The Self-Hypnosis Diet is a diet book with a big difference. The aim is to change the way you think and feel about yourself so that you attain your perfect weight naturally. The accompanying CD contains hypnotic suggestions to support this inner change.

When this book arrived I could see that its title is a misnomer. It isn’t really a diet book at all- for a start it doesn’t contain a ‘diet’! The authors have successfully helped their clients lose weight through counselling and hypnosis and this book and CD set gives the reader the opportunity to use their methods at home.

This is a comprehensive self help programme where you are encouraged to treat yourself well. First you read the book right through and after that take daily breaks where you open the book at random to read motivating tips, you then sit back and listen to one of the hypnosis tracks. Most of the tracks are 15 to 20 minutes long which is just enough time to get beautifully relaxed, but if you are pushed for time the last track is very short and suitable as a daily booster, setting yourself up for a great day ahead.

Personally I gave up dieting a long time ago and deliberately threw away my scales. In my teens I suffered from bulimia nervosa and had a terribly negative self image despite being very slim. I recovered from the eating disorder, but frequently dieted through my twenties and my weight went up and down like a yo-yo until I declared I‘d had enough and I wasn‘t going to play this game any more.

At the root of my weight issues I know I just wasn’t happy with myself. Now I’m in my forties I’m a lot more curvy than I was as a teen, but I feel better about and more accepting of my body than I ever have before. I’m in a place where I love myself inside and out and I don‘t measure myself against fashion’s images of beauty. I can look at my whole self in the mirror and smile at what I see reflected back.

The calm and gentle approach of this book should help people who have similar issues with their self-acceptance and self-image to those I used to have. In this book there is no pressure to lose weight fast, no calorie counting or banned foods, rather guidance to listen to the wisdom of your body-mind and feed it with health giving foods, so that you can enjoy more vitality and achieve the perfect weight for you.

The book and trance sessions help you think much more positively and lovingly about yourself, with the result that you chose healthier foods out of caring deeply for your own well being. This is such a contrast to the diet regimes I remember following, all abstinence and will power! It is the first diet book I have come across that starts with working on your inner happiness as your route to outer healthy weight.

Although I am happy with how I am now I have given the book & CD a fair trial. It is no chore and I’ve noticed several positive changes within a short time for myself. I think it supports making healthy, easy to sustain, lifestyle changes and I am always happy to make changes that boost my health, self-image and vitality. I already know which foods are healthy, as most people do, but sometimes my choices are less than balanced and I could eat more fresh foods.

The hypnotic trance sessions are pleasurable and I have enjoyed taking time out to use them. Dr Steven Gurgevich has a gentle relaxing voice and I confess I have fallen asleep a few times listening to the tracks, nevertheless I’m sure my subconscious mind has taken it all in.

One of the hypnosis tracks helps you rehearse making healthy choices when you are in situations where you know that ordinarily you might eat foods that don’t support you. I’ve used this to help me on my teaching weekends. At tea breaks my students bring lots of scrumptious biscuits and cake to share, which is lovely and friendly. Normally I tuck in with them all. As I teach most weekends that means I am taking in quite a lot of extra calories! Using the hypnosis track ahead of the weekends I have noticed I choose perhaps one or two biscuits, or one piece of cake and then really savour every mouthful, rather than eat and chat on automatic pilot. I also put the excess goodies into a biscuit tin now and tuck this out of the way for next time, rather than ‘tidy up’ the leftovers by eating them after my students have all gone!

This programme really tackles the underlying issues behind excess weight rather than just trying to force the body to shed extra poundage as normal diets do. When the reasons for poor food choices are brought into the light of consciousness and the personal issues and stumbling blocks are dealt with it becomes a natural process to being yourself to the weight nature intended for you to be healthy. If like me you’ve had enough of conventional dieting to last a lifetime I do recommend this approach as a wise way forward and I look forward to making more healthy changes in my own life.