I will say upfront that I am a fan of Paul McKenna and his books and CDs. I think the methods that he uses which are based on NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) really do work.

I have only recently read this book 'I Can Make You Thin', as I definitely need to start down the (in my case very long) road to thinness and the thing that really hit home in the book is what I would call the 'head' stuff. If you are anything like me you have tried a hundred diets, you have cut out carbs, you have cut out fat - you have tried every single mainstream diet there is. Yes you may have lost a few pounds, you may even have lost a serious amount of weight. But gradually maintaining the fight becomes too much and you slip back to your old ways.

What Paul teaches in this book is that diets don't work and whilst your head isn't in alignment with your desire to be thin, everything is going to work against you. Telling yourself how fat you are and how much you hate yourself (yes I have had many tearful afternoons in changing rooms) simply reinforces in your unconscious mind the word 'Fat'. In fact that is all it hears and it will fight you tooth and nail to hold on to that keyword fat, as it believes that is what you want, as it is the only word you ever utter in front of the mirror.

Paul explains this in much more depth than I could ever hope to here, but hopefully it gives you the general gist that if you ever want to hope to lose weight and keep it off longterm, you must stop dieting. The key to weightloss is first and foremost what is between your ears.

What also sets this book apart is the CD that comes with it - listen to this at least once a day and it strengthens and supports what you have read in the book. One woman featured in the book, Maureen, lost a total of 18 stone using the CD. I find this absolutely inspiring and if she can do it then I can drop the 5 stone that I need to.

I am going to update this regularly in order to let you know how I am progressing and hopefully others will comment and add their own stories.

I will also feature other books and CDs by Paul, as Change Your Life in 7 Days and I Can Make You Rich, also offer a huge amount in the field of personal development. I haven't called on the 'Quit Smoking Today' one as I don't smoke, but am sure it would be as effective as the 'Thin' book because again it is working on the 'head' first - body will follow basis.

So we come to the first day. I have read the book and I am now...drumroll please...putting it into action.

I am listening to the CD each evening in bed and I must admit that today I do feel much more positive about things and so far, have hardly thought about food or eating at all, apart from choosing my sandwich for lunch.

I will keep you posted on my progress and let you know if my clothes start to feel looser or if I 'wonder of wonders' actually start to lose weight. The proof will be in the pudding I guess...ok bad analogy ;-)

If anyone else is following this method please let me know.

Well it's day 2 and I really am noticing a difference. Normally most of my waking hours are consumed by what I am going to eat and when (I know, very very sad) but after listening to the CD again last night I feel really energized and not concerned by food at all - this is a first for me.

I didn't feel hungry in the morning, so skipped breakfast (don't shout maybe not great but this is all about getting in tune with your body) and then for lunch just had a roll - didn't even want the crisps or chocolate that would usually accompany it.

Early days I know, but let's hope it stays this way!

Ok, well I am a week in and I feel....fantastic. First up I haven't weighed yet, so no news to report - as one of the key parts of this WOE (way of eating) is to stop obsessing about the scales, so I am doing as Paul says and leaving weighing for a couple of weeks.

However, what I will say is that I really, truly have stopped thinking about food 24/7. I eat when I am hungry and for the rest of the time I dont think about chocolate (which is my biggest weakness) crisps, biscuits or anything else. I know I totally may be deluding myself, and this may all come to an end, but so far I have a totally different approach to food. I am listening to the CD every night and apart from really relaxing me and sending me to sleep, it also acts as a very positive focus for my mind.

I will keep you updated, but so far all is good. Anyone else trying it?

...sorry, slightly out of breath as I have just being doing a celebratory dance around the office. Yes, you guessed it, the dreaded weigh-in day has arrived and with much trepidation I stepped on the scales earlier this morning. Well, after 2 weeks I have lost...6lbs! Oh yes, hurrah. Which is nothing short of amazing, as I haven't felt like I'm dieting at all, which I'm not I guess, I'm making a permanent change to the way I eat.

However, even above the weightloss, which obviously makes me very, very happy, is the way I now feel. I am not totally worried about food and focused on what I am going to eat all the time. I don't feel like I have to go on a massive binge, just in case there is no food there tomorrow...yeah, as if. In short I feel liberated. Now I know those are strong words and you may say it is early days - but I am going to carry on and see if I continue to feel the same and continue to lose the weight. What I have to avoid now is a constant stepping on and off the scales - just to see what is happening - so I will leave it now for another 2 weeks.

How is everyone else doing? I would love to hear of your progress.