Paul McKenna - Webchat about emotional eating and weight loss, Friday 10 January.

[RachelMumsnet]

Paul McKenna is back! He joined us last January to talk about his book The Hypnotic Gastric Band. This year he's going to be telling us about his latest weight loss programme Freedom from Emotional Eating.

Emotional eating is the number one cause of obesity in the Western World. Paul's latest programme claims to bring about dynamic and lasting change and help break the cycle of frustration and self-medication with food.

Come and talk to Paul on Friday at 12pm or post a question to him in advance on this thread.

Hi Paul, I tried your gastric band book and CD. I felt great the day I did it but went straight back to my old habits of zombie eating the day afterwards. I confess I didn't muster the willpower to cut out the sugary fatty foods for the pre-OP. Is there no hope if I don't have even 2 weeks worth of willpower?

@thekitchenfairy

Hi Paul

I am 5" tall, weigh somewhere around 10st, 18lb never lost post DS2 and after giving up smoking.

We eat healthily as a family, home cooked food etc and I exercise and drink alcohol in moderation. My BMI says I am overweight and I am definitely not happy.

I do not get supported in weight loss efforts as people continually tempt me with cake! I no longer have 4st to shed as I did post DS1 so friends & family say 'its just a stone you can lose it easily' But I can't.

I manage to lose a few pounds, feel great, but it is not enough and they creep back on. In 8 years I have lost no more than a half stone. Tried LC diet, WW, and gained weight while following SW and I think I am an emotional eater but do not know where to begin to correct this.

What strategies can you advise? Can I do something about my weight or do I have to accept that as a 40 yr old woman this is it and I should learn to love my shape a bit better?

Thanks in advance I really want to crack it this year!

The BMI isn't an entirely true gauge of whether you're overwight. Indeed many leading athletes come out as obese because muscles weight more than fat.

I would recommend in this case I Can Make You Thin. Even though it has a somewhat controversial title, it's really aimed at you being happy with yourself. Sometimes people come up to me in the street and say they've lost weight. I ask how much, and they say they don't know because they no longer weigh themselves, which is music to my ears.

The fact you're unhappy is of greater concern to me. It seems you have more of a self image challenge than a weight challenge. It's not uncommon for people to get upset about losing those last ten pounds. I believe the hypnotic gastric band will really help you lose those last pounds. However, I'd also recommend to you that you get my DVD set, which is on eBay or my site paulmckenna.com. The DVD Your Perfect Body should help to significantly improve your self image, which I believe could possibly do with a boost.

Sounds like you're doing better than you realise, but good for you for wanting to do even more. Thanks for your question, God bless.

Paul, I've noticed your Confidence CD also makes me want to eat less - I think that does suggest for me (and others I'd imagine) overeating is more about feelings than straightforward "greed".

@mohhum

I'm disappointed paul. all you do is ask us to buy your books, didn't find any genuine advice. sorry

Well, I'm sorry you feel this way because the book I have just written has taken a year to write and a decade to research. If I worked with people one-to-one, I'd probably get to help a few thousand people in my lifetime - with my books, DVDs, CDs and apps, I have been able to reach millions of people. My goal is to improve the lives of others. The reason I suggest buying the books is that it's a very inexpensive approach to what is often a significant problem for people in their lives. In fact, if you go see a therapist - it may cost you £100 per session, and you may need several sessions. I believe the DVD is an inexpensive solution.

I'm not doing this purely for commercial reasons. In fact, if all I was interested in is money, I'd be in banking or oil, and a lot richer, like some of my friends. I particularly like helping people lose weight because I think I've made a certain breakthrough in this area. I can only give a certain amount of advice during a webchat, and in many cases, the techniques need to be absorbed and practiced several times. Actually, I don't need to be here today or do anything ever gain if I don't want to! I do this job because I genuinely enjoy helping people.

I understand why people are sceptical because they'v been sold to over and over again by the diet business, or as I like to call it the 'hate your body industry'. I could have made a lot of money by partnering with these people, but I'd rather sleep at night.

I totally understand why you're sceptical, many people who have success with my system are - and many are pleasantly surprised.

I wish you the best of luck.

@ThenAgain

Have you got any advice for people that have tried your gastric band hypnotherapy but didn't feel the effect - e.g. didn't feel like they had a band? I loved your first book and so wanted it to work but just didn't get the effect. Should I try it a few times?

I'm sorry this didn't work for you or hasn't worked yet. Some people find they need to use the trance many times - for example every day for two weeks - and then suddenly something clicks. Yes, you'll know you didn't have a band, but its your unconscious mind and your body that needs to be convinced, so it's producing more GLP1 or PYY (the hormones that signal satiety or fullness) or giving your brain the impression that it is.

You may find the new book and CD is helpful, or the app. I've spent a long time and an immense amount of effort making these two systems, and so I'm sorry to hear you haven't had the success you want. I really wish my system was 100% effective, nothing would make me happier.

Thanks so much. God bless.

I have the ICMYT book and CD. I generally listen to the CD when I go to bed so often fall asleep as I'm listening to it. My question though is why it frequently seems to be followed then by vivid and often bad dreams?! After a few nights of this I tend to give up listening as I may be eating less but I'm also sleeping less!

Thank you everyone for your questions. They've been really helpful and they help me to understand more about what I do, and I hope you've found something useful in what I've said today. I hope you have success in all that you do.

Happy new year and may all your dearest wishes come true. Thanks everyone, and God bless from London.

Thank you!

THANK YOU Paul :D

Thank you Paul!

Thankyou so much Paul! Will download the App now

Thanks, I am glad you have an app now, will look at that.

Have just got back from work. Thanks for answering my question Paul.

Was just about to order your book, but wow I've won one instead! Thank you ever so much MN and Paul.

Thanks

Thank you!!! was it the xx's that did it?!!

Now there's no excuse not to fix it. Thanks for the book!

goatsaregood didn't you realise that he directed you to his partner's website and suggested that you took his course? I'm not impressed at all, I thought he genuinely wanted to help, but he's just a salesman.

mohhum this way of eating genuinely works. Its mindful eating and I have been attempting to do it for twenty years. I managed it but when I joined PM thread on MN late 2012 it really helped me to give up diets forever. All PM suggests is that you only eat when you are truly genuinely hungry and are at that place when food tastes absolutely amazing upon your first bite because your body is requiring food. Then to consciously taste and savour every single mouthful because when you do this you then know exactly when you have had enough and are satisfied and you then stop. It might be a few mouthfuls or it might be a whole plate, depends upon your bodies requirements at that time. The best one of all though is to eat exactly what you want. So the opposite of diets. I and many many others have lost weight and maintained weight by eating this way and never dieted again. All diets can cause disordered eating. Eating whatever you want again changes your whole approach to food. At first some people eat too much because of the freedom from dieting but if they get proper support and listen to the hypnosis cds and re read the books then they eventually get to a point where they began to "GET" it . Re learning to eat like a naturally slim person takes effort and a lot of conscious thought each time you are hungry but eventually it becomes second nature.

I love his books and cds but to be fair you don't ever have to buy one at all. Just learn to eat when your genuinely hungry and stop when your genuinely full and ditch the diets.

I'd rather spend £12 on a book than (how much is it?) to attend weight watchers or slimming world. And then attend it again the next year when I've regained the weight.

£6 for the book on Amazon and in supermarkets

I genuinely don't see what's wrong with someone who has written a book trying to sell copies of that book .

And now that I've had time to look at what he suggested, it has actually given me the push to look at lots of stuff - all of which I can access for free - that will hopefully help some of the people I work with. Hasn't cost me a penny so I have no problem with it at all.

I also think his method does help. I lost 16 lbs on it when the last book came out, and have kept that weight off. I'll try this one too as I'd quite like to lose a bit more and it's a method that makes sense. Nothing for me to feel aggrieved about or tricked into there as far as I can see.