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The Atkins Diet is a popular "low carbohydrate" weight reduction system, but it is often greatly misrepresented! Common, if slightly exaggerated depictions of the diet portray dieters eating nothing but huge portions of meat and fat. Although the program is not quite this simple, many people under the plan have successfully lost weight and improved their health.

On this plan, dieters follow a very specific plan based on restricted carbohydrate intake. Emphasis is placed on the nutritional aspects of the diet over exercise and other factors, although getting physical activity is recommended. There are four phases in the Atkins plan:

Induction: During this two-week phase at the start of the diet program, dieters can only consume up to 20 grams of carbohydrates each day. Dieters can ingest high protein foods such as meat and eggs, fats such as oils and butter, and other foods with little to no carbs. Many foods with carbohydrates are not permitted at all, including alcoholic beverages.

This early phase is intended to help the body go from burning carbohydrates for energy, as it normally does, into burning fat stored in the body (the state known as ketosis). Most dieters begin to lose pounds during this phase.

Ongoing Weight Loss: During the Ongoing Weight Loss phase, dieters gradually increase their intake of carbs by adding 5 grams of carbohydrates into their diet every week. Dieters adjust their diet, losing weight to put themselves within 5-10 pounds of their goal weight, before moving into the Pre-maintenance phase.

Pre-maintenance: Dieters use this phase to find out the maximum amount of carbohydrates they can ingest without experiencing weight gain. During this stage, dieters increase carbohydrate intake by 10 grams a week. Once dieters reach their target weight and can maintain it for a month, they move into the Lifetime Maintenance phase.

Lifetime Maintenance: For lasting results, the Atkins program is designed to be maintained throughout the dieter's life. Using the strategies that helped the dieter reach their goal weight, the dieter maintains an eating and exercise plan to stay at their target weight. Individuals can revert to previous stages if their weight begins to rise again.

Dieters who can stay on the Atkins diet are typically successful in losing weight; however, many people cannot follow through with the program and end up quitting early on in the initial induction phase. In general, most diets fail because dieters cannot stay on the plan.

Many people are unable to stay on diets because they experience strong food cravings, have problems with compulsive overeating, can't regulate their appetites, or simply do not feel motivated to lose weight. Getting over these mental obstacles is the hardest part of losing weight.

One reason why many people cannot seem to control their eating is because they are emotional eaters. Such people eat in response to their feelings, such as when they are bored or upset. However, this habit programs a "conditioned response" into the unconscious mind. This means that when people experience the same feelings that made them initially overeat, they will feel compelled to overeat again.

Hypnosis works by helping our unconscious minds disassociate our emotions from our eating habits. To eliminate the conditioned response to overeat, a hypnosis weight loss program is used to break the link developed in the unconscious mind between overeating and certain "trigger" situations.

For example, if you tend to binge eat when you feel bored, hypnosis can disassociate boredom from eating in your unconscious mind. Hypnotherapy techniques can then be used to replace the overeating response with another activity, such as exercising. That way, the next time you feel bored, instead of having an urge to eat, you will feel motivated to engage in physical activity.

Hypnosis is an effective tool for stress relief as well, helping us deal with our stressful emotions and relieve tension without eating. As a relaxation tool, it calms the mind, helps you use new strategies to cope with stress, and boosts your self-confidence to promote natural weight loss.

Hypnotherapy can also be used to end the emotional stresses that keep you from losing weight. Many overweight people use their weight for emotional protection. For example, after ending a relationship, people often find themselves becoming overweight so they can avoid relationships and avoid having to endure emotional pain again. Through hypnosis, we can turn our negative thoughts into positive ones and focus on improving our health instead of becoming overwhelmed by our thoughts.

Not only is hypnotherapy an ideal motivation tool, it relieves tension, eliminates the conditioned responses that trigger overeating, and can help you overcome many mental obstacles that prevent weight loss. Hypnosis is tremendously effective at helping people stick to a diet plan, such as the Atkins program, and lose weight.

Alan B. Densky, CH is certified by the NGH. Visit the hypnosis website for Free NLP downloads, videos, and newsletters. He offers several ways to lose weight, including hypnotism to lose weight DVDs and weight loss hypnosis CDs.