What Clients Say...

"From my earliest memory, food has been either a reward or a weapon which I’ve either controlled or have been controlled by.   

I’m not sure what came first, my realization that every diet was going to fail because I finally admitted that I had an unhealthy relationship with food or that I saw an article about David.  Whatever came first, I arranged a consultation with David.  

Looking back, I treated the consultation as if it was an interview.  I arrived early, professionally attired and unflappable.  Twenty minutes later I was crying in front of a complete stranger.  However, I left the consultation feeling excited and hopeful.    

I found the regressive hypnotherapy sessions hard and distressing, yet after each session (with the exception of one) I felt lighter in spirit.  I had been seeing David for a few weeks when he said that for the coming week my homework was “eat what you want”; “eat as a gourmet” and “enjoy every mouthful”.  All I heard was “eat what you want”.  I was stunned.  Was he mad?  Did he know what he was doing?  By the time I got to the ground floor of Harley Street I was cross and by the end of the day very angry.  Why was I paying someone to tell me to “eat what I want” that was the problem.  I remained angry for a couple of days until I also remembered the rest, eat as a gourmet and enjoy what you eat.  So I did.  Did I binge, eat fast food, eat secretly?  No. There was no willpower involved nor has there been since, I eat what I want and thoroughly enjoy the food I eat.

There have been other changes.  Food had stopped “talking to me”.  On one particular occasion, I was hosting a tea party for a colleague at work and was slicing and handing out cake.  It wasn’t until someone asked whether I was going to have a slice that I realized I hadn’t thought about whether I was or was not going to eat the cake.  Previously, my decisions over whether to eat or not had tormented me.  If I said no, then I’d spend hour agonizing over the decision which inevitably led me to eating non-stop.  I didn’t eat the cake.  Since that experience food has remained silent and I no longer tormented about the decisions I make.

I love to cook and entertain; because I live alone I wouldn’t always bother cook for myself or if I did I would cook enough for 6 and then eat at least 3 portions on top of picking whilst cooking.  This has changed.  I make the evening meal the main evening event.  I listen to the radio, read or concentrate on my Italian.  I realized that for me watching television bored me which in the past led to me munching my way through the day/evening.  I haven’t given the television up, but it only goes on if there’s something I’m particularly interested in.  I have started to use my gym membership and amazingly have enjoyed going.  Since working with David, I enjoy food so much more but don’t obsess about it.  I’m finding the choices I make are probably healthy choices but I don’t do this consciously. I feel liberated because I no longer feel guilty or ashamed of my eating habits. 

L*******