Though the Gurgevichs repeat a mantra throughout the book of "You can eat anything you want and still keep your perfect weight," that isn’t entirely correct. They eventually tell readers that they can eat anything "that is good for them" and keep a perfect weight because they are now making good choices. That lifestyle change may be started and supported by hypnosis.

The Gurgevichs also encourage those struggling with their weight to read everything they can about weight loss, nutrition, and fitness, as well as to dip into this book on a daily basis after reading it through once. This information provides a good foundation that will aid those working on their weight to understand more about nutrition and healthy eating choices.

Next, readers are encouraged to do their trance work (self-hypnosis). Again, this is a good tool to use in conjunction with developing affirmations and creating visualizations about being your perfect weight. The enclosed CD has an introduction to hypnosis and five other tracks that listeners can use to create healthy eating patterns.

For the person unfamiliar with hypnosis, the tracks on the CD provide helpful instruction. For someone with hypnosis or deep meditation experience, however, the tracks are very wordy and often distracting. Personally, I was looking for simpler, clearer suggestions and affirmations within these tracks. I could not sustain listening to these every day as needed for the predicted effect. However, the Gurgevichs do offer a good framework for those experienced in hypnosis or meditation, though it isn’t laid out quite as directly as I would have liked. Those of us with more experience can craft our own intentions and affirmations using music or silence as a means to reach these deep levels of suggestion. I do especially like the ideal of doing mental rehearsal of good eating habits and food choices and visualizing myself at my perfect weight and being able to dance with grace.

The Self-Hypnosis Diet is an extremely useful tool for weight loss and provides the missing piece in a holistic approach to healthy eating and exercise.