Many of us went on diets, went in for sports and arranged fasting days to lose a couple of extra pounds. But what was the surprise when the gone centimeters returned again, or even increased by 2-3 times. As it turned out, such methods do not always help. This was first stated by Svetlana Bronnikova, a practicing psychotherapist and clinical psychologist, currently residing in the Netherlands. What is the basis of its methods? Do they work or not?
Short biography of Svetlana Bronnikova
Svetlana was born on May 28, 1973 in Moscow in an ordinary average family. Unfortunately, nothing more is known about her parents and other relatives. And all this is out of place. The main thing is that Ms. Bronnikova has a huge store of knowledge, and in many different directions. So, in 1996, she graduated from Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov (Moscow State University), where she studied at the Faculty of Psychology.
Exactly four years later, the defense of the candidate’s dissertation of our heroine took place in the building of Moscow State University. Svetlana Bronnikova chose the existing problem of female prostitution as the main theme of her work. In her project, the girl considered the object of discussion from the point of view of psychology.
Interestingly, while planning a dissertation, Svetlana was preparing to qualify as a gestalt therapist. And after a certain retraining in the field of psychology, which took place in the premises of the former first Medical Institute, the author received the long-awaited skills.
Theory, practice and gaining experience
Surprisingly, her studies did not limit Svetlana in her endeavors, but, on the contrary, gave her strength. Despite all the busyness, she still managed to develop as an individual. Svetlana Bronnikova is a psychologist (the biography of the heroine mainly describes her studies), who was interested in comprehending the basics of science that go beyond the scope of the educational program at the university. She intensively engaged in self-education, and most importantly, worked hard on the knowledge of her own inner world.
Svetlana began to practice as a psychotherapist and psychologist even before she received a specialist diploma. Since 1995, our heroine began to try herself as the author of various articles. Currently, she has made over 50 publications in psychology. Moreover, some of them were written in Russian, another in English and German, and a third in Dutch.
Where, how and by whom did she work?
After receiving a specialized education, Svetlana Bronnikova (psychologist) continued to work and work on self-development. So, she worked at the Podcast Records studio, where she taught everyone who wants the skills of the right psychological podcast. Later she began to be invited to various shows and programs, where she acted as an expert. And this applied not only to television, but also to radio.
Even later, Svetlana was carried away by the original curriculum in psychology, having mastered which, she began to teach their basics at Moscow University of RAO. It is noteworthy that even this new hobby did not stop our heroine. In search of new discoveries and sensations, the author went to work in one of the capital's psychiatric clinics. According to her, it was here that she was able to see the realities of life of people suffering from various mental disorders.
At the end of 2002, Svetlana Bronnikova moved to Belgium, where she was offered to lead the project of medical and social psychological assistance needed for Russian-speaking drug addicts.
In the period from 2008 to 2010, the heroine went to conquer the Netherlands. It was there that she went through an excellent practice as a clinical psychologist. Here, the author had to work under the Ministry of Justice in one of the men's penal colonies.
Blog and work on copyright programs
After some time, Svetlana Bronnikova (clinical psychologist) decided to become a blogger and moderator of one of the most famous online communities Psy-baby, where the main topic was child psychology.
Since 2011, the author has become interested in overweight problems, as well as eating disorders. Fascinated by the new topic, Svetlana reviewed a lot of popular science videos, studied the work of famous European and domestic nutritionists, and also conducted her own research, based on her knowledge. As a result, she managed to develop a number of techniques, one of which will be discussed below.
Svetlana Bronnikova: “Intuitive nutrition”
So, one of the most striking techniques developed by our heroine is the Intuitive Nutrition project. In it, Svetlana teaches to do without diets and dispels the most common myths of losing weight.
The author takes the body's natural need for food as the basis of the method. According to her, you can eat everything, but only when you really want it. Moreover, progress will occur only if a person who wants to lose weight learns to distinguish between real and false urges of hunger. According to the author, the latter make us gain extra pounds. Svetlana describes this technique in detail in the book of the same name and audio files.
A couple of simple tricks from the Bronikova training manual
In her publication, Svetlana Bronnikova (“Intuitive nutrition” is meant hereinafter) describes the essence of the method, and also gives advice on its simplest development. For example, a psychologist cites one of the simplest options that allow you to accustom the body to listen to yourself. It consists in the following: first you ask yourself what you would like to eat right now (for example, you cannot live without chocolate with nuts), then you buy a certain supply of your favorite treat and start eating it when you want.
According to the psychologist, with this approach, firstly, the body is saturated (you will no longer need chocolate). Secondly, new taste sensations are formed, which did not exist before. For example, you might want plain milk. Thirdly, such an exercise will subsequently avoid overeating, since in the absence of control you still buy a mountain of chocolate and overeat.
In her book, Svetlana Bronnikova (“Intuitive Nutrition” - one of the author’s first serious works on the fight against excess weight) also raises a children's theme. In it, she teaches to correctly identify the needs of the child, to monitor his nutrition and taste preferences. For example, before dinner, it is worth asking the baby what he wants to eat. At the same time, the very process of searching for a particular dish can be turned into an exciting detective game. For this purpose, the parents of the child will have to ask certain questions in the style of: “Will it be something liquid or something that can be poured into a flat plate?”, “Does it have eggs or meat?” etc.
Listen to Your Inner Self
Svetlana Bronnikova is sure that it is almost impossible to achieve an ideal figure without knowing her inner “I”. That is, if you have already eaten and still sit at the table, try to find out what this is connected with. Are you really not full or just want to talk with your family members who also gathered at dinner.
Learn to love your reflection in the mirror
One of the most important psychological techniques, the author believes, is to increase one's own self-esteem. To do this, you need to regularly look in the mirror and study the details of your body. According to the expert, you need to get used to any form and love yourself for who you are.
Do not chase new-fangled diets, exhausting yourself with hunger. The same goes for sports. If, for example, morning running does not raise your mood, and all exercises during warm-up cause only negative emotions, this type of physical activity is not suitable for you. “Such sports,” says Svetlana Bronnikova (psychologist, her photo can be found above), “will not bring proper results. On the contrary, when making certain movements through force, you will often begin to take off the load and skip training. ”
Get used to your weight
According to the therapist, do not rush to lose extra pounds. This is especially true in the summertime, when many urgently want to get rid of what they ate in the winter. On the contrary, you should get used to your own weight. Reason this way: "If my weight is today, then it suits my body and is normal."
Are there any contraindications for the Bronnikova technique?
From the story of Bronnikova it follows that according to her method, absolutely everyone can engage in it (without limitation by age and weight category). Moreover, the author is confident that the system of intuitive nutrition exists in every person from birth. That's just over time, these settings get lost.
However, in this technique, the author says, there are exceptions. In particular, this applies to people with an increased level of anxiety about their body weight. Such individuals are more likely to starve themselves rather than agree to recover at least a couple of kilograms.
But even such people, the therapist-psychologist believes, can be dealt with only with an integrated approach. That is, in addition to establishing a nutrition system, such individuals need to undergo a course of psychotherapy. It is this treatment that Svetlana Bronnikova strongly recommends. “Intuitive nutrition” (feedback on this method can be heard mostly positive) is a system suitable for everyone.
What reviews on the power system can you hear?
The nutrition system invented by Svetlana, according to some users, is an excellent alternative to diets and physical activity. It does not force you to limit yourself in any dishes, go hungry and quickly gives a result. Some adherents of the technique described by Svetlana Bronnikova (a psychologist, whose work reviews are most often positive), she allowed to get rid of 10-13 extra pounds.
However, negative reviews on the Web are also present. Some users note that the technique did not suit them.