Book Journeys Author Interview – Nov. 3, 2016
Jenn McRobbie with Erika Flint, author of Reprogram Your Weight: Stop Thinking about Food All the Time, Regain Control of Your Eating, and Lose the Weight Once and for All.
“I want somebody to feel something and resonate with it. That’s what changes people and teaches them something.” ~Erika Flint
Jenn:
Well, hello, everybody! It’s November third, and as you know, every week on Book Journeys Radio we speak to authors who’ve gone from having an idea to a finished book and now are out making an incredible difference in the world. So, today’s author wears many hats, including business coach, life coach, therapist and award winning hypnotist and accredited professional hypnotherapy instructor. I think we’re gonna have a really interesting conversation today. So, without further ado, let me introduce to you Erika Flint, the author of Reprogram Your Weight. Welcome, Erika!
Erika:
Thank you, Jenn! It’s great to be here today.
Jenn:
I’m so happy to have you. I’m so glad you could join us. So, to start, I always ask our authors to please tell the listeners what their book is about and who it’s for, so can you do that for us?
Erika:
Absolutely. So, this book is about how to lose weight, even if everything else that you’ve tried has failed, and I think that this is a very common issue for people who have been on these yo-yo diets, … a majority of their life, for a lot of people, and – so, this book is intended to be for people who are tired of doing that and want an actual solution as to, how do you actually lose weight, … what is going on here? And as a hypnotherapist – I have been helping people in my office do this for a number of years – I started seeing some patterns, and recognizing those patterns – yeah, it’s really cool, a hypnotherapist, looking at … what is the brain doing? What is the – what’s the behavior going on here? Why are these things happening? Why is the brain doing this? And so, I’m very curious about those things, and – and noticed these patterns that were very similar across – … every client has all of these patterns, or all of these things that are going on, but there were some very similar ones, and so … I wanted to write a book that focused on how to help people with some of these issues and get over this – … this issue of wanting to lose the weight but not actually knowing how to do it successfully. One of the issues that I see all the time is, people know how to diet, they know what they’re supposed to be doing, right? Yeah, but knowing isn’t enough, right?
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
… if it was just a matter of knowing, right? … “Oh, jeez, I know I’m supposed to … eat these healthy foods and exercise every day,” and if that’s all it really took then I don’t think we would have an issue, but it’s so much more complicated than that. And the reality is, yeah, there’s food everywhere! Everywhere we turn, there is – there’s food at Ethan’s, and food is … the solution to a lot of problems, and that’s where emotional eating comes in, right?
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
So, yeah, the book is written for a person who is really … desperate. … they’re – they’re done. They really are done, but they’re not entirely hopeless, and – and they want and need to do something else. They need a new solution, the diet works for two weeks and then they’re off it again and frustrated even more. So, that’s … focus. Yup.
Jenn:
Right. … It sounds so wonderful. Erika and I want it to be so easy, … a simple pill. How do you reprogram your thinking, then? … what kind of topics does your book cover?
Erika:
It covers a couple of different things. First of all, it covers one of the big things, is how do we get into this mess in the first place, … what’s going on here? Why – … why do we have such a problem with this eating in the first place, and a lot of it has to do with how we are conditioned, from a very young age, to be disconnected from our own body’s wisdom, so we get disconnected from something called an appetite, right?
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
For so many of my clients – yeah, many of my clients tell me they don’t remember the last time they were actually hungry. But they’re eating –
Jenn:
Wow! They’ve forgotten to listen to cues that their body’s giving them about eating. Wow.
Erika:
That’s right. And a lot of times, it’s because – guess what, they’re sitting at the dinner table and they’re five years old, and their parents tell ‘em, “You know what? You’re not leaving this dinner table until you finish your vegetables.”
Jenn:
Until you finish – that’s right! You know, I’m so ….
Erika:
… right? Yeah.
Jenn:
I’m so super glad we’re talking to you after Halloween, because there really are … multiple bowls of candy downstairs that are calling out my name, even as we’re speaking, so this is great information for – for me and for our listeners.
Erika:
That’s right, and … the other thing – the other common thing is … I call it, “Being a member of the Clean Plate Club,” right?
Jenn:
Yes. Oh, boy, does it.
Erika:
Sound familiar? You gotta finish your plate? Right?
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
So, there’s a lot of misperceptions in thinking that have to be addressed. But then, there’s all the misperceptions of things that are actually going on in our biology that are not helping us, and what you mentioned about Halloween is a very important point, because what’s really going on is, that sugar, that sugar that’s in that candy, is really not good for our body.
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
Now, we all know that sugar isn’t good for us, but when we look at what’s really happening in the body, … our blood sugar is spiking and it’s plummeting, and then, when our blood sugar is plummeting, that is when we get a craving.
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
And cravings are really hard for us to avoid and just discount, right? And – and so, the way that I explain this to my clients is … “Look, a craving is a real feeling.” … there is no – you’re not making this up, you’re not going crazy, a craving is a real feeling, what’s happening is, your body is … – it’s almost like an alarm, … if the smoke detector was going off in your house, you’re gonna go turn it off and address it, so … burn the toast, or whatever, right?
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
You’re not just gonna let it sit there and keep on beeping and annoying you, but that’s … what a craving is, and your body! Your body’s … “Hey, pay attention to this, your blood sugar is plummeting! Something bad is about to happen!” And that’s what happens every time we eat. We find carbohydrates and sugars! You get that craving, it’s a real sensation so … avoiding – avoiding those types of foods are really important, and – and I think a lot of people understand that, but when I share with them what’s really going on in the body, it’s … “I get it! I – there’s nothing wrong with me,” … this is a natural response to the body! Right?
Jenn:
Right! Wow.
Erika:
Yeah, and – and the other thing that is really important to understand about all of this – there’s biology, there’s the – the habits, right? But then, there’s the emotions, and this is really a problem for clients with emotional eating, that is a problem. … eating not out of true hunger, right? You’re eating because you’re sad. You’re eating because you’re upset, right? That day at work, ….
Jenn:
Eating because you’re happy!
Erika:
Yeah, true! And – exactly! So, how do we celebrate? Do we ever have a celebration without food?
Jenn:
No! … like this? Goodness!
Erika:
I know! And … – so, it’s … – have you ever eaten – … have you ever overeaten broccoli? Or do you – do you have anybody who … – do you have any problems with too much spinach eating, right? … those types – those types of things just aren’t usually an issue. But –
Jenn:
I would like that to be a problem, though. I would like that to be my problem.
Erika:
You know what, I probably – because I said that, I’m probably gonna get somebody who’s gonna e-mail me now and say, “Actually, I eat way too many broccoli sprouts,” …. Right.
Jenn:
… and then, lovely is, you’ll be able to say, “Yes, I can help you,” that’s the good thing.
Erika:
That’s absolutely true, and we’ll figure out what is going on with those broccoli sprouts, so … the emotional eating is a big issue, and people don’t understand what’s actually happening. They don’t realize – so, it is common to wake up in the morning and be – … you wake up in the morning, if you had a good night’s sleep, you wake up with a lot of energy and a lot of hope, … “Today’s gonna be the day,” right? “Today is going to be the day that I work out, I eat healthy, I’m gonna come home and me and my husband – or me and my kids are gonna take the dog on a walk, we’re gonna go hiking, gonna have a healthy dinner and – and then I’m gonna go to sleep,” right?
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
Right? And you have these great plans for the day. But then, what happens, right? You – something hasn’t worked, and you get stressed, and before you know it, you’re picking up McDonald’s or you’re picking up some food on the way home, you’re … “How did I get in the drive through? I don’t even remember … driving to the drive through,” you just ended up there.
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
And so, you’re disconnected, you’re … unconsciously going to help yourself feel better. And so, what’s happening is that you feel bad and you wanna feel better. So, this is another biological … that helps a lot of people feel better about this, it’s … – you know what? Your brain wants you to feel better. Your brain is … constantly turning you toward pleasure and away from pain. So, when you feel bad, your brain just wants you to feel better, and quite frankly, it doesn’t care if it’s food or not. Food is so easy, it’s so simple, it’s everywhere. And so, food is just the easiest thing, it’s every … your drawer. And you can just grab that candy bar and feel better for about, I don’t know, a minute?
Jenn:
A few minutes, … yeah, a few minutes maximum? ….
Erika:
And then, you feel worse, right?
Jenn:
So, tell me – because you have a – a large background in … hypnotherapy and weight loss and you said earlier that you saw these patterns. … with a lot of authors, they actually had trouble picking a topic, and I don’t get the feeling that that’s – that was trouble for you.
Erika:
No, it wasn’t. So, my background before I was a hypnotist, I was a software engineer, so pattern recognition is … – I can see it even if I don’t wanna see it, …? I’m … “Whoa, what’s going on over there? Okay.” …. So, pattern recognition is really – … I think it’s fascinating, so I – it was really easy for me to pick these things out. I actually – I’ve always been interested in weight loss, … I had my own struggles with weight at a point in my life and have gone through – … tried a lot of diets, too, I tried … Weight Watchers and – and all sorts of other different things with moderate success, and there’s a lot of … out there that have a lot of good things to say. A lot of good ideas, but most of them don’t address habits and most don’t address emotional eating. So, they miss two big pieces there. As far as choosing the topic for my book, what really got me interested – and just so fired up about hypnosis in the first place, … why did I leave my corporate job that was very successful – corporate job, making good money and – and with the benefits and everything, right? Why would I do that?
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
I just got so fired up about hypnosis because, it really gives us our own power back. We all have the power … to do anything we want, and so, hypnosis gives us that power back, that’s what I’m really helping people with. I’m helping them reconnect with their own inherent power, and so, that’s why I wanted to write a book. I just kept on saying, “You know what? This woman came in to lose weight, but guess what, she came back because she wants to now leave her job,” right? She’s so inspired – not only is she losing weight, but she’s … “Oh, my gosh, what am I doing in this job? … I’m just … playing small,” right?
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
So, she gets a new job, and then – yeah, and now, she’s inspiring her – people in her life, and she’s just uplifting, she’s … lights up the room when she walks in the room, and so that’s what I wanted to write a book about, how the inherent power inside every single person is so important, to reconnect with that. And – and then, through working with the Difference Press process, this was why I was so happy that I found the Difference Press, because I don’t really – … I wanna keep doing what I’m really good at, and I’m really –
Jenn:
Yes!
Erika:
– … great hypnotist, and I understand … all – all of these things about mind and how to change habits and – and how the brain is working, and – and all of those things, but writing a book, and a book process, … how do you get books in front of people that will make a difference, … are they going to read them?
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
That, I wasn’t – yeah, I wasn’t really sure about how to do that, and so, after I started working with the Difference Press I realized it’s really important to … be very specific. And so, I chose – … very specific audience. And so, I chose the audience that I see day in and day out, and the one where I’m – … I’m making the biggest difference in my practice, with helping people lose weight. They come in to lose weight, but they leave having lost the weight, but they leave way more than that, so I always want my clients to leave … with way more than what they expected to come in with. They come back with – … meeting themselves, their true self, for the first time.
Jenn:
Wow.
Erika:
Happiness, joy, just really, really cool things, and so, that’s what I wanted to – that’s what I wanted to do, I wanted to write the book for people who are losing weight, they think they’re coming in really as – about weight loss or eating, and once we fix that, they realize there’s just so much more going on there.
Jenn:
… that’s incredible, but what that – what that leads me to think is that, while you were writing, did you get distracted at all, because there’s so much information about … connecting with yourself, and then, how that connection with yourself essentially changes everything in your life?
Erika:
Right.
Jenn:
So, how did you stay on – I have to say, focused? How’d you stay on topic with weight loss ….
Erika:
Such a good point! Right, because the reality is, I could – … this – I could write probably a bunch more books on this topic.
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
Or related to this topic, and so, this is where the guidance of a professional is so valuable, and … in my – in my life, I have learned a coupla lessons I will always – … my go-to, it’s … – if I wanna buy something, maybe I go look on Amazon first, because … that’s just … my go-to thing, right?
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
Or if I’m gonna go local, I’m gonna go to Costco first. Well, my go-to thing, when I’m trying to learn something is, I find the best in the business and I model after them. Why should I try and – and reinvent the wheel, right? I wanna keep doing what I’m good at, right?
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
And so, when it came time to stay focused for this book, it was really hard. I wanted to … go off on tangents and – and – and … I could just keep expanding about how to change a habit, for example, because this topic is just fascinating and there’s all sorts of really amazing neurosciences coming out nearly every day, … nearly every day, I could update my book with some new – latest neuroscience article talking about habitual change and … plasticity and all this really cool stuff. But I had to be focused, and the reason is because the audience – my audience, my desperate, hopeless person who wants to lose weight, doesn’t want to read all that stuff. They need help! They need a hopeful message, right? So, I have stayed on topic for them. … this book is written for them, it’s not for me. It’s not for me to … think of all the cool things that I like to think about and write about them, right?
Jenn:
Right! That’s your journal.
Erika:
Yeah, that’s – yeah! Yeah, that’s my journal. It’s for them. And so, … this is where my editor was so valuable, because even if I knew that, in my head, it would still be very easy for me to get off track, off topic, because it’s me – it’s like trying to see the forest through the trees.
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
It’s … – I’m in the middle of it, I can’t see that I am not – I can’t see that I’m off track, right?
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
And I can’t – I can’t un-know what I already know. And so, having somebody else, like my editor, look at it and say, “Okay, this is interesting, but it’s – it’s off topic,” or “It’s not – I don’t think it’s useful. I – I think we need to cut this because … your readers are gonna get off track, and I want them to read the book – I want them to read the whole book and get enough out of it to feel hopeful again.” That’s what I really want my readers to do, I want them to read the book and say, “Oh, my gosh, I think there – I am not as hopeless, I think there’s a way.” And they’re gonna be rea – the book is full of inspirational client wins, inspirational client stories of people who’ve done this and some of the things they experienced and learned through the process, so they’re gonna be resonating, … “Oh, my gosh, that’s me. Oh, my gosh, that’s me. And this person did it. And I understand myself a bit more now. And … I think somebody actually understands me.” Right?
Jenn:
Yes. I think it’s important, particularly with a topic like this, to interweave the success stories with … the facts.
Erika:
Absolutely. We learn by metaphor and storytelling, … engaged, right? So, yeah, if you can teach in your message while telling a really awesome story, that’s what people are gonna remember and that’s what keeps them engaged and excited and – and really … – somebody could pick up my book and just – even just read the first chapter and be … “Oh, my gosh, I feel better already.” And this is what I have client – … when I talk to clients on the phone about … getting started working with me, that type of a thing, I started noticing just … – just a little bit of information and feeling like somebody understands you, the pressure is off just a little bit, because you’re not as hopeless anymore, right? Yeah.
Jenn:
Right. Right. That’s amazing. So, … you already had a really successful practice before you wrote your book. How has the book helped – the book helped with your practice?
Erika:
Well, I think – … I realized that I can only help so many people at one time. The work that I do is very personal, right, so it’s one-on-one.
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
I help maybe – maybe ten to fifteen people a month, and so, I was getting really … lots of energy and passion and excitement about helping more and more people that I – … I just couldn’t figure out how to do it in a way that would actually be as effective. And so, writing the book was a way for me to have a message that people could review and have … reusable information, they could go back and read it again, that type of a thing. And so, my business has definitely grown because of it, and my clients are coming into session now having already read my book.
Jenn:
Oh!
Erika:
So, guess what’s happening now, they are already … – they’re already implementing some of the things that we talked about , so we get to go even further, their understanding … even ahead of time.
Jenn:
So, it has almost up-leveled the – the people that come to you, even?
Erika:
Right. Yeah, because now – not everybody – … I tell people, “You know what? You don’t have to read the book.” I – I give people a – a hypnosis relaxation CD, you don’t have to read the book to be successful, right? But I have a lot of clients who are so tired of how they’re feeling – they want to be successful … instantaneously, … they want the thrill, you know what I mean?
Jenn:
Don’t we all?
Erika:
… yeah, I know! And – and so this, it’s interesting, because once people are … start working with the mind and hypnosis and changing habits and then getting rid of the emotional component for – that keeps us eating when we’re not even hungry, people realize, “You know what? This is actually really simple. And I’m surprised how simple -” it’s not hard. When you’re eating properly, … eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full, your – you are giving your body the energy nutrition that it needs. You do not need to deprive yourself whatsoever, so deprivation does not work. And this is all about eating when you’re hungry, stopping when you’re full, so you’re not depriving yourself at all. What you’re doing is, you’re reprogramming how you think and feel, to be back in line with the way that your body was naturally designed to be in the first place, right?
Jenn:
Right!
Erika:
If you look at how kids eat, most kids wanna eat when they’re hungry! You’re trying to give ‘em food – … carrots when they wanna play, they just wanna play! Right?
Jenn:
They won’t.
Erika:
They won’t eat, right.
Jenn:
I have two kids. My kids will not eat if they’re not hungry. I – I’ve learned, watching them through the years, that – it’s fascinating to me, and they do stop when they’re full. ….
Erika:
Yup.
Jenn:
Physically push the plate away, and every time they do it, every day, Erika, I – … I admire them.
Erika:
Yup. Good. Well, I’m glad that you’re not forcing them to eat. And – and granted, … there are certain times when we need, … – we need our kids to eat at certain times of the day because we don’t want to be feeding them on their schedule, per se. But if we have the … right?
Jenn:
Of course. Right. … we definitely have … a set meals on, … the morning is breakfast, but whether you eat one bagel, or a bagel and an apple, or two eggs and four pieces of toast, or – … whatever is really just dependent on your hunger, right?
Erika:
Yeah! Absolutely! I had a client earlier this week, she said, “I can’t believe it, Erika! I -” well, first of all, she lost five pounds in one week, which is great.
Jenn:
Wow!
Erika:
She said – she said she ate pizza, she ate pasta, she just ate half! And she was totally satisfied. She said, “Normally, I’d eat three pieces of pizza, but I had one piece of pizza and a salad, I was totally satisfied, I was just eating -” she said, “I was just eating too much food, I – I just wasn’t thinking about it.” And so, when I just thought – she said, “Am I still hungry? No.” She stopped eating, she lost weight, wasn’t deprived, and when we don’t overeat, we also – one of the natural first things that happens when we’re eating too much food, our body’s processing more food, so we ha – it drains our energy, okay?
Jenn:
Yes.
Erika:
And so, when we stop eating so much food, we have more energy.
Jenn:
Isn’t that incredible?
Erika:
I know! It’s really awesome! I have to point that out to my clients. “You feel better, don’t you?”
“Even though you ha – you probably lost a pound or two, but you feel great!” More energy! Sleeping better!
Jenn:
From listening to you, though, it sounds so easy, and it’s not. And I think – yes, … it’s not easy to listen to those cues. So, how does hypnosis play a role in that?
Erika:
The hypnosis – really keeps … the knee-jerk reaction. So, it brings first of all awareness to it, … why are you doing this habitual thing, okay? So, eating and watching television, eating and watching television, eating and watch television, really, what’s happening is, you are wiring in your brain two things together, eating and watching television, and now, if you sit down to eat – … if you sit down to watch television, you’re gonna feel a compulsion to eat, because those two things, in your brain, are wired together, okay? So, we fix that, first of all. The second thing that we do is, we can get rid of emotions that don’t need to be there anymore. So, emotions that just really aren’t serving us anymore, and a lot of times, what happens is, at times in our life, when we have either traumatic experience – it doesn’t even have to be traumatic. Sometimes, it’s just an experience where you might understand something but there was a – a message or something – … for example, one of the messages that my client got was, … in order to grow up big and strong, you have to eat everything on your plate. So, … in order to be a man, you have to grow – … something like that. And so, the idea was … – this gentleman, he’s not a man if ….
Jenn:
Wow!
Erika:
Eating … floating around in his brain. He wasn’t consciously aware of it.
Jenn:
Of course not.
Erika:
But he didn’t feel good unless he ate all his food on his plate, and then, he was gaining weight as he got older. And so, we can – yup, we can figure out what’s really going on in there, and I fix some of that. And then, people – really, what’s happening is, we’re getting rid of things that clients don’t need anymore, messages, limiting beliefs, right? Emotions that aren’t helpful anymore, and people end up doing lighter and better, they just feel more like themselves. It doesn’t change their personality or anything. It makes them feel … – it’s like returning them to themselves.
Jenn:
So, I think a lot of people’s exposure to hypnosis, though, it isn’t always – … it’s what we see on TV, or … magic shows.
Erika:
Yeah. Totally!
Jenn:
And so, I think people are always concerned about what – are you gonna put something in my mind, or are you just helping me take things out of it, when we do hypnosis?
Erika:
Right. Right. And … both is true, but what I put in people’s minds are always things that we talked about ahead of time, and so, I’m not putting it there, it’s … “Oh, hey, … do you want the message that you drink … five glasses of water every day,” that type of a thing, where you enjoy some type of activity or you’re eating healthy, or maybe … you’re eating – you’re eating – eating particular types of food, but as a hypnotist, it’s a big part of my job, is to help people understand really what hypnosis is.
Jenn:
Right.
Erika:
… What do you see in Hollywood, in the movies, and even to some extent, stage shows at the fair, that type of thing, that’s not really what you do in the hypnosis office, right? Some people ask me, “Are you gonna make me bark like a dog?” and I’m … “Well, I don’t think that that would therapeutically be anything of value to you, so no!” I’m not, at all. But here is the bottom line: hypnosis is a normal and natural state of mind. We go into state of hypnosis every single day, so it’s normal, natural, it’s not anything that you haven’t already done before. Anytime that you’re doing something and you just … lose track of time because you’re highly focused?
Jenn:
Right. Wow!
Erika:
That’s very likely a state of hypnosis, so watching a really good television show, or a really good movie or … maybe – I – I’ve had a bunch of people … watching sports programs or going to a concert or something like that, they’re highly focused. And so, that’s all hypnosis is, and it’s really – .. it’s not mind control at all, the hypnotist has no control over the client at all. It’s – it’s really about that client getting more control over their own life, is really what it comes down to, and … nobody can be hypnotized against their will. And so, it really comes down to, “Yes, I want help,” and – and when they want that help, then you talk to them about the changes that they want to make.
Jenn:
Wow. I – that technique, right there, sounds amazing, and let’s lift it a little bit, and what advice would you give to any want-to-be authors out there, who are having trouble with that control and that focus? What’s something they can do to maybe focus on their topics and get their books written?
Erika:
Begin with the end in mind. Imagine that you’re seeing your – whomever your ideal reader is. Imagine that they are now achieving the result that they want. And then, imagine, maybe, that you’ve interviewed them, or that you’re talking with them and seeing – so, im – beginning with the end in mind is really important, and – and recognizing that information doesn’t really teach people.
Jenn:
Right. Right!
Erika:
… we – we are …information overload. Information doesn’t teach people, right? It is – … when we do things, right? Or when we feel something, so that’s why this book is full of really great inspirational stories, I want somebody to feel something and resonate with it. That’s what changes people and teaches them something. The story about the girl who doesn’t have to drink Margaritas on top of Tuesday anymore, right? The – the – the guy who used to drink wine and – and riding his bike, but now realizes he just really likes to be out riding his bike, he doesn’t need to drink half a bottle of – of wine anymore. Or somebody … who realizes that the food never really helped them feel better, and so, they’re not feeling well emotionally, the best thing for them to do is call their sister on the phone or go for a walk around the block.
Jenn:
Wow. So powerful. I love how – how, maybe, we’ve just helped some listeners start to reprogram their weight and focus on their book.We couldn’t ask for a better episode. Thank you, Erika!
Erika:
Oh, my pleasure! This has been a lot of fun, yeah, … I’m just really grateful to be Difference Press and Angela Lauria, the Author Incubator, for everything that they’ve done in helping me get this message out there.
Jenn:
Thank you. If anyone listening wants to get in touch with Erika, you can find her on the web, cascadehypnosiscenter.com, cascadehim – hypnosistraining.com, or reprogramyourweight.com. Any of those will lead you to Erika and maybe working with her. Thank you so much for joining us and Erika on this journey that we’ve had today, about weight loss and writing your book and really following your dreams.
Erika:
….
Jenn:
Thank you and join us next week.