Paul McKenna is a British hypnotist, TV broadcaster and author of self-help books. According to Nielsen BookScan data, “I can make you thin” is one of the best selling weight loss books ever. It is based on behavior modification, an approach which re-patterns your thoughts, attitudes and beliefs about yourself and your food to help you take control of your diet and lose weight once and for all.

It is a very short book but as the author says “Don’t be fooled by its size. As I think you’ll agree, thin is good, and it’s what’s inside that really matters. I’ve worked hard to get this little book as concize as possible, so concize that you can probably finish the whole thing in less than a day. But what a day it will be!”

The author believes there are three reasons that prevent people from losing weight. First people keep on believing in diets which do not serve their purpose. Scientific research shows that 90 percent of people who try to lose weight by dieting fail. The more diets people try and fail at the more they feel they will never be able to be thin.

“Forget about dieting. For ever. Diets are no more than training courses in how to get fat and feel like a failure”

Another cause of obesity is due to emotional eating. Most of the time people do not eat because they are physically hungry but out of boredom, loneliness, or because they are feeling miserable or any one of a myriad of emotional reasons. If your eating pattern is based on emotional hunger, your body will never be satisfied by food. Compulsive eaters never receive the signal to stop eating because they were falsely led to believe they were hungry. Therefore, whenever you are tempted to have a fattening snack, think for a minute and ask yourself if you are really hungry or if you wish to change the way you feel. At this point it should be mentioned that a number of women (and men to a lesser extent) believe their initial weight gain was due to a traumatic incident from the past or to a teasing episode which caused public embarrassment.

Finally the third reason for remaining overweight is due to bad habits. Habits are people’s worst enemy according to Paul McKenna whose method consists in developing new habits of thinking and acting through mind-programming techniques.

While working with thin people, the author noticed how seldom they thought about food except what they would most enjoy eating when they were really hungry.

“Essentially, there are four golden rules they all seemed to follow intuitively. And now they’re yours, four guiding principles that will help you to make the right food choices in every situation for the rest of your life”.

The first rule is to eat only when you are hungry. When you starve your body, it goes into survival mode because it believes there is a famine as a result your metabolism slows down. A faster metabolism burns more calories throughout the day and can easily eliminate excess fat.

“All you need to do to reset your body’s innate wisdom is to eat whenever you feel hungry”.

The second golden rule is to eat what you want, not what you think you should. Whenever you are told that you cannot eat certain foods, these forbidden foods become immediately attractive. Many people fear that if they let themselves eat whatever they want when they want, they will end up feasting on chocolate, cake and chips. However, studies have shown that over time you end up with a balanced diet. This is known as the 90/10 balance that is 90 percent of your food will be healthy and 10 percent will be fun food.

The third golden rule is to eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful.

“I’ve noticed a funny thing about people who are overweight. They spend all their time thinking about food except when they’re actually eating it”.

People who are overweight often shovel food into their mouths as quickly as possible and because they are eating unconsciously, they never notice the signal from their stomach that lets them know that they are full. However, even though they feel temporarily high from eating large quantities of food, they feel fat and guilty.

In order to fully enjoy your food you have to be aware first that you’re eating it. A recent study conducted in Switzerland showed that when people were blindfolded, they ate 25 percent less that when they could see. In other words, when they were not looking at the food but were concentrating on the taste, they actually ate less.

“You can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, so long as you fully enjoy every single mouthful”.

Finally, modern science has proved that chewing your food is healthier. The enzymes present in your saliva are actually more active than those in your stomach. This improves your digestion and boosts your energy levels so you will end up by eating less and feeling better.

The fourth golden rule is to stop eating when you think you are full. We are naturally programmed to eat when we are hungry and stop when we are satisfied. When we have eaten enough, the stomach sends a signal that it is full. Most people experience this gentle sensation in their solar plexus, the area below the ribcage but above the stomach.

Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, author of the seminal book, “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” believes that many aches and pains including hunger that people experience are actually the first signs of dehydration . Because it is practically impossible to tell the difference between thirst or authentic pangs of hunger, you can drink a glass of water and if you are not hungry afterwards, you were experiencing signs of dehydration and not authentic hunger.

One of the most common mistakes people make is to confuse emotional hunger with physical hunger. When you are emotionally hungry you are overcome by a need to eat immediately whereas physical hunger is gradual. Physical hunger begins with a gentle griping in your stomach which turns into tiredness and even anger.

One of the most common forms of emotional hunger is a craving, an uncontrollable desire for pizza, chocolate or cheese cake which needs to be satisfied immediately. What you should know is that “any craving you may have felt is a learned behavior. That means you weren’t born with it and if you learned it, you can unlearn it, often in a matter of minutes.

McKenna gives us an amazing technique developed by Dr. Roger Callahan which helps us get rid of these crippling hunger pangs which no amount of food will satisfy. This technique consists in tapping with two fingers on specific parts of the body.

Another useful tip when you are attempting to lose weight is not to check one’s weight all the time. First scales are the least reliable measure because weight can fluctuate as much as ten pounds up or down from environmental factors, water retention and even atmospheric pressure. The best way to check your weight is with the clothes your wear.

Last but not least it is important to know that the faster your metabolism, the faster your body does everything from adjusting your body temperature to growing your finger nails and the faster it will burn off any excess fat.

Your metabolism is not fixed, it changes throughout your life in response to how you eat and use your body. The best way to increase your metabolism is through exercise. Furthermore, each time you exercise, you are helping your body release the tension of the stress response, making it feel calmer, safer and healthier. Regular exercise also triggers the body’s natural impulse to rest, relaxation, and recuperation, known as parasympathetic response. This parasympathetic response is the sweet, soft feeling you get in your muscles when you have finished some vigorous movement. You also feel a natural high caused by the release of endorphins, the body’s natural opiates. Where exercise is concerned it is not “no pain, no gain” rather “no effort, no gain” and “a little bit of effort, tremendous gain”.

Effort should never be confused with pain. Pain is not good and whenever you feel pain, you should stop exercising immediately.

“I Can Make You Thin” is a short book and easy to read. Full of common sense, it shows you how to change your behavior toward food, stop overeating and control forever those irresistible cravings for chocolate, chips, pizza and cheesecake!

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