Healthy Lifestyle: Eva

Eva Huddleston
Consultant
Austin, Texas

I’d gained about thirty pounds in the last five years and it had really started to bother me. It was difficult for me, because I’d always been the skinny kid. I went from being “Boney Maroney” to my boss giving me an end of year gift to a personal trainer. A lot of the weight gain was due to my unhappiness. I changed my job from clinically treating patients to sitting at a desk eight hours a day. I was learning a lot of new things and I was working 60-70 hours a week. Because I was working nights and weekends, I forgot to live. I got tunnel vision and I got unhappy and didn’t know how to make the changes to create something new and different. I got bogged down in the unhappiness and sat on my couch and did nothing for a very long time.

Every Friday night, I was in the ice cream aisle at Target. I bought two pints of ice cream and ate them for dinner. I felt very out of control. It was nerve-wracking and depressing. I felt like I was a boat in the ocean with no rudder or oars, just going wherever the current took me. It got to be so overwhelming, instead of trying to do something to control the boat, I just threw my hands up in the air and said “forget it.” I felt lethargic and fat and I was uptight and anxious. I felt so bad about myself that I didn’t want people to look at me. I wanted to hide myself and fade into the background. In my family, it was always about making people happy and keeping the peace. I listened to everyone complain and tried to make it all better.

I’ve read every diet book in the world. I tried South Beach and that was horrendous and didn’t last long at all. I did much better with Adkins because you could have eggs and bacon, but then I got tired of the same things all the time and I felt lethargic. I tried Weight Watchers, but I didn’t go to the meetings and just tried to do it myself, so it didn’t work. I did personal training, but when the studio closed, that was the end of that. I read “Body for Life” and the Jillian Michaels books. I tried to follow them, but the longest it lasted was a couple of weeks. I thought that I could stick to these very strict rules that I had no hope of following long term. I set myself up for failure before I even got started.

I was talking to a coworker who had used hypnosis in the past and really liked it. I got on Yelp and searched for hypnotherapy in Austin. I looked at ratings and customer reviews for A New Day Hypnosis and just thought, why not? When I came in and spent time talking to Laura she explained to me that weight wasn’t the real problem, that made sense because I knew that I was unhappy and that was causing the other issues in my life. I trusted her to help me make my life better and I was willing to take her recommendation.

I knew at the first session that I could really do this; I felt like this was my answer, I was going to get help and I was going to be able to do this. Gaining that mindset helped me push forward and gave me the momentum to keep going. My attitude changed, I was happier and my stress levels went down. During that first week, I was on a business trip that is always hugely stressful. People constantly get upset and angry. For the most part, it was tiring, but it was pretty much stress-free for me.

I think I’m well on my way to becoming an even happier and healthier person. I am so much less stressed. I’m sleeping better and I have broken some Obsessive Compulsive patterns that were causing me stress and a lack of sleep. I had to check the windows, the doors, the closets and under the beds. Even when I checked everything, I would wake up and think that I heard noises. I don’t feel that need anymore to constantly check everything. People at work are amazed that I’ve managed to stop doing it as quickly as I did. It’s wonderful and I’m so happy about it. It really shocks me how easy it was to break habits that I had struggled with for years and I’m so much more relaxed and happier when I’m at home now.

I am making better food choices and I’m controlling my impulses, which isn’t something that I’ve done in the past. I have drastically cut down on the sweets. I feel more in control because I have goals and I feel like I can follow through and meet those goals. I know that I can do it because I have the motivation, the willpower, and the desire.

Several people in my office have said that I’m laughing and talking more. The office manager commented that in the last few weeks, I’ve reminded her more of who I was five years ago. She said that I’m more friendly and likeable and that I hadn’t been a very nice person to be around in a long time.

My cousin Kim mentioned that I seemed happier when I went home for Thanksgiving. She said that I also seemed much less stressed. I feel more confident because I have a better image of myself and I’ve started taking more care of my appearance. I make sure that my earrings are in and my hair is done every day and that makes me feel good.

The change in my attitude has been the biggest thing for me. I don’t have this feeling of constant anger at everything. I’m fixing the problem and I’m getting things under control. I’m learning to be happy and I know that I don’t have to give in to guilt trips. It’s okay for my life to be about my own needs.

I believe that these changes and my healthy lifestyle will be permanent because my attitude has changed. I know that my life has already changed and I will continue to make strides to improve my life because my whole outlook has completely changed. I would recommend A New Day Hypnosis to anyone who wants to change their life. If Laura could help me change after I had been mired in my own crap, she can help anyone. I would highly recommend A New Day Hypnosis to anyone who wants to have a better life because it works.