I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna, PhD.
First Impression
“Mind over matter” is the phrase that I associate with using self-hypnosis to reach personal goals. And when it comes to health, the mind is where the road to success is paved as either a wide-open four-lane highway, or a rocky path that leads to a dead end.
“I Can Make You Thin” is not the first book I’ve read on the subject of hypnosis, however I do consider myself something of a fan of Paul McKenna and his work. He’s gutsy and clearly not in favor of celebrities who endorse the various diet programs so frequently touted by the media. Kudos there, Dr. McKenna.
My own introduction to the ICMYT philosophy was in the summer of 2008, when I saw the Discovery Channel show Paul McKenna hosted. I was at first a bit skeptical, as I always am with ”new” and “breakthrough” weight-loss concepts, but after watching the first episode, I decided to do some homework on this program – and see how it really worked. The 70% success rate ICMYT boasts is no doubt impressive, and of course, is no guarantee that this particular approach will work well for you. However, what you must first do is go beyond the advertising slogans and the catch phrases and get down, as they say, to brass tacks.
A Look Under The Hood
According to this book, all decisions about what, when, and how much you eat take place in your mind. The aim here is to therefore manage all of these things, through controlling the inner impulses that make you overeat, and therefore make you overweight as well. I like the idea of going to the root of the problem, and nipping it in the bud. But, according to my own research on the subject , not everyone will respond to hypnosis, and that is the chief reason why it is not more widely used.
After all, if we could effectively use hypnosis to gain control over any area of our life that is causing us headaches, this would automatically be the best answer for millions of people who suffer from weight problems, self-confidence issues, unhealthy habits such as smoking and drug and alcohol abuse. While I’m sure that there are some who do get help in any of those areas from hypnosis, I feel very confident saying that there will be a large percentage of people who do not benefit at all from hypnosis, mainly due to the way they approach it. It starts from within ourselves, and the idea of someone waving a watch in front of us and making us thinner, smarter, or more successful, is not the way it all works, nor is it what “I Can Make You Thin” is telling us.
In Paul McKenna’s program a person learns to do the following:
- Eat when you’re hungry
- Eat only what you want, never what you think you should eat
- Eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful
- Stop when you think you are full
Each of his “golden rules” is explained in detail and step by step instructions are given to reach your goal. The book goes into more discussion about emotional eating, and there is a large Q & A section that also gives the reader plenty of information. All of this is aimed at making this program work for you. And that’s my point about any diet program, even though I believe that this one has much more merit than the rest. No matter what you do, you must remember that there is one golden rule you can’t get around:
YOU are the force that makes things happen in your life!
Not even Paul McKenna, with all his knowledge and his obvious dedication to helping others, can, in fact, “make” a person do anything that they are not already truly committed to doing. There will, I am sure, come that moment with this program as with any other, that you question the good it’s doing you and consider throwing in the towel. Before this or any other concepts have a chance to do you any good -you have to decide to make yourself a never-say-never promise. Take the advice of ICMYT, add to it a commitment to healthier living every day and you’ve got the winning formula to reach your weight-loss goal or any other goal for that matter.
Yea or Nay
I say by all means buy this book. I give it a two-thumbs-up. Just don’t expect it to do the work for you. No matter what you learn about good nutrition, exercise and personal empowerment – it’s all up to you to use that knowledge and keep using it to benefit you.
“No, Virginia, there is no fitness magic bullet.” And I believe Paul McKenna would tell you that himself were you to ask him!
About the author
Paul McKenna is known as the “Dr. Phil” of the U.K. He’s worked with celebrities around the world to help them overcome problems with smoking, stress, insomnia, weight and many other difficulties.
Dr. McKenna is the author of many other self-improvement books, which you can learn more about at his website: http://www.paulmckenna.com
I received my copy of “I Can Make You Thin” from a contest held by Sterling Publishing Co. in January 2009. You can purchase your copy at the above website or any retail book outlet.
I saw that show too! I thought he was a little bit too good to be true, but when I heard people who talked about losing weight from following his program I liked what they said. He doesn’t harp on what we should eat but tells us to eat what we like – just not in huge portions. It makes sense that we need to get to the root of why we’re overeating and do the right thing for ourselves.
I have this book! I think it’s good, but I have the same hesitation you do, Nancy. I think that no one can make us do things in life and that some people may actually believe this because they’ve tried so many diets and still gain more weight.
Hypnosis is something that I don’t really believe in myself. I know it’s supposed to help some people quit smoking and lose weight but if you start out doubting it then it’s probably not going to do you much good. Whatever you do you have to have confidence that you’ll do fine or else you’ll just fail.
I agree with the two thumbs up for this book. Self-hypnosis is a great tool, it’s just about telling yourself over and over “I can do it. I can do it.” I know that the military and police force also use hypnosis to help people remember details of traumatic events they’ve lived through. I saw on the history channel that this was used for investigations about missing persons too.
Maybe we have so much in our brains that it can’t really be used unless we’re in a state of total relaxation and then the flood gate opens!
Somehow, to me this is related to “The Secret”. You know, going inside your head and picturing things tha you want to happen. Personally, I am a believer in this. When I first heard about the law of attraction, I wondered how that could be. And then I thought about how just the opposite is true. When you think you’ll fail – that’s what will happen for sure.
I have not read this book, but I will be sure to look for it at the local B&N. This guy is on to something that’s for sure.
Great review, Nancy. I love the way you wrote it!
Yes, I think hypnosis is a lot like the law of attraction concept too! I watch “The Secret” over and over and I really think it makes sense. You can do anything that you truly believe you can do. Just look at what people do when they have no choice!
I like the review too. Geez, we sound like a bunch of groupies but I do love this blog!
I watch “The Secret” all the time! Yes, it does remind me self-hypnosis! I have not read this book, but I would love to see if I can do this. Not everyone responds to hypnosis I’m told, so maybe you need to be prepared for it to do nothing for you just in case.
First of all, hi everyone, I’m new here and very glad I found this blog! It’s nice and interesting and I feel like I’m part of something that’s going to be so big one day so I’m glad I’m here now!
I read this book and it’s got some good points, but in my case, it didn’t help. I know it’s probably my own mental block here but for me getting out and getting fresh air is the answer. Even if it’s snowing or raining I just suit up and get outside. I have 4 kids, a full time job and I also go to school 3 nights per week. My husband is in the military so my time is really limited! But if I take just 20 minutes no matter what I feel so good that when I come home I don’t get into the cookies and pop the frozen potato skins into the oven. I grab an apple, sit down with my kids for a while and play cards or monopoly and that’s how I lost 17lbs so far, since last September.
Nancy’s right here. This book may help you, but if it doesn’t, it’s because nothing will make the miracle until you decide to go get it yourself!
I read this book recently, and it does outline what you’re supposed to do to change the way you think. I’d recommend it. But keep in mind that hypnosis doesn’t work for everyone. It’s either going to work wonders for you or do absolutely nothing. There’s no happy medium. (I’m one of the people who doesn’t respond)
For me, hypnosis worked very well. I read this book and then went online to some other sites and got more information about self-hypnosis. My advice to anyone who tries this is to not be discouraged if you don’t succeed the first time. It may take you a few tries, but if you learn to relax and trust in yourself, then this will work very well.
One of the things I liked most about this book was that it talked about people not losing weight because of past experiences when they were thinner. We can actually block ourselves from losing weight if we lost a loved one or ended a marriage when we weighed less. That really helped me.
This is a fascinating subject! I agree that everything in our life is created first in our minds and that we have a powerful tool inside ourselves we don’t use. I’ve made an appointment with an M.D. who specializes in helping people lose weight by using hypnosis, and I thank you for writing this article so I can read this book before I go. I have faith that it will work, and have friends who have quit smoking using hypnosis and they swear by it.