Medical research at Tufts-New England Medical Center has proven that all diets are effective when you stick to them. Atkins - low carb; The Zone - low glycemic index; Ornish - low fat; Weight Watchers - low calorie.

But researchers have provided convincing evidence that almost no one 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.

Don't confuse appetite with hunger. Hunger is defined as "The body's call for nourishment." In other words, when the body needs energy, that's when you feel literal hunger. By that description, it is practically impossible to "be hungry" if you are overweight.

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 a little baby and you became cranky, your mother would put a nipple into your mouth to calm you down. You would get distracted, become calm, and often fall asleep. That scenario was repeated hundreds of 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 an adult, if you feel agitated, you crave something in your mouth for relaxation and pleasure - food!

People Also Get Cravings and Urges Because Of Conditioning.

When you associate consuming food with any other action, the other action 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 have an appetite that is out of control. 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 gain a lot of weight to keep the self out of relationships and prevent another broken heart.

A big secret to eliminating your appetite is reframing. With an NLP six-step Reframe, we respect the fact that the mind is compelling us to eat 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 compromise with our subconscious mind. In the case of eating for relaxation and pleasure, we ask our subconscious to assume the responsibility for making us automatically substitute some alternate behaviors. The substituted 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 an emotional eater, we do an additional reframe. We ask your subconscious to accept responsibility for finding and substituting new behaviors in place of being fat. These new behaviors must be as effective and available at providing the same protections and benefits. But they must be substitutions that are more consciously acceptable to you. When your subconscious is motivating you into alternate behaviors that provide the same benefits that you require, you lose the urge to overeat.

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

Once your appetite has been eliminated, and all of your compulsions to overeat have been dealt with, 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 opened his practice in 1978. You can learn more by going to his Neuro-VISION Video Hypnosis website. He maintains his own free article library. And he offers free hypnosis newsletters and MP3's.