The summer before I started junior high I went to a weight loss camp. One of my bunk mates was slender and wore a 2 piece bathing suit. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she was there and on some level I resented her as she was thin! It took years for me to get it - she did indeed have a weight problem, it was actually a body image problem that was as much of a struggle, as I had with the scale. In essence she could never be good enough/thin enough.
In the late 1970's, I was in an eating disorders therapy group. We were a mix of "disorders" – from compulsive overeating to bulimia to anorexia. The last two groups were thin and once again, even after I heard their struggles around food, I didn't feel like we belonged in the same group together. I had the food struggle and I was overweight. They 'only' had the struggle with food, but could fit into the culture at large.
Then in the early 1980's I did individual work with a therapist. The focus wasn't on my body size or food, but was instead on the culture of living in a patriarchy, why dieting doesn't work (that felt like heresy at the beginning), and listening to my body for whether I was hungry and what food would satisfy me. It was then that I was introduced to the concept of "humming and beckoning", which helped me to stop dieting (initially freaking me out!) and led me to feel more freedom around food.
Hypnosis took everything I'd experienced and put it on steroids, so to speak, and as a result of my journey, I'm comfortable in my own skin, I'm free of the shame I had lived with for so long, I shed the weight both emotionally and physically, and my weight has been stable over the last 3 years - something that never ever happened before!
What else have I learned from my journey? Don't judge a book by its cover, as you don't know what's contained there within. Struggles can appear different but be the same. Overnight success is built on the days, months, and years it takes to get there.
And absolutely, learn how to be kind and gentle with yourself on whatever path you're on!
Beth
In the late 1970's, I was in an eating disorders therapy group. We were a mix of "disorders" – from compulsive overeating to bulimia to anorexia. The last two groups were thin and once again, even after I heard their struggles around food, I didn't feel like we belonged in the same group together. I had the food struggle and I was overweight. They 'only' had the struggle with food, but could fit into the culture at large.
Then in the early 1980's I did individual work with a therapist. The focus wasn't on my body size or food, but was instead on the culture of living in a patriarchy, why dieting doesn't work (that felt like heresy at the beginning), and listening to my body for whether I was hungry and what food would satisfy me. It was then that I was introduced to the concept of "humming and beckoning", which helped me to stop dieting (initially freaking me out!) and led me to feel more freedom around food.
Hypnosis took everything I'd experienced and put it on steroids, so to speak, and as a result of my journey, I'm comfortable in my own skin, I'm free of the shame I had lived with for so long, I shed the weight both emotionally and physically, and my weight has been stable over the last 3 years - something that never ever happened before!
What else have I learned from my journey? Don't judge a book by its cover, as you don't know what's contained there within. Struggles can appear different but be the same. Overnight success is built on the days, months, and years it takes to get there.
And absolutely, learn how to be kind and gentle with yourself on whatever path you're on!
Beth
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