THERAPIST OFFERS ‘THE RIGHT WEIGH' AT BOCA SEMINAR

Rena Greenberg got her “wake-up call” at age 25.

“I'd been healthy, energetic and enjoying my youth fully,” she said. Then, “mysteriously, I started to feel chronically exhausted.”

After going from doctor to doctor, she found the physician who diagnosed her problem. “I was taken directly to the cardiac-care unit where the chief cardiologist announced that I had the heart of an 80-year old.”

She endured a battery of treatments -- including insertion of a pacemaker.

As a result of her youthful, near-death experience, Greenberg chose to devote her life to health – her own and that of others.

Today, the slim, red-haired lady is an ordained minister, with a master's degree in divinity. She also founded Wellness Seminars, Inc., located in Bradenton , in 1990 and continues to head the program that offers weight control and smoking cessation at sites all over the country.

She offers one-day courses in “The Right Weigh” – which happens to be the title of her book about the 40-day, six-step plan for weight control “that combines both a practical and spiritual approach.”

Also part of the formula is hypnosis. She is a certified hypnotherapist, and she has brought her weight loss programs to about 70 hospitals around the nation, along with companies such as Walt Disney World, Anheuser Busch, AT&T and Home Depot.

Since 1991, Greenberg has also been presenting her course at Boca Raton Community Hospital at 800 Meadows Rd in the hospital's education center.

Greenberg said she uses a mind-body-spirit approach to weight control – a combination she said will bring permanent results.

“it teaches a person how to choose healthy foods, eat smaller portions and increase activity – all without feeling deprived or denied,” she told the Boca Raton News.

But dieters need to stay motivated to reach their goals, she said. And that's where hypnosis comes in.

“Everyone knows what to do to lose weight,” she said. “Consciously, you know that you have to eat smaller portions, choose healthier foods and increase your activity level. But the obstacles to success are not in your conscious mind.”

Hypnosis addresses the subconscious and helps to change those habits by changing the way people think about themselves and food.

“When the clock strikes noon – it's lunch time. If you have a program in your subconscious that says you have to eat lunch every day at noon, whether you are hungry or not, guess what? That is exactly what you are going to do.”

But the Wellness Seminars seek to change those thoughts. “And when we change our thoughts, our behavior changes as well.”

“Our subconscious is like a computer running a program automatically,” she said. “It keeps repeating the same behaviors over and over.”

Hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation and focused concentration making it easier for suggestions made during that state to have a lasting impact.

Some people can overcome their subconscious habits in a single session. Others, two or three. Some have more difficulty.

“I think everyone needs reinforcement,” she said.

Janice Holden of Boca Raton lost 120 pounds using Greenberg's system. “It changed my life,” she said. “I am no longer seeking the latest fad diet.”

During her session, Greenberg will encourage clients to change their perception of food. “Exaggerate the bad feelings associated with eating harmful foods,” she said. “Make these negative feelings as real for yourself as possible.”

“When you change the way you think about food, your habits will automatically and effortlessly begin to support your desire to live your life healthy and fit,” she added.