PATIENT'S WORDS:
I Took Care of my Digestion -
and My Weight Took Care of Itself
THE HAPPY TUMMY COURSE with Dr David Lovell-Smith
An innovative way to understand digestion, eating and weight — and begin to recognise what your own body is telling you.
My patient shown here had spent years trying to lose weight.
Different diets. Different plans. Cutting foods. Starting all over again.
But, as she put it:
“Nothing worked!”
Her weight felt like a mystery — something she had no control over.
Then something changed.
She stopped concentrating so much on fighting her weight and began paying attention to something most approaches to weight loss barely consider:
her digestion.
She went on to lose more than 32 kg.
But something else changed too.
The constant struggle with food began to disappear.
Her weight was no longer a mystery.
She felt in control.
That is where Happy Tummy begins.
NZ$150
Why has weight loss been such hard work?
You know the feeling.
You start a new diet. You’re full of enthusiasm and determination.
“This time I’m going to succeed.”
You follow the instructions. You watch what you eat. You steadfastly avoid foods you would love to eat.
You count calories, keep a food diary, weigh yourself every morning.
And you really do try.
Then, gradually, the restrictions, the sheer effort of it all, begins to wear you down.
Maybe you really feel like something to eat, but you are in a prescribed fasting time.
Or a friend suggests going out for dinner. Instead of looking forward to the occasion, you're wondering: “Will there be anything on the menu I can eat?”
Then it turns out your favourite dish is on the menu, but it's not on your diet.
So, you call on all your willpower.
You resist.
You remind yourself: “I’m doing this for my health!”
You succeed for a while.
But sooner or later, the effort becomes exhausting.
Every unsuccessful attempt makes the next attempt harder.
Abandon the diet? You feel disappointed in yourself. Guilty.
Push through with sheer determination? But then you are teaching yourself that losing weight is an unpleasant experience requiring vigilance and self-denial.
Either way, the next time you think about dieting, you remember how hard it was.
The prospect of going through it all again repels you.
Eventually, after multiple futile attempts, you wonder: “Is this just me? Am I the problem here? Maybe I simply don't have enough discipline.”
But what if discipline isn't the problem?
What if we've all been approaching weight loss in the wrong way?
Almost all the advice about losing weight focuses on the food.
What to eat. What not to eat. How much to eat.
But there's another part of the picture that receives surprisingly little attention.
You. The person who is eating it.
And that's where things start to become interesting.
You are not a locomotive
It's not just a matter of shovelling in the coal and away she goes.
Your body is a highly intelligent living system, and like the rest of nature, it operates in cycles.
Think of the rhythm of day and night, or the changing seasons.
Our digestion is cyclic too.
We move from being ready to digest, through digestion, then resting — before becoming ready to digest again.
Think of a child on a swing.
Push the swing at just the right moment and everything works beautifully.
Push at the wrong moment and it doesn't.
In the same way, your tummy will be very happy if you eat at just the right time.
So, eat when you are ready to digest!
But that raises a question most of us have probably never thought to ask:
How do I know when I'm ready to digest?
That's one of the things you'll begin to recognise in Happy Tummy.
It leads to a very different way of thinking about eating. And I'll tell you something:
I never tell people to eat less.
In Happy Tummy there are no instructions to cut portions or deliberately restrict how much you eat.
And yet almost everyone who has gone through my programmes tells me they end up eating less — without deliberately trying to.
That was certainly true for the woman whose story began this page.
She began paying attention to her digestion rather than trying to control her weight.
And, in her words:
“I took care of my digestion — and my weight took care of itself.”
So Happy Tummy is not another diet.
There are no calorie targets to hit.
No lists of forbidden foods.
No requirement to eat perfectly.
Instead, you begin by learning more about your own body — and how to cooperate with it rather than constantly trying to override it.
And here's something I particularly love about this approach:
My patients tell me they enjoy their food more. Not less, but more.
Remember that dinner invitation? The worry about what you would be allowed to eat, and the disappointment of having to refuse your favourite dish?
Imagine being able to look forward to the occasion — and fully enjoy the food and the company.
Less struggle. More enjoyment.
That's the change I want you, too, to discover in Happy Tummy.
Inside Happy Tummy
I've brought together nearly 40 years of clinical experience and research into four focused video lessons.
You'll discover:
✨ How to begin recognising the information your own body is giving you
✨ How working with your body can give you greater ease and confidence around eating
✨ How this approach can bring you more enjoyment of food, rather than more restriction
You'll also meet (on video) the woman whose words began this page.
You'll hear, in her own words, how she went from:
“Nothing worked!”
to:
“Before, my weight was always a mystery to me. But now it's no longer a mystery. I feel I am in control.”
Happy Tummy doesn't give you another set of rules to obey.
It helps you begin understanding the language of your own body.
Here two more of my patients briefly express their experience with the principles of the Happy Tummy programme:
"I can eat what I like"
"I feel in tune with my body"
"I almost forget about eating"
Begin with Happy Tummy
For NZ$150, you’ll get immediate access to the complete Happy Tummy course and start learning how to recognise when your body is ready to digest.
What People Notice
For people who are overweight, weight loss is often the most visible change.
You've already met the woman who lost more than 32 kg — and has kept it off.
Others I've worked with include:
✨ The woman in the video above who lost 7 kg in three months while still eating foods she enjoyed.
✨ A young student who lost 4 kg without the stress of conventional dieting and restriction.
Some of the changes are less easily measured, but no less real.
A professor described feeling more in touch with his body.
Another was delighted to discover that she had:
“stopped thinking about food all day.”
That small sentence says a lot.
Because ultimately this isn't only about losing weight.
It's about food taking up less space in your head — and leaving you more space to get on with your life.
Is There Evidence Behind This?
My interest in this approach began with principles derived from Ayurveda, the ancient system of health from India.
Observations in my medical practice eventually led to a research scholarship and doctoral research through the University of Auckland, followed by collaboration with other researchers.
Our research into these principles has reported improvements in Body Mass Index (BMI) and insulin sensitivity.
So the ideas you'll encounter in Happy Tummy are grounded in decades of clinical observation and scientific research — including research in which I was personally involved.
Is Happy Tummy for You?
If you're tired of struggling with diets, restrictions and willpower, Happy Tummy offers a bold new starting point.
Instead of telling your body what to do, start cooperating with it.
It turns out to be much easier — and a lot more fun.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to change what I eat?
Happy Tummy doesn't begin by giving you another list of foods to eat or avoid.
Instead, you'll learn to pay attention to information coming from your own body and begin understanding what it means.
Many people have found that their relationship with food changes as a consequence.
What if I'm not good at recognising my body's signals?
That's precisely why Happy Tummy exists.
Most of us have had far more practice following external rules than listening accurately to our own bodies.
You aren't expected to know how to do this before you begin.
Will I lose weight?
Happy Tummy isn't about forcing your body toward a predetermined number.
Some people are naturally larger and may not need to lose weight.
However, among people who are overweight, I have seen weight loss follow as they learn to work differently with their bodies. This has been the experience of scores of people I've worked with.
Is Happy Tummy only for people who want to lose weight?
Not at all.
Although many of the stories on this page concern weight loss, Happy Tummy is fundamentally about understanding your digestion and learning to recognise when your body is ready to digest.
These principles may be just as relevant if your main interest is digestive wellbeing or metabolic health, even if you have no weight to lose.
Happy Tummy is an educational course rather than a treatment for specific medical conditions. If you have an existing medical condition, such as diabetes, it's important to continue working with your healthcare professional.
Is Happy Tummy suitable for everyone then?
Not quite. If you have a serious eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia, this course isn't an appropriate substitute for professional care.
And if emotional eating is a major difficulty for you, additional psychological support may be important.
Is Happy Tummy part of the DigestionReady Coaching Programme?
Happy Tummy introduces the core principles that also underpin the DigestionReady approach, helping you begin to understand the language of your own body.
Happy Tummy is a complete course in its own right.
The DigestionReady Coaching Programme goes considerably further, with personalised guidance and support designed to help you become increasingly fluent in that language and apply it to your own circumstances.
You can begin with Happy Tummy and explore coaching later, or, if you're ready for more personalised guidance, you can go directly into DigestionReady.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm David Lovell-Smith
I'm a medical practitioner in Christchurch, New Zealand.
For nearly four decades I've been interested in digestion and in the changes that can follow when people begin listening to their body's signals.
That interest eventually led to my being awarded a research scholarship to undertake doctoral research at the University of Auckland. I went on to collaborate with Mario Ciampolini and other researchers investigating these ideas.
Our research has been published in the medical literature, and I've presented this work at medical meetings internationally.
If your digestion has been troublesome for you, or if you are carrying more weight than you would like, I sincerely hope Happy Tummy comes as a relief to you.
Would you like to hear more? I’ll send you a series of thoughtful emails about digestion, eating and weight, drawing on my clinical experience, research and the experiences of my patients.
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