternity before I am jerked to the here and now.
“Bob, I finally say, “YOU are an amazing hypnotic subject! That is just wonderful. Lay back in the chair. Let’s put your feet up.
Today’s session is going to be about 10 times more powerful than the last one. How do you feel about that?” Bob grins and relaxes. My eyes get a little teary for a few seconds and I hope he doesn’t see.
Later in the evening my husband brings in some groceries. Among the tofu and beets he takes out a vegetarian chicken pot pie. I read the box, 484 calories. Not so bad after all I think as I take a bite later and seriously burn my tongue! “What freakin’ irony, burning my big mouth on a chicken pot pie”, I gripe out loud as my husband hands me water and just sits watching me…stunned.
Enjoying a Naturally Suppressed Appetite
And now allow these suggestions to take full hold of your mind both consciously and subconsciously. Now here is the secret your appetite is suppressed ALREADY because your body has never wanted to be overweight. You denied this and have been hypnotizing yourself into believing food is irresistible and that you are supposed to be hungry all the time. That is untrue. We are DE hypnotizing you right this instant so now your bodies natural ability to suppress your appetite begins to work because you will NOT let yourself believe that food is irresistible.
You have resisted food many times! Your body knows you have plenty of fat reserves it can burn, so you always have enough fuel so you will find that your appetite is naturally suppressed in a healthy way. This simply means that you eat less or only when truly hungry.
Any time you think of eating you check to see if you are really hungry. When you check you will see that you are not hungry very often at all. When you find that you are not hungry you find something else to put your thinking on and you do something else.
You eat only sensible balanced meals which is easy to do because your appetite is suppressed. You just are not as hungry as you used to be.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
Balanced meals cause you to feel balanced in your mind, in your body and in your emotions and that feels so wonderful and good.
You make whatever plans you need to so that you always have foods that are healthy and sensible available to you. You trade those healthy life-giving foods for the dead de-vitalized unhealthy foods you used to eat. This is a satisfying trade!
Your appetite is suppressed. You eat less. And you are not hungry as much as you were before. But you always eat when your body needs energy. When your body needs energy you choose something that makes you feel proud and good about your choice.
The more your choices are for healthy foods the better you feel about yourself. You feel better in your skin and in your clothes. Your clothes are getting looser and looser and you lose more and more weight until you are 5 or 10 pounds lighter. Once you lose 5 or 10 pounds you make a decision to lose another 5 or 10 pounds but only if it is healthy for you to do so. You continue to lose excess weight until you are at a healthy and ideal weight for your body.
When you eat you are full quicker and you couldn’t eat another bite so you just stop. You stop completely. Taking another bite at this point is a very hard thing to do because you are full and you feel full and your appetite is strongly suppressed.
You go hours and hours in between meals without thinking of eating or food because your appetite is suppressed and you are full for longer periods of time.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
You are satisfied with far less food so you eat less food. You eat only when your body needs energy and nutrition. You eat when it is good for your health to do so and you eat only foods that are will cause you to be healthy and lose all excess weight in a safe way.
All of these changes are easy for you.
When you get a thought to eat something you check to see if you are really hungry. Most of the time you will find you are not hungry at all. When you realize this you it is easy for you to do something else with your body and time. There is always a better way of comforting yourself than eating. There I always a better way of distracting from boredom, stress or loneliness than eating. So you do something else. When you are not truly hungry, there is always something else you can do.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
You do not eat in front of the computer, TV, when reading or when distracted in any way. You eat only at the table or in one place that you choose where you will not be distracted by anything. You focus on your food. While you are chewing you do not let anything distract you. You do not talk on the phone and you do not read. Studies show that doing this you one thing often causes people to lose weight faster than anything else. So you do NOT eat where you will be distracted by anything. You eat at the table NOT in front of the tv or computer!
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
All of these changes are easy for you.
You can find more information about Celeste on her website for Hypnosis in Dallas.
