Despite the popularity of the Atkins Diet, it is often greatly misrepresented! Common, yet slightly exaggerated depictions of the diet portray dieters eating nothing but huge portions of meat and fat. Although the diet itself may not be quite this simple, many dieters following the program have successfully lost weight and improved their health.

On this program, dieters follow a highly specific regimen based on cutting carbohydrate intake. Emphasis is placed on the nutritional aspects of the diet over exercise and other factors, although exercise is encouraged. There are 4 phases to the Atkins plan:

Induction: During this two-week stage at the beginning of the diet program, dieters can only have up to 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. Dieters can consume high protein foods such as meat and fish, fats such as butter and oils, and other food with little to no carbohydrate content. Many foods with carbohydrates are not allowed at all, including alcoholic drinks.

This initial phase is intended to help the body go from burning carbohydrates for energy, as it usually does, into burning fat stored in the body (a process called ketosis). Most dieters begin to lose weight during this stage.

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

Pre-maintenance: Dieters use the Pre-maintenance phase to find out the maximum amount of carbohydrates they can consume without experiencing weight gain. During this stage, dieters add 10 grams of carbohydrates to their diet each week. Once dieters reach their target weight and can maintain it for one month, they move into the Lifetime Maintenance stage.

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

Dieters who can stick to the Atkins diet are typically successful in losing weight; unfortunately, many people cannot keep following the program and end up quitting early on in the initial induction stage. In general, most diets fail simply because dieters cannot stay on the plan.

Many people struggle to stay on diets because they experience strong food cravings, have problems with compulsive overeating, can't control their appetites, or simply lack the motivation to lose weight. Overcoming these mental obstacles is the hardest part of losing weight.

One reason why many people struggle to control their eating is because they are emotional eaters. Such individuals eat in response to their feelings, such as when they are bored or upset. However, this eating style programs a "conditioned response" into the unconscious mind. This means that when individuals experience the same feelings that made them initially overeat, they will feel compelled to overeat again.

Hypnotherapy 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 in the unconscious mind between overeating and certain "trigger" behaviors.

For instance, if you tend to binge eat when you get bored, hypnosis can disassociate boredom from eating in your unconscious mind. Hypnosis can then be used to replace the overeating response with another activity, such as exercising. This way, the next time you get bored, instead of having an urge to eat, you will feel motivated to exercise, resulting in natural weight loss.

Hypnosis is an effective tool for stress relief as well, helping us deal with our stressful feelings and relieve tension without eating. As a relaxation tool, it calms the mind, helps you develop strategies to manage stress, and boosts your self confidence to motivate you to lose weight.

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 instance, after a painful end to a relationship, people often find themselves becoming overweight so they can avoid new 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 anxieties.

Not only is hypnosis a powerful motivational tool, it relieves tension, eliminates the conditioned responses that trigger overeating, and can be used to overcome the mental obstacles that prevent weight loss. Hypnotherapy for weight loss is extremely effective at helping people stick to a diet program, such as the Atkins plan, and lose weight.

Alan B. Densky, CH has spent over 30 years specializing in weight loss. He offers several ways to lose weight, including lose weight CDs and hypnotism for weight loss DVD. Visit his CDs for self-help website for Free hypnosis videos, newsletters, and downloads.