Balance is key to both a healthy body and a happy life. That balance can be attained by studying the chinese five element theory, the characteristics of foods and simple massage and accupressure techniques.Dr. Stephen Chang outlines the basics in an easily understandable manner. There are diagrams of the exercises, really simple massage techniques and the accupressure points. He includes his dietary plan with a fairly large selection of recipes.I applaud his approach to diet. Exclusionary diets are almost certainly designed to fail. His position that even small quantities of junk food are good because they stimulate the liver makes sense. The internal organ massage exerices are amazing and effiective. I use the stomach massage for any digestive upset and thrilled with the results. The exercises are quite simple and take very little time.However there are some points that I am not totally sold on. He advocates a strict adherence to a three meal a day plan with no snacks or none of the little mini meals that are so popular today. He insists that if you stick tojust the three meals a day, you will lose weight. My experience has been to the contrary. I am one of the many who are ravenous at three and find a healthy snack at that time staves off later overeating or binges.He also limits the amount of water one is to drink to six cups a day. He claims that excess water leads to cellulite and excess weight. Prevailing thought is that excess water cannot hurt you; it is just excreted. Dehydration is the current hobgoblin of contemporary health concerns. Again,I think that balance is key and limitation is as hazardous as excess.This is an interesting book,nicely written with some excellent points. It is a good introduction taoist theory and the internal organ exercises are well worth the purchase price price.greatThis book has great information. Not very recommended for vegetarians, as I am currently one myself. But, it never hurts to see someone else's point of view about food. The exercises that the book includes are very light & require the ability to concentrate & control one's breathing. The recipes are balanced for omnivores. The book was new & delivery time was not bad. Overall, I recommend it to one that wants to see a "balanced" point of view on food.This book is a MUST read for everybody! The Author Doctor Stephen Chang is Very knowledgeable doctor, sharing all the medical wisdom of Chinese Tao medicine, which is 6,000 years old, plus he has Western medical education,this allow him to compare: Eastern Tao medicine is all about disease prevention and look at the body & mind as a whole, but Western medicine is just about particular sick organ.My friend and I both have a copy, so we can work through it together. We both love it. Its practical, easy to understand and non-judgemental e.g. I am a vegan and my friend is a carnivour and the book is perfect for both of us as it is so inclusive. Personally I dont like the use of the word 'thin' in the subtitle, I want a healthy body and I dont need to lose weight, but I did want to use Taoist principles to be healthy and I am improving my health with this book and Dr Chang's book on Internal Exercises. Some information is repeated in both books, but thats okay, it bears repeating.This book he gives a lot of good tips for being able to eat and maintain a healthy body. I even attempted to do some of these things and I have seen the light that this offer have brought forth.This book is wonderful, full of information. However, it does not have actual menus, except one that is used as a guide. I would have liked to have actual munus planned for at least a week so I can get a better idea of how to plan my days. Other than that, it is an excellent book.I like this book and will be following to my best. I just got the book so I do hopeI loose more weight and feel better. I am now doing exercises form The Complete System Of Self-Healing and these two books are good together.Yes I would reccomend this to everyone.Already have the first original healing book and has been my bible for many years. This book is short but full of practical advice and great recipes for a healthy lifestyle.Great book in great condition.It's a ok book. I liked his other one better. This is good if you like Asian cuisine I don't really know how to cook that way so some of the recipes were intimidating. Good mention of herbs and exercises. Quick read. Over priced