I Can Make You Thin – Some Thoughts
Hello! I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend. I’m having a very relaxing weekend at home and Peter and I are currently in the middle of a Big Band Theory marathon. Yesterday Peter did a sterling job of making me a new blog header, for which I’m extremely grateful. I wouldn’t have even known where to begin, so I’m very glad that I have a tame techie that can help me. Thank you also to Angela, Peter’s Mum, who took to photo in the header. Check out her blog for some more great photography.
I’m excited that this evening we are going to Prashad, which is a vegetarian Indian restaurant in Bradford that was a finalist in Gordon Ramsey’s Best Restaurant TV show. The menu looks delicious, so hopefully I’ll be able to give a good report tomorrow.
Today I want to review a book I read fairly recently, “I Can Make You Thin” by Paul McKenna.
Remember Paul McKenna, he use to do hypnosis on TV during the 90s?
Well now he’s more into self help, including weight loss. I rediscovered him during a presentation at work on neuro-linguistic programming. Although he’s well known for hypnotism, I Can Make You Thin is more to do with re-programming your thought processes in order to change behaviour, which according to him is the key to weight loss.
I think the book and weight-loss CD that comes with it are really valuable tools for anyone who wants to stop overeating and lose some weight. I do think that the title is all about marketing hype, but the contents are very sensible and do not in any way advocate restriction or traditional “dieting”, which I think is a very good thing.
At its heart, I Can Make You Thin is very similar to “Intuitive Eating”. It is also a very small, simple book, with just four golden rules that you need to follow:
1. When you are hungry, eat
2. Eat what you want, not what you think you should
3. Eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful
4. When you think you are full, stop eating
The golden rules are supported by exercises you can use to re-programme your thinking and behaviour and the weight-loss CD. The CD does actually utilise hypnosis techniques. I’ve never been hypnotised before, but listening to the CD was very relaxing and not at all scary. It’s half an hour long, but I only ever remember listening to the first five minutes, which is a bit weird. Listening to the CD has had an effect on me. My eating has really slowed down without me even trying. I have always been a fast eater, but now I’m enjoying my food a lot more. It has also helped me to overeat less often, but I’m still not perfect in that regard. I think it’s also made a difference to my self-confidence, which is a big focus of the book and CD.
There’s a plethora of weight loss books out there that peddle crazy and restrictive diets, so it’s refreshing to read one that is different. I’d definitely be interested in trying his “Instant Confidence” programme, as low confidence and shyness is something that I’ve always suffered from and I think that it could really help.
Have you tried any mind-programming techniques before?
Have you read any diet, nutrition or fitness books lately?
Check out some of my other reviews:
Intuitive Eating (Sort of Review)
Every Day's a Picnic 
Oooh the idea of the CD intrigues me, i quite like hypnosis-type stuff (i have one to play to get me to sleep that always works).
I don’t know why but Paul McKenna really annoys me though, he always seems so smug on TV!
I’ve read this book and I really though it was great. I used to wolf my food down and ALWAYS finish my plate (which would be heaped up) just because it was nice food and even when not hungry anymore. It has in the long run made me far more conscious of eating and how I eat – in a good way.
Great review, and glad its helping you.
I’ve never tried hypnosis myself but it is something my family and I are considering as a last desperate resort to curb my terrible overeating. In the past I’d always been worried about the effect it might have due to my mental health problems, but when you hit rock bottom you’re willing to give anything a try.
I’m with you on preferring more balanced approaches to food such as this one, that focus on the fact that, really, dietary problems are rarely about the food, but the thought process behind and reasons for eating. Crazy restrictive diets and complicated methods of combining foods irritate me, because they seem either unsustainable, or a path towards an ED for those that do have the ability to sustain them,
xxx
P.S I do have to agree with Sarah that Mr McKenna does seem rather smug!
I absolutely love the new header! This looks like a book I need to read.
I love your new header. I think I’d like to read a book like that, just to see how much of it I would believe, but I’m not sure how much stock I’d put in it. Not having read it, I can’t really say.
I do think that is quite interesting, I did a course on NLP and think it can be very effective at times. I do love that its a new approach and the fact that your encouraged to eat what you feel like rather than what you think you should 🙂
Those rules sound exactly right! I think that’s they key; if people really enjoy what they eat, they’re much less likely to want more… you see all these plans saying you have to cut out enything remotely nice, which will never work long-term, in my opinion.
Love the new header and hope you had a good meal 🙂