Interview with Kathy Balland

Lose the Diet: Transform Your Body by Connecting with Your Soul
Kathy Balland
Blissful Publications (2009)
ISBN 9780982183106
Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (4/09)

Today, Tyler R. Tichelaar of Reader Views is pleased to interview Kathy Balland, who is here to talk about her new book “Lose the Diet: Transform your body by connecting with your soul.”

Kathy Balland is an expert in the mind-body-soul connection, teaching people how to tap into their own inner power for success. Clinically certified in hypnotherapy, her publications and seminars provide deep insights into the true causes and real remedies that have liberated minds from barriers that have prevented many from achieving their goals. As the author of “Lose the Diet: Transform your body by connecting with your soul” and president of Blissful Publications LLC, Kathy provides information to enrich and empower people to achieve happiness and wellness. She is a graduate of the University of Phoenix and the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts as a Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner. She is clinically certified by the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners and is certified by the American Board of Hypnotherapy. In addition, Kathy has studied nutrition for weight management, addiction, and stress management. From her education and study of the mind-body-soul connection, Kathy has written articles and has spoken about personal empowerment through the power of the mind and its positive impact on people's lives.

Tyler:  Welcome, Kathy. I’m excited to talk to you today about “Lose the Diet.” First, I want to ask you just why people should lose or give up on the idea of a diet. Why don’t diets seem to work for people?

Kathy:  Thank you, Tyler. First of all, when we understand how dieting (or deprivation) impacts the mind and body, then we can understand why dieting backfires. From a physical standpoint, if we stop eating regularly, then the body begins to produce an enzyme that makes it more difficult for fat to be released into the bloodstream where it can be used as energy. You see, fat is really stored energy. The reason the body does this is because it is trying to conserve energy, in a sense believing there is a food shortage. In other words, if you compare it to the economy—people are conserving money by spending less. So dieting—or deprivation does not work from a physical standpoint.

What is even more interesting is how the subconscious mind reacts to dieting. The subconscious is about 88% of our mind, and it is where our habits, emotions and imagination are. I often think of it as the soul, since it remembers everything and really runs the show. It is what heals us. After all, if you have a cut on your finger, do you have to think consciously about fixing it? Another example of how the subconscious mind works is when you drive home, do you sometimes pull into your driveway and wonder how you got there because you don’t remember driving the entire route home? It was your subconscious mind that got you there.

In the same way, the subconscious is driving the emotional eating. You can try all you want to tell yourself not to eat something, but if there is a memory, a habit or an emotion that is attached to the process of eating, who do you think will win? Let’s just say that it is not the 12% percent of your mind (the conscious mind) that likes to believe that it is in charge of everything. (It is this conscious level where you decide that you are going to diet and only eat certain foods, or not eat at all.)

Not only that, but the subconscious mind does not process negatives. So the more you tell yourself you will not eat something, the more you will want it. Each time you think: “I will not eat that cookie” the subconscious hears “I will eat that cookie”. The word “not” does not compute at the subconscious level. And, if you are familiar with the law of attraction—the more you focus on something, the more you will get of it. Even if it is something that you do not want, such as more weight.

The subconscious is actually a positive place, and we can use that to our advantage. That is what affirmations are. People use affirmations for various things, and they can also be used to help us communicate to ourselves what we really want. We can focus on thoughts such as: “I am healthy, happy and at my ideal weight.” In other words, avoid using negative terms such as “lose” weight. The subconscious does not like to lose.

Tyler:  Kathy, what do our souls have to do with losing weight? Isn’t it about counting calories and not overeating?

Kathy:  As I was saying, I refer to the soul as really the subconscious level of the mind which is in charge. But also, the more we focus on the numbers (calories, carbs, fat grams, etc.) and our desire to control them, the more we actually lose control.

For example, there was a study in which two groups of women were given a plate of cookies. The first group was on a “diet” and the second group was willing to allow themselves to enjoy the cookies. In the end, the dieting group consumed more of the cookies because they were worried about the calories, and the more they tried to deprive themselves, the more they were driven to eat the cookies. Think of it this way:  Were our ancestors worried about calories? Did they know what carbs were? They enjoyed their food without focusing on dieting. And as a society, we are heavier than they were.

Tyler:  Kathy, while I understand our ancestors didn’t count calories, isn’t it true they probably also ate more healthy foods than us—most of them had their own gardens, and of course there wasn’t fast food. And also, is it possible they did not eat as much because there was more scarcity of food? Then again, we hear that we have better nutrition today, which is responsible among other things for children reaching sexual maturity at a younger age. Is it fair to make a comparison between our eating habits and those of our ancestors? Isn’t it more than just counting calories? What are other differences?

Kathy:  I suppose that during certain times of war and famine, you could say that food was scarce. But overall, the food that people ate and the way that they prepared it was different. In speaking with the older generations, I have discovered that a person would eat a full breakfast (by the way—eating breakfast helps to keep the metabolism going) and then they went out and completed a “hard” day’s work as they continued to eat full meals.

In the past, the food was less processed, and often came from a garden. Nowadays we are finding that eating organic food is healthier, which is taking us back to the way things used to be. You see, if you pick a vegetable and then photograph it with a Kirlian camera, you can actually see the energy around it. It also has its nutrients in tact. But when we process it as we often do these days, it takes away that natural energy and many of the nutrients go with it. Then we have to eat more of the processed food in order to get the same amount of nutritional value that the whole foods have. (Not to mention the high fructose corn syrup and sugar that is added to most processed foods, which simply adds empty calories.)

We can become somewhat “addicted” to the rich flavor of processed foods that contain more sugar and fat than natural foods, and as a result—the natural foods may seem bland. If you are used to eating mostly processed foods, it’s important to keep in mind that it takes between 60 and 90 days to re-sensitize the taste buds to natural foods. But once you do, you will enjoy them much more.

In the chapter titled “Love:  The Main Ingredient” I discuss the energy of food and also the way that we prepare food affects its energy. If you know about quantum physics, then you know that everything is energy. If someone is stressed out, can that stress be transferred to our food? Quite possibly. Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto has spent years studying the effects of a person’s thoughts on the formation of water crystals. His photographs are pretty interesting.

When grandma baked a pie—or whatever else she prepared, she was in essence putting some love into the food that she made for her family. Do you think that we are getting the same love in our food when we run through the drive through and pick up fast food? The lack of love—or positive energy, gives new meaning to the word “empty” calories. A person’s response to this may be “but I don’t have time to prepare a meal.” In my book, I make suggestions to help you with that.

Tyler:  What are reasons why people overeat, or fail to eat nutritiously, and how can they change this?

Kathy:  The key is to understand what is going on—on the inside, instead of looking for the answers in a diet or pill. You see, the only one who holds the key is you. You might say that you should “feed your soul,” and the outside (weight) will take care of itself.

Often times in our busy society, we lose the connection with ourselves and we become “out of touch” with how we really feel. Sometimes our self-esteem is not as good as it could be, and we learn not to trust ourselves. We therefore believe that someone else has the answer. When we feel this way, we give up our power (and put it in the hands of someone else.) Like the person that we think has the “quick fix.” But it is really not quick, because we wind up spending a lot of time (and money) going from one diet to the next searching for the answer, but never really finding it.

When we re-connect with our feelings, or wants and needs, then we can understand the cause of the binge eating. There are many possible reasons why someone is eating in a “disconnected” way, and are not in the moment. For example, you can stop and write down your feelings, or ask yourself what is really behind the eating. Are you tired and looking for quick energy? Are you feeling lonely? Are you grieving? Are you angry with the boss? In other words, what is it that you are really craving? Because that is what your subconscious is trying to tell you. As we know, trying to fix the problem with food will not work, and the vicious cycle will continue. We need to love and trust ourselves enough to satisfy our wants and needs.

If you are tired, then how can you satisfy that? Are you trying to do too much and not take care of yourself? Do you need to connect with other people—such as support from a friend or support group? My book contains an entire chapter on connecting with others to help satisfy our soul. (Women in particular benefit from support, and I mention how we—as a society have gotten away from connecting with other people.)

Tyler:  Stress is obviously a major factor in why we eat the wrong things. Does stress affect how our bodies process foods? Is stress just a state of mind, and if so, is there a way we can connect to our minds and souls so our bodies can absorb it better, or even eliminate it from our lives?

Kathy:  Yes, stress is certainly a major factor. In the book, I have a chapter called “Breathe” which addresses this topic. I think that we have created such a demand on ourselves in today’s world, and we need once again to take a look at taking care of ourselves. I like to compare it to the oxygen masks on an aircraft. The flight attendant tells us that we should take some oxygen first so that we are actually better able to help others—in addition to helping ourselves.

From a physical standpoint, stress causes the body to release the hormone cortisol which promotes weight gain, particularly abdominal fat. I give several suggestions on how to eliminate stress, or at least let go of stress when it occurs. For example, laughter is a great stress-reliever, and people (such as Norman Cousins) have proven that laughter is healing to both the mind and body.

Exercise can be a great stress reliever, especially if it is an activity that we truly enjoy. For me, exercise really helps me to sleep better, and as a result, I have reduced my stress level because I am not feeling tired. Then we have the added benefit of creating muscle that burns excess fat, even when we are sitting still. (Keep in mind that it takes about twenty-one days to create a habit, such as getting regular exercise. Once you do, you will miss it if you don’t do it.) We can meditate to relieve stress, and I use guided meditation to help people to relax and re-connect. (You can get a free half hour guided meditation by signing up on my website at:  www.LoseTheDiet.com.)

Tyler:  When you talk about connecting with yourself and your soul in the book, do you recommend any specific ways people can do so?

Kathy:  As I had mentioned, the guided meditation is both a stress reliever and it helps us to reconnect to the subconscious by using metaphors. (A metaphor is a story that is symbolic of something else.) The free meditation on my website allows you to tap into your imagination (remember I said the imagination is at the subconscious level) by taking you along a beautiful mountain path—getting past any obstacles in your way, so that you can reach the top of the mountain and achieve your goal—which can be a healthy weight.

In the chapter on Re-Connecting with Yourself, I give other suggestions on how you can reconnect. The reason I say “re-connect” is because when we are a child, we are living at the subconscious level and really do not develop a “conscious” mind until around the age of seven. This is why children are very imaginative (and emotional), and they are able to absorb information so well. They are busy asking questions and learning. They are also having fun playing, and are not concerned about calories—but living in the moment. As we grow older, we often lose that connection with ourselves.

Other tools for re-connecting with ourselves include:  Discovering what your wants and needs are, and then filling those wants and needs. I also discuss re-connecting from a spiritual standpoint. For some it may be God, and for others it may be nature or something else that they can relate to. This can help us to find an inner peace. Ultimately, when we connect mind, body and soul we can discover a balance. When we do so, our negative eating habits can change much more easily and effortlessly.

Tyler:  Kathy, are there certain wants or needs that people have that make them prone to over-eating or having weight issues? For example, are single moms more likely than middle-aged businessmen to have weight issues? Is someone mourning a loved one more likely than someone with a drug addiction?

Kathy:  No. The reasons for a weight imbalance are virtually endless, and everyone is unique in how they respond to various issues.

Tyler:  Kathy, while much of being overweight has to do with eating patterns, spurred on by subconscious beliefs, what about metabolism? Aren’t some people’s bodies just naturally designed to lose weight more quickly than others, and if that’s the case, will connecting with the spiritual side still help people with low metabolisms?

Kathy:  Most definitely. Re-connecting can help anyone and everyone. But an important part of the process is loving yourself, which includes not comparing yourself to others and all of the charts that tell you what “normal” is. Some of us will never have the bone structure that will make us “petite,” and therefore we will never be the weight of a tiny person. But why would you want to be? The person who goes overboard to lose weight sometimes becomes anorexic or bulimic, and that’s not healthy. When we love and respect ourselves, we want to have a healthy body.

Tyler:  Are there groups people can join to help them? For example, we hear a lot about TOPS, Weight Watchers, and Jenny Craig, but would you recommend Overeaters Anonymous over those groups because it has a more a spiritual connection, or are their other ways people can support one another in achieving weight loss?

Kathy:  In this case, I like the term:  Whatever works. We are all different, and what works for one person may not work for another. But I will say once again that it is not about weighing ourselves and counting calories. In my book, I talk about Nancy Makin who reached 703 pounds after a divorce. She spent years living alone, and did not leave her home. She attempted to satisfy her feelings of loneliness with food.

But when her sister gave her a computer, she began to connect with other people. These people did not know that Nancy was heavy, because they did not see her, and they really came to love and support her for who she was on the inside.

As a result, Nancy lost over 500 pounds without dieting, counting calories, or watching the scale. She was simply feeling fulfilled and loved, and her self esteem improved. So actually, a person may benefit from all types of support—not just a weight type of group. Are you eating to satisfy unresolved grief? Then perhaps what you really need is a support group with people who understand the type of grief you are experiencing. I was involved in one for years, and the friend that I have had the longest is from that group. Over the years, we often laugh and talk for hours even though we live at opposite ends of the country. The reality is that connecting with others can help us to connect with ourselves. And when we do, the weight can find its own balance—especially when we are not paying attention to it but simply enjoying the moment.

Tyler:  Kathy, in introducing you, I mentioned that you’re also a hypnotist. How might hypnotism help a person lose weight?

Kathy:  To be honest, I prefer the word “hypnotherapist” since I think people associate hypnotists with stage shows. But being a clinical hypnotherapist is nothing like that. In hypnotherapy, we use the guided meditations that I had mentioned previously to help people to relax and re-connect with themselves. We can also give positive suggestions that will help them to respond at the subconscious level.

Other tools include regression. In other words, if a person has an unresolved experience from the past (which could be when they began putting on the weight) then we can help them to find out what that experience was and also help them to heal from it, so that they can release the weight. It is important to keep in mind that “all hypnosis is self hypnosis.” A hypnotherapist is simply there to guide you.

Tyler:  Kathy, will you tell us your personal story—was there something in particular that led you to writing “Lose the Diet”?

Kathy:  I admit that I am a former yo-yo dieter. I used to watch the scale. But as I learned in Nutrition, the body mass index (which tells us what we “should” weigh) is inaccurate because it does not take into account our muscle mass and bone density. In other words:  We are all different. (There is no one in the universe that is exactly like you.) So, I learned to appreciate who I was, and learned to believe in myself and stop focusing on the scale. As a result, my self-esteem improved, and my weight stopped yo-yoing.

After a while, I became more and more interested in the mind-body connection, and began taking classes. I completed a program called Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner, and became clinically certified in hypnotherapy. I learned not only about obesity, but also about anorexia and other eating disorders. Then I really began to put the pieces of the puzzle together as far as why there is a weight imbalance in our society.

When I worked with clients, I discovered that weight was the primary issue that people wanted help with. And it seems that every time I turn on the TV or open a magazine, there is another “quick fix” for weight loss—which has fueled my desire to help people. I have always had a passion for writing and wrote several articles. But as time went on I realized that I had to write a book so that I could really reach people with some great information for permanent weight management.

Tyler:  Since your book focuses on the mind-body connection, where does the body fit in? Is referring to the “mind-body” connection another way to say you have to exercise to lose weight?

Kathy:  I am saying that the mind affects the body, and the body also affects the mind. What you think and how you feel impacts the body in various ways. Many people such as Louise Hay have discussed how our thoughts and emotions (such as stress) can lead to disease. I like to say that “a weight imbalance is a physical manifestation of a lack of connection with yourself.”

But the body can also impact the mind. In the chapter called “How Sweet It Is” I discuss the sugar connection, and how consuming too much sugar ultimately impacts our emotions. This can create a cycle of the mental and emotional need for sugar due to the changes that sugar can make in the body. This is not to say that we cannot enjoy dessert or a great piece of chocolate. Again, the key word is “enjoy” and not use it for emotional reasons which can put us on a “sugar roller coaster,” or the physical and emotional need for sugar.

Regarding exercise, as I mentioned previously exercising can result in better sleep and improved stress management in addition to weight management. I do believe that exercise is very important. Not just when it comes to weight, but building muscle helps to maintain good posture and keeps us from having to use a cane when we grow old. (As we age, if we are not getting regular exercise we generally lose a half pound of muscle per year, which is replaced with a pound and a half of fat.)

When we are children we get more exercise because we like to play. So if you can once again tap into what it is that you enjoy doing, then you can stay active. But if you try to take up an exercise that you really do not like, then you probably will not stick with it and you will be searching once again. This is why I use the term:  Connecting with your Soul (which I think of as the heart because we associate that with emotions.) In other words, what does your heart tell you?

Tyler:  What kinds of responses have you received so far to “Lose the Diet”?

Kathy:  I have been receiving great responses. Not only from people who are discovering this information for the first time, but from people who have been there. A woman who had already lost 100 pounds bought my book, and also took several of them and sold them to her friends. She said:  “This is what I have been trying to tell people!” She told me that I had put into words what she has been trying to convey about her weight loss journey and re-discovering herself. The result has been a happier and healthier person, who wanted to be around as long as possible, especially for her family. I think that is the best part!

Tyler:  Thank you for letting me interview you today, Kathy. Before we go, will you tell our readers about your website and what additional information they may find there about “Lose the Diet:  Transform your body by connecting with your soul”?

Kathy:  The website is:  www.LoseTheDiet.com. You can purchase the book there, and also sign up for the free guided meditation and my ezine. I also have a blog, and a few resources there. The book is also available through retailers and Amazon. If you buy the book and like it, I would appreciate a positive review! You can also follow me on Twitter at Lose the Diet.

Tyler:  Thank you again, Kathy, for coming forward and sharing your message today which I know is going to help many people finally get their weight under control. Keep up the good work.