Woman Hypnotised Into Thinking She Had Gastric Band Surgery Loses 4 Stone

A woman lost a third of her body weight after undergoing hypnosis to make her think she'd had gastric band surgery.

Ruby Moseley, 25, from Kent, had been overweight for as long as she can remember, weighing up to 17st while she was doing shift work in pubs and restaurants.

Her eating habits were unhealthy, and she would miss meals before binge eating comfort food when she got chance to eat.

Ruby Moseley

But when she met up with a friend who had lost a lot of weight through gastric band surgery, Ruby decided to look into her options.

Not wanting full surgery, she decided to try cognitive behaviour therapy at the Gastric Mind Band Treatment in Fuengirola, Spain.

Her grandmother Marion paid the £2,500 (£3,370) for her to start the treatment at the Elite Clinic.

She had four daily intensive CBT sessions, before being hypnotised into believing she had the surgery.

Ruby now weighs 13st and is a healthy size 12, with a target of 11st.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Ruby said: "They took me through an in-depth questionnaire covering my childhood, my background, my past relationship with food and just about every aspect of me, to see what my triggers were.

Ruby Moseley

"Essentially I was over-eating when I was stressed, tired and depressed. We looked at why I would quit a diet and how to change that.

"Day four was the final and deep hypnosis session, where they talk patients through their own 'virtual' gastric band 'surgery'.

"At the clinic they had all kinds of surgical models to explain aspects of the surgical gastric band procedure and I was shown a film of an actual operation. They connected me to a type of heart monitoring machine before I was hypnotised.

Ruby Moseley

Ruby Moseley

"While I was under, I remember thinking I was wearing a medical gown. I felt myself being wheeled into an operating theatre, and could vividly hear the sounds of the medical instruments being picked up and put down.

"As the surgeons 'started the procedure', Marion, my therapist, placed a golf ball into my hand and I was told to squeeze it. As I did, I felt the band tighten around my stomach. It was really surreal."

Since she lost the weight, Ruby says she is more confident.

She added: "I keep a golf ball in my handbag to remind me not to eat too much and listen again to the hypnosis sessions whenever I feel like it."

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. She spent a few years working on festivals and events before joining LADbible. In her spare time, Amelia likes music and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward