Ep 311 Why Dieting is the Perfect Way to Bypass Healing

Have you ever wondered if your lifelong struggle with food and weight has quietly become your life’s purpose? What if your energy, focus, and identity have been unconsciously tied to “fixing” your body, rather than actually living fully? And what if this pursuit has kept you from discovering your true purpose? The problem is, diets, quick fixes, and even knowledge about “what to do” don’t solve the deeper issue. Many people spend years cycling through restriction, obsession, and shame, only to end up right where they started—or worse. This constant focus on what’s wrong steals joy, erodes self-worth, and traps you in patterns of self-sabotage. The good news is, you don’t have a weight problem—you have a purpose problem. Real healing begins when you shift from criticism to self-compassion, from control to connection, and from fixing to being. By embracing who you truly are, setting boundaries, and seeking support, you can step into lasting freedom, peace, and a life beyond food obsession. “I’ve had so many people recently say to me, ‘Yeah, I have lost weight before and I still felt empty inside. I still felt anxious about gaining it back. I still felt insecure and not confident when I walked into a room.’ So clearly this is not about a weight problem. This is a being problem. You cannot solve an internal problem with an external solution. ” - Leslie Thornton What you will learn from this episode: 03:49 - Debunking life purpose myths, common misconceptions about life purpose, emphasizing it’s about being yourself, not external achievements 09:20 Connecting the concept of unconscious commitments to body image and weight struggles 10:31 - How a problem-finding mindset is unhelpful for self-worth and healing 14:14 - Letting go of what’s wrong and focusing on what’s right with oneself to create lasting change and self-love 16:34 Reflecting on a documentary and client stories to show that external weight loss doesn’t solve deeper issues 20:27 - Breaking the cycle of generational weight obsession 22:38 - Outlining the need for hypnosis, coaching, and boundary setting for sustainable transformation 27:11 - The power of asking for help  and how healing is a decision 29:28 - Describes group coaching experiences, client breakthroughs, and the richness of community support 31:22 - How every food event Is a learning opportunity and discussing on unconditional self-love 34:03 - Unpacking food behaviors , letting go of the timeline, and the Importance of self-value 40:10 - Leslie reflecting on her own evolving sense of purpose and the impact of her work 41:23 - How movement and body changes with age, retreats and transformational Experiences  45:19 - Reiterating that purpose is about who you are in every situation, not just what you do; and why you don’t have a weight problem, only a purpose problem  47:30 - Healing relationships and communication  49:01 - Why you hurt yourself with old patterns  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!  

Have you ever wondered if your struggles with food have less to do with willpower and more to do with the very first relationship you ever had the one with your mother? In this episode of the Hypnosis for Permanent Weight Loss podcast, Leslie Thornton dives deep into the concept of the mother wound what it is, how it silently shapes your eating patterns, and why healing it might be the missing piece to finally feeling free around food. You’ll learn how unresolved dynamics with your mom can create perfectionism, shame, rebellion, or emotional hunger and why dieting never fixes the root cause. Instead, true freedom comes from healing within. “You can’t fix an internal problem with an external solution. Healing starts within.” — Leslie Thornton What You’ll Learn in This Episode: [0:00] Why your struggle with food may trace back to your very first relationship [0:39] What the “mother wound” is and how it shapes eating patterns [2:41] Reflection: What was really going on emotionally the last time you overate or binged? [4:13] Defining the mother wound (and why it’s not about blaming your mom) [4:57] Common examples: critical moms, emotional unavailability, or projecting body image struggles [6:15] Leslie’s personal story of her mom’s influence and the belief she internalized [9:10] Why dieting became a false sense of safety and worthiness [10:17] Reflection: When did you feel you had to “earn” love or approval in childhood? [11:00] Four common patterns: perfectionism, shame-driven overeating, rebellion, emotional hunger [13:26] The good news — healing the mother wound is possible and life-changing [14:04] A powerful reflection: How would your food relationship change if you felt truly safe and accepted? [16:01] Why healing doesn’t have to be hard — and how it unlocks joy in every area of life [17:27] Next step: Book a call to uncover the deeper patterns driving your eating Valuable Resources: Join my next LIVE masterclass Join the 8-week Fasttrack 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 and top-notch content. Plus, Leslie loves reading every review! Click here to make a difference.

Have you ever felt the “high” of starting a new diet, with its meal plans, structure, and excitement that this time will be different? In today’s episode, Leslie Thornton breaks down why that very rush is what keeps you trapped in the painful cycle of dieting. You’ll learn how dieting acts as a distraction from the deeper emotional wounds driving your struggle with food and why true freedom comes not from the next diet plan, but from healing at the root. If you’ve ever wondered why you can be successful in so many areas of life but still feel stuck when it comes to food, this episode will connect the dots in a way you’ve never heard before. “Dieting keeps you busy. But healing sets you free.” — Leslie Thornton What You’ll Learn in This Episode: [0:41] Why the “high” of starting a new diet is actually what keeps you stuck [2:22] How dieting distracts you from deeper emotional wounds [6:31] What “diet addiction” really means (and how it’s different from food addiction) [9:01] Integrity vs. perfectionism — and how perfectionism fuels the diet cycle [11:24] Why dieting is an external fix to an internal problem [14:02] Leslie’s personal story of breaking free through emotional healing [15:47] Building trust and intimacy with your body instead of relying on control [16:00] A powerful reflection: “If dieting wasn’t an option, how would you deal with emotions?” [17:30] Why true food freedom requires deeper inner healing 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: [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!  

Is Your Relationship Supporting You… or Holding You Back? Have you ever asked yourself if you’re in the right relationship — one that truly supports your growth, or one that leaves you carrying all the weight? In this episode of the Hypnosis for Permanent Weight Loss podcast, Leslie Thornton explores the key signs of emotional safety, what healthy leadership looks like in a partner, and how to know if your relationship has hope… or if it’s time to walk away. You’ll hear how relationship triggers directly tie into struggles with food and weight, why so many women fall into the role of “emotional manager,” and how healing your inner world creates space for healthier love — and more freedom with food. “The right relationship isn’t perfect. It’s real, it’s emotionally honest, and it meets you in your growth.” — Leslie Thornton What You’ll Learn in This Episode: [0:01] How to know if you’re in the right relationship [0:26] Why many food triggers stem from relationship issues [1:17] The three keys: emotional safety, healthy initiation, knowing when to stay or go [1:50] The first question to ask: Is this relationship worth saving? [3:04] Why no partner is perfect, but emotional safety is non-negotiable [4:19] What emotional safety really looks like in a relationship [6:43] Why unhealed emotional wounds keep repeating relationship patterns [7:12] Red flags: walking on eggshells, high highs and low lows, chronic misunderstanding [10:10] The cost of always being the initiator in relationships [12:24] Common red flags of imbalance and disconnection [14:06] Core wounds — and how they shape what you attract in relationships [15:22] Using hypnosis and NLP to clear emotional wounds and reclaim your power [17:20] The truth about inner work: why you win no matter what [18:14] Signs there’s hope for your relationship to grow [19:13] How relationship triggers directly affect food, weight, and health [21:01] The connection between emotional weight and physical weight [22:01] Why unhappy relationships impact your happiness more than being single [23:04] The shift from “doing it all” to receiving and resting in your feminine [25:12] A client story: when doing the opposite of what feels natural actually worked [26:36] Final reminder: the right relationship isn’t perfect, it’s safe, supportive, and real Valuable Resources: Join my next LIVE masterclass Join the 8-week Fasttrack 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 and top-notch content. Plus, Leslie loves reading every review! Click here to make a difference.

Have you ever wondered why, despite knowing everything about weight loss, you still can't stop obsessing over food and your body? Why do you feel stuck in a loop of control, restriction, and guilt—even when you “do everything right”? And you feel like something deeper is driving your patterns? The truth is, it’s not about willpower, the number on the scale, or your latest diet. It’s about the emotional rollercoaster that fuels your decisions—feeling amazing one moment, spiraling the next, and waking up full of regret. You try to manage the symptoms with control or perfectionism, but that only leads to more disconnection, shame, and isolation. Eventually, you’re left wondering if real freedom around food and weight is even possible. In this episode, Leslie reveals how the root cause isn’t food at all—it’s your emotions and unhealed belief systems. Through her HEAL method, using Hypnosis, emotional mastery, and subconscious reprogramming, you’ll learn how to break free from the endless food chatter and finally feel safe, empowered, and at peace in your own body. This isn't another diet—it's the last stop on your weight loss journey. “If emotions are driving your food, they're driving your money, they're driving your energy, and you're not learning how to actually address them, you're avoiding them. What's your future going to look like? I can imagine that, basically, what your future is going to look like is you continuing to be a ping pong ball that is reacting to feelings.” - Leslie Thornton What you will learn from this episode: 01:20. - Why you’re not broken and that healing is possible 04:00 - Dieting struggles, emotional roots and why Leslie is the most qualified to help you  in your healing 07:38 - The emotional spiral and mental exhaustion behind control, restriction, and perfectionism around food 13:23 - The illusion of freedom in strict dieting and how food control can mask deeper emotional triggers 15:00 - What true freedom is like  20:02 - Why the problem isn’t the food or the weight 24:12 - How emotions—not logic—drive behaviors around food, money, and self-worth and how true transformation begins with self-love 29:53 - Unprocessed emotions: how it creates isolation, self-sabotage, and destructive cycles that affect both personal well-being and relationships 32:20 - Hypnosis as a way to healing emotional root causes of food obsession through hypnosis and self-worth 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: [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!

Have you tried every diet, tracked every bite, and still found yourself stuck in the same cycle of food obsession and shame? Do you know, deep down, that this isn't really about food—but you’re not sure what else to do? What if the real weight you're carrying isn’t physical, but emotional? Because here's the truth: obsessing over calories and being “good” with food might feel like control, but it's just masking the deeper pain. Triggers—often rooted in past wounds or relationships—send you into a shame spiral, and no matter how hard you try, the same old pattern plays out again and again. You’re not broken—you’re just trying to feel safe in the only way you know how. That’s why Leslie offers a different path. Her customized coaching process helps you heal the emotional core of your food struggles, so you can finally let go of dieting, listen to your body, and live in a way that feels authentic and free. It’s not about restriction—it’s about lasting transformation, one step at a time. “I wanna let you know that this path that I'm about to share with you, maybe the first or the fiftieth time you've heard about it, it's different. It's not another quick fix. It's not a seventy five day challenge or a detox or another perfectionistic fueled sprint toward a number on the scale. This journey is steady. This journey is calm, and most of all, it's designed to help you feel safe. And it's not about controlling food. It's about healing the patterns underneath the food. This is the real work. This is the last step on your weight loss journey.” - Leslie Thornton What you will learn from this episode: 07:19 - Leslie sharing her personal struggles with food, body, and weight and how you might relate to this 13:34 - How enrolling in one course led her to discover coaching and hypnosis, transforming her life and career, and finding her true calling to help others find freedom from food struggles through action and alignment. 16: 51 - The role hypnosis, emotional healing, and subconscious work do to your lasting freedom and transformation  24:18 -   Conveying that true health includes mental and emotional well-being—not just physical fitness—and lasting freedom from food struggles means addressing the deeper issues beyond diet  26:35- Explaining the “positive reinforcement cycle” with visualization of how things are 32:36 - How emotional triggers create subconscious patterns around food, and breaking free requires healing these patterns, not just following diets 37:26 - Illustrating the real difference between someone who feels free around food and someone who struggles  39:46 -  The result when emotional triggers are healed 42:11 - Outlining the three-core-phase journey to food freedom 46:08 - How your core wounds—like feeling unlovable or not enough—silently shape every area of life, including eating habits unless healed  50:13 - Sharing that lasting food freedom comes from a personalized, step-by-step healing journey— inviting you to begin yours by booking a call 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!

Have you ever wondered why you keep struggling with food, even when you know what to do? Why can you be successful in so many areas of life, yet feel stuck in an exhausting cycle of overeating, dieting, and self-criticism? If you’ve tried everything but nothing seems to stick, you're not alone. The truth is, it’s not about willpower or food—it’s about what's happening beneath the surface. Emotional triggers, hidden trauma, and unconscious identities like “the strong one” or “the responsible one” silently drive your patterns. And when you avoid feeling what’s really there, you cling to control, diets, or food as a false sense of safety. In this episode, Leslie reveals how to break free from that cycle—for good. She shares the emotional root causes of food struggles and introduces a new path to healing: calming the nervous system, trusting your body, and mastering emotions without relying on control. It’s not about another diet—it’s about finally coming home to yourself. “ I can't ever know what's going to help someone unless I have a longer conversation with them. My kind of superpower is I'm able to really listen to you in a way that no one's been able to really hear you before. And consider that could be what your soul has really been asking for, for all these years that you've been trying to figure out the weight thing. And so I promise a breakthrough for you on any call that you get on with me and just know that I just absolutely love holding space for you as you're serious about learning what's in the way of your being able to master this area of your life.” - Leslie Thornton What you will learn from this episode: 01:11 - What drives overeating isn’t just food —- it’s more than that 06:09 - What’s beneath every trigger that leads to emotional exhaustion and avoidance behavior 07:51 - How does avoidance behavior manifest 10:51- It’s not a weight issue; it’s an emotional thing 11:54 - Requirement to achieve lasting change with food and weight issues 15 :01 - Take it from those who tried Lesli’s program and how it changed them 17:01 -  What you can expect from Leslie’s program 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!