But I'm Hungry (A Look at Eating Behavior Driven by the Past)

But I’m Hungry! (A Look at Eating Behavior Driven by the Past)

Marianne had grown up with a stepfather who was equally abusive verbally as he was physically. She never felt safe at home. She described her childhood as a time when she constantly had to run away to feel safe in her own skin.

Marianne is overweight. She eats when she’s not hungry and can’t understand her behavior. She has been to food specialists, dietitians, and therapists, but no one has been able to help her stop this behavior.

When I first began to speak with Marianne, I had an overwhelming feeling that someone was with her—like an angel, trying to help her. She revealed to me as we spoke that her mother had recently died, and that she was trying to make peace with her father, who was now aging and lived about an hour out of town in a retirement facility.  He couldn’t live far enough away for Marianne. If it were up to her, she would never speak to him again.

But Marianne was an only child, and the responsibility of her father’s care landed on her shoulders. He had recently developed signs of dementia and soon it would be too late to make any kind of amends, if that’s where their relationship was headed.

The one thing that stuck out about Marianne’s story was that the governing part of her brain that was functioning as the binge eater was not her normal Self. So, if you were to ask her ego self if she understood the correct way to diet, you would always get an affirmative answer.

Who was governing her diet was a child about eight years old, who ran behind the barn with a pack of Ding Dongs to get safe from her dad. That little girl who never felt safe and also never grew up, was still eating and making decisions for Marianne when it came to comforting her at forty-two years old.

So, as a hypnotist, what I had to do was create a way where Marianne’s adult ego could separate from her physical self (in trance) and find the part of her self (the little girl) in a dream. Then lead the little girl back to Marianne’s adult care—a place that was perfectly safe now.

Then once the reunion occurs, Marianne must get to know the little girl she never let grow up (perhaps the bad girl who ate when she wasn’t supposed and what she wasn’t supposed to). Every day, as if she were having a family meeting with the young child, Marianne must make a point of asking this little girl what, besides food, will make her happy. Once Marianne appeases the little girl within her without food, she will no longer has these binge times of phantom hunger.

This kind of therapy is called “Parts Therapy.” It is very helpful in Attachment disorders that connect with a habit such as overeating, an addiction, or a sleep problem.

If you have any of these problems I’ve spoken about and would like to discuss a solution, please give me a call. It’s a New Year. There’s a New You waiting to unfold. I look forward to helping you find him/her!

* * *

Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com.

I am trying to spread the word about my blog and I need your help. Please let your friends know it exists, if it gives you hope and blesses you each day. I write this Blog as a part of Finding Authentic You Ministries. If you would like to send an offering or a tithe, your donation would greatly be appreciated: 5001 Maywood Drive, Nashville, TN 37211.  And I would be greatly pleased for you to share anything that you read by clicking the share button in Facebook.com/bo.sebastian, or add it to your Twitter at BoSebastian; or LinkedIN at Bosebastian5@gmail.com; or find this blog home at www.FindingAuthenticYou.com. Any of my books can be found on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel, just by typing my name in the search header.