Firstly, Nora - it sounds like you're having a hard time at the moment. Have a .
In response to PointyDog - yes I understand your scepticism - I am very sceptical person and definitely anti-woo. However, hypnosis is something which is very established, for many different applications as well as weight loss.
As for PM himself, for those who weren't there for the webchat a few months ago, I was NotOlive who went on to complain about the fact that he ridiculed me at one of his hypnotic stage shows back in the early 90s and compared me to Olive from On the Buses - hence the name for this thread. Admittedly I did have a bad haircut at the time and wasn't wearing the most flattering of dresses but 20 years after the event, (even though I had developed a thick skin/protective armour) the slight still rankled sufficiently for me to join the thread and challenge him about it.
The man had the grace to apologise and invite me foc to the seminar. And I was sufficiently intrigued enough to go along. I have to say that, yes, he is obviously a business person who is looking to earn money from a market opportunity. He is also a charismatic personality who knows how to work a room and develop a good relationship with his customers. From a business perspective I can relate to that - but there is a fine line between charisma and smarminess. In the seminar I felt that he was firmly on the charismatic side but I can see how it could be translated as "smarmy" in other contexts. But I was also highly sceptical of his associate Kevin Laye who also featured in the seminar.
I was also heartened to hear some of the things he had to say. In particular, there was none of the usual "fatty bashing" which is SO prevalent in society (AND MN). I have said this on previous threads but one of the most resonant things he said was that none of us is inherently bad for being overweight, we have just developed some poor eating habits. As someone who has been overweight all my life, it was one of the most positive things I had EVER heard. Even if you take away the hypnosis aspect of the programme, the whole ethos of eating according to need - rather than want - surely makes total and utter sense.
The man isn't fleecing us either. The book and CD costs less than a tenner - much less than 5 or 6 quid a week for a slimming club (plus all the additional items they try and flog you). He's also realistic and admits that there will be a 30% failure rate for his system.
Can't believe I have typed a post this long in defence of a bloke I previously loathed. That's it really.
BTW, I haven't lost much on the system, but I'm happier and have lost a little.