Dietless life is a revolutionary program by Marisa Peer that claims to change your relationship with food forever.
As someone who has tried every diet under the sun to varying degrees of success, and is currently still unable to fit into my favourite jeans after having my daughter almost two years ago, I was thrilled to be given the chance to give the program a try.
The Blurb
On enrolling on Dietless Life, I was granted access to the course portal: a super user-friendly to access the course material and track your progress. After watching each module and completing the exercises you simply tick them off and you’re automatically taken to the next section. I loved the simplicity and “tick box“ motivation of this from the start. It might sound like a small thing, but as chronic dieters will know, we really don’t need any reason (like complicated technology) to divert us away from our best-laid plans.
Everyone joining was encouraged to find themselves an accountability buddy on the platform; someone to check in with throughout the program and help us to stay on track. I thought this was a brilliant idea and managed to find someone based in my timezone, also a mother and understanding and tuned into the unique challenges we face (like a lack of time and energy).
The program lasted 12 weeks and each week there would be a live call with Marisa, a chapter of the Dietless Life book to read through, some journaling questions, and a hypnosis track to listen to. There were also bonus Q&A calls where Marisa would go through the questions that were being asked in the community forum.
On the website, the program is described as containing the following three elements to lead you to success:
- Coach – Marisa will coach you to reach your ideal weight by teaching you how to overcome the pitfalls.
- Code – Through a powerful group hypnosis each month, to help change your weight, your shape, your size, and your entire relationship with food. Using command therapy to help improve your digestion and your preferences for food so your appetite decreases, your weight shape and size decrease while your metabolism and motivation increase.
- Care – Providing online support to help, Q&A calls with Marisa and an accountability buddy to increase your chance of success
I would say that the Dietless Life program really does what it says on the tin in regard to the above. I was unable to join any calls live, but enjoyed catching up in the moments I could snatch to myself. Marisa is personable, relatable, kind and funny. Her belief in your ability to change can’t help but rub off on you, and she shares educational wisdom around food, nutrition, mindset and habits in an easy-to-understand and impactful way. Participants had the opportunity to pop into the community group at any point and ask any questions (related to the live calls or otherwise) and one of the Marisa Peer team would always respond. All in all the experience felt very held and supported. I felt motivated and cared for by the team, which I’m sure leads to much more impactful and long-lasting results than just letting people get on with it by themselves.
The hypnosis sessions were brilliant to listen to, and felt like they were really doing something. The learnings from the calls and hypnosis were integrated with journalling exercises and further reading.
Each week’s module was built around a new area of focus and we covered topics such as childhood associations with food, emotional links with food, self-sabotage and triggers, the foods we should and shouldn’t be reaching for, overcoming cravings, hacks to stay slim, and rewriting our own personal journey with food and body image.
The Verdict
My verdict on the program is mixed. My accountability buddy had great success and saw huge shifts in her food mindset and therefore her weight. The community group was full of people having a similar positive experience.
On a personal level though, the program sadly didn’t do much for me. It’s important for readers to understand that this is very much to do with my own personal circumstances rather than any downfalls in Dietless Life’s efficacy or value (although I do believe that with a few tiny tweaks the program could also work for people like me).
I am a mother to a very busy toddler, and I’m also working part-time. This means that while I found it manageable and enjoyable to fit in watching the live call replays, reading the book and completing the journaling exercises in the few moments I am able to snatch for myself; I found it impossible to find the time to listen to the hypnosis tracks every day which is an essential component of the program’s success. Hypnosis works by changing your mind, and the mind learns through repetition. Without the repeated messaging contained in the hypnosis tracks, a lot of the program’s efficacy and potency is lost.
Of course, we alone are responsible for how much we show up to any program, but If you have young children you’ll understand quite how all-consuming this can be (and if you don’t…well, you’ll just have to take my word for it!) Finding 30-40 minutes to myself (undisturbed) every single day was just impossible at this stage in my parenting journey (late naps late bedtime, lots of solo parenting due to my husband’s long working hours, squeezing part-time work into nap times etc). I SO wanted this to be the thing that changed things for me forever, but alas, I still find myself eating too many pieces of toast when I’m too exhausted to cook a meal at the end of a long day, and I’m still exactly the same weight I was before I started!
It definitely wasn’t wasted time though- I learnt loads from Marisa and still have her voice in my head when preparing and choosing food. I’m also much more aware of my triggers and habits than I was before taking part in the Dietless Life course.
I feel like the program could have benefitted by including some shorter maintenance hypnosis tracks of 10-15 mins max (rather than 30-40mins) which would make it much easier to commit to listening to daily. The only other thing that would have been useful, but didn’t seem to be available, was a “reset” track, something to listen to when you stray off track to help steer you back on course (after an indulgent weekend etc).
Overall though, I would wholeheartedly recommend the program to anyone looking to get real clarity and insight on their relationship to food and their weight PLUS the practical tools, support and guidance to rewrite old patterning and start afresh, so long as they aren’t trying to keep a tiny wild person from eating the cat food and crashing into bed exhausted at 9pm every day.
