Weight Loss Problem Page
Marisa answers your problems about eating, diet, and weight loss.
If you have a problem and would like Marisa’s advice please use her Contact form. Your details will be kept confidential. Please let us know if you do not want us to use your real name.
▶ My husband has very bad breath
Problem
Dear Marisa. My husband has very bad breath. It's never been good, but it's getting worse and I don't know how to bring it up without offending him or making him fly off the handle because he hates being criticised in any way. NatalieMarisa's Response
Hi Natalie. It's always hard to tell someone else they have bad breath because it seems like an attack on their personal hygiene, so you need to word it in a very specific way by saying "Love I know you always clean your teeth but I am concerned because your breath is very strong and I wonder if you have decaying teeth. Maybe you should have a check-up, as I read that if you let tooth decay continue it's bad for your heart". You can also help by buying him an electric toothbrush and - even more important - an electric flosser. People are always surprised when they clean their teeth then floss at how many food particles still remain. The trapped food causes bacteria which causes bad breath so it's important to brush properly and to floss morning and night. It can also help to give the tongue a quick brush with the toothbrush every time you clean your teeth. Constipation can also cause very bad breath so make sure he drinks enough water and eats enough fibre. If he goes to the loo regularly and cleans/flosses properly but still has bead breath you should go with him to see a dental hygienist. Make it clear it's not his fault and that you want to help him because you hate to think that colleagues or friends notice his breath and judge him because of it.▶ I eat all the time even when I am not hungry
Problem
Dear Marisa, I eat all the time even when I am not hungry. I can’t lose weight as I eat to feel better. Going on diets make me miserable so I end up eating to comfort myself and I never lose any weight. I also eat sweets and chocolate in secret and just want to stop. What can I do? ValerieMarisa's Response
Dear Valerie You sound like an emotional eater - someone who eats to ignore their feelings and push them away. It’s very common. You are eating because you feel empty inside trying to fill an emotional emptiness that can’t be filled with food . What you must do is fill yourself up with compliments by saying nice things to yourself and telling yourself that you are enough all the time. Overeating is a search for security that’s why we comfort eat on comfort foods like chocolate, cakes, ice cream. When you were a baby and you were held and fed all your needs were met and you are trying to get that feeling back by eating the same type of food sugary, fatty and creamy. Your body does not want or crave junk or sugar it’s your mind that wants it because it made you happy as a child. Your mind influences your body and you can influence your mind by saying ‘I only eat the food a smart beautiful woman would eat’ Base your diet around lean protein, fruit, vegetables, salads, nuts and seeds as these foods keep your body in fat burning mode whereas sugar keeps your body in fat storing mode. Very best Marisa▶ I have no willpower at all
Problem
Dear Marisa I have no willpower at all I can't stick to a diet or make myself go to the gym even though I am happier when I eat right and exercise why do I put of things that are good for me. I end up slobbing on the sofa eating biscuits and hate myself so why can’t I change. IreneMarisa's Response
Dear Irene You can change any behaviour, but first you have to change the way you talk to yourself, saying I have to go the gym and I must go on a diet doesn’t work. We only want to do the things that give us pleasure, when you say ‘I have to I must’ your mind doesn’t think you want to do it thinks it’s a chore and because your minds job is to do what it thinks you want, it will then conditions you to avoid things you see as a chore. Instead if you say out loud ‘I want to go the gym I love going to the gym I have chosen to eat healthy food and chosen to feel really happy about it ‘you will get results. So say to yourself I could lie on the sofa all night eating biscuits but I am choosing to go to the gym get fit and look fantastic. I could eat chocolate but I am choosing to eat fruit instead when you chose to do something you feel good about it and get more motivated when you say I have to do it you just resist it all the more. Chosing to do it ends the resistance saying I have to do it increases it so make these mental changes first and the physical ones will follow. Very best Marisa Peer▶ Can you give me some advice on getting a gastric band
Problem
Dear Marisa. Can you give me some advice on getting a gastric band? I have been overweight for so long I cant think of any other way to slim down. I love sweets and chocolates and the only way I can imagine being slim is if I get a band fitted so I can't eat them. Do you think it’s a good idea. KevinMarisa's Response
Hi Kevin I don’t think it’s a good idea, in your case especially,I think it’s a bad one. Having a band fitted only works in about a third of cases , the initial weight loss is good but then it slows down . the real problem is that although the band will stop you eating big dinners and meals because you wont be able to get much food in, it wont stop you eating chocolate or cakes. When you have a full meal you are unable to have another full meal but you can always squeeze in dessert because it takes up less volume. Some people after a gastric band only eat chocolates and cakes as they find full meals make them feel sick whereas sweets, biscuits and chocolate are easier to manage. You would be better of joining overeaters anonymous or a slimming club where you will be supported as well as finding aomeone you can exercise with. People who crave chooclate often lack magnesium so take magnesium supplements every day as well to get rid of the junk food cravings. I wish you well Marisa Peer▶ Even though I know what to eat, I crave the food I ate as a child
Problem
Dear Marisa Even though I know what to eat and need to lose weight because I have high blood pressure I seem to only want to eat junk like pot noodles, bread and biscuits. Healthy food leaves me cold and I crave the stodgy food I ate in my boyhood. We were poor and lived on bread, cereal, biscuits and pasta but instead of being sick of them I still want to eat them all the time what is wrong with me. AlfieMarisa's Response
Dear Alfie The mind loves what is familiar and when you were a kid and didn’t have much money things like toast and biscuits would have given you instant pleasure comfort and happiness so when you feel stressed or down your mind looks for the same foods to try to give you the same sensations but it doesn’t work so you keep repeating the patterns. Our body likes what we give it all the time the more stodge you eat the more your body will ask for it and the less you eat the less your body will ask for it. After 10 days you will find yourself preferring different food so buy the foods you could not afford and didn’t eat as a kid like hummus and peppers or cold prawns and Parma ham to snack on and when you eat them remind yourself that you prefer eating these things and it makes you happy. Your mind will soon get the message and you will find it easier to avoid stodge lose weight and bring down your blood pressure, Marisa15 Responses to “Weight Loss Problem Page”
Leave a Comment
Hi there Marisa, I read ‘you can be thin’ last year and it was amazing, I felt a sense of freedom. However I seem to have fallen of the wagon. I’ve re read your book but it doesn’t seem to stick. I long to have that feeling again but feel like I’m back on the same old cycle of trying to lose weight, obsessing about it etc etc. Would a personal session with you be a better option for me?
Hi Nicki, I’m sorry to hear that you’re stuck in this cycle. I would recommend a session with me because if the book has worked in the past the problem is likely to be an underlying issue with food and hypnotherapy is the best solution for this. Marisa
Dear Marisa, My problem is that every time I use the cd from ‘You Can Be Thin’ I fall asleep. Evening time is my only ‘leave mummy alone time’. Will I not be getting any of the benefits or will my subconcious mind still take the information in?
Dear Sarah,
To stop yourself falling asleep you may be better off sitting up in bed or in a chair. It doesn’t matter so much if you fall asleep at the end of the recording.
Very Best Marisa
Hi Marissa I have recently 1 lost stone on a low carb diet,but I do feel deprived as a lot of vegetables and fruit are not allowed on this way of eating.I want to switch to your way of eating but am afraid on piling some of the weight back on,I have a wedding at the end of the month and would like to loose a bit more weight for the occasion(I have around another stone and a half to go)I know that is not achievable in 3 weeks but how much weight is it possible to loose on your plan by the 3 weeks?
hello
i ve recently been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid gland
i initially lost 9 lb but with the drugs have put this all back on and some more
would hypnotherapy work to help me lose weight?
many thanks
dawn sullivan
Dear Dawn,
Yes hypnotherapy would be able to help you to lose weight even whilst on the drugs you are on. Do contact us for more information.
Very Best Marisa Peer
Dear Marisa, I’m a big fan of You can be thin and I have followed the diet for the last 5 years and have never worried about my weight. Lately I have decided to become a vegan and found I have gained weight. I don’t have a lot of choice as I used to and I’m struggling. Please can you give me some advice? Many thanks for your help. Best wishes, Ann.
Hi,
Can you post a link to your sugar free cake that you mention in your article on “how to stop craving sugar”, I can’t seem to find it?
Thanks
Hi Jo, Please take a look at marisa’s blog for recipes: http://marisapeerlive.com/category/recipes/
Very Best, Marisa
Sorry, I have found it now, thanks!!
Hi Ann while being a vegan is very noble its not an ideal diet especially if you have weight issues. It’s very hard to lose weight once your insulin levels rise as insulin stops fat burning. All protein foods keep your insulin levels low and all stachy foods raise it. So if your diet is based on grains like rice, pasta, noodles and cereals as well as potatoes and contains a lot of fruit and starchy vegetables your insuin levels will always be raised and your body will continue to store fat instead of burning it off. To slow down your blood sugar you must eat protein at every meal so in the morning soya yogurt wiht nuts and seeds is good. Lunch must have a lot of lentils, chick peas and soya beans or tofu along with green vegetables and avocado for the essential oils. Cook in cocunut oil and snack on nuts, seeds, olive,s endemame,linseeds and hemp seeds. Dinner should be quinoa or amaranth with green veggies and olives and more nuts and seeds. Even then your diet will always be low in Vitamin B12 and Vitamin E so if you have become a vegan only for health reasons please put eggs back into your diet as they are almot a complete food. I was a vegan for many years but could not do it now as my blood sugar was too high
very best Marisa Peer
Hi Ann, The other thing I would add to Marisa’s comment about Veganism is a suggestion made by Denise Minger – if you like shellfish, you can morally eat non-sentient bivalves ie: scallops, mussels etc and they will give your nutrient levels a huge boost. Its worth reading her suggestions for Vegans as she covers the nutritional needs very thoroughly.
I had a stand-up knock-down fight with my Doctor when I went Vegan – I have Hashimotos Thyroiditis and so need a very nutrient rich diet. She ORDERED me to go home and eat a steak. I was seething, but she’s a very good doctor, so I did it…. Well, I felt as though my fuel tank had been filled for the first time in months !! I woke up the next day ready to take on the world !
I still have grave moral reservations about eating animal products, so I spend extra on getting grass fed, free-range meat and free-range, organic eggs and chickens. At least that way the animals have had some semblance of a normal life. I also now make an ongoing monthly donation to our local wildlife rescue centre. Its not the same as being Vegan, but I’m not helping anyone or anything by becoming sick and weakened by a diet that I cannot sustain, and which does not sustain me.
All The Very Best !
Molly
hi
I have read and followed your book ‘You Can Be Thin’ and up to a point i find it has helped me. Losing a little but not being able to motivate my body into letting go of the unwanted fat to allow my body to feel even more healthier.
Personally i am a Reiki Master/ Spiritualist Healer and good at helping others but at 64 i find i need the help.
To make my life much healthier i require to be about 11stone 7 lbs and at 5ft 2 that is not perfect but its good for me . At the moment i am 12st 10 and up and down.
I feel there is a ‘past’ restriction in the way of my body letting go.
If you are taking on patients i would be grateful if you could see me.
Have a good day , Vivien Richardson
33 Harlech Court
Ellesmere Port, CH65 5DY
07986 436311
Would love to lose weight could u just give me a few things on what to do and eat I had a baby 7months ago