Weight and see

The prize was a six-week weight-loss programme worth £300 with York therapist Lisa Clifford, who uses hypnosis on her clients.

After reading through scores of entries, Lisa picked three York women to take on the challenge.

Over the coming weeks, the winners will undergo a mix of life coaching, hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to help them achieve their goals. And The Press will be reporting on their progress.

Lisa has already achieved great results with other clients and expects our three women to lose between 10lbs to a stone by the end of the six-week exercise.

She said: "In each one-to-one session, they will be coached about self-esteem and self-belief and we will be examining their relationship with food as well as looking at healthy eating. I will use hypnosis to link it all up and NLP to embed it all in as a way of life so that healthy eating becomes their natural behaviour."

Lisa describes NLP as the study of the language of the brain. "It helps to free people from the barriers that hold them back in their lives," she said.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, Lisa used the methods on herself and lost two stone - and managed to keep it off.

She said: "It's all about putting a mirror up to them to see who they are and the values, qualities and resources they have already to work with.

"It's not about changing them - it's about allowing them to be the best version of themselves."

So, let's meet our three winners...

Sandra Lumby is a 42-year-old personal assistant who lives with husband Paul in York. She has two children, Rachel, 22, and Martin, 20, and a grandson, Joshua, four.

Weight: 11 stone Height: 5ft 2ins Target: Ten stone She says: "I've been trying to lose weight for a while without success and it was getting me down. I tried cutting my portion sizes; I don't eat a lot, but I probably eat the wrong things. My daughter is getting married next year and has asked me to be a bridesmaid, but I know I have to change my views and start thinking positively to lose weight. I don't want to lose weight then put it back on. I want to change the way I look at myself and the way I feel."

Mandy Tyson is a 40-year-old York nurse. She is married to Chris and has two children, Annie, four, and Fintan, six months.

Weight: 11 stone Height: 5ft Target: Nine stone She says: "I was eight and a half stone when I met my husband, then I stopped smoking and got pregnant. I didn't make any effort to lose weight between babies. Now I want to get back to how I used to be. I have done various diets, but never stuck to them. All the things I used to do before I had babies don't seem to work now: I eat too late and rely on quick, convenience foods. I know I've got to get back to eating sensibly and when I go back to work I'll be doing the school run, dropping off the baby at nursery and getting to work all on foot. I have the motivation to do this and get me back on track."

Margaret Whitehead is a 50-year-old self-employed tennis coach and lives in York.

Weight: 12 stone 6lbs Height: 5ft 10ins Target: 11 stone 6lbs She says: "I've always been extremely slim but have found that over the past ten years I've put on weight. I put it down to getting older. I'm still doing the same amount of exercise, but probably drinking too much red wine. My weight doesn't get me down, but when I look in the mirror I'd like to be slimmer. Nobody wants to see a fat tennis coach. I've never been to Weight Watchers or anything, I try to eat healthily, and sometimes lose three or four pounds, but I put it back on. I'm looking at this as an opportunity to give me a boost."

• We will be following the progress of Mandy, Margaret and Sandra over the next few weeks.

• To find out more about the therapies offered by Lisa Clifford, contact her via email at: lisa@lisaclifford.co.uk or by phone on 07795 634671.