Valerie Ward
Quality Reliability Engineer
Austin, TX
I've had problems with sweets for over twenty years. In college, after a test, I'd be tired and reward myself with a bag of cookies or some other sweets. After college, I didn't have problems again until I got into my thirties. It got harder and harder for me and then in my forties I started thinking about sweets almost all the time. I tried to stop myself by telling myself that I wasn't going to have a binge. I told myself that it would be okay this time, but that didn't work very well. I would save up and have a big binge and once it came on, I couldn't stop it. After having cancer, I felt that I needed to do everything possible to stay healthy. Sugar feeds cancer, so I didn't want to give the cancer an opportunity to grow in my body. Because of my sweet binges, I felt like I wasn't really doing everything that I could to stay healthy, which made me feel out of control and anxious. I was seeing sugar as a coping mechanism and after a binge I felt bad about what I had done.
I heard about A New Day Hypnosis at Austin Integrative Health. I decided to call and set up an appointment. We did a visualization during the hypnosis and I saw what I looked like having a binge, that was very powerful for me. I started to feel differently about sweets. When I was around them, I didn't feel drawn to them the way that I had in the past. I don't have the sugar highs and crashes anymore and it's all become easier. I'm not thinking about chocolate and making plans to add it into my day and I've developed other coping mechanisms to deal with stress. I'm more prepared and I have snacks with me so that I can avoid the vending machine and because I'm not having sugar binges, my anxiety has gone down quite a bit. I know that I'm doing everything possible to be healthy and I feel more in control. When I go to a party with sweets, I don't stand around by the dessert table anymore and I feel better about being in those situations. I feel more confident because I'm doing the things that I need to do to be healthy.
I have a real sense freedom now because I'm not obsessed with sweets. I love the fact that I'm able to go into Whole Foods and walk by the desserts without staring at them. I don't have to feel guilty and I like having the sense of control. I would definitely recommend A New Day Hypnosis because it has helped me. It's so hard to do it on your own and it's much better to change your way of thinking than trying drugs or a crash diet that doesn't work long term. I have healthier ways of looking at food and I'm very confident that I'm on the right path to making a change in my life.