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Research at Tufts-New England Medical Center has provided proof that all popular diets work when you stick to them. Atkins - low carb; The Zone - low glycemic index; Ornish - low fat; Weight Watchers - low calorie.

But research has provided convincing evidence that very few people can stick to their diet because their appetite is out of control.

So to be successful with a diet, you must suppress your appetite.

Webster's Dictionary defines "Appetite" as: "The desire for gratification of some want, craving, or passion." So "appetite" is eating and drinking for relaxation and pleasure.

It's a mistake to confuse hunger with appetite. Hunger is defined as "The body's call for nourishment." In other words, when the body needs energy, that's when you feel authentic hunger. By that description, it is impossible for a person who is overweight to "be hungry."

However, it is possible for you to have feelings that you interpret as "hunger." And the stomach contracting in expectation of being fed causes those feelings.

When you were a tot and you became cranky, your mother would put a bottle into your mouth to calm you down. You would get distracted, become relaxed, and often fall asleep. That scenario was repeated many, many times so that your unconscious mind was programmed: When something goes into your mouth, you get relaxation and pleasure from it.

Now that you are fully grown, if you feel nervous or tense, you crave something in your mouth for relaxation and pleasure - food!

People Also Get Cravings and Urges Because Of Conditioning.

When you pair consuming food with any other behavior, the other behavior will trigger cravings for food and a urge to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example: If you eat when you watch a movie, you will automatically get an urge to eat each time you go to the movies.

What About Compulsive Overeaters Who Eat Because Of Emotional Reasons?

A compulsion is defined as an "irresistible impulse." One of the presuppositions of NLP is: There is a positive intention behind all behaviors. In other words, our unconscious mind only motivates behaviors that benefit or protect us in some way. In NLP terms, we say that being fat is a behavior when it provides a positive outcome or intention.

You may be wondering what the possible positive outcomes of being fat are. The list is as long as the list of people who are grossly overweight. But I'll give you a classic example: A person gets their heart broken in a relationship. So to protect the self from getting the heart broken again, the unconscious motivates the self to become fat to keep the self out of relationships and prevent another broken heart.

A big secret to getting rid of your appetite is called reframing. With an NLP Reframe, we respect the fact that the unconscious is pushing us to consume food for relaxation and pleasure. And if we are eating compulsively because being fat is protecting us, we respect that also.

In an NLP Reframe, we negotiate with our unconscious mind. In the case of eating for relaxation and pleasure, we ask our unconscious to assume the responsibility for making us automatically substitute some alternate behaviors. The substituted behaviors must be as effective and available at providing the same relaxation and pleasure. But they must also be more acceptable to us on a conscious level. When the unconscious is motivating us into alternate behaviors that provide the relaxation and pleasure that we require - we lose our appetite on this score.

If you are a compulsive overeater, we do an additional reframe. We ask your unconscious to accept responsibility for substituting new behaviors in place of being fat. These new behaviors must be as effective and available at providing the same protections and benefits. But they must be substitutions that are more consciously acceptable to you. When your unconscious is motivating you into alternate behaviors that provide the same benefits that you require, you lose the compulsion to overeat.

As far as feeling cravings because of conditioning (conditioned responses), we utilize various hypnotic and NLP techniques that erase or "extinguish" those conditioned responses. That breaks the connection between the behaviors, and obliterates the cravings and urges.

When your appetite has been obliterated, and all compulsions to overeat have been overcome, you can stick to any diet of your choosing indefinitely so that it becomes a permanent lifestyle change.

Alan B. Densky, CH is certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists. Alan opened his practice in 1978. You can learn more by going to his Neuro-VISION Appetite & Smoking Control website. On the site he maintains a hypnosis article library. And he offers free hypnosis newsletters and MP3's.

Alan B. Densky, CH is certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists. Alan opened his practice in 1978. You can learn more by going to his Neuro-VISION website. He maintains his own hypnosis article library. And he offers free hypnosis newsletters and MP3's.