Emotional Eating Programme

This is an informal and relaxed chat lasting approximately 60 minutes where Fiona will help you to explore and understand your relationship with food. The theory of comfort eating will be discussed and connections made to your own life and how you may have been unintentionally using food as a means to avoid emotions such as anxiousness, sadness, anger, hurt, low self-esteem and boredom. Many people also have strong connections to joy and happiness with food. It is really important to identify the relevant emotions and then start to tackle those rather than focusing on traditional weight loss methods. Fiona’s mantra when it comes to weight loss and healthy choices is: “when I feel better, I’ll lose weight” rather than the commonly held belief “I will lose weight I will feel better”. The latter idea is a false belief that keeps many people stuck; the truth is that when we are happy and confident we make better choices that reflect our positive state of mind. Fiona will also help you to slow down any obsessive thoughts relating to food and also look at the guilt and shame that many people feel in relation to eating too much and/or eating junk foods. Together we will also examine any secret eating patterns that may be occuring and the fear of being judged. We will examine your specific main cause of weight gain/retention and look at practical steps to enable you lose it. It is important at this stage to ascertain that there are no physical reasons that would stop you from losing weight, such as an overactive thyroid. The consultation is therefore a psychological assessment with practical tools and techniques to help you.At the end of this session CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) practical and achievable goals are agreed in order to start the process of making positive progress. You will listen to a specific positive suggestions self-hypnosis MP3 that will help you to boost your confidence and make healthy choices from the outset and program your subconscious mind to feel calmer and more in control. Many clients express an immediate relief and notice themselves making healthy choices easily and effortlessly and then of course over time they lose weight in a sustainable and healthy way.

Positive programming session: this is a really powerful session that focuses on helping you to visualise yourself already slim, trim, healthy and fit. Practical techniques are given to help you in the moments that would have caused you to reach out for food when you were not hungry. Aversion techniques are also used here so that you begin to see particular foods you once believed were tasty are actually toxic. In order for you to become healthier and slimmer, it is vital for your subconscious to already see this image of yourself so that it can become your reality.

Being kind to yourself: this session looks at ways of replacing the old habit of comfort eating with more genuinely rewarding behaviours that will nurture both your physical and mental health. Suggestions on how to motivate yourself through exercise are given and any ‘black or white’ thinking in terms of food is dealt with. In this session, as in previous sessions, the emphasis is placed less on food and more on building up your self-esteem, loving your body no matter what your current size is and trusting your ability to make healthy choices. Aversion is reinforced. New goals and affirmations are set.

The roots: from a position of strength the roots of the behaviour are examined in more detail and the associations from the past are cut away from your subconscious mind so that you can feel free to enjoy both a healthy relationship with food and with yourself. Aversion is reinforced. New goals and affirmations are set.

Future pacing for a long term healthy relationship with food: this hypnosis session is designed to help you fully let go of the roots of your emotional eating and to future pace you to maintain the positive feelings you will have been developing and working on. At this point, progress is monitored and both you and Fiona will decide if further sessions are required at this time. Many clients opt for maintenance sessions on a monthly basis. The brain is a muscle and needs to be constantly maintained and nurtured. Clients who experience a real transformation from an unhealthy relationship with food to a healthy one are consistent in carrying out their exercises and that are outlined after each session. This enables them to reach their goals.