My simple mindset switch will help EVERYONE lose weight in January… WITHOUT turning to fat jabs, says celebrity hypnotist MARISA PEER

January can be an undeniably bleak month, with dark skies, empty pockets and a crippling pressure to get into the best shape of your life, ASAP.

But thankfully for those of us who perhaps indulged a little too much over the Christmas period, shifting the pounds can be as simple as shifting your mindset, according to one leading hypnotherapist.

Marisa Peer believes that overeating—the core reason for so many people’s weight issues—is an emotional problem and needs to be treated accordingly.

‘You have to get your mind on board to succeed at being healthy, rather than fighting your urge to eat junk,’ she tells the Daily Mail.

‘Nobody overeats because they’re blissfully happy. We overeat because we’re stressed, upset, bored or lonely. That’s why it’s better to apply emotion to it rather than logic.

‘The brain’s default is always to move us towards pleasure, so what works is to link more pleasure to not having the stuff than to having it.

‘You have to tell the brain that you want to change how you’re eating, and that you like it.

‘Thinking “I’ve got to give it up, and I really miss it, and I’m now one of those boring people on a diet” means you are more likely to fail.’

Peer, who claims that she successfully used this method to get a handle on her own food-related struggles, says that the trick is to make your subconscious mind believe that it has made the choice to ditch sweets, snacks and junk, rather than being forced to.

If that sounds rather complicated, or like it might make emotional eating even harder to get a grip on, it isn’t.

‘The words that follow “I am” are going to follow you for your whole life, and the words that go after “I am” are going to go after you,’ she explains.

‘Think of five I ams. “I am the kind of person who always drinks water before coffee or tea. I am someone who loves black coffee, I am someone who prefers vegetables to fries, I am someone who looks at ingredients, reads labels. I am someone who minimises sugar…”.

‘I know it sounds kind of weird, but actually, when you make these “I am” statements over and over again, they really do work.’

And to help make your new, healthier, sense of identity stick, Peer says to tell yourself why you’re choosing to say no and add on why—and keep doing it until it sticks.

‘You tell yourself that you are choosing not to eat sugar or drink alcohol, and that you are choosing to feel great about it,’ she says.

‘You need to signal to the brain why you’re doing what you’re doing.

‘When you can link massive pleasure to wow, “I’ve got so much more energy without sugar. My skin looks amazing. I feel really fit. I’m no longer bloated”, it becomes easier.’

Not only is it easier, but it’s a much kinder way of treating yourself- especially today.

Research from Protein Works found that January 2 is the peak date for diet-relating advertising across social media platforms, and it also just so happens to be the day that millions of Britons will be hitting the gym, binning any leftover festive chocolates and vowing to abstain from alcohol for at least the next few weeks.

But regardless of if you see the flurry of ads for weight loss, diets, meal replacement plans and new exercise kit as a helpful coincidence or cynical marketing ploy, these brands are preaching to a receptive audience.

A YouGov survey revealed that 17 per cent of Britons were kicking off 2026 with a big dream to slim down.

Similarly, almost a quarter (23 per cent) intend to exercise more this year, 11 per cent want to eat more healthily and 10 per cent simply want to ‘be more healthy’.

However, Peer believes there is only one resolution people need to adopt in order to bring about meaningful change- decide to say more positive things to yourself.

‘It’s so much easier to give up chocolate by saying I’m the kind of person who prefers healthy food. I’m the kind of person who likes vegetables. I’m the kind of person who’d rather cook from scratch than go out,’ she says.

‘Even if these things are not true, if you say them and say them and say them, they’ll eventually come true.

‘If you want to win at being super healthy, liking your body and being fit, make it who you are rather than what you do, and then you’ll find it easy.’ 

Her advice can also be applied to people embarking upon Dry January, or who are looking to be more mindful about their drinking habits in 2026.

‘Tell yourself I’m choosing to drink less. I’m choosing to only drink at the weekends. I’m choosing to stop after two glasses, and choosing to love it.

‘This is infinitely better than telling yourself I can’t drink, but now I’m so boring or I can’t drink, and now I don’t enjoy going out.’

Below, Peer shares four other simple tips which can help switch your mindset from feeling guiltily gluttonous to happily health-conscious and content.

Visualisation 

Not only does how you speak to yourself make a difference, how you see yourself in your mind’s eye and the images you regularly look at can also have a huge impact.

For this reason, Peer suggests saving some inspiring quotes and aspirational images to your phone. 

These could be of the kind of food you’d like to prefer, the figure you’d like to have, and the kind of exercise you want to do. 

‘You will look at it all the time, because we always look at our phone,’ she says. 

‘Think of something you would really like to aspire to, get a picture of it, get an image of it., find a statement that matches it. Don’t just think it, say it, state it, affirm it. And very quickly or start to embody it.’

She also suggests switching up your most-used passwords to be something empowering like “sugar free life”. 

‘These sorts of things remind you to eat more selectively,’ she explains.

‘Even “I’m a selective eater” is such a nice turn of phrase because this doesn’t say “I’m boring or I’m fanatical”.’ 

Out of sight out of mind

We can thank our Neanderthal ancestors for our 3pm Kit-Kat cravings. In their era, sugar was a rare treat, and although today it’s ubiquitous—pumped into everything from bread to yoghurt—our brains are still functioning like it’s 130,000 years ago.

‘The human brain is hardwired to remember where sugar is and go back for more,’ warns Peer.   

‘If we found honey or mangoes, we’d binge on them. We never knew we’d get them again. 

‘And to this day, even though you know that there’s a garage at the end of the road full of Kit-Kats or there’s a vending machine on the station when you go to work, we still act like sugar is so rare.’ 

To combat this, she suggests soothing your caveman brain by telling yourself that you can have sugary foods anytime.

‘Remember that you are your brain wants to remember where sugar is and keep going back. 

‘It helps not to have it around. Don’t have it in the house, if you can help it, or at least put it out of sight.

‘Previous studies have found that we eat more when food is in our line of vision, which is why we go a bit mental at what it can eat buffets and when we see food at the checkout.’ 

Rationing and ring-fencing

As part of being kinder to yourself, Peer urges Daily Mail readers to go easy on themselves if they slip up. 

‘Don’t beat yourself up, you’re allowed to make a mistake,’ she says, adding that it might be worth considering setting a certain day of the week, or a regular time that you are allowed to indulge in the calorific or sweet foods you’re trying to cut back on. 

‘If you tell yourself that you’re never going to have something, then the minute you have it, you feel shame and guilt. 

‘But if you say to yourself that you eat sugar once every seven days, only at weekends or on holidays or on birthdays, it takes away the guilt.

‘When you feel guilty, you beat yourself up and want to do it again.’ 

Peer adds that she devised this method after previously abstaining from sugar for years. 

‘I realised I like to have it sometimes, and now I try to have it every six days,’ she says. 

‘It doesn’t always work, but it helps you to not beat yourself up. Plus it helps you realise that you’re a human being and you’re allowed to make mistakes—as long as you’re learning from them.’  

Enjoy the slip-ups

Keeping on with the ‘we’re only human’ theme, Peer says that if you end up eating the foods or drinks you’re trying to have less of, just make the most of it. 

‘One thing that really helps is to say, “well, I’m going to have it and enjoy it”,’ she explains.

‘Eat it mindfully. Have some chocolate, but slow down. Don’t bolt it, put it in your mouth and really savour it. It’s a good way to eat less. 

‘One of the best things you can do for your digestion is to eat slowly. Watch how babies eat. 

‘They engage with every mouthful you can never get the second one until they finish the first.’