"I lost 6 stone talking on the phone!"

Last January, Chanita Federlein wrote down everything she wanted to achieve in the year. It wasn't an impressively long list but Chanita knew that to reach her goals, she'd have to face up to, and overcome, the biggest challenge of all — her weight.

Chanita had fought a losing battle with the scales since she was a child. In desperation, she had even joined Overeaters Anonymous. 'But starting every sentence with, "I am an overeater" just seemed to reaffirm the habit I was trying to change,' she says. 'I was in despair. I've been overweight since I was six. When I was a teenager, I was the girl other boys dared each other to go out with — so, not surprisingly, I always had disastrous relationships, until I met my husband Alex, who's 33 and, like me, a teacher.'

'I'd tried every fad diet going, but then I'd start binge eating again — and feel even more of a failure.'

After a particularly galling moment, in October 2002 when she'd been ordered off a fairground ride because she didn't fit safely into the seat, Chanita, 27, was desperate to find an eating plan she could stick to. Poring over the diet section in her local bookshop she spotted a book with a free CD — Slim by Suggestion, written by Georgia Foster.

'Before, I'd eat what I wanted when I wanted — and think to hell with it. I'd start the day with a fry-up of bacon, sausage and eggs. Lunch would be a round of sandwiches, a couple of meat pies, ice cream and two or three chocolate bars. In the evening I'd have a roast with mountains of potatoes, pudding, and another chocolate bar.'

'I read the first few pages and identified so much with the writer who'd overcome her own weight problems I was in tears,' she recalls. 'Through the book and CD, I realised I was a compulsive overeater. It started when I was five, shortly after my parents' divorce. In a way, food was my comfort blanket.'

But despite her best intentions, Chanita couldn't stop binge eating — and e-mailed Georgia for help. 'She told me, "A lapse is not a collapse". That was such a breakthrough for me.'

Georgia Foster, a clinical hypnotherapist who specialises in weight issues, offered to counsel Chanita on the phone. Although they have never met, Georgia's telephone tips have helped Chanita drop six and a half stones in 15 months.

'It's basically over the phone therapy,' explains Chanita, who lives in Alvechurch, Birmingham. 'The counselling can last anything from 10 minutes to an hour and a half. Instead of dos and don'ts, Georgia has taught me to reprogramme my mind to gain control over my eating.'

'Georgia doesn't pretend to be a nutritionist, but she gives recommendations. For example, if I eat carbohydrates like bread or potatoes for lunch, by 4pm I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. Georgia suggested eating just protein at lunchtime.'

'Like most overweight people, I've always known what I should and shouldn't eat — it's just putting the theory into practice.'

'Now, thanks to Georgia, I don't have food cravings and feel totally motivated to lose weight. I lost 20lb in the first month — and didn't feel hungry! I've never been this slim as an adult.'

'I eat small meals often so I'm never hungry,' says Chanita. 'The money I used to spend on calorie-laden snacks now goes on delicious fruit like pawpaws and mangoes. If I do eat something "bad", I'll feel disappointed with myself, but I'm no longer caught in that cycle of dieting failure.'

Chanita has dropped an amazing 7 dress sizes in just over a year. She's gone from size 32 to size 18 and plans to lose another three stone, but already her self-confidence has soared.

'When I was 21 stone, I'd grab the nearest top and tent skirt and drag them on without looking at myself,' she says. 'Now, for the first time in my life, I go shopping with friends. Last Christmas I treated myself to a red corset top to wear to parties — that's how confident I feel.'

'And I've achieved what I set out to do last January: I went on a holiday to Austria and fitted into the airplane seat without using an extension belt and I went on a three-day riding trek in the Black Mountains. Before I was far too heavy to get on a horse! Now, for the first time in my adult life, I feel just like everyone else — and it's fantastic.'

For enquiries about Slim by Suggestion, log on to www.slimbysuggestion.co.uk or call 0845 660 4396.

Feature by Tamsin Kelly