One North Texas teen said something almost like "magic" helped her lose 70 pounds.

Isabela DeSousa, 13, said hypnosis not only changed her figure, but also transformed her closet.

"I like the style," she said as she went through her closet, which holds trendy new clothes she bought after her new weight loss. "I think they are really cute."

Eight months ago, none of the size eight clothes that now hang inside her closet would have fit since she weighed over 200 pounds.

She said prior to losing weight, she only ate junk food. However, that changed in 2006.

"It's kind of like magic really, because he will go like this in front of your face and your eyelids automatically lower and you're like in a half sleep, half awake kind of thing," she said of the hypnosis she used to drop off the pounds. "And he'll like be giving you what you should change and what you should do better."

It was the hypnosis that DeSousa said helped curb her cravings for junk food.

"Even if you have some doubt it's still okay, the conscious mind can doubt," said Dr. Jeff Baldridge. "The unconscious can really take charge. Pretty much 95 percent of your decisions are on the unconscious level."

Dr. Baldridge not only uses hypnosis to help patients lose weight, but also to stop smoking.

"Hypnosis really helps at the unconscious level to change habits much more easily and effectively than just trying to push against your will," he said.

Will power in the form of diets never worked for DeSousa, but she said an open mind to hypnosis did.

"If you think you can do it, you will," she said. "And, you just have to go after what you want to do."

E-mail ddenmon@wfaa.com