There’s a moment I remember pretty clearly.
It was at Kings Island. Or maybe it was the Speedway — honestly, it could have been either, because the feeling was the same at both. I’m walking through the parking lot, or across the infield, or down some long stretch of pavement, and I’m already scanning ahead. Not for what I want to see next. For somewhere to sit down.
That’s what it had become. Every room I walked into, every event I actually managed to drag myself to — I was casing the place for a chair. Because my feet hurt. My knees hurt. And I was carrying around more weight than I’d ever carried in my life.
I didn’t tell a lot of people that. But that’s where I was.
The Doctor’s Appointment That Changed Things
I’m not the type who gets talked into things. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. Hardheaded is probably the word most people would use, and they wouldn’t be wrong.
So when I say I decided to go to a Mark Patrick hypnosis seminar, understand — nobody dragged me there. I went because I’d heard the commercials. I’d heard the listener stories. And somewhere underneath the skepticism, I thought: there’s a decent chance this actually works. It was reasonably priced. And the money-back guarantee made it a no-lose proposition.
But if I’m being honest about what finally pushed me out the door, it was a blood test.
My doctor sat me down after my annual bloodwork and told me my triglycerides were high and my A1C was creeping up. I’ve watched what diabetes does to people. Family members. Friends. People I care about. I want no part of that. None.
That was the morning I stopped treating this as something I’d get around to eventually.
What I Was Actually Doing
I’ll give you the honest version, because the honest version is the only one that matters.
Fast food several times a week. Lots of fried stuff. Not many plants. Waiting until I was absolutely starving to eat, and then making every wrong choice available to me. Pop or sweet tea basically all the time. Eating too close to bedtime. Skipping whole foods in favor of whatever was processed and convenient.
I knew what I was doing. I just hadn’t found the switch that made me stop.
That’s what hypnosis does, when it works. It doesn’t put you to sleep and rearrange your brain. Any hypnotist will tell you — you can’t hypnotize someone who doesn’t want to be. You have to walk in open to the possibility. I was. And something shifted.
And it’s not just weight loss. Mark Patrick does this for smoking too. If you’ve tried to quit and just can’t seem to make it stick — the cravings, the irritability, the reaching for one without even thinking about it — that’s exactly what this program is designed to address. Same night, same room, same guarantee.
It Hasn’t Been a Straight Line
I want to be clear about something, because I think the success stories you hear on commercials can make it sound like one continuous, triumphant march toward a smaller pants size.
It isn’t. Or at least mine hasn’t been.
Last fall, somewhere around the holidays, I got off track. The wrong foods crept back in. The scale went the wrong direction for a while. I’m not going to pretend that didn’t happen, because it did.
But here’s the thing about a setback. It’s a setback — not an ending.
I got back on track. I kept going. And as of last month, I’m down 52 pounds.
Fifty-two.
And I’m not done yet. I’d still like to lose another 25 pounds, and I’m okay with the fact that it’s coming off slow and steady. That’s the better path if you want the kind of weight loss that actually lasts.
Some of my old clothes would hang on me like bedsheets if I tried to wear them now. The ones I’ve been wearing lately are starting to get baggy. I’m going to need to go shopping soon — in a smaller size — which is a sentence I haven’t been able to say in a very long time.
And when I go to the Speedway now, I’m not looking for a place to sit down.
Why I’m Telling You This
Mark Patrick is coming to Batesville THIS Thursday night at the Batesville Knights of Columbus.
Weight loss hypnosis starts at 5:30 PM, with registration beginning at 5:00. Stop smoking hypnosis starts at 8:00 PM, with registration at 7:30. Both programs are just $59.99 and fully guaranteed — if it doesn’t work, you get your money back. You can sign up now at MarkPatrickSeminars.com.
They do take walk-ins, so long as you arrive 30 minutes before your session. But here’s my honest advice: don’t plan on being a walk-in.
Sign up now, today, before you close this tab. Not because the logistics require it — but because you do. If you wait until Thursday and leave it up to whatever mood you’re in that morning, or afternoon, you will find a reason not to go. The day will get away from you. Something will come up. It always does.
The people who show up are the ones who decided ahead of time that they were going to.
Be one of those people.
I’m not telling you it’s magic. I’m telling you it worked for me, in the middle of a real life, with real setbacks, on real feet that used to hurt a lot more than they do now.
If you’re where I was — not just the weight, but the tired, the avoidance, the quietly knowing something has to change — it might be worth two hours of your Thursday night.
I thought there was a decent chance it would help.
Turns out I was right.
Brent Lee is the morning host at WRBI 103.9 FM.