Well, not any candy bar; nine times out of ten, it was a Snickers Bar.

The thought of going on a diet hasn’t crossed my mind for over twenty years.  The concept of deprivation does not work for me.

So after writing yesterday’s post, I was at the store, where we all know, retailers prominently display candy bars.

I picked up a Snickers Bar.

I was a little amused. It has been months since I had one. And the rule is I can have what I want.

Well, I ate two bites and I was done.

This has never happened in my entire life. I have always finished a snickers bar.

I have never even shared one.

It just didn’t taste good to me. It tasted like something I had outgrown.

I didn’t get here over night.

But from my own experience and that of my many clients, I can tell you it is totally worth it!

And there’s more. A client near and dear to my heart, called to share that she had verbalized to the most pain-provoking person in her life, words of forgiveness.

Now she had said the forgiveness words in my office.  Most of the time, this is a fake it until you make it proposition.

The important part is setting the intention.

The intention of forgiveness creates an opening.

She said, “For the first time in years, I don’t feel an emptiness and I feel lighter.”

I know that sounds strange, but it makes perfect sense to her, and to me.

So that’s it.

I hope you will check out my upcoming class: Make Peace with You and Food.

When I was the size of the little girl in the photo, my dad tried to get me to hand over my chewing gum before I went to sleep.

I refused.

His argument that I was going to wake up with gum in my hair was reasonable.

I swallowed MY GUM.

I feel the same about my food. Don’t even try to tell me I can’t have a candy bar.

So what about you?  Who is running your food show?  Is your inner rebel  a stubborn two year old? a snarky teen?

As long as you and your rebel are happy, stop reading.

If you would like to change, and could use some help, keep reading!

You have probably heard that the most lasting change is from the inside out.

That may seem like a lot of work. And EVERYONE wants a magic pill.

There is no magic pill.

Science now backs up what hypnotist, healers, and shamans have accepted for years.

Think of your brain as malleable plastic. You could create neurology for twenty years by reacting the same way every time you see a dog, a spider, or a candy bar.  You may believe that your brain is hardwired and that you cannot change it, but you can.   Your thoughts actually change your brain.

By negotiating with that little girl in the picture, I can have a candy bar any time I want, but now I only  occasionally want one.

Check out this Seattle Class:

Join Me: Make Peace with You and Food

Ready is the pink of petunias, youth, and freshly manicured toes.

Ready or Not is the color of toe jam, oh bother, and only your shoes fit!

I think the male equivalent is either last year’s shorts fit or they don’t.

Men don’t have the same number of temperatures as women. Ok. I don’t have any science to back me up. Go ahead and argue, I’ll give you a hot flash!

Ready is when you gladly don your swimsuit and dive into the pool, appreciating how your arms cut through the water. Not ready is the dreadful thought that you have created your own pool of sweat and how are you gonna get up gracefully.

Not ready? Take a baby step…and then another…follow the things across the room that excite you!

Thank your body for everything it does for you. Shedding extra weight is putting the puzzle pieces of healing together.

And she comes to see me because she has one hundred extra pounds.

She wants to give it away.

She knows a lot about nutrition.

She knows a lot about a lot of things.

She is fascinating and fascinated as she pulls up the gnarly roots of unwanted behaviors.

Sometimes we can laugh and "ah ah" over what has been hidden.

She goes back into her life, joyously sleuthing for more roots, and what feels like the bloom of power.

As her mind changes, life feels a little easier.

Her heart grows lighter as she fills it with hope.

She says one day, "I am not comfortable in my own kitchen.I have worked so hard to create home and comfort and I realize I sneak in there like a thief, taking things. I don't feel at home."

The history of how this came to be unfolds before her like a new sheet. When she realizes that she has no pleasant kitchen memories,we draw mental pictures for growing loving connections in her kitchen.

She came back and is happy at how she stood in her kitchen and cooked for people she loved, and allowed them to be right next to her.

She decided to paint her kitchen a soft color. She called her sisters and discovered they had similar feelings.

She called her mother.

She learned more as she looked back another generation.

She calls it her love room as she is begins to own it as a warm, sunny studio for her creative, nurturing spirit.

Ah, this is much better than the guilt of being a thief. Remember that the answer is not in the kitchen, but underneath why YOU are in the kitchen.

To sign up for classes

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Thank you for your outstanding generosity to Tent City. WOW! I made my first delivery and yes,I will go back. The person who offered a truck for the delivery, thanked me for the experience.   It is particularly cold, so I know the charcoal is especially appreciated. I am still collecting, so please give me a shout if you would like to contribute.

One practitioner called it weed whacking, and then mowing to make things smooth. My approach is bit more gentle, I think of it like pulling weeds, so you are free to grow whatever you want or need.

For the past year I have been experimenting  with the format of the Breakthrough Sessions. I like doing groups. Everyone benefits and it is cost effective. 

The last Breakthrough Session was really powerful.  I allow my intuition to start somewhere with someone. I tap on myself and the person I am working with mirrors me, while I talk. I don't know where the words come from, but things slip out of my mouth and I just keep going. Everyone taps along. 

What I find is that the repetition puts everyone in a bit of a trance, including me, and we get results.

On Monday, we tapped on the fact that Carol had a new kitchen, a new juicer, as well as fruits and vegetables that were going to rot if she didn't use them soon. But they were more like props for the life she wanted and couldn't get herself to live. She said, "I don't deserve to feel good".

We tapped on all of the reasons why, and this came up as another aspect from being sexually abused, and then not being believed as a child. Letting go of that kind of emotion is powerful. 

As we went around the room, one person's relief seemed to feed the fire of the next person's ah!ah! The next participant, who has made real strides, surprised me when I saw tears streaming down her beautifully round face. She sighed and said, "I gave up on myself at eighteen years old".

In the past Letting Go of Sugar Hypnosis Hour, attended by "newbies" and “old timers” I was reminded that it is a journey, and not a destination. It is certainly not about never having sugar again, but It is about changing your relationship.

Sugar happens to be a drug, which some of us have or have had a harder time with than others. I began by explaining my own love of sugar.

Sometimes people don’t hear that so I give details, “Back in the day, I would treat myself to a pound of Dilettante chocolate, way too many Snickers bars, and if you want to hear about my love of frosting and cake, pull up a chair.

I had gone to Simply Desserts in Fremont because a new client waxed poetic about their cakes, and I wanted something very tempting for class. As soon as I walked in the door, I was nearly knocked down by the smell of sweetness and then I was in the Dreamland: picture perfect red-headed girls, a beautiful mom, wide planked wooden floors, and cakes from fairy tales. Yes, a real drug den.

I left without a piece of cake. I had to go somewhere less intoxicating.

The first time Catherine came to my one of my Sugar Workshops she confessed that it was either a sugar day or not a sugar day. On a sugar day, she would eat pretty much only sugar.

I would like to say she immediately took the cure after that one class, years ago, but she did not. Catherine is a good example of determination. She came back several times. With the combination of EFT, hypnosis, counseling and her own very stubborn spirit, she changed her mind and has turned her behavior around.

My spirit soared when she said, “I just take care of myself. I eat what I want." Next up was Patty. She said, “I can’t believe how far I have come. I used to say, “I am going to be bad and have this.” Now it makes me laugh and I cringe a bit when others say it. If I really don’t want something and I feel tempted, I just imagine pickle juice. It is kind of fun and I am almost fifty pounds down, yeah me!”

Did it take each of us some time? Yes. Was it worth it? You betcha!

A newer client talked about how she loves to go out and treat herself. Her affection wanders but is consistent in that all sweets are special, and especially when shared. As we used EFT on her desire for the beautiful and sexy piece of cake I did bring to class, her craving waned and she made the comment, “If you are going to mess with me, I don’t want it.”

We did a couple of EFT rounds of tapping and I slipped in some statements about entitlement. When I finally ask her if I could throw her piece of the cake in the garbage, she did not flinch, but I could feel that going through her mind was, “I can go buy my own piece of cake.”

We saw each other the next day and this is what she said: “When I left class I thought, I can go buy a piece of cake. But then I thought, I am kind of hungry, I want some protein. For some reason I drove by Red Lobster and I wanted to go in. I have never even been to a Red Lobster before. Then I wanted deep fried prawns. I haven’t had deep fried prawns since I was a little kid. It used to be my favorite. I stopped eating them after I ordered prawns a restaurant that was a little more expensive than usual for my family. When I bit into one it was runny, but I knew if I said I didn’t like it, I would get into trouble, so I said it didn’t taste right, because that was the safer thing to say. My step dad immediately said, “You ordered it you have to eat it.” My mom reached over and took a small taste and she said, “They don’t taste right.” My step dad thought she was just siding with me and insisted I eat them. Well, my mom bless her, ate half, and we both got really sick.

He never admitted there was anything wrong with those prawns. We were just sticking together. “ At home her step dad was allowed sweets, but she wasn’t.

That Hypnosis Happy Hour for Sugar was in July. I ran into her yesterday and she said, Yes, I still have my favorite bakeries, but my approach is different, I don’t feel so compelled and sometimes I can take a few bites and leave the rest. I also spoke to Catherine today; she said she made a pumpkin pie, ate one piece, felt satisfied, and someone else ate the rest.

To learn more about how you too can change your mind, check out these upcoming Breakthrough Classes.

Look for a Teleclass beginning in January and How to Use EFT on Your Kids To make your life easier, sign up for updates and I will notify you as classes come up. I won't share your email, and as I am fond of saying, I don't write too annoyingly often.

At first I was appalled. Each week they feature famous women caught wearing the same dress and then they are judged on who looks best. This is the magazine to read if you want to know everything about nothing. And we all read it!

It was every bit as bonding as The Little Engine That Could.

I want to capture the moment at the table as the young ones were doing battle with the voter's pamphlet. I announce that Brooke Shield's husband was instrumental in the Paris Hilton FunnyorDie retort to John McCain's commercial. She memorized her lines and they only had to do four takes.

"How do you know that, MOM?"

"US!"

Now picture the college girls watching Sex and the City on DVD.  The college boyfriend comes into the room a little too quickly and asks, "Is this the one where Sarah Jessica Parker wears gladiator sandals?"

"How do you know that, JOOORDAN?"

"US!" (addressed to A.K.A Lisa Crunick)

Now it is time for Crime and Punishment. Actually Boomsday was my favorite read this summer. A young woman's anger blogs her generation into outrage over how much the Baby Boomers are costing them in taxes. She gets hooked up with a want-to-be-president, whose platform becomes giving boomers incentives for euthanization to balance the budget.

Watch for this to become a movie. I laughed so hard, my "kids" gave me the eye on the ferry. Oh, what fun it is to be the one acting out.

And while we are on favorites, my favorite hike of the summer was a ten miler in Level 1 wilderness with family members, on the occasion of a fiftieth wedding anniversary.

 One of my favorite moments was hearing the ten-year-old boy cousins call my eighteen-year-old "old!"

I hope your summer has a favorite book, kiss, and lots of laughter.

And while I do not want to be known for this kind of information, if you are inclined to have some chocolate ice cream, I am suggesting you go to Full Tilt in White Center, and have a scoop of Mexican chocolate in a biodegradable bowl.

They make their own ice cream every Sunday.

New Event: This is so cool, you can grab a girlfriend or not, and slip into the back door of Quinns, (the place for upscale pub food, featured in last month's Seattle magazine), for a glass of wine, and then breeze from station to station, as you tempt your senses with all that is good for you: Aromatherapy, Hypnosis for Weight Loss, EFT, which is an Emotional Freedom Technique for everything! And do you know anything about Fascial Stretch Therapy? or CranioSacral Therapy? or Reiki?

I know you have heard of them, but this is a chance to find out what they can do, as you speed date the experts. How cool is that? RSVP now.

Free goes fast. http://holidaygolightly.com/wine-and-wellness

If you don't know, Positive Changes is a Hypnosis Center in Bellevue,Washington, and while they do hypnosis for many things, I believe they specialize in weight loss.

 The caller's question brought up a family story. My younger brother has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair. One day while we were watching TV, someone with a disability was playing the piano.

My brother was asked, "What's wrong with him?" I could feel my brother prickle as he answered, "Do I look like an expert on afflictions?"

On the same note, while I am an expert on using hypnosis for weight loss, I am not in the position to know if Positive Changes would work for a stranger, who calls me on the phone.

 To make quick and lasting change you need to get your subconscious mind on your side.

Willpower is not always enough.

Resistance often means that your mind  may be following safety procedures that you have outgrown.

This is when you need a practitioner with the freedom and experience to work with you on your presenting set of circumstances. In this way, change can happen very quickly.

 Most people need to work with someone who has the flexibility to adjust the treatment to their particular set of circumstances.

Contrary to what you have seen in the movies or a Road Runner cartoon, a hypnotist does not wave a watch and gain control of your mind.

I told the caller to do her research by making calls, and asking questions, and then to follow her instincts.

Feeling comfortable with your hypnotist is important.

 The art is in the delivery.

I am not in the position to know which practitioner or program would work for you, but I am very happy to offer you a free twenty minute phone consultation to  answer any of your questions. 206-941-1287.

For a Weight Loss  program tailored to your needs, check this out:

http://www.lisacrunick.com/classes/weight-loss-program

Check it out::::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pFf-2etm1g