tonight on "nightline," think yourself thin. can you get the affect of gastric bypass simply by imagining you had the surgery? one woman's journey to lose major pounds using only the power of her mind. total recall. he's the national memory champ who with memorize a deck of cards in 63 seconds. but to prove it is not a super power, he shares his technique with memory mortals. look at that. and here come the bugs. there is a price to pay for all this warm weather, and it is creeping and crawling and swarming to a neighborhood near you. how bugs are turning early spring into a march feeding

frenzy. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," march 23rd, 2012. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. for years, hypnotists were aassociated more with fairgrounds and variety shows, but the trans-like state has emerged as a more widely accepted form of behavioral therapy, from anxiety to smoking, they say they can change the mind. but what about tricking the mind into shrinking the body? here's abc's matt gutman. >> one. two. and three. close your eyes. >> reporter: clarissa delong is undergoing a radical weight loss procedure. she's hoping to lose 140 pounds by convincing her body that she had gastric bypass surgery.

but without ever going under the knife. >> you can feel that it's time to put that band on your belly. >> reporter: it's called gastric bypass hypnosis. the cost is around $1,200, while the real surgery costs up to $35,000. what was the sensation like? >> it was surreal, almost, you know? it was that hollowness and it was almost like dreaming. >> reporter: clarissa has battled with her weight her entire life. is that your favorite? >> yeah. >> reporter: the diets she's tried worked only temporarily. tell us what you particularly like to eat? >> cookies, pie, chocolate. and, i'm willing to give them up. >> reporter: she says the real surgery is too expensive and too drastic. but now, weighing 340 pounds, she knows she needs to lose weight somehow. what was the final moment when you realized that you have to lose weight? that it eventually will be a

life or death issue for you? >> to have so many insurance companies turn me down. >> reporter: six in all. forcing her to pay $1200 a month and accept one very scary term. morbid obesity. >> i never really considered myself in that category until i -- >> reporter: must have felt pretty scary. >> it did. i knew i had to figure out a plan that was going to be a lifetime plan. i want to be around for my son. >> reporter: so, she went to a certified hypno therapist, whose program claims weight loss results for much less than the actual surgery. $1200. >> deeper and deeper. >> reporter: the price including her cds and this weight loss juice. bottom's up. oh, yeah.

>> you like it? >> reporter: i mean -- greenberg says the hypnosis works and clients like clarissa will in longer crave sugary snakes. she will no longer have a craving for it? >> that's absolutely possible. so, the old program is, oh, chocolate, give me more. and there's never enough. and the new program is, you know, that chocolate, it might taste good but i don't care about it. >> reporter: every year, more than 220,000 americans undergo painful and expensive surgical procedures to have their stom h stomachs removed on constricted. the promisele of surgery-free reprogramming of the mind could hold tremendous appeal to the 60-plus million americans classified as obese. >> these are some of my favorite rings that don't fit anymore. i'm waiting to wear them again once a day. >> i had the procedure done at the end of june and that 76 pounds that i've lost since

then. >> reporter: it certainly seems to be working for molly everett, who quit all sugars and starches cold turkey. >> in july, i was using a cane. and i had a knee brace on. i ran three miles in december. if you would have told me in july, i couldn't have walked three miles. but now i can run three miles. >> reporter: there are so many nay sayers out there who say, come on. this can't possibly work. >> right. >> reporter: what do you say to them? >> i think that many of us underestimate the real power of the mind. >> reporter: dthis doctor says he's unsure how long the power of suggestion can work. and she's doing this to lose 150 pounds, basically. is that wise? >> i wouldn't say that it's unwise. i think it might be unrealistic. the reality is, there are no studies which demonstrate that kind of weight loss with hypnosis alone. >> i wanted to share with you that i'm down ten pounds.

>> reporter: clarissa is undaunted. she's been sending us video diaries of her progress and six weeks later, we dropped in for a visit. that's 20 pounds. >> yes. >> reporter: how do you feel about that? >> it's awesome. >> reporter: if you keep this up, six weeks, 20 pound, in a year, that's 140 pounds. that's your goal. >> i know. i'm psyched. i can do it. >> reporter: now, she exercises and all her meals, she say us, look like this. >> reporter: this is probably 200 calories, maximum. >> i could have more but i get filled up fast. i want to be 60. i want to be 70. >> reporter: and already, those family heirloom rings that just six weeks ago couldn't squeeze around those fingers, now slip right on. >> so, i was very happy to get this one on. i'm just thrilled. >> reporter: i'm matt gutman for "nightline" in orlando. >> thanks, matt. just ahead, stick with the brain theme and meet the national memory champ, who

promises to blow your mind and improve your recall. a couple of ancient, simple tricks. ♪ [ male announcer ] if you like movies that make you laugh... [ sirens ] ...tv dramas... ♪ ...timeless classics, or whatever else, then you'll love netflix. netflix lets you watch unlimited movies and tv episodes on your pc or tv via game console or other devices connected to the internet. browse genres, and get personalized suggestions. it's instant, it's unlimited. and it's only 8 bucks a month. start your free trial today.

and it's only 8 bucks a month. >> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with bill weir. >> in the age of google and siri, chances are you can't remember your boss' phone number or the capital of anywhere. but if i asked you to imagine kim kardashian in a fondue hot tub with the dalai lama, that might stick. and that is something that every contestant at tomorrow's national memory claim understands. the defending champ dropped by yesterday and blew my mind both with what he can do and with what he can teach you.

they say dogs have a short-term memory of about 20 seconds. honestly, mine is worse. >> jack of shades. >> yep. >> reporter: jack of clubs? >> nope. >> reporter: and i'm done at two. it is all the more humiliating because the guy next to me can memorize the order of an entire. just one of the skills that makes nelson dellis the reigning national thmemory champion. and there is nothing extraordinary about his brain. >> ten of clubs, ace of spalds, three of spades, six of diamonds. >> reporter: you have a photographic memory naturally? >> no, my memory is just average. >> reporter: it all began when his grandmother got alz him ears. and he got scared. >> i was really kind of concerned for myself and what that might mean for me. >> reporter: so in searching for mental drills on the internet,

he stumbled into the world of memory competition. >> you may begin. >> reporter: and realized that all of the meaathletes are of average brain, too. it's all because of ancient techniques. you too may be able to memorize the zip colds of a few dozen complete strangers. >> how about this guy? >> 02694? 06787. 02719. >> reporter: give him a hand! >> thank you. >> reporter: i remember that the blond is denmark. is that right? yes! the key is to associate mental images with mundane names or numbers. the more bizarre, the better. >> so my name is bill weir, my zip code is 10007. how would you lock that in? >> image for the number, so, 100

to me is frankenstein and 07 is james bond so, i picture frankenstein sipping a martini. >> reporter: how do you associate that with -- >> i would stick you on -- news anchor hair. perfect -- >> reporter: oh, no. >> sorry. nothing bad. that's what i would be drawn to. so i would picture frankenstein kind of inside of your wave there sipping a martini glass. >> reporter: that's just the first part. to understand how he remembers things in sequence, we droled over to my favorite market. i'm going to ask nelson to memorize the orderle of one of the better beer selections on the upper west side of manhat n manhattan. after staring intently, we throw a blindfold on him and -- >> another river horse. another guinness draught. a flying dog? blue moon?

>> reporter: yes. the trick is to assign an image to each brand. so, for modelo, he pictures a special, sexy model. how about this one? >> i thought of the rapper. >> reporter: he places this image along a specific path, so-called memory palace. >> i was actually using my high school back in miami and i was walking through it, putting all these images along the path. >> congratulations! >> reporter: but here is where the story goes beyond party tricks. two weeks after the memory championship and in honor of his late grandmother, this avid climber set out to conquer mt. everest. am collimating in base camp for over a month, he was able to focus on his memory workouts like never before and despite the low oxygen, the results amazed him. >> my times for memorizing a deck of cards went through the roof. and all the numbers and cards represent these images of people i know, having to think of those

places so many thousands of miles from home and having been away for so long, that they just were so intense. >> reporter: and after he can climbed past the body of a fallen mountain near, when his oxygen mask froze 2300 feet from the summit and his body wouldn't go on, he said those intense memories kept him alive. >> i could feel like i was in the living room back home in miami where i'm from, with my family and i could feel the warmth, you know, smell my mom's cooking and it was just like i was there. it work me up and told me to get back down, you know? it's a shame that people who develop alzheimer's lose those memories. and if there's anything you can do, like, make your mind stronger, your memory stronger, then we should be doing that. hardest was -- >> reporter: dad rising a horse. so, point taken. back to the brain.

bernard madoff making license plates. oprah winfrey giving me a ford festiva. after building a memory palace out of my office, behold. king of hearts. queen of clubs. queen of harts. jack of hearts. jack of clubs. king of spades. jack of diamonds. queen of diamonds. and king of clubs. >> king of clubs. there you go. >> reporter: look at that! >> pretty cool, right? >> reporter: he's changed my life. >> there you go. >> jimmy: can't remember your na name, though. i remember. it's nelson dellis. you can see the whole card trick lesson at abcnews.com. try it and if you want to compete against nelson, well, you'll need to practice about five hours a day. coming up next, the creepy, crawly downside to this year's

record warm weather. e emotional here? aren't you getting a little industrial? okay, there's enough energy right here in america. yeah, over 100 years worth. okay, so you mean you just ignore the environment. actually, it's cleaner. and, it provides jobs. and it helps our economy. okay, i'm listening. [announcer] at conoco phillips we're helping power america's economy with cleaner affordable natural gas... more jobs, less emissions, a good answer for everyone. so, by reducing the impact of production... and protecting our land and water... i might get a job once we graduate. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive. because the last thing you want is to spend too much on your mortgage. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze.

♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities...

america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering.

for many parts of the country, it was the winter that wasn't. only march, but the geese are back north, the goose down is back in the closet, but as abc's rob nelson discovered, we're not the only creatures that run wild when the weather is fine. >> reporter: we've been invaded by them before. and the swarm has threatened man kind. but now the world's insects have gone way too far.

they're killing the buzz of our early spring. >> all of this glorious warm weather that we've been hearing so much about really has served as mother nature's wakeup call to pests. we are seeing mosquitos right now. >> reporter: this record-shat r record-shattering warmth on much of the country has invited an all-star list of critters back into our homes and lawns. they are all here weeks if not months earlier than normal. in the northeast, ticks are already lurking in lawns, ready to set off public health threats on pets and people. stink bugs now found in 33 states and nearly immune to insect sides. they are poised to ruin crops and fruit. what's left to do? well, bring in the calvary. meet joe, from the pest control company orkin. he means business. >> bees can get in there. this almost likes like a termite tunnel. >> reporter: joe says business is up 40% last year as termites

and abouts begin to strike. is this the earliest you've seen these problems? >> absolutely. we were seeing them in february. >> reporter: on this day, joe finds an easy battle. >> everything looks fantastic. i didn't see any evidence of pests. >> reporter: and while joe leaves the battlefield valiantly, across town, we find another soldier, andrew, a new york city beekeeper, waging a different kind of fight. >> i found several hives that have starved to death. >> reporter: this weather causes the bees to emerge too soon and go through their winter food before there's enough food out there to replenish it. that forces andrew and a very nervous reporter -- there it is -- to provide man made food and water instead. if this was last year and still snow on the ground and it was 40 degrees, as opposed to almost 80, what would this be like? how is this different? >> these bees would not be flying out at all. they wore inside the hive. >> reporter: and unless mother nature has one more cold snap left, authorities say this

insect invasion is just beginning. >> we will expect that they will stay out just as long as they normally do. >> reporter: that means we're still a long way from this bug season's closing corrects. i'm rob nelson for "nightline" in new york. >> and finally tonight, the latest on the racially charged shooting that has capital vament and outraged much of the country. thousands marched in philadelphia, chicago and sanford, florida tonight, where trayvon martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman george zimmerman. growing numbers are demanding zimmerman's arrest. today, he con culted with a lawyer. the president also weighed in this morning. >> i can only imagine what these parents are going through. and when i think about this boy, i think about my own kids. my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. you know, if i h