Taking a seat at the cafe table I grabbed the menu. "I love being pregnant this time around, - I can eat whatever I want without gaining weight!" I said to my girlfriend Vicki.
I was expecting my third child and losing kilos rather then gaining them was a refreshing change.
I'd battled with my weight since I was young and during my pregnancy with my first child, Kaycie, four and my second child Douglas, one, my cravings for everything sweet meant that that I ballooned to a size 24.
But this time around because I was suffering morning sickness, I actually lost weight.
In November 1997, my second daughter, Alyssa, was born. Having lost 29kg throughout the pregnancy I felt drained and lethargic, but doctors assured me that everything was OK.
"I can’t wait to tuck into a nice hearty breakfast", I said to my doctor.
"Be careful," he warned. "As your body has rejected food for so long, your metabolism will have slowed. If you go back to eating the way you did before, you'll put on a lot of weight."
But I was only eating again, and within three months, I'd reached and all-time high of 118kg.
"I give up," I sighed to Vicki.
I went into a downward spiral. My marriage was falling apart and so was I.
In 2000 I left my husband. I had my kids, but I had no confidence and no career.
After months of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to get my life back on track so I started my own business selling aromatherapy and natural products.
I was starting to feel better about myself when, in early 2005, I was enjoying a coffee when Alyssa, seven, sat on my knee.
“Mummy, why are you fat?” she asked.
I was crushed. That night, as I sat up in bed with her comment echoing in my mind, I remembered some hypnosis CDs a sales rep had brought into the shop.
They ranged from how to lose weight, quit smoking, to general health, and he’d given me a couple of different titles to try.
That night I decided I had nothing to lose. I put on Rick Collingwood’s Weight Loss and Appetite Control Hypnosis CD while I slept and the next morning I awoke refreshed.
Still with no idea what was actually on the CD, I continued playing it every night and, within a week, not only was I feeling great, but I noticed other changes too.
I’d stopped picking at food and having biscuits with my coffee, and felt a drop in my appetite.
After a couple of weeks listening to the CD, I cooked our favorite lasagna and pushed my plate away when I was only halfway through.
“I just can’t eat any more,” I sighed.
Over the next few weeks I lost 8kg.
Thrilled, I thought I’d try one of the other CDs on my kids. I put a CD player I the hallway outside their bedrooms and played Happiness and Self Esteem hypnosis while they slept.
Two weeks later I had a call from Douglas’s teacher.
“Have you been doing something different with Douglas? He’s much calmer and happier,” she said.
Within five months I’d dropped to 89kg. Just one piece of chocolate satisfied me and I was eating a lot more fruit.
I looked great – I could wear slim-fitting outfits.
Over the last few years I’ve continued to lose weight, so far dropping a further11kg.
I never thought hypnotizing myself thin was possible, but the proof is in the pudding – or lack of it.
Sandey, 40
Pearcedale, Vic
Take 5 Magazine “Tell Us Your Story”
Disclaimer - Any general advice given in any article should not be relied upon and should not be taken as a substitute for visiting a qualified medical Doctor.
