Many diet companies are guilty of lying to their clients about weight loss, because they pretend that the most important thing to do is to go on their diet. In fact their diet is completely unnecessary for weight loss, and in the end will only make the poor client fatter! If you want weight loss, and especially if you want permanent weight loss, then stress and other lifestyle factors need to be looked at!

What is the harm done by stress? A healthy reaction to stress includes the release of a hormone called cortisol, and so far so good. But too much stress produces way too much cortisol and we experience damage to our entire body function, including our metabolic rate.

If you have persistent stress in your life, if you have an anxiety disorder or panic, or if you suffer from frequent fear or worry, then you are at risk of physical damage, and you most likely have a reduced matabolic rate. The best thing you can possibly do is to seek help to eliminate excess stress.

However it should never be simply presumed that if someone has all the symptoms of anxiety, that they have an anxiety disorder! This is because there are several physical illnesses which also produce those symptoms, and left untreated these could have tragic consequences. Always, have your symptoms thoroughly investigated by your doctor to exclude underlying pathology. (Eg thyroid disorder can produce all of the symptoms of the anxiety disorders, and yet is frequently missed.)

The bad news is that most of the treatments you'll be recommended to nowadays are way out of date. These include CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and medication, simply because they take so long to have any effect (and often have no benefit at all).

Another way that people try to manage their stress or cover up the symptoms is with drugs such as alcohol, or by smoking. Studies show that these things actually increase stress overall, as well as being damaging to the body, so your program should investigate your use (if any) of these substances so that you can recover and live a full and happy life without them.

In choosing a therapist or program to help you with your stress or anxiety, always look for one which is backed by clinical research, NOT by client testimonials.

Testimonials do not constitute proof. For example almost everyone can point to someone whom they've heard stopped smoking through using hypnosis. However all studies show that hypnosis works for less than 1% of people. This miserable success rate, no better than trying to stop cold turkey, doesn't stop the snake oil merchants from putting up dozens of testimonials asserting that hypnosis cures smoking.

You need to be aware that the placebo effect can be responsible for the improvement of a few people even when the majority are unhelped by a particular treatment. The beauty of ignoring testimonials and using only those treatments backed by validated research is that at least you know the placebo effect has been calculated out of the results!

The most modern and effective treatment for anxiety today is called Brief, Multi-Sensory Activation (BMSA). The reason it's so effective is that it "de-links" the stress response from whatever thought or situation used to cause it.

For example, you might have a fear of going outside, and feel incredibly stressed or panicky each time you think of going out the front door, or getting into the car. With BMSA you'd deliberately hold a mildly-stressful thought in your mind at the same time as you applied the technique. You'd very quickly discover that you were unable to bring up the stressful feeling, even though you might try very hard to do so.

The beauty of dealing with stress is that you don't just get to improve your metabolic rate on one level, but on several, so you get an exponential benefit. For example when your stress levels are reduced, your mood improves (reducing depression) and your sleep also improves. A high mood and quality sleep both impact positively on your metabolic rate, further helping you to achieve permanent weight loss.

Why not start enjoying those benefits right now, and make a decision to identify and resolve all of the unwanted stress and anxiety in your life!