Metabolism is often blamed for being overweight. With self hypnosis it is possible to speed up the processes of calorie burning and make them more efficient.

Here is a statement I used to hear a lot: "I'm overweight because I have a metabolism problem." Part of the problem was that there was so often a misconception about metabolism. It was not illogical to think of metabolism as a single process, one that determines how efficiently calories are burned. Metabolism, in this single process model, was thought of as the fire within the body that "burns" the stuff you eat, turning it into energy. Or, if the metabolic process was not working right, it inadequately burned only part of what was eaten and the remainder went to fat.

So it is not surprising that the most common analogy for metabolism, the conceptual model that has the most appeal to common sense, is of a fire in a fireplace. A roaring fire (healthy metabolism) will completely burn a lot of fuel (food) and leave little left (nothing goes to fat). A guttering fire (weak metabolism), on the other hand, incompletely burns fuel and leaves a lot left over (goes to fat).

When viewed like this, logic made "the metabolism" look suspicious in any case were a person was fat. A slow metabolism would cause one to be overweight regardless of how little he ate. This makes the solution to the problem look obvious: All you have to do to stop putting on fat is speed-up metabolism and burn off extra calories. This has a lot of appeal because a sufficiently speeding metabolism would allow one to eat as much of anything, and as often, as he wished.

These days we know it is not that simple. What we call metabolism is in fact the result of a number of processes in the body that determine how it deals with various substances. The fact is, there is only a very small percentage of the overweight population that suffers from a metabolic imbalance to the extent that that is what causes their problem with their weight.

Drugs were once thought to be the solution to weight problems. A class of drugs called amphetamineshas a multiple-effect on most people. For one thing, amphetamines make one lose interest in food. So eating goes way down. Amphetamines also has the appearance of speeding up metabolic processes so it is hard to be still for very long. I say "the appearance" of changing metabolism because it is not quite that simple, although the result is somewhat the same. This dramatic, amphetamine-induced increase in activity also contributes to weight loss.

Sound like just what you've been looking for? Sorry, but it is not to be. There are numerous side effects to amphetamines, they are somewhat addictive, the desired effects wear off even as the body's dependence on the drug increases, and the lost weight always returns when one finally stops taking the drug. Withdrawal symptoms can be serious and the lost pounds always come back with friends. That is, you gain back more after you quit the drug than you lost while taking it. Always!

The problems associated with amphetamines are so serious the FDA in cooperation with the American Medical Association put strong restrictions on prescribing these drugs several years ago. Now they are primarily used for treating certain hyperactive children. If you go to your physician and ask for a prescription for amphetamines I can almost guarantee you will not get it. Be glad. I've had experience with them, and they are bad news.

However it is possible to get the benefits of drugs without taking them. You can make the processes of calorie burning more efficient—speed them up, as it were—be more active, and dampen your interest in food. The three main tools for doing this are diet, exercise and self hypnosis.

As pertains to diet I recommend Sear's The Zone.You will also find some basic information about exercise there. For works on specific kinds of exercise or workouts, there are numerous publications available just about anywhere you look.

Self hypnosis can help you with every aspect of weight control and exercise. You can motivate yourself to exercise. You can change your interests in food and your compulsions about food. But you need to know what to do before you can give yourself suggestions to do it. For this head over to my Weight Control page.