Hypnosis for Permanent Weight Loss

Feeling exhausted from constantly tracking your food, starting over every Monday, and still wondering why nothing sticks long-term? In this episode, Leslie breaks down why food tracking often becomes a false sense of control rather than a path to freedom. She explains how tracking can temporarily soothe anxiety around food while quietly reinforcing distrust, perfectionism, and the all-or-nothing cycle that keeps so many women stuck.
Leslie challenges the belief that more discipline, more data, or tighter control will finally fix food struggles. She shares her own story of extreme dieting, weight regain, and the emotional toll of trying to be "perfect," revealing why information and willpower alone never lead to permanent change. Instead, she highlights how tracking often acts as a band-aid masking deeper nervous system and emotional patterns that drive overeating.
The real solution, Leslie explains, is learning to regulate your internal world rather than micromanaging food. By shifting focus from control to self-trust, and from external rules to internal alignment, you can quiet food noise, feel calm around eating, and finally experience consistency without restriction. This episode offers clarity, relief, and a new way forward for anyone ready to stop managing food forever and start living freely.
"Tracking can feel like control, but when it's coming from panic or fear, it's actually teaching your body not to trust you. Real freedom comes when you no longer need to manage food to feel safe." — Leslie Thornton
What you will learn from this episode:
01:01 – Why tracking food creates a dopamine-driven illusion of control 04:32 – How tracking becomes a security blanket instead of a long-term solution 05:16 – The real reason tracking fails: lack of trust with food and yourself 06:20 – How all-or-nothing eating patterns keep food drama alive 06:52 – What "normal eaters" do differently around food 07:28 – Leslie's personal journey through restriction, perfection, and rebound weight gain 09:25 – Why doing everything "right" still leads to weight regain 10:45 – The internal drivers that actually cause overeating 11:14 – What permanent weight loss looks like without tracking or dieting 12:46 – How focusing on internal regulation quiets food noise 14:21 – Staying calm, confident, and consistent around food even during stress
Connect With Leslie Thornton:

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Feeling frustrated that no matter how strictly you follow your diet, the weight just isn't coming off? You eat the right foods, follow the rules, and even stick to strategies that worked in the past, but still, the scale doesn't budge. It's not your diet, your body, or your willpower that's holding you back; it's your energy.
When your energetic state is low, restriction and discipline alone won't work. Most of us were never taught how to master our daily energy, and without that, no plan sticks. This episode dives into why mastering your energetic state is the missing key to effortless weight loss, consistent healthy habits, and long-term transformation.
By shifting your focus to your state first, then your story, and finally your strategy, you can finally experience food freedom and sustainable results without obsession, restriction, or stress.
"All you have to do is identify whether you've ever learned how to master your energetic state, change your story, and have the tools to sustain it. Once you do that, the strategy becomes automatic." – Leslie M Thornton
What you will learn from this episode:
00:00 – The bold truth: It's not your diet, it's your energy problem 01:15 – Why low energy prevents sustainable weight loss 03:07 – How mastering your energetic state changes everything 05:05 – Tony Robbins' "Three S's" approach: Strategy, Story, and State 07:18 – Why starting with strategy alone doesn't work 09:49 – How your story and beliefs influence your results 11:00 – The connection between positive state and empowerment 13:23 – Client success story: Angela's 10-pound weight loss and clearing years of trauma 15:00 – How mastering your state makes food and exercise natural and effortless 16:05 – What happens on a Food Freedom call: Assessing state, story, and strategy 17:57 – The simple sequence for lasting weight loss: State → Story → Strategy
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: [email protected]
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!

In this deeply reflective episode, Leslie sits down with Amy DiGrosa, transpersonal life coach, clinical hypnotherapist, and university professor, to explore menopause as a spiritual initiation, identity shifts in midlife, subconscious healing, and the powerful call of the Camino pilgrimage.
This conversation goes far beyond hormones and symptoms. Together, Leslie and Amy unpack how menopause, empty nesting, weight struggles, and emotional overwhelm are often invitations to reconnect with purpose, intuition, and inner truth. They also explore how hypnosis, community, and embodied practices help women heal at the root rather than constantly trying to "fix" themselves.
What you will learn from this episode:
00:00 – Why menopause often coincides with weight gain, confusion, and identity shifts 01:30 – Menopause as a spiritual transition, not just a biological one 03:00 – Moving from caregiver identity to asking "What about me?" 04:55 – Why managing symptoms alone is not enough during menopause 06:45 – Asking for help and releasing shame during life transitions
08:15 – Introduction to guest Amy DiGrosa and how she and Leslie met 10:30 – Amy's work as a university professor and leading international programs 11:45 – Walking the Camino and why pilgrimage is transformational 13:10 – Growing up between countries and learning adaptability early in life 15:00 – How constant change builds resilience and flexibility
17:10 – Learning languages, making mistakes, and releasing perfectionism 19:05 – Parallels between language learning and healing relationships with food 21:00 – Why adults struggle more with change than children 22:30 – Adaptability, resilience, and responding instead of reacting
24:10 – Amy's introduction to hypnosis through her own healing journey 26:00 – How subconscious beliefs form in childhood 28:00 – Trauma, belonging, and the body remembering everything 29:45 – Dieting as a mask for deeper emotional wounds
31:10 – Leslie's personal breakthrough: realizing food struggles were emotional, not behavioral 33:15 – Internal self-conflict and how self-criticism fuels food issues 35:00 – Emotional release as the turning point in healing 36:40 – Why conditional self-love keeps women stuck
38:10 – Healing through hypnosis, therapy, and embodied practices 40:00 – Why no single tool works for everyone 41:45 – Following curiosity and inner nudges instead of rigid plans
43:20 – Empty nesting, menopause, and spiritual awakening happening together 45:10 – Identity loss after motherhood and discovering "Who am I now?" 46:55 – Shifting from religious conditioning to spiritual self-connection
48:30 – Asking bigger life questions: purpose, meaning, and contribution 50:10 – Responding to life instead of reacting from old programming 51:50 – Seeing problems as invitations instead of obstacles
53:30 – Why women often carry too much without support 55:10 – Asking for help as strength, not weakness 56:40 – Menopause as a collective, shared experience for women
58:10 – Introduction to the Camino pilgrimage 59:45 – History and spiritual meaning of the Camino de Santiago 1:01:30 – Why people walk the Camino during major life crossroads 1:03:20 – Walking as a form of healing and embodiment 1:05:00 – Community, generosity, and connection on the Camino
1:07:10 – "Buen Camino" as a life philosophy 1:08:45 – Using future desires (like walking the Camino) as motivation for healing 1:10:20 – Invitation to explore a future Camino retreat 1:11:40 – How to connect with Amy and access her free resources
1:13:00 – Final reflections on listening to inner guidance and trusting your path
This episode is especially powerful for women in perimenopause, menopause, or major life transitions who feel disconnected, overwhelmed, or stuck in cycles with food, weight, or self-doubt.
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: [email protected]
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!

Getting "back on track" with food and weight can feel exhausting especially when you know what to do, but can't seem to stay consistent. The food noise is loud, self-criticism creeps in, and the harder you try, the worse you feel. For many women, this cycle repeats again and again, leaving them frustrated and disconnected from themselves.
In this episode, Leslie explains why lasting change doesn't come from forcing yourself back into a plan, but from examining who you are being. She shares how identity, emotional safety, self-relationship, and fear-based patterns silently shape eating behaviors, weight struggles, and self-trust. When you stay stuck in perfectionism, isolation, people-pleasing, or avoidance, getting back on track becomes impossible no matter how much willpower you use.
You'll hear Leslie's personal journey through food addiction, bingeing, weight gain, and emotional rock bottom and how she discovered that food was never the real problem. Through emotional work, hypnosis, and identity shifts, she learned that permanent change begins when you stop fighting yourself and start creating an unconditionally supportive relationship with who you are becoming. When that shifts, food, weight, and consistency naturally follow.
"Who you are being determines how you eat, how you feel, and whether lasting change is even possible. You don't get back on track by trying harder you get back on track by becoming someone new." – Leslie Thornton
What you will learn from this episode:
00:05 – Why asking "Who are you being?" is the key to permanent change
01:11 – How identity directly impacts food noise, weight struggles, and self-trust
02:18 – Reflecting on past success: who you were being when things felt easy
03:44 – Why passion, obsession, and mission often fade and what that means
04:10 – Why desperation and forcing yourself back on track doesn't work
05:45 – How knowing what to do is different from being able to do it
06:48 – Signs that you're being asked to evolve instead of repeating the past
07:27 – Discovering that food addiction and food drama are not permanent
08:35 – Letting go of the belief that you'll always struggle with food
09:51 – A powerful moment that challenged the identity of being "addicted."
10:36 – The painful in-between phase: binging, weight gain, and confusion
11:45 – Why rock-bottom moments often lead to the biggest breakthroughs
13:27 – Uncovering harsh self-talk and how it fuels bingeing and shame
15:46 – Realizing the problem isn't food it's the relationship with yourself
16:44 – How conditional self-love keeps you stuck in perfectionism
17:53 – Why healing emotionally changes food, weight, and relationships
18:30 – How hypnosis supports rebuilding safety and self-trust
19:13 – Taking inventory of how you're being during stressful seasons
20:15 – Fear-based ways of being that block freedom and peace with food
22:14 – Why isolation, people-pleasing, and overthinking don't work
24:59 – Asking better questions to identify what's really keeping you stuck
26:48 – How awareness creates change only when followed by action
28:27 – Doing the opposite of the pattern that keeps you in the ditch
29:59 – Why action is required to meet the universe halfway
31:55 – The importance of being mission-driven, passionate, and supported
34:27 – How life transitions affect food and weight more than willpower
36:15 – Choosing hard conversations over a lifetime of feeling bad
38:18 – Why food and weight are symptoms, not the root problem
40:00 – Expecting success and believing you're meant to feel good
41:02 – Identifying the life area that's asking for your attention
42:55 – Final invitation: pick up your mat and take action today

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: [email protected]
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!