I have never been a yo-yo dieter, which is the demographic that May targets specifically. The truth is that I’ve never been a dieter at all. But even with a rudimentary understanding of the Eat, Repent, Repeat cycle, May’s message comes through with crystal clarity. Even as I began watching my calorie intake I quickly became acquainted with how compulsively fast food, junk food, and emotional eating elbowed their way into my plan. “Eat What You Love” diverts from the standard eat-this-don’t-eat-that style of dieting books in favor of cutting off the problem at the source by teaching you ways of being mindful of why you’re eating what you eat.

For instance, when I was little I was delightfully ignorant as to how poor we really were and saw our occasional excursions to fast food restaurants as a luxury. I’ve always been vaguely aware that the happy feelings that arise with eating fast food are one of the causes of my habitual Wendy’s retreats, but rather than cut myself from this emotional attachment, May’s book suggests that I keep those emotions in deep focus. In many ways this makes the meal more enjoyable, but it also purges the fixation, allowing me to continue eating healthy and working out guiltless throughout the week. Her book is full of mind cleansing exercises and testimonials revolving around this basic frame, and it does work.

The final part of her book is a culinary guide to healthy eating, and works in perfect companion to the previous psychological evaluations. Essentially, you’re getting two books in one. The first teaches you how to think, and the second teaches you how to do. Throughout both books May provides a hand-holding sense of humor that dieters have come to respect and love from on-screen cooks like Rachael Ray or Paula Deen. It’s as quaint and personal as it is intellectual and enlightening. You can really feel that May has honed the tone of her speech through years of public speaking.

Of course, “Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat” isn’t going to make you thin by itself. May makes no bones about levying the workload. Like any good physical trainer, she’s on your side, but she can’t do it for you. Her words are airy and reading it, you may feel like you’ve already broken the chain, but they hide a tremendous endeavor. Confronting your own eating habits and challenging your mental processes is not nearly as easy as simply doing what a diet plan tells you to. May puts it this way, “It’s not about being in control, but about being in charge”. In this way, May has created the first anti-diet diet.