I’ve read a couple of references lately to this “I Can Make You Thin” guy, so I did a quick look online to see what he might be all about. I’m always interested in these people who have “the answers” because it usually sheds a lot of light for me on what it is that people are trying to avoid. At least in my opinion, when people are looking for the “fix” it’s usually because we’re trying to avoid doing the painful, hard work of changing things (whether it’s getting a college degree or losing weight or toning up the body, etc.).

I didn’t spend a lot of time reading his stuff or watching his video clips, so I can’t claim to fully understand his approach. My first impression, however, is that he takes some of the stuff I agree with (i.e. “diets are damaging”) and mixes that with what I consider to be a little bit of hocus pocus (i.e. using accupressure to reduce your food cravings). I don’t have any medical training, but I have had a fair amount of exposure to psychology. So while I can’t claim to know the physiology of what makes humans tick, I do feel confident that I understand what motivates people to change their behavior.

To some extent, any time you are asking yourself to stop and take a time out from eating, you’re probably doing yourself a favor. So even if some of the techniques that are out there don’t have any physical effect, the ten or twenty seconds you give yourself to get out of the mental state you’re in are very important. I believe that’s called a break state.

The only thing that he recommends that I actually disagree with, is what I would consider to be his “negative reinforcement” or self-induced “aversion therapy” by which he suggests you can make yourself lose your appetite by thinking of a lot of really gross things. I’m no expert in this, but I did have a meeting member tell me one time that she practiced that technique. She dropped out three weeks later, so I can’t say as to whether it worked for her, but I doubt it.

If changing my own behavior is anything like changing my dog’s behavior, I know the temptation is to resort to shouting “no” and giving a good swat to the behind. And I also know that those are among the least likely things to motivate one to do things differently (other than to run away). With Paco, I’ve had to learn to call his name sweetly and praise him when he comes, even if he’s a little slow or elusive. It’s taken me a long time to perfect this, but over time Paco has come to understand that he will never EVER be punished if he comes to me. And while it doesn’t make him a perfect dog, it does mean that he never runs away from me.

At any rate, I’m sure other people have delved more into what this Answer Man can do for us. While it’s probably obvious that I’m a little skeptical, I’ve been proven wrong in the past and I can admit that my instincts aren’t always on target. And god knows, if he can help people get their eating urges and cravings under control, then he DESERVES to make a million dollars (or even pounds!).

In the meantime, I’m going to stick with the boring and difficult maintenance process that I’ve put into place: eating lots of fruits and veggies, journalling everything, staying physically fit, attending support meetings, and avoiding the temptation to eat a bag of cookies when I feel upset. It’s not glamorous and I won’t make any money at it, but so far it’s been working for about six years.