Lisa Murphy Counselling & Hypnotherapy

Help binge eating with mindfulness

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Binge eating is an increasingly common problem nowadays. It can often creep up on people unnoticed, and before they know it it’s taken over their lives. What is binge eating? Binge eating disorder is the act of compulsively eating excessive amounts of food on a regular basis.  Sufferers often feel unable to stop, and lose control over the ability to regulate their food intake. Binge eating can lead to weight gain, and other health issues, both physical and mental. How can mindfulness be helpful for binge eating? A central problem with binge eating is one of disconnection: disconnection of theContinue Reading

Hypnosis for health motivation – Lifestyle Reboot

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Does hypnosis really work for health and fitness motivation?  In my experience, yes – it’s one of the most powerful methods available. A few days ago I turned 49, and even though those years keep creeping on up on me there’s one thing I don’t have to worry about – gaining weight. Why? Because I’ve taught myself to CRAVE healthy food and exercise – simple as that. I’ve consistently used self-hypnosis to help keep me motivated to eat healthy foods and love exercising. I share how to do this in my ‘Lifestyle Reboot’ program. It’s a one-to-one comprehensive 6-week courseContinue Reading

Dairy-free caffeine-free turmeric chai latte recipe

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Turmeric lattes and chai lattes seem to be all the rage lately in the cool cafes (of which we are blessed with many here in Glasgow!).  Everyone raves about the health benefits of turmeric, so I decided to make my own dairy-free and caffeine-free version, using rooibos tea (a lovely healthy caffeine-free substitute for black tea – also known as redbush). I’m all about caffeine-free drinks because giving up caffeine can be one of the most simple and effective things we can do if we suffer from stress, anxiety, or insomnia.  Sure, it can be tough because caffeine is inContinue Reading

9 ways to get healthy AND save money

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With all the uncertainty around the economy at the moment, it’s easy to start thinking that it just costs too much to lead a healthy lifestyle. You might despair at the rising price of good quality food that hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides, compared to the cheap (and nasty) junk food that’s so easily available. When you see the pictures of top celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow  glowing with health you might think – ‘well, it’s ok for them, with their private chef, personal trainer, and fancy superfoods!’. And yes, that’s probably true, but there are lots of ways us mere mortals can have aContinue Reading

Is it time to Spring clean your kitchen?

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Take a look around your kitchen. On a scale of 1 – 10, how easy would you say it is to be unhealthy in here? For instance, a ‘10’ would look something like this: Cupboards bursting full to the brim with chocolate Takeaway menus poking out of all the drawers, enticing you with enthralling pictures of curries kebabs and pizzas Fridge full of convenience foods and cans of lager Multi-packs of crisps, next to the biscuit tin on the counter, right by the kettle. Now ask yourself, how easy is it to eat healthily in here? If you wanted toContinue Reading

Are you speaking your body’s language?

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‘Listen to your body’ is a phrase that is often repeated in holistic health circles.  But what is the good of listening when you might not be speaking the same language?  It would be about as useful as listening patiently to somebody chattering away in French, and not understanding a word. It is important to get to know how to ‘translate’ your body’s signs and signals, and to work out the best way to react to them. For example, how often have you reached for a coffee and something sweet when you experienced that slump in energy mid-afternoon?  Your bodyContinue Reading

Hunting for fun, food for pleasure, and what Cecil the lion can teach us about conscious eating

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The tragic death of Cecil the lion has touched people’s hearts and caused a real uproar. Never before has there been such a passionate outcry among the general public about the cruelty of hunting these noble animals for sport. Even people who didn’t take much notice of badger culling or fox hunting have been up in arms about Cecil. A friend of mine started quite a debate on his Facebook page when he commented that it was hypocritical to show such concern for Cecil the lion, and then eat animals that had been slaughtered for food. The first thing thatContinue Reading

Lose weight without dieting

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Do you ever wish you could lose weight without dieting? Well, the good news is, you CAN!  In fact, gradual changes of lifestyle and eating habits are far more effective for long-term weight loss than ‘going on a diet’. “I need to go on a diet”… “I can’t wait to get off this diet”… How often do you hear phrases like this bandied around?  People often refer to ‘a diet’ as some kind of temporary torture they have to go through, before they can stop and return to their ‘normal’ way of eating. But they’ve got it all wrong!!  A dietContinue Reading

Dandelion Root Caffeine-free Koffucha – healthy soda alternative

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Koffucha is probably not a word you’ve heard much before (if ever).  It’s a variation of ‘Kombucha‘, which is a probiotic drink made from fermented tea. That might not initially sound very appetising to you, but trust me, Koffucha is completely delicious! Some people use regular coffee to make koffucha, but I am really sensitive to caffeine so I started experimenting and making it with various herbal teas and coffee substitutes such as roasted dandelion root.  I’ve had my fair share of kitchen disasters during my crazy fermentation experiments, but I have found dandelion root works very well. Healthy soda There’s something about fizzy drinks that everybody seemsContinue Reading

Eating a healthy diet – 7 easy ways to get motivated

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Eating a healthy diet is often looked upon as something that takes a lot of effort.  It can be hard to motivate yourself into changing your diet when you are surrounded by ‘convenience’ foods which have been manufactured and promoted in such a way so as to make them easily available and highly addictive. It’s so easy to grab some fast food in a box from a supermarket or takeaway, whereas eating healthy wholefoods can require a little more forward planning. We are often told by authority figures to eat healthily.  From our mums telling us to eat our greens, toContinue Reading