Fear of gaining weight can take over your life. It can be a constant anxiety that simmers in your headspace. It is like someone has turned up the volume knob, and the intensity and frequency of anxious thoughts about eating, food and weight gain are all pervasive.

Your fear starts to hijack your life. You become fearful of going out with friends, because you feel out of control of eating and drinking in social situations. Your fear of instant weight gain becomes a self-imposed reality, imprisoning you in your home, in your head.

As your negative thoughts fire off in your head, it is like they multiply and then replay themselves. The more they repeat, the more entrenched you become in your negative thinking and behaviours. You feel helpless to break this negative cycle of thinking, and of course fearful that if you do, you will gain weight.

Body image becomes sharpened, more harsh, and your analytical eye judges you for any mistake where you overeat. You need to stay thin. It means everything to you. Somehow, you have constructed your self-worth to be contingent on you remaining slim. Thin means attractive and good, weight gain means fat and failure. Of course, the greater your fear of gaining weight, the more critical you are of your body shape and size.

There are two main themes to focus on in treatment. 1) we need to understand why your self-worth is so low, and help you build a core of greater self-worth, self-esteem and self-confidence 2) we need to support you as you deconstruct your negative thinking, and help you build an inner dialogue that supports positive change.

You are so much more than your weight. Let us hold your fear and anxiety, and together we can make a plan to get your life back. We’ll move at your pace, one step at a time, so that you really integrate change along the way.