About this episode
Have you ever felt like food controls your thoughts, your mood, or even your self-worth? Are you constantly battling shame after eating something "bad"? What if the real problem isn't food at all, but how you've been taught to think about it? For many, dieting becomes a cycle of restriction, guilt, and rebellion. You follow the rules during the week, only to spiral into bingeing on the weekend—then beat yourself up for "failing." The shame builds silently, reinforcing the belief that you just don't have enough willpower. Melissa knows that pattern all too well. For years, she woke up thinking about food, struggling with guilt and punishing herself for not doing things "perfectly." Even after trying other courses and hypnosis programs, nothing seemed to stick—until she found a radically different approach. Through a blend of coaching, hypnosis, and mindset work, Melissa broke free from the shame-based cycle in just eight weeks. She learned to trust her body, stop labeling food as good or bad, and finally feel peace around eating. Her story shows that healing isn't about more discipline—it's about reclaiming your freedom. "But there's nothing more powerful than the mind. That's right. And whatever you[Leslie] put into your hypnotherapy, it totally works. And again, I've done other courses and they did nothing for me and they were just a waste of money. But the way you[Leslie] structured it, it was exactly what I needed." - Melissa What you will learn from this episode: 02:37 - How Melissa ultimately recognized hypnosis effectiveness 07:42 - Struggling with late-night bingeing --- driven by compulsion and not by hunger 12:47 - Realizing her medical condition didn't have to define her eating habits helped her shift beliefs 18:18 - How Leslie's program heal Melissa's unprocessed grief linked to a friend's death 24:03 - Overcoming her reliance on calorie counting and justifying the program investment as a necessary step to heal her relationship with food 32:17 - Sharing how committing to the course helped her break free from shame, improve her self-worth, reconnect with her faith, and shift long-standing emotional patterns around food 39:05 - Discussing how a timeline therapy session uncovered a deep, unconscious fear of scarcity rooted in her family's ancestral history of going from wealth to poverty 46:13 - Letting go of comparison, releasing shame-based diet thinking, and redefining integrity with food 48:00 - Learning to trust her body's signals helps her break free from rigid diet rules 50:22 - Gone from waking up consumed by food shame to feeling free, neutral about her weight, and finally at peace after just eight weeks of mindset and hypnotherapy work Valuable Resources: Join my next LIVE masterclass Join the 8-week Fastrack to Food Freedom Program -Guaranteed mental and emotional freedom from food Connect With Leslie Thornton: Book A Clarity Call Website Facebook LinkedIn Email: Leslie@hpwl.co If you enjoy the podcast, Would you please consider leaving a quick review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes in under 60 seconds? It brightens our day and helps us bring you incredible guests for top-notch content. Plus, I cherish reading every review! Click here to make a difference!