Rigid planning, plus provision for special foods and dietary supplements, makes this a less-than-optimal regimen--even though it rests on a sane attitude toward weight loss. Ferguson, founder of the Diet Center franchise, emphasizes health, not looks. She clearly explains how to determine one's best--healthiest--weight, and why years of fad dieting and ""yo-yoing"" weight losses may make it difficult to attain. The idea is to learn to control eating and to restabilize the body at a point where it uses a normal number of calories for daily maintenance. (Obese bodies which have adjusted to fad or very-low-calorie dieting can subsist on extremely few calories per day--and gain weight on anything approaching a normal diet.) But Ferguson employs pat visualization and motivation techniques: ""Make your mind the master of your body""; ""Practice becoming a mature person."" Worse, her exercise advice is superficial and relies on the questionable mini-trampoline. (They may or may not provide a sufficiently strenuous workout to provide fitness; Diet Center sells them.) The biggest problem, however, is the dietary advice. Very low carbohydrates, use of protein powder in recipes (Diet Center brand), daily calcium and vitamin C supplements, prescribed eating times, and an-apple-a-day (also, a glass of hot lemonade) are not the hallmarks of a sound diet. Despite the underlying philosophy, a bad bet.