The result of being hypnotised for my sugar addiction

What happened when I was hypnotised to cure my addiction to sugar

I was hypnotised by a nutritionist to combat my severe sugar addiction 14 years ago. This post is about the long term result of that hypnosis.

How the sugar addiction started…

For the first three years of my life my parents avoided feeding me anything sugary in the misguided view that I would develop a taste for savoury food only.  Nice sentiment but an epic fail.  My first memory of eating something sweet was strawberry flavour Angel’s Delight at a neighbour’s house when I was three.  Every spoonful is imprinted in my memory down to the glass bowl it was served in. 

Skip forward a few years to primary school to an extremely active kid who loathed her meals of meat, potatoes and veg. This was the 1970’s and today’s kid’s staple, pasta, wasn’t mainstream in the UK until the mid-80’s.  I had to obtain my calories from somewhere and sugar was the answer.  I gorged on sandwiches filled with caster sugar (tastes like doughnuts if you use doughy white bread). There were lots of jam sandwiches. Plenty of chocolate and fudge stolen from the ‘sweetie bag’. I would eat spoonfuls of dry drinking hot chocolate powder. Even the dog’s chocolate drop treats were fair game (I can’t have been the only one doing that right?). 

When I was older and independent, a large chunk of my diet was still sugar-laden, especially at work, with the mid-afternoon sugar crashes.  Haribo, chocolate bars, cans of coke and my colleague’s sweet-flavoured antacid tablets when there was nothing else available.  

How it continued…

Jump forward again to my early 30’s. I breastfed both my sons and found I couldn’t eat enough to keep up with the calorie burning effect of feeding fast growing babies (both hit the 97th percentile quickly).  So I ate family packs of Maltesers, whole boxes of Jaffa Cakes, large chocolate bars and Krispy Kreme doughnuts by the half dozen.  Seriously, someone should highlight the fact you can stuff yourself with rubbish whilst breastfeeding and still lose weight; they’d double the amount of women doing it!  Once the breastfeeding was over, the relentlessness of young children left me continuously exhausted and persistently reaching for my go-to quick-fix fuel. 

When it started to go wrong…

In my early 40’s I started to develop regular kidney and bladder infections, which went on for two years.  Eventually I learnt the bacteria that causes these infections can grow rapidly in urine with a high sugar content. The game was up, I knew I couldn’t continue my sugar dependence. At the same time I came across a book called ‘Why do you overeat? When all you want to be is slim’ by Zoe Harcombe.  I’ve mentioned this book on my recommendations page. I feel the title is misleading, it’s not purely about overeating or wanting to be slim. Instead it explains what goes on with sugar and blood sugar levels, along with useful information on food intolerance and candida. 

The book was the first step in changing my relationship with the white stuff. I now understood why my body was craving sugar and it was an addiction that needed to be addressed as seriously as any other addiction. I followed the Harcombe diet for six weeks and felt great. However eliminating types of food meant cooking one meal for me and another for my family. The inconvenience was never going to be sustainable in the long run.  I tried hard to cut down on sugar but it was a powerful opponent.  However, from knowledge comes strength, and I was determined to find a way to control my intake.  

The hypnotist

A few months after reading the book I found an advert from a nutritionist called Danuta, who was also a trained hypnotist.  Genius!!!  I’ll be honest, there was reservation on my part before my first session. I worried I’d never eat cake and biscuits again and my life would be devoid of pleasure. Admittedly I overindulged a lot in the week leading up to the appointment.  When I met Danuta, her workspace was small, neat and comfortable. She was kind and I trusted her; which is an important aspect in hypnotism.

I’d never been hypnotised before and it’s normal to be resistant to going completely under in a first session. I remember feeling my feet were cold and I was aware of what was being said.  The second visit, I went completely under.  She could have said or done anything, which is slightly disconcerting, which is why you have to trust your hypnotist.  I woke up not remembering anything but felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.  That afternoon I walked straight past my favourite cake shop with zero temptation or longing. Instead I bought some hummus, which in my mind, was the best tasting thing I’d ever eaten.  

The result…

I didn’t visit Danuta a third time, I found I didn’t need to.  I had no desire to eat anything sweet for weeks until I decided to allow myself biscuits with my afternoon tea.  It was fine; it was by choice not need, and I only had two plain digestives.  Much later I tentatively tried a Jaffa Cake – it was too sweet and made me feel sick. 

Sugar will never be your friend

However don’t let my story give you false hope, sugar is highly addictive. The hypnosis gives you the will-power to kick-start your fight against the addiction but you will have to maintain it. There have been times over the years when I did start to mindlessly eat too much sugar again. I made excuses of being tired, stressed, nothing else to snack on, and could feel the craving within me begin. I didn’t even enjoy eating the stuff, I was just falling into a familiar pattern, a habit.

You will have to work at it, make prudent choices and reel it in if you feel the habit forming once more. But on the whole, my ability to make those choices is radically stronger than it was pre-hypnosis. I can eat one square of good quality chocolate and I can’t stand regular chocolate bars. I enjoy a slice of not-too-sweet homemade cake but the thought of a supermarket jam doughnut makes me feel nauseous. Speaking of jam, I only buy homemade jam from the local farm shop, which has a better balance of fruit v sugar. Yes more expensive but you need less of it as the taste is stronger. 

On the flip side I now rarely eat fruit, it just doesn’t appeal. It’s worth the trade-off and I do now eat lot more veg.  Fourteen years ago, soon after the hypnosis, my overriding feeling was I AM IN CONTROL.  I felt as though I’d developed a super power, perhaps that’s how addiction-beaters feel. I do still need to reel it in occasionally, use some will power, but it’s not the battle it once was.

Do you want to be hypnotised for a sugar addiction?

Three years ago I tried to find Danuta for a friend but she appears to no longer be working or in London. There are a number of other nutritional hypnotists who I’m sure are equally good.  I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is determined to change an unhealthy eating habit. Once you have the strong determination to want to change.  I can say with confidence, those two sessions, all those years ago, have changed my life for the better. Danuta, wherever you are, thank you.   

A Zoe Harcombe summary of her book can be found here.

Main image photo by kc_twd on Freeimages.com