testimonials: Suzanne

My Weight Was Creeping Up
I first met Sarah last year at an indulgence evening, hosted by the mayor of Ipswich. At that time my weight was creeping up and I felt very uncomfortable. To other people I probably didn't seem that overweight but, for me, I was worried that if I didn't take control of my eating I would just get bigger and bigger.

I had tried lots of ways of losing weight but nothing seemed to work for me. I wanted to try something different and Sarah was reassuring and easy to talk to.

Bloated Or Tired
I told Sarah how uncomfortable I was about my weight. I felt that my eating was controlling my life. Most of the time I felt either bloated or tired or shaky with hunger. If there wasn't food near by I would start to feel panicky.

When I got those feelings I couldn't do anything or talk about anything else until I had eaten. I felt as though this feeling had taken over my life. The hungry panicky feelings would go away for a couple of hours and then they would come back again.

I had always done a lot of exercise but that alone did not seem to help my weight.

Eat Regularly
The first thing Sarah did for me was to encourage me to eat regularly. When I first started seeing Sarah I wasn't even hungry at breakfast. I would eat haphazardly and then eat at the wrong times. I also started to realise that I was eating way too much for my evening meal. I settled into a pattern of eating two snacks and two meals a day and that seemed to work really well.

Then Sarah helped me to tackle my portion sizes and the sort of foods I was eating. At first I couldn't get my head round eating such a variety of foods and having so much freedom to eat anything I wanted. Sarah never told me what I could or couldn't eat. Instead she helped me to see that all foods are OK if eaten in moderation.

She also helped me to stabilise my blood sugar levels by encouraging me to eat unprocessed food with a low G.I. Sarah also suggested I eat a bit more protein and I found that eating things like eggs and cheese took away my hunger pangs.

I soon settled into a good eating pattern but I must admit getting the portion sizes down was much more tricky.

Healthy Portions
Everything Sarah was telling me about was gradually sinking in but going on holiday really was a turning point for me. I lost weight, found it easy to stick to the eating plan and enjoyed eating much smaller healthy portions of food. Losing this extra weight gave me the confidence to carry on.

I also made the connection between my eating to release stress and real hunger. On holiday I was not stressed and so all my panicky hunger symptoms disappeared. My hunger was not real hunger but my way of coping with stress.

When I got back from holiday I started to look at other ways of dealing with stress rather than just eating my way out of it.

One Part Of Me Wanted To Lose Weight
Back home I would be rushing around and I would grab something to eat to alleviate my stress, not my hunger. I began to understand why one part of me wanted to lose weight and the other part of me kept putting obstacles in my way. I used to find it frustrating that I would deliberately sabotage what I so desperately wanted, to lose weight, by over eating. Sarah helped me understand the reasons behind my putting obstacles in the way.

Partly it was because I am naturally rebellious and if I think I'm not allowed something I immediately want it!.

The other part of it was that I didn't want to give up the support my overeating gave me to cope with stress.

Not Real Hunger
I began to see the connection between me giving up smoking a few years ago and how I had got heavier and heavier as a result. I began to see that I had just replaced fags for food to cope with stress. My hunger was not real hunger but a craving that felt like an addiction.

It was difficult to see at first because it happened every day.

Seeing Sarah every week gave me the support I needed to keep me focused and stop me from putting obstacles in my way.

It's great not having to go out making sure I have my crisps, Mars Bar, etc in my bag. I was a bit of a child really. I still get the odd desire for this sort of food but I find it really easy to ignore and it passes quite quickly.

Wonderful To Be In Control
It feels wonderful to be in control of my eating again.

I know my weight loss has not been dramatic but I feel so different inside, so much more confident.

I cope much better with stress now. I am so much more assertive and I don't rely on food so much now to get me through.

— Suzanne