Glasgow Hypnotherapy Gastric Band. Daily Record 14th June 2010
'Virtual' gastric band has helped me shed the pounds.
COULD five sessions of hypnotherapy help me win my battle with the bulge?
I am 43 and it's been 12 years and three children since I was my ideal weight, but for the first time I think I can reach it again.
When the sun started to shine and I dug out my summer clothes, I was in for a shock. I found the "emergency" clothes I bought last year after the birth of my son Cormac in June still fitted snugly. It was time for action.
I didn't know then that the action would lead to me being hypnotised into thinking I was having an operation to shrink the capacity of my stomach.
I'm really not very good at diets, they just make me hungry and obsessed. Exercise is all very well, but with a crawling baby, two older sons and a job, it's not easy to find the time or energy.
Proper surgery sounded way too drastic. After all, being overweight wasn't going to affect my health, was it?
Well, actually, yes. Even just a stone overweight - especially if the weight is around your middle and you don't exercise as often as you should - can increase the chances of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.
So, as I couldn't face the prospect of surgery and all the risks that go with it, I was either stuck with being unhealthy and lumpy, or digging in for a grumpy, hungry few months.
Then I heard about the Virtual Gastric Band (VGB) - where you are hypnotised into thinking you have had the operation and, as if by magic, you will eat less.
I should probably mention that a real gastric band operation involves inserting a plastic tube around the upper stomach. You eat less and feel fuller earlier and for longer.
There's a mechanism inserted below the skin that allows for the tube's tightness to be adjusted by a doctor. It's only available on the NHS for those who are clinically obese, but available privately for about £7000.
Famously, Fern Britton and Sharon Osbourne have had it done.
A clinical hypnotherapist in Glasgow is now offering this service.
She said: "Over the past 10 years, I have helped many people lose weight through 'normal' hypnotherapy. However, there are some people who need additional support and I thought this could provide the answer. The subconscious mind is very powerful and when it believes in something, the body will react accordingly."
The hypnotherapist spent time researching the physical process of having a real gastric band inserted so she could confidently convince someone under hypnosis.
The virtual gastric band treatment takes place over five sessions in the soothing atmosphere of the therapy room.
The following two sessions are hypnotherapy to prepare me for the "operation".
I would like to recount what the hypnotherapisttalked about while I was "under," but I don't have a clue. I did, however, come away feeling relaxed and comfortable.
Before the day of the “operation”, the hypnotherapist had advised me that I should only eat light foods.
During the first session, we talk about what to expect and she expertly draws out my attitudes to food, eating and my body. It feels like a relaxed chat with a friend.
She weighs me and establishes that my BMI is 29 (well into the overweight category) and fat enough to undergo VGB treatment.
I was advised to cut my food intake for 12 hours before I arrived and nothing at all for two hours before the session.
Surprisingly, this wasn't difficult as I was becoming more and more aware of what I was eating.
As the day grew near, more than once, I had to remind myself that I wasn't actually having a real gastric band operation.
I also found myself genuinely believing I would be my ideal weight again and looking forward to it.
Previously I hadn't been sure I would ever get there.
I was so convinced my virtual gastric band would be a success that I began to worry that it would spoil future special occasions, that I wouldn't be able to enjoy turkey at Christmas or cake on my birthday.
On the big day, I explained my worries and my mind was put at rest by the therapist explaining that I would still enjoy food as much as ever - I would just stop eating earlier.
She said: "The first quarter of any meal is the bit you enjoy the most - it's the most satisfying and delicious.
After that, your enjoyment diminishes until you stop eating.So you will enjoy meals - particularly special ones - just as much.
You will eat less and eat more slowly and thoughtfully."
Then she checked once again that I was totally happy and made me promise I'd come back to her if I found I lost too much weight. Part of me said "fat chance", but part of me started to think "what if?".
I relaxed in the therapy chair and the hypnosis began.
I remember being told that I was to have an anaesthetic and was being wheeled into an operating theatre where the surgeon was waiting. After that it became a bit hazy, but I woke with a slightly uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.
The final session is to have the virtual stitches - all seven of them - removed and the band tightness adjusted if necessary.
After all that, does it work? Well, it's been three weeks and I "feel" thinner.
My scales tell me I've lost seven pounds. I see myself in the mirror and think, "It doesn't matter about the extra bits, they'll be gone soon."
Almost every meal I've had, I've not finished and I have certainly not fancied sweets or cake. A couple of times I've found myself so hungry I've become wobbly and have started to carry an emergency packet of peanuts in my bag.
The big test was my favourite Saturday night takeaway. I wasn't even halfway through the first plateful of chicken balti before I had to declare myself stuffed. So far, so good.
Gastric Band Hypnotherapy available in Glasgow – Linda Alexander Tel: 0141 632 1440 (leave a message if I am with a client) or call 07875 493 358 – Total Personal Investment £300.