"I could see someone who was crying on the inside for help. She was clearly mentally in a place where she was self loathing constantly," said Psychotherapist Meghan Lemery.
Lemery's client, Dawn Kineke weighed nearly 500 pounds two years ago.
"It is an addiction. It is a disease. I ate all the time, emotional eater," Kineke said.
Without drugs, drastic diets or surgery, Kineke lost almost 250 pounds. Exercising and eating sensibly helped, but it was her therapy sessions that were key. She went from self hate to self love.
"Your thoughts can make you fat and when you wake up in the morning and you are ashamed at what you see, you then set the tone for the day where you constantly feel frustrated and angry about your body image," Lemery said.
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“Get a picture in your mind of what is a comfortable body for you. The one you are able to feel most confident in then look for picture that reminds you of that weight it is," Lemery said.
"She helped me believe in myself and I was doubting myself too often, like I couldn't do anything. I was such a failure and I am not. I am not," Kineke said.
Lemery says the underlying issue for many addictions is shame, which can be caused by unresolved emotional trauma.
“You have to remember it is a long term emotional problem that now has manifested in using food as the solution,” Lemery said. “You want to go back to the beginning and deal with the emotions and deal with the thoughts.”
Taking small steps toward feeling better begins with self love and affirmations.
"Write down on a card encouraging things about yourself, what you really like. If it is confidence you would like to feel, write that down, I am a confident person and then in your mind during the day, think about that confidence," Lemery said.
Overweight people are often misjudged. They are seen as lazy and having issues with self control. According to Lemery, it goes much deeper.
"It's not about being obese or binge eater. It is about feeling horrible about the person you see when you look in the mirror and feeling that you don't deserve better, this is what you are destined to. What people don't understand this is an emotional issue, not a food issue,” Lemery said.
Kineke has proven it works.
"This is me. There is no going backwards,” Kineke said. “I love my life! A lot of nice things have come out of my life because of this. I am the happiest I have been ever, ever."