2011 Paul McKenna part two - our final diet

[whomovedmychocolate]

Welcome etc. blah blah. :)

I will just have to stop coming on MN! Have been thinking I will anyway, apart from this thread of course! (and the occasional thread of my own asking 'is my child normal', which I think new mum probably does!)

Every new mum.

I am trying to only go near this thread too. But it's not working very well! I find listening in the morning really good. It seems to make me wake up feeling very motivated. But then I have a small alarm clock which gets me up at least half an hour before I need to get up every morning so it is a bit easier for me!

Think I am going to have to stop eating fat, which is very annoying as it's hard to do this when you are cutting something out but I have constant discomfort from the gallstones now and eating fat just makes it worse. It's got to the point where I am not even able to do exercise which is horrible and frustrating. Only four weeks until the op, so it's not for long.

missmakestuff - what do you actually do to relax? Have you considered learning yoga or doing meditation? It sounds like you are quite frenetic - which is good in lots of ways but you also need to learn how to chill out a bit too. :)

Perhaps like me you will find you only can really chill when physically exhausted and a hard core aerobic exercise class will do it for you?

morning all....
I have the same problems with timings of food etc, its a nighmare when youre in class and hungry turns to ravenous and theres no way you can eat! I never have breakfast, never have! i find im hungrier if i eat, so i usually leave it til break, but thats not til 11. some days are worse than others, i drink water in class and try to distract myself and not think about food... its hard though to eat slowly when you let yourself get that hungry.. dilemma!
I have the 'trance' thing on my iphone app, and PMK says count backwards from 300.... etc... but I have a question...are you meant to keep counting? or listen to what he says? confused slightly!!
im trying to exercise, but not really getting round to it! I admire anyone who can do 15 miles on a push bike! walking the dog is my limit really... and the kids do that before i get in! must make an effort though..
my sister keeps nagging me to go to zumba! anyone tried that??is it any good?!!
hope youre all on track today, im day 4 and loving it!! we had a chinese buffet last night for dinner, and i actually had a smaller than normal portion and left some!! DH kept looking at me with an odd lock on his face cos I kept putting my knife and fork down! I really enjoyed the food, but most of all really enjoyed the lack of guilt and lack of having to 'point' my food a la WW!!
I really dont miss having all that faff, looking at labels and 'being good'!
the sense of liberation is amazing, and i agree with the busting into 'slimming' clubs and spreading the word!! its ridiculous when I consider my dieting history all the awful things ive been put through to loosse weight only to put it back on then im no longer 'on a diet'. im really hoping the weight shifts, i have 2 stone to loose, but im feeling so much better already.

ive rambled on a fair bit! hope all well in your corners of the world!!

Hi all. I havent been applying the rules really at all :( But I am going to forgive myself, and try harder today. I just kept making excuses "oh im on holiday, ill start when I get home" "now its my birthday, ill start after all the treats are gone" - Ive been silly really! Doing well today though, feeling positive, have been shopping for yummy appealing food & I am going to listen to one of the CDs once DS goes for his nap :)

Happy Birthday Howto! Forgive and move on is the only way forward. It's mine on Monday and I'm trying to decide whether to weigh myself or not. It's weigh day in the journal and I really want to stick to it but would prefer to have my illusions shattered on another day.

Had a bit of a binge on chocolate raison's last night as I was shattered and really just wanted a hot bath and an early night but needed to finish DS1's costume for today. They helped actually. Went past the full signal which is not great but it is the first time since starting PM that I've done that so I'm not too downhearted especially as I did really well at tea time. We had Chicken soup which, weirdly, is a meal I totally out of control with (chicken in general really) but I managed to stop when I was satisfied.

blooming - I think perhaps, that you just need to make peace with the fact that you need to adjust your diet for your health and it's not because your being faddy or controlling. You can still apply 3 of the 4 rules until your 'fixed' and then reinstate the fourth after your op. Think of it more as being on the right road but having to stick to 3rd gear for a few miles until it's safe for you to change up.

harley- Haven't done Zumba myself but know a few people that do and they all love it. Give it a shot, it sounds like a fun way to work up a sweat.

End of week 1

Hello, so week one of eating the intuitive/PMK way is coming to an end for me. So far, here are my personal observations:

• "Eating consciously" is working the best for me. By slowing down and being aware of the food I am tasting has had the effect of putting me off some junk foods/snacks. So, for example, this lunch time my "mouth" felt like savouring a tuna nisoise salad and a small pot of fruit (saved for later as I was full). Some of the things I've eaten this week have been pasta and gorgonzola, a rich beef and spinach curry, and pizza but because I am eating consciously I've been eating less without thinking about it. I didn't fancy "savouring" a Twix bar (yuck!) but 2 squares of dark Valrhona chocolate was just delicious!

• Life is busy. If I know I have a busy morning that will not let me stop to eat then I will eat a little more at breakfast ("full" rather than "satisfied") or I will eat on the run but consciously limit my portions.

• I've discovered that it's good to feel a little hungry - what a revelation. Today I was hungry around 12pm but was stuck doing something and knew I wouldn't be able to eat lunch until around 1 or 2. What kept me going was the thought that I had a delicious lunch waiting for me - the experience of which would be ruined if I "spoiled my appetite" with a snack. Ditto last night when my DH called to say he'd be late - but I so wanted to eat with him and so wanted to savour the beef curry I'd prepared that I waited. In the past I would have eaten a biscuit (or 5!) and a handful of Dorritos at the first sign of hunger and then not truly enjoyed my dinner.

• A scoop of Haagen Daz ice cream tastes just as good as a big bowl full! If not better. Incredible realisation for me.

• Listening to the CD makes me nauseous. I've tried every day but PMK's voice sounds like the devil to me and I cannot relax into it. And I mean literally nauseous!

• I am only a week in so weigh in should be another week but I am very nervous about weighing myself. I'm doing so well, so far, and my jeans are looser especially in the tummy but still - the old diet mentality means numbers still mean alot to me.

• Attending a toddler's birthday party this weekend but I'm not dreading it as I used to when I was dieting. I actually trust myself to eat sensibly because nothing is off limits and I am "savouring"!

• I have realised how well my DD (2.8yrs) eats. She will pick up a French fry and take a bite of it and really enjoy it - she won't eat all her fries just because they are there. If she's full she will leave her plate and kick up fuss if I try and persuade her to eat more. She eats all her food the same way - a bit at a time. Infuriating for me as her mum who wants her to hurry up so we can all get moving, but so sensible. She takes an hour to eat a full meal, by the way. I am now trying to model her when we go out asa family for lunch in a cafe/restaurant.

Okay, I think that's it. Will update next week. I am loving this natural, instinctive way of eating .

Hooray BsshBossh! What a great update. It's day 7 for me too today and I relate to everything you said (apart from the CD giving you nausea, oh dear!). I'm doing the same pre-empting of hunger thing when necessary, but not to excess.

Everyone seems to be doing so well, it is really supportive, being on this thread. I still couldn't listen to the whole CD last night, my legs felt like they were crawling! Did ok today though, although ate two bits of cake (for charity! Was a good cause!) and really really enjoyed them! I have hardly eaten anything else all day though, just haven't been hungry.
You're right WMMC - I am totally frenetic! I used to do Yoga, Tai Chi, Karate, lots of things that helped me relax, I used to have loads of hobbies that help me to relax, but I just don't have the time anymore. I just find every evening is a constant race to try and keep on top of everything, then by the weekend I have had enough and collapse in a heap! I need to make time, its a cliche but there you go. I am going to start doing Pilates - have kind of been told to by my Osteopath, and then this weekend Im going to get kitted out with runners as I booked myself on the 10k race for life in a moment of madness! But I am hoping doing the couch to 10k will give me structure and make me go out and run two or three times a week, now the evenings are a bit lighter I'm hoping I will get motivated.

I might try listening to the CD tomorrow morning, as will be having a few (s) tonight and might be too 'relaxed!'

Me three for day 7 :)

Totally agree about the savouring confectionary chocolate being yuck, it just makes my mouth all icky.

Have had a bad day today although I did expect it. Waited too long to eat breakfast so was really hungry although I did manage to eat slowly. But have been baking 3 types of cupcakes & have had to taste test them & the icing and meant I ate my lunch to fast. On the plus side, I have boxed up the extras for next door & thrown the excess icing in the bin so I don't eat it.

I have to do the pre-empting of hunger thing tomorrow. Have a 5 hr drive so will have a big breakfast before I go so I don't feel the need to snack on the way.

Bloomingnora I don't think that removing fat from your diet to stop you feeling ill is a problem, if you think about it do you really want to eat something which makes you feel horrible? I generally don't. I am intolerant to yeast & dairy and although I sometimes really want something I shouldn't have & weigh up how much I want it vs. how ill I will feel afterwards. If I'm willing to deal with the consequences then I'll eat it (usually if having a meal out), if not I won't.

I also need to make time to listen to the CD. I have been listening to it in bed but I keep falling asleep really quickly so don't actively isten to it as such & wonder if I'm not getting the full benefit that way.

Hope you've all had a good day and have a great weekend

Since I weighed I've had no motivation at all! Help!

I've forgotten how to stop when I'm full. Could I be self-sabotaging?

Thanks peeps. I think I will just do the rules but with a set of brackets that say (that is not too fatty) after 'eat exactly what you want'. Weirdly enough I have had a much better day today and eaten much less fat and feel much better (about the rules) and more in control although in pain and had to come home from work (I arrived they said "actually you shouldn't be at work if you can't straighten up, bugger off"). I ordered some new clothes on line to cheer me up. Comfort shopping! Not like me at all.

I really like the support on this thread - it is a very calm and sensible place to be. Lots of considered advice.

Today's revelation - I am not going to totally repair my relationship with food in a couple of weeks but I am going to improve it a little every day. I am thinking of name changing to shrinkingnora - what do you reckon? Bloomingnora was pregnancy related anyway and that particular pregnancy is 4.6.....

Blinder - don't weigh! Simples! Says the woman who weighed today even though I said I never would again

Too late!

Think of the big picture. This is such a good thing to do in terms of being healthy for the rest of your life. There are no quick fixes. If you are like me you are undoing years of negelecting your body and not listening to it's messages.

And surely it's only about 24 hours since you weighed?? Give yourself a break. Do not weigh again until I tell you that it's ok. OK? And you can tell me when it's ok for me to weigh

Don't forget that this week you had to argue with a cafe owner about how full you were! You are doing brilliantly.

In fact, I am convinced Paul woudl tell you to imagine that scenario and how you were feeling and how good it felt to be full and stopping eating etc.

Read back though your posts. I am going to read back through mine for some inspiration. But only the happy ones, mind....

:( I just had a big binge, having done really well all day.

Like you, pinkcupcakefairy, I need to start listening to the CD earlier in the day so that I stay awake. I'm relying too much on the rational/conscious side of my brain, ie willpower. I want to be hypnotised!

I also need to attempt the aversion thing - I guess for anything I binge on. My 2 binges so far have both been on poppadums. I seem to be very reluctant to try this ...

BsshBossh - Do you have the full CD set or just the one with the book? His voice on that one is simply freaktastic but he tones it down on the others and presents them with a far more straight forward delivery and in a normal voice - I'm sure a 'loan' of a set could be arranged. Well done on your week by the way, you sound like your doing really well.

AlwaysbeOpralFruitstome - thanks. Good to know about the other CDs. Truly, his voice on the book's CD is satanic .

franch, what did you binge on and how much? Always remember we'll have those moments - the great thing about this way of eating is there is no guilt, we simply pick ourselves up... When slim friends "binge" I think they're more likely to shrug it off and eat more sensibly afterwards. It all balances out in the end. You may find you're not so hungry tomorrow as a result. Just keep tuning into the fullness/hunger thing and you'll be fine.

I rarely listen to the cd tbh, he is a bit strange and the whole 'open your eyes, shut your eyes, be cumftable' instructions kind of annoy me.

I have done well today and am relaxed about it!

I probably haven't eaten as slooooooowly as I should but I have enjoyed everything I've had and not eaten too much. Hoping it's beginning to be a habit.

Franch, forgive yourself and move on. Can you think next time you are hungry that if you fancy poppadums you will have them and enjoy them? I can imagine worse things to binge on so don't beat yourself up.

Hi BsshBossh, I ate a whole family-sized pack of mini poppadums and about 5 chocolate-covered rice cakes. This was after an enjoyable and moderate dinner of special egg fried rice and stilton & oatcakes. Thanks for the advice.

Ursula yes generally I have started thinking that way ('mm, yummy, I'll look forward to eating that next time I'm hungry'). Not sure why I couldn't this time. Tiredness, self-sabotage, I don't know.

I really felt this thing was working earlier, too - and I still believe in it. After lunch I started to eat a satsuma but then realised I was full so put the rest away for later. Then dinner was delayed, I was hungry and contemplated the crisps and other 'goodies' I'd allowed myself to buy, stashed away in the cupboard. But I really preferred the idea of finishing the satsuma, so I did! There were crisps available! Kettle chips no less!

Moments like this give me hope and I think if I use the CDs while awake (!) and also use the hairy prawn technique when necessary, I should be on my way ...

Thanks for the support.

BsshBossh - you may respond better to Richard Bandler's 'get the life you want' book and CD in that case. PM me and I'll tell you more about it. :) Or I have a very old copy of the CD 'Easy Weight Loss' when he still had a british accent!

Harleychick if you are still consciously counting that's fine - but when you get down to 0 if you keep counting the track starts saying 'sleep now, go deeper into trance'. It doesn't matter if you count or not. Your brain can take in several messages at once, in fact subliminal messages are better taken indirectly IYSWIM.

missmakesstuff pilates is good. You need to find space for you in order to reduce the space your body takes up

blinder - what did you expect to happen when you weighed yourself? Do you feel like you've put in a lot of effort and got nowhere? Because it seems to me you have become like a thin person, you are eating like a thin person and were thinking like one, and you are what you repeatedly do. If you go back to food shovelling and self hating you know you will end up fatter and less happy. You have taken the first step towards being a thin person by adopting appropriate eating habits. Now you need to focus on your mental attitude to this. It's a lifelong change. Take the weekend out. Think about where you really want to be. How you want your life to be. If this is not what you want that's fine but if it is (and I hope it is) then start again and don't quit. Yes it might take a while but you didn't gain all that weight in a few weeks either did you? :)

Bloomingnora - shrinkingnorma is good or how about normalsizedbutt

Right well anyway I have some news. Pretty big news as it happens. I decided I wasn't happy with one or two things in my life and that things needed shaking up

First thing: husband has gone back to work one day a week and looks like it's going up to two days a week. He's retired early and was annoying the shit out of me. Now he's happier and so am I (though his job seems predominantly to involve having lunch ).

Second thing: house - we have a house and a chapel in the garden which we have planning permission to develop into a four bedroomed house with a view to dividing the title and selling both separately or perhaps living in the chapel (which I feel spooked by every time I go in). We would have had to spend a lot to develop it and I was not sure the profit margin made it worthwhile. So I spent this week costing it out and proved to DH it isn't work us doing it so today we had the site valued and are putting it on the market and we found a house already - it's fucking beautiful. I would be so proud to live there, it's about ten miles away from here in an amazing village and we are going back to see it again next week and also check out the village school (which we could walk to instead of having an eleven mile round trip twice in a day.

So now I have decluttering/snagging etc to do on this house, some legal work (I have a change of use application in and various legal bits I have to do before we sell the house, but one of our friends is interested in buying it and so I'm doing little happy dances round the house (while simultaneously trying not to mess up the house which is remarkably tidy.)

The cat is settled and happy and we are going to let him go out in the morning to explore the garden. Perhaps that'll stop him being a PITA - he's taken to sitting in front of DH's computer screen when he wants a cuddle. Which is funny for me, not so much for DH.

We went out to lunch today - I had a ploughman's. Well actually I had half a lovely bread roll with some salted butter and a little bit of pate and one little bit of cheese and lots of pickles and salad and DS ate six fucking ounces of strong cheddar - he's two FFS! He then ate half DD's haddock in batter too!

But I had plenty and I really enjoyed it but felt under no pressure, even though it took me an hour to eat mine and the rest of them were pretty much done in twenty minutes.

I was telling DH about some of the things women dieting do (like the 'I'll eat it now so it's not there to tempt me tomorrow') and he said women were illogical and he wouldn't even attempt to understand . But he's right about one thing : if you said to your friends 'I have this plan. I'm going to measure everything I put in my mouth every day and judge the success of my life on this, combined with numbers of a scale' your friends would tell you, that you were off your bleeding rocker .

And on that thought I have to leave and do ironing! Have a fabulous weekend everyone. Stop worrying about all this btw, however you do today, it's doesn't matter, because the sun comes up in the morning and you have a whole new day to do something different if today didn't work for you. :)

BLEURGH do you enjoy rice cakes ;)

I have been eating twixes and nice crisps and a nice pie and a sausage butty and a curry (not all at once, though in the old days t'would have been all on one day) Have enjoyed it all yum yum. Have some full fat houmous in for tomorrow, looking forward to that! Enjoying the feeling that I don't need willpower as I can have it if I really want.