Skip the surgery and get skinny anyway
Overweight patients try to trick their brains into thinking they've had surgery
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Now, some overweight folks are trying a new approach - tricking their brains into thinking they had the surgery and getting the same result - weight loss! Video by fox4now.com
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WFTX - Pop singer Carnie Wilson, of the group Wilson Phillips, recently revealed she's undergone a second form or weight loss surgery.
First it was gastric bypass, and more recently it was lap band surgery.
As a celebrity, cost was probably the least of her concerns.
But most of the rest of us don't really have that luxury - not to the mention the side effects (one which is death) that can go along with such surgeries.
Now, some overweight folks are trying a new approach - tricking their brains into thinking they had the surgery and getting the same result - weight loss!
Hypnotist Kellen Marson says he uses visualization to help his patients picture themselves going in for weight loss surgery.
"We'll use hospital sounds and we'll actually use gurney sounds," he says.
In a special report on Wednesday's 10pm news, anchor Patrick Nolan told the story of Tami who plants to lose 100 pounds without surgery.
"It has to work," she says about the hypnosis approach.
It's a two pronged approach.
In addition to the hypnosis, she and the therapist work on why she overeats.
He gives her techniques for eliminating cravings.
As for the hypnosis.
Marson leads Tami into a session where she visualizes each step of "virtual" weight loss surgery.
"The surgeon will gently tighten the band which will make your stomach smaller," he tells her during the session.
The idea is for Tami's brain to behave as if it actually happened.
"Our subconscious mind really doesn't know the difference between reality and fantasy," syas Marson.
Marson is not the first to take this approach and get results.
In her book Waistland, behavioral researcher Deidre Barrett writes about how she's helped overweight women shed the pounds just by meditating and visualizing their weight loss.
Some surgeons sound skeptical of this approach.
"At the end of the day there's also a physiologic issue that i think the hypnosis is not going to address like the device and the surgery will," says bariatric surgeon Dr. Jon Gould.
But some people who have actually undergone weight loss surgery wonder why they didn't try hypnosis first.
Joan boudro (had obesity surgery three years ago.
She lost 140 pounds.
"If you can trick your mind into believing certain things why wouldn't your body just follow suit?" she says.
That's what Tami is banking on.
She's already lost 12 pounds and is ready to tackle the rest with the power of hypnosis.
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