“In my 20s, I laughed at anything vaguely mystical. Forty pounds later, I’m not skeptical — I’m desperate.”
Thus starts the story about one man’s story about weight loss through hypnosis at the online magazine Salon.
“I’m sitting in a hypnotist’s office because I am a fat load. There’s no other way to put it. I’ve been “stocky” or “husky” since elementary school. But my most recent weight gain — brought on by a suburban lifestyle, a dead thyroid, a desk job and a fatty parade of cookie tins brought to my house — has called for drastic measures.”
Commentary: Like so many other similar stories, there are the requisite stereotypical elements (the lead graphic, for one, or the pocket watch reference.) However, the author does mention that the session did have the desired effect: it would be interesting to see, several months down the road, how much success was accomplished. (For his sake alone, I’m hoping it will.)
The letters accompanying the article are also worth perusing: there are a number of similar, positive stories as well as the expected snarky comments from nay-sayers. (And it only took six pages of comments before anyone mentioned the HypnoToad.)