Lila Caffery, longtime OPEN EXCHANGE lister, CCHT, offers "A Path To Personal Power."

The medical definition of obesity, 15% over your normal body weight, is a threat to all of us who have been in denial about our few extra pounds. At 141 I qualify because at 5'4" (with small bones) most medical charts put me at 115 to 120 lbs. Fifteen percent over is just 139 pounds!

Most of us juggle those numbers (plus 5 lbs. for each baby?) in our favor and stay in our same eating patterns, content to rationalize our pounds away until we are 25% over (150?) Then many of us go on the latest fad diet— Dr. Atkins, South Beach, etc., or we go to Jenny Craig, or join a health club—again! Within the year, however, we have lost some or all of our pounds and gained them back and then some! That is why there is an epidemic of obesity in America and why even McDonald's and Coca Cola are worried and trying to find less fattening solutions.

Brain chemistry studies show us that sugar gives us a high similar to alcohol or cocaine. For many sugar is an addictive substance that we have been rewarded with since early childhood. We feel truly deprived, depressed, and irritable when we restrict its intake. Others are carbohydrate junkies, snacking on potato chips and Fritos. Restaurants tempt us with huge servings that expand the size of our stomachs. We were taught to clean our plates and we do!

How do we find a way out of this cycle of guilty, hedonistic eating that causes some to become Bulimic, and others, despairing of a solution, to have surgery to reduce their stomachs to the size of a cup?

How much of this problem is related to addiction, metabolism or just plain habit, and how much is rooted in our subconscious? What keeps us willing to put our health, attractiveness, even our lives at risk? We know that we are a target for diabetes, heart disease, hip and knee replacement, job discrimination, and dateless Saturday nights. Our self-esteem is low and our family nags us to do something! In spite of all the " fat is beautiful" support, we wish we were thinner, healthier, prettier, handsomer.

We can be! The subconscious is not a static repository of childhood inputs. Through hypnosis it is open to healthier, and more positive messages, ways to satisfy our cravings for love. Yes, love. Digesting raises our body temperature and makes us feel warmed, as if in an embrace, as a baby is held safe in his mother's arms. The history of our childhood gives a clue to just how and why we sooth ourselves with food. The combination of counseling and hypnosis helps us to set a new course. We can raise our self-esteem so that we are better able to manage our lives without constantly being re-wounded and in need of another food "fix."

Through clinical hypnotherapy we can get a deeper and more permanent solution. Hypnosis is one of the oldest and most effective tools used in all cultures over the centuries to allow us to heal. It is easy and it feels good. Many say, when coming out of trance, " Oh, couldn't I stay just a little longer?"

We don't need to starve ourselves or eat only brown rice. We have only to break our compulsions. Then, instead of always going for that piece of chocolate cake, we get something much sweeter: the wonderful, fulfilling life we deserve.