Customer Reviews

The Self-Hypnosis Diet: Use the Power of Your Mind to Reach Your Perfect Weight

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have successfully lost weight in the past being mean to myself, hating my body, and punishing myself with very low calories, forbidding any fun, and hard workouts. In the end--I still wasn't happy, or happy with my body, and I even injured my knee pushing too hard in a workout.

The Gurgeviches offer a better way. I love this program. I teach yoga, and these 'self hypnosis' sessions closely resemble guided relaxation and yoga nidra. As proof: today, in line at the grocery store, I picked up the new dark chocolate bar. After a few moments, I put it back! That's HUGE! It's the little things, like really learning to listen to yourself and 'eating whatever you want while reaching and maintaining your perfect weight'.

I work at a health food store, and people constantly spend up to $100 on pills, hoping they'll find the magic one that effortlessly melts the pounds from their body, and in the meantime putting some potentially dangerous stuff in their bodies. Try a healthier, more positive way! With this program you will end up LIKING yourself as well as looking and feeling healthier, which is what it's all about.

Warning: you might just get the magic solution! It really is wonderful to make some of these small choices, like forgoing a candy bar without being deprived. It's a change of paradigm, or just a different way of thinking about food and our relationship with it. I am learning to want the best for myself. Americans can definitely learn more in this department!

The book suggests you read the first three chapters, then you can begin using the cd and finishing the book. It has wonderful inspirational quotes, and background into the history and research behind self-hypnosis. It even has a foreword from Dr. Weil, whose name will tell you it's not a bunch of smoke and mirrors. The cd has about 7 tracks, 1 instructional then five of different hypnosis sessions (i.e. exploring our history with food, a rescue rememdy for cravings, etc.) The last track is a powerful, positive message about setting intentions. It's all very 'yoga-like' in a way, too, so if you love yoga, you'll find this book very familiar in many ways.

Carrie

I've bought hypnosis self-improvement tapes before and soon abandoned them. I was too impatient! This time I've discovered that persistence and repetion is the key. You really can change your subsconscious "tapes" but it is not a quick process. Just hang in there, and repeat, repeat.. As to this book and CD set, I did not find the book very enlightening. If you are completely new to the subject, perhaps you will. However, the CD is GREAT! Mr. G. has one of the most soothing voices I have ever heard from a hypnotist. He does not do very lengthly inductions, which I like. He also has another set of three CDs on Self-Hypnosis for Weight Loss that doesn't come with a book. Those CDs are different from the one that comes with this book and are just as good. If you are really serious, I recommend buying them as well. Good Luck!

Before I was hypothyroid never had to worry about my weight, so becoming hypothyroid was a major rude awakening. Where before I could lose weight by cutting out a few sodas and chips each week, after my thyroid problem started, I not only couldn't lose weight, I actually gained weight following stringent diets. It was awful. I was so relieved when I finally was able to start losing weight again, by optimizing my thyroid function, changing what I ate, and adding in supplements and appropriate exercise (an approach I've outlined in detail in my book, The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss). But that doesn't mean that I don't work at this every single day. I always have more to lose it seems, because it's easy to gain, holidays and wintertime can be setback periods, and I'm by nature not an athletic or active person. So weight loss and management is a lifestyle for me, not just something I can do once and forget about!

So, with all this in mind, I have to say that s Steven and Joy Gurgevich's book/CD, The Self-Hypnosis Diet, is a resource that I consider pretty much indispensable, no matter what type of diet you are following -- helping make any diet successful -- whether you're following my Thyroid Diet, or you're doing Weight Watchers, or Ediets, or low-carbing it, South Beach, or making up your own diet as you go.

I've been using this book and companion CD for more than a year, and I consider it absolutely essential to my ongoing diet and weight loss efforts. Dr. Gurgevich is a member of the faculty at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine, where he is the Director of the Mind-Body Clinic and teaches mind/body medicine to physicians. Dr. Gurgevich is very much the real deal, and he has created an incredible, effective approach.

When it comes to diet and weight loss, I only recommend books or products
that I have personally tried and found helpful. I'm a diet product guinea pig for thyroid patients, and believe me, I've tried some pretty wacky things along the way. Most of the things I try I never even bother to write about. Why? Because they don't work, and they're just trying to rip us off!

But this is different. Quite simply, the Self-Hypnosis Diet does work. It helps make the connection between what you WANT to do, and what you DO! You know that feeling -- you're shoveling a cookie in your mouth and thinking, "Why am I eating this when I want to lose weight?" Your goals and desires are not translating into action. Somehow, after you read the Self-Hypnosis Diet, and listen to the accompanying CD, if you're like me, you'll find yourself acting the way you WANT to when it comes to diet and
exercise. Instead of sabotaging yourself, you end up supporting yourself, and making decisions that are good for you. It makes it easier to be on a diet.

I know something like self-hypnosis doesn't sound like it's for everyone. It sounds woo-woo or "holistic-ballistic!" But it's actually very straightforward...by learning to relax and make a true mind-body connection, you get your weight loss goals synched up with your behavior.

An interesting aside: When I first started with the Self-Hypnosis Diet, my best friend kept asking me what I was doing, as she thought I was looking great. I gave her a copy -- she didn't need to lose weight (she doesn't have a thyroid problem, lucky her!), but she wanted to try to stop eating chocolate and eat more veggies. After a few weeks, she had gotten rid of her raging chocolate cravings, and was craving salads. And she told me she had the weirdest side effect. She stopped smoking of all things, something she'd wanted to do for years and had given up hope on!

Mary Shomon, Thyroid Patient Advocate and Author

This is a wonderful book for anyone whether you need to lose weight or gain weight... or even if you don't need to lose or gain but just need to eat more nutritiously this book is for you. It is wonderful because the focus is on eating foods that are nutritious and healthy... or foods that "support your perfect weight" It's not about dieting at all! And the self-hypnosis Cd in the back of the book helps you crave foods that support a healthy weight and helps you desire portions that are just right for you. If you are at all familiar with Dr Andrew Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet you will agree that The Self Hypnosis-Diet Book and Cd wonderfully support it. This book is for everyone... and it works!
Cath

One of the biggest secrets THE SELF-HYPNOSIS DIET book contains is that it's not really a diet book at all, even though it will likely be one of the best sources of information you will ever find to help you consistently maintain your ideal weight. While diet books help people maintain good body weights by paying close attention to what and how much they eat, the magic of this book is that no regimented self-control regarding food is required at all. Rather than measuring small portions and obsessing about food and weight, the authors present self-hypnosis techniques that provide the reader with a whole new way to address long-standing emotional issues. THE SELF-HYPNOSIS DIET demystifies hypnosis, with help from a companion hypnosis CD that comes with the book and makes it easy to use the powers of the mind-body connection to get amazing results.

What I love most about THE SELF-HYPNOSIS DIET is the way this book says, "If a person really believes that they can have their perfect weight, they will," and then includes real-life case studies about how various clients found unique ways to address their specific, individual issues. I loved reading the success stories about the woman who imagined she could eat whatever she wanted and really lose weight... and she did... and the story about the man who learned to eat imaginary, very filling mushrooms before each and every meal, therefore feeling full at the proper time. I also love how this book is packed with dozens of useful tips and helpful research which can help readers uncover and heal their own inner beliefs and issues pertaining to their weight.... and how easy it can be to use this self-hypnosis method to achieve all kinds of goals in life, in addition to reaching and maintaining optimal weight and health.

The companion hypnosis CD is easy to listen to and especially helpful for those who have never before experienced hypnosis, as Steven and Joy guide us through a process of allowing ourselves to become absorbed in our own thoughts and ideas... discovering how a hypnotic trance and a daydream are very similar. As mind and body share information more effectively through this focused state of immersion where we are immersed in our own ideas, we gain the advantage of becoming more comfortable and relaxed and positive... making the changes we desire happen by letting them happen. And it just doesn't get better than that!

I admit I went to sleep listening to the entire thing (they say that is normal). But now that I know which tracks get to the beef, they are very good. They help to make you mindful (the book comes with a CD). The book is a bit boring but what is unique is it's not food plan and it's not quackery "you are getting sleepy" hypnosis. I put it on my IPOD and listen before bed. The net/net is that it makes you mindful during the day. It helped me give myself a Girl Scout cookie Samoa intervention (I normally eat pretty good but those Samoas are down right evil I tell you!). It worked. I heard about it from Dr. Mark Hyman's emails that I get (he is awesome as well) and Dr. Weil also did a plug on these guys. You do have to get past the corny parts "you can do it, yes you can" but it's worth it. I also like Belleruth Naparstek. Her voice is soothing and she has an entire series. So, if you are struggling or need adjusting, add this to your aresenal and just use it as time to relax. It may surprise you that it has some impact on your thinking (but I do recommend staying awake for tracks 6 & 7 where the real beef is).

Steven and Joy Gurgevich do a wonderful job of explaining the power of the mind and how hypnosis can be used to create lasting changes in behavior. I Recommend combining it with the approach in Body Esteem: Weight Loss Through Self-Discovery (includes 2 Audio CDs), the two books wonderfully compliment one another. Body Esteem gets deeper into the emotional reasons behind eating and is more of a workbook approach.

By accessing the subconscious, my weight loss struggle finally went beyond dieting, which was the key for me. Just consider what drives your eating habits, that's the place to start. Most people are so focused on working from the outside in, rather than the inside out, they are never able to build a real foundation for permanent lifestyle change. I'm over the "lose weight fast" diets and bogus pills, I'm getting thinner and healthier by changing the way I think about myself and food.

I recently started listening to the Paul McKenna CD for weight loss and was very pleased with the effect. I knew, however, that I might want or need some variety in the message, so I checked this out from the library. It's not a bad book. It has a lot of the same info as many books I've read on emotional eating or New Age thinking, but what I really got it for was the CD. Unfortunately for me, I do not like Dr. Gurgevich's delivery of the hypnosis sessions. Instead of sounding soothing, his voice kept going up and down in its stresses in an annoying way. I thought his wife sounded better. He does what my voice teachers told me not to do when speaking or singing. I recommend you see if your library has it so you can check it out.

The book is clear and easy to read with interesting information. I would listen to the CD at night and kept falling asleep so I didn't remember what he said. It didn't matter because my unconscious mind heard it. I noticed immediately that many cravings have stopped. At night I remembered that I had a fruit popsicle in the freezer and was going to get it when my mind said "but you are not hungry". I took a moment and noticed that I was full and satisfied and did not get the popsicle and more important did not feel deprived. It was there and I chose not to eat it. I also came home from work and instead of snacking, I excercised to a a Taebo video. During excercising I noticed that I actually enjoyed it. I felt energized and felt good about how well I had followed the exercising routine. It has been only 4 days and I have lost 2 pounds already. I am confident that I am on on the right path.

This is a wonderful book to help change inner attitudes and beliefs about food and eating. I am using it with "Thinking Thin". A difference in a few short weeks. Will require frequent, of not almost dail use of this and/or Thinking Thin!