24/03/2010

Girl overcomes anorexia to become buxom model thanks to hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy has helped a young woman from Hampshire overcome her eating disorders and fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming a model.

Featured in the News of the World supplement magazine Fabulous, Mellissa Lacy says she wanted to be a model ever since her schoolgirl friend signed with an agency at the age of 13. Enamoured with the glamorous stories of her friend, Mellissa set her heart on walking the catwalk.

However, after being rejected by nine different agencies for having too much "puppy fat" this dream became a poisonous obsession. At 5 foot 9 inches tall, 13 year old Mellissa was a size 8-10 and had barely any fat on her body that she could lose.

"I was so shocked. I'd never thought I was overweight." said Mellissa, "But if the model agents said I was, then I must be. I decided to lose some weight and try again."

After being rejected again after a strict diet, Mellissa flung herself into a dangerous eating disorder that would last years. She cut her diet down to just 600 calories a day, taking pro-plus for energy and dirtying plates to fool her parents into thinking she'd eaten.

"Food became my enemy" she says. "It stood between me and my dream."

By the time she was 16, Mellissa weighed just 7st and wore a tiny size 4 dress size. Her hip bones and ribcage jutted through her skin, making it painful to lie down. Her hair started to fall out and her condition was so severe she stopped getting her period.

During college she realised how far she'd gone when looking at other girls her age who had full figures. Breaking down, she rang her parents and entered group therapy sessions which helped force her to eat regularly and healthily. 

Reaching a healthier 10 stone, Mellissa was discharged to her parents and eventually developed breasts, hips and all the curves her anorexia had stolen from her. But still she obsessed over her figure and her eating. She says than when she looked in the mirror, she felt "disgusted" by her new voluptuousness.

After seeing an advert in a magazine, Mellissa decided to go for hypnotherapy. "I thought anything was worth a try" she said - and she's glad she did.

"Under hypnosis I was taught how to reassess my relationship with food. The therapy helped me to stop worrying about my weight and to accept my natural curvy shape."

Relaxing her diet, she started to enjoy food and developed an even curvier figure. Last year she applied to become a plus-size model - and saw an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response.

"They all wanted to sign me" says Mellissa. Thanks to the effects of her hypnotherapy, London modelling agencies couldn't wait to feature the beautiful, buxom blonde.

Looking back, Mellissa says: "I can't believe how thin I was, yet I thought I was fat. In reality I was slowly killing myself."

"For the first time in my life I love my body" she says, "I'm healthy, happy and a model."