INSIDE EDITION talks to a woman who says her weight loss is all thanks to hypnosis that made her think she's had a surgical procedure.
Marianne Zega went from being a chubby child to an obese 325-pound woman. Her daily diet consisted of grossly fattening foods like fried chicken, cheese burgers, and spaghetti.
"I've been obese my whole life. I yo-yo dieted my whole life. It was never enough," said Zega.
But Marianne has lost a whopping 120 pounds. How did she do it? The answer will shock you: hypnosis! It works by making someone think that they actually had gastric band surgery, and their stomach was reduced to the size of a golf ball.
Husband and wife hypnotists Martin and Marion Shirran developed the technique and are now training other hypnotists, like Hazel Newsom.
INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent asked Zega, "Were you not a little bit skeptical about it?"
"No. If it was going to prevent me from going through the risk of surgery, that was enough for me," said Zega.
Will it work for Zega? After the three hours virtual surgery session, Zega came out believing she actually had gastric band surgery.
Zega said, "I can remember being wheeled down on a gurney. I can actually remember that band being placed on my stomach. Nothing physical was done. It was all in the my mind."
The 47-year-old from Pennsylvania says what happened next amazed her, saying, "I immediately started to lose weight. When I sit down to eat, I look at this golf ball and say, 'Okay, that's the size of your stomach.' "
"Somehow your mind is convinced your stomach is the size of a golf ball?" asked Trent.
"Yes," said Zega.
Zega says virtual surgery has curbed her destructive eating pattern. She says she eats less and is making healthy choices, all without without actually going under the knife.
Zega said, "It's changed my life. Food no longer controls my life. I control my life."
For more information go to benestarcentre.com.
