I Can Make You Thin [Paperback]

I got this book a year ago, and I have to admit that I am impressed.

He doesn't provide a guarantee, and there is no eating plans - just common sense. Reading some simple facts, and learning to trust your body is a concept that should be applauded. No-one will be getting a size zero if they follow this book, just a healthy attitude to food and the figure that their body we designed for.

If only everyone could have this attitude to food, then then we would wave goodbye to all the stick insects and the dangerously heavy. Everyone would just be healthy.

My main word of caution about this book - you actually have to read it and follow the rules. No short cuts, just hard work.

For almost 4 years now I have been handing this book and 'mind-reprogramming' CD to every patient who comes to me to lose weight, or who is caught up in the mentality of diets, scales, cravings, or overeating.

At the risk of making this book seem overly simple, here are Paul McKenna's 4 golden rules...
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 are full stop.

I've seen other "I Can Make You Thin" reviews that dismiss the 4 rules as just obvious common sense. I'm not sure what common sense they can really mean since the rules make a mockery of the majority of get thin / lose weight approaches around. Rule 2 in particular certainly disagrees with the 'common sense' that I was taught as a medical doctor.

Even if the rules are common sense, McKenna needs to be given great credit for showing people HOW to live these habits. Hopefully you are buying this for the results, not just to have a fun read and a relaxing, new-wavy listen.

Yes, the title and the back cover is a bit hypey, but the inside is less so. The book is refreshingly thin :), jargon-free, and entertaining.

McKenna's style also involves techniques such as tapping (TFT/EFT), hypnosis and NLP. Hypnosis is what first made Paul famous, and I've seen NLP Practitioners review this and say they knew all of these tricks before. In NLP terms Paul is saying that the Golden Rules are the "model" for being "naturally thin". Just knowing all the techniques won't help if you have the wrong model as I suspect most NLPers do.

More importantly, you don't need any of these techniques to apply the 4 golden rules and lose weight.

Most people can go the book & CD, discover the Aha moments, and get started on transforming their relationship with food and their weight straight away.

There might be a group of people that could eat according to the 4 rules and not be thin, but I agree with what Paul says. For myself, I'm yet to meet such a person.

I have counseled people who thought it didn't work for them, but it turned out they hadn't gotten the rules into their behavior, so here are some extra pointers...

- Just listening to the CD over and over doesn't seem to be enough. The book plays a big part too. Expect to re-read the book at least once. You can succeed without the CD, so if it doesn't suit you, no sweat.

- Don't add more rules. Extra rules almost always conflict with the four golden rules. Must eat breakfast? No. Just eat when you are hungry. Have to eat only fresh food? Check you really want to eat it, and whether you might want to eat anything else a bit more. Etc, etc.

- Having trouble visualizing? Just act 'as if' you are visualizing, or on the CD just leave it to Paul.

- Don't make exercise the focus. Improved fitness will improve your chances of living longer, but unfortunately the best research evidence is that exercise doesn't help much in losing weight. Keep to the four rules, which are all about food and getting back in control.

- If you have a question or a difficulty, the answer is somewhere in the book. The book alone truly is comprehensive (unlike watching YouTube videos or reading this review.) Indeed this updated version covered the two or three remaining gaps I had found before, including the extra chapter which covers self-sabotage.

I saw a list that said McKenna's is the number one weight loss book on Amazon.co.uk. Excellent!

In summary, McKenna is not the only person to propose this way of eating, but his is the most accessible version I know about. His is also the most likely to reach out from the page and permanently change your thinking and your behavior, and thereby your weight.

You can buy his measly book just to prove Paul wrong :)

Oh and then come back here and add your own review. Let people know what your results have been, whatever they are. No one book/CD can fit everyone but "I Can Make You Thin" deserves way more reviews here on Amazon from people just like you who have been wondering if this might just be what you need.

If this review helps, please click "YES" below.

I have used this programe since June last year and have lost three stone. I have changed my way of eating, its not a diet there are no restrictions and for the first time in my life I have control of my food and not the other way round.

Most of us eat food without thinking, maybe as a reward, to abate stress, when bored, when happy, when sad, when watching the tv etc whatever your reason this system breaks the habit.

I enjoy my food now more than ever, enjoy the taste more and have kept my weight off for nine months without thinking or depriving myself of anything. Yes I have lost weight before but could never get that I will diet tomorrow thought out of my head or that chocolate was naughty I could never get past the guilt of enjoying food and feeling embarassed by my size and what everyone must think of me being so fat that I will start tomorrow after a bad day turned into a massive binge. I have lost and gained more back with every "diet" I have followed.

I am not that person anymore, I am the person who I should have always been slimmer and in control with a confidence that has no limits.

My advice would be try it whats the worst that can happen to you?