Back from rock bottom 'A HYPNOTIST MADE ME HEALTHY!'

How Rebecca beat binge-eating and dropped 32kg

- Sharon Stephenson

Almost three years ago, Rebecca Jump made two good decisions - the first was to face up to her demons, while the second was to visit a hypnotherapist to help with the binge-eating that had plagued her most of her life.

Both were courageous moves that saw the 21-year-old Aucklander lose a massive 32kg and, more importantly, turn around the destructive relationship with food she's had since she was seven.

"I can't remember a time I didn't have a negative relationship with food." says Rebecca from the Henderson home she shares with her partner Dylan Waite.

Rebecca was seven when her parents separated, triggering feelings of loneliness. "I'd steal food from the pantry and hide it, even though I knew it was wrong. If I opened a packet of biscuits, I'd make myself eat them all, even if it made me feel sick. I couldn't seem to stop.”

Along with the usual hurtful childhood bullying, when Rebecca was 15, a boy she had a crush on rejected her because of her size.

“It reinforced the fact that I'm fat, so no-one will want me. That's why I turned to food because no matter what I was going through, whether I was happy or sad, food comforted me."

Concerned for their daughter's health, her parents took her to numerous doctors. "I was tested for thyroid, gastric and diabetes issues to see why I was putting on weight so quickly, but everything came back negative.”