The McKenna Diet

The McKenna Diet is a weight-loss strategy that uses your mind to curb overeating so you can lose weight. The diet does not reduce calories or eliminate foods. Instead, Paul McKenna, a hypnotist, teaches you how to prevent weight gain and to end compulsive eating with a series of mental exercises. He provides details in his book, "I Can Make You Thin." Discuss this weight-loss strategy with your physician.

Claims

Paul McKenna's website claims that 71 percent of the people who use his diet plan lose weight, but he makes no prediction of the amount of weight that you will lose after using his book and the accompanying CD for two weeks. These tools help you learn to break bad eating habits and replace them with good practices. The book and CD contain instructions and exercises that teach you how to make lifestyle changes to build your self-esteem, resist emotional eating and decrease food cravings.

Diet Basics

This is not a true diet; it has no calorie counting, no special foods or meal plans. The weight-loss program teaches you to use subconscious suggestion to conquer eating habits that add pounds to your body. Behavior modification is the diet's objective. The book provides instructions for neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques that you can use to increase your motivation to change your eating habits. Holistic Online explains that NLP techniques help you rewire your brain response's common stimuli and unlearn previous behaviors. A personal journal that you use to record your progress is a separate purchase.

Diet Rules

The weight loss plan combines four rules as the foundation for achieving the behavior modifications necessary to shed pounds, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail newspaper. You must eat only when hungry. You eat the foods that you enjoy. Eat mindfully: Chew slowly and savor each bite. Stop eating when you feel full. McKenna says you will consume less food, without counting calories, fat or carbohydrates. He also provides recommendations for exercise and techniques to help you reboot your brain when cravings attack. One technique gives you instructions to tap specific points on your body, such as your collarbone, cheeks or hand, while counting aloud or humming a tune, until food cravings subside, according to The Independent, another daily U.K. newspaper.

Weight-Loss Club

Paul McKenna has a website that offers support for people who are attempting to implement his weight-loss program, along with his other books. You can register on the website without paying any fees, but the additional videos and self-help exercises cost more. McKenna also offers a 14-day weight-loss jump-start plan and personal coaching through his website.

Considerations

The lifestyle changes that the McKenna Diet requires take much longer to implement than a simple calorie reduction diet. The CD instructions that accompany McKenna's book require independent learning, rather than guided development with a trained NLP practitioner. This weight-loss method has no supporting scientific evidence.