A beauty expert who has struggled with her size for most of her life revealed how she dropped three dress sizes in her sleep – thanks to a £7.99 hypnosis app.
Suffering with the eating disorder bulimia nervosa in her twenties, mother-of-two Stacey Orton, 46, of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear then became a comfort eater.
But she was shocked into action two years ago by a photo revealing her ballooning size, posted on her work Instagram account, which left her feeling mortified.
Noticing that a colleague had shed 7lbs in two weeks using a ‘virtual gastric band,’ Stacey, who was then a size 18, weighing 13st 12lbs, said: ‘He had been visibly losing weight and had managed to shift about half a stone in two weeks.
‘I asked him how he did it and he told me about this app by 12 Weeks to Wow called Virtual Gastric Band Hypnosis – Lose Weight Fast. I downloaded it myself as soon as I went on my lunch break that same day.’
To her amazement, 5ft 3in Stacey – whose body mass index, which is used to gauge a healthy weight, was 34.3, compared to the NHS recommended range of 18.4 to 24.9, making her obese – shed a whopping 19lbs in five weeks after playing it every night as she fell asleep.
This is the photo that prompted beauty worker Stacey Orton, 46, of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, to download a hypnosis app in a bid to lose weight (left). Within just five weeks, Stacey had dropped three dress sizes and lost 1st 5lbs after banishing her cravings for unhealthy foods (pictured right after her transformation)
Now weighing just 10st 10lbs, wearing a size 12 and having lost an incredible 48.5 inches from all over her body, Stacey said: ‘I’ve always struggled with my weight in one way or another.
‘But now I have completely transformed my mindset around food. I feel happy with myself and that need to stress eat has gone. I’m stronger than ever, these days.
‘I still have my down days, but listening to the app calms me down.
For me, it’s about so much more than just the physical weight loss.’
Before her weight loss 5ft 3in Stacey was 13st 12lbs and a size 18 (left). Since using the hypnosis app, she slimmed down to just 10st 10lbs, and wears a size 12 after losing 48.5in from her body (right)
The single mother-of-two told herself she was happy with her size after years of strugglin with bulimia and comfort eating. But after losing weight, she says that she’s not only feeling helathier, but more calm mentally too
Stacey, who is a single mum to McDonald’s worker Andrew, 19, and college student Ryan, 17, first began to struggle with food aged 21.
For years, she suffered with bulimia – an eating disorder which sees people binge eating, before either making themselves sick, using laxatives or excessively exercising in a bid to stop gaining weight – making her so ill that, at her worst, she was on the brink of being hospitalised.
But when she fell pregnant with Andrew, she forced herself to deal with her demons, saying: ‘Something like bulimia never fully goes away, but you learn to get it under control.
‘For me, the turning point was getting pregnant. I had this little life inside me that I needed to protect. I had to change my ways and stop damaging my body for the sake of my unborn baby.’
Stacey slimmed down to a size 12 after she ditched takeaways, snacks and junk food in favour of healthy, home-cooked options
For a while after Andrew arrived, new mum Stacey felt content and happy with her size.
She added: ‘I wasn’t worried about my weight in the slightest. As I was breastfeeding, I made sure I ate really healthily, too.’
When, just under two years later, she split with her ex-husband while she was pregnant with Ryan, sadly, everything changed.
Dealing with a divorce and a newborn baby took its toll on Stacey, although the stress saw her losing weight.
‘It just fell away. I was so stressed I could barely eat,’ she said.
But, despite her love for her children, as the years passed, depression kicked in and Stacey started comfort eating takeaways and junk food, as she tried to boost her mood.
When various slimming plans failed, she simply accepted her hefty frame, saying: ‘I was actually quite okay with the way I was – or at least, I thought I was.
Thanks to the hpynosis app, Stacey listens to her body’s hunger signals and only eats when she wants to, not because she thinks she should
‘Food stopped being a comfort blanket and became something I ate as a treat to make me happy. I know now that’s still emotional eating, though.’
Her turning point came in early 2018 when she spotted an unflattering photo on Instagram.
She continued: ‘As I work in beauty, we take a lot of photos of make-up and that sort of thing to share on Instagram.
‘I noticed one of myself, and it didn’t sit well with me. I’d felt comfortable with who I was, but seeing that picture felt, to me, like I was letting myself go.’
Thankfully, the hypnosis app was her saviour and the morning after she first used it, the results were already plain to see.
She said: ‘I went to a work coffee morning, where they were giving out cakes and biscuits. Usually I’d have loved it, but something in my mind had switched and I just didn’t want to eat them.’
Since then, Stacey has continued to lose weight and is now a svelte size 12.
Her diet has completely transformed and she has ditched takeaways, snacks and junk food in favour of healthy, home-cooked options.
Starting the day with granola and berries, she will now make protein-packed lunches and dinners, like chicken and rice with vegetables, or prawn linguine.
She said: ‘I don’t even keep junk in the house anymore and I’m not one for a takeaway these days.
‘I can’t quite explain the app as I’m often asleep before it gets to the hypnosis part, but it helped me to re-examine my eating habits entirely.
Stacey has also decreased her portion size by using smaller dinner plates and bowls
‘Listening to it, I would envisage my thinner self, looking at my reflection in the mirror, and imagine all the unhealthy stuff I put in my body being laid out on a table, pushed away, and replaced by healthy options.
‘I’ve learnt to eat what I want, not what I can. I don’t keep shovelling food in until I’m past full and uncomfortable, anymore.
‘The way I eat is much more instinctive now. I’ll listen to when I’m actually hungry rather than eating because I think I should.
‘I even use a smaller plate to eat off, so I’m not tempted to pile my portions high like I used to.’
Now, not only is Stacey physically different, but her confidence has also been completely transformed.
She concluded: ‘I can eat the food I like without calorie counting or excluding certain food groups. The difference is that I no longer sit down and stuff myself with a big plate of food until I feel uncomfortable.
‘I didn’t realise just how much difference losing weight would make to my life and how good I’d feel about myself.’