the truth about trance eating

**An Encouraging Word, Vol. 8**

an occasional note from Jean Fain

 Harvard Medical School psychotherapist & hypnosis instructor

 Published Dec. 26, 2006

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Read on if you’re interested in losing weight without the deprivation associated with dieting. Feel free to forward “An Encouraging Word” to a friend. If you didn’t receive this note directly from Jean Fain and you’d like to subscribe, send an email to the address above with the word “subscribe” in the subject field. If you’d rather not receive future announcements, send an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject field.

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People are talking about trance eating, thanks to The Tyra Banks Show. A recent episode featured a self-diagnosed trance eater who claims to cook and eat large quantities of food in her sleep, (The episode, titled “Undiscovered Eating Disorders,” is currently re-airing on various channels.) Trance eating, according to The Tyra Show, is an uncommon eating disorder characterized by episodic binges that happen in a dream-like or trance state.

 If everything Tyra’s binger says is true, there are several explanations for her behavior, including a sleep disorder, dissociative identity disorder (a.k.a. multiple personality disorder), not to mention she may have stumbled on self hypnosis. Judging from the internet buzz, there seems to be a lot of interest in trance eating, specifically this thing called trance. Truth be told, most of us achieve a natural trance state when we eat mindlessly.  “Trance eating,” in my view, is the extreme end of the mindless eating spectrum.

Americans are well acquainted with the spectrum’s mild end. Who hasn’t lost themselves in a bowl of popcorn only to suddenly reawaken, biting into the burnt, unpopped kernels at the bottom? We typically consume popcorn on auto-pilot in a light trance state, but usually remember who ate the popcorn because we can’t believe we ate the whole thing.

Less familiar is binge eating, which falls midway along the mindless eating spectrum, and typically happens in what psychotherapists refer to as a “dissociated” state. Bingers are not only out of touch with the experience of eating – the subtle changes in taste and texture with each new bite -- they are numb to their emotional experience. In fact, numbing oneself to unwelcome emotions (sadness, anger, boredom…) is often the unacknowledged goal. People who numb themselves with food often wish they could forget what they’ve eaten, but remember all too well.

“Trance eating,” eating automatically with no conscious awareness, is not unheard of and marks the severe end of the spectrum. This extreme form of mindless eating is truly unconscious, fully dissociated from experience, evading memory itself.  Clients I’ve seen with this kind of eating disorder report  waking up disoriented – the kitchen’s a mess, they’re sick to their stomach and filled with despair. They can’t remember binging.

If you’ve got eating issues, one of the tools you oughta think about using is hypnosis.  When mindless eaters learn to consciously enter and exit trance, give themselves positive suggestions and images, they reliably eat more mindfully, not to mention lose weight and keep it off. If you’re interested in learning how to harness trance rather than letting trance control you, some obvious advice: a certified hypnotherapist makes for a better teacher than a talk-show host.

 To learn more about using hypnosis to start loving food that’s good for you, boost your metabolism and eliminate cravings, check out the just published “The Self-Hypnosis Diet” book-CD set (www.tranceformation.com/) by Joy and Steven Gurgevich, an esteemed colleague and the director of the Mind-Body Clinic in Dr. Andrew Weil’s Program in Integrative Medicine. Through New Year’s Day, of course, you can still get a discounted copy of my best-selling hypnosis CD, “Eat to Live & Lose Weight” (www.cdbaby.com/cd/jeanfain).

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On a different, but related note….

Speaking of unconscious suggestions, have you seen Dove’s “Evolution” video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFPGa0pKyTg)? Even if you’ve viewed this eye-opening video about Madison Avenue’s distorted beauty standards, you may want to watch it again before committing to any unrealistic New Year’s resolutions.

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Save The Date….

I can’t say it enough: If you wanna say sayonara to mindless eating, you gotta have support. One ideal scenario would be eating with a supportive someone who makes it her business to eat mindfully, like Concord psychotherapist Alice Rosen, Director of Education for Feeding Ourselves.  You can learn to mindfully eat anything you truly want at Alice’s Weekend Intensive Jan. 19-21, 2007. For more information, go to www.theconsciouscafe.org/index.html.

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In addition to seeing clients in private practice, Jean Fain teaches hypnosis at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and she writes for O, The Oprah Magazine, among other women's magazines. More information about Jean Fain’s services and weight-loss CDs is available on her website (www.jeanfain.com).

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