2011 Paul McKenna P3 - the march towards skinny jeans continues

[whomovedmychocolate]

Well the old thread was getting mordibly obese wasn't it?

Welcome new people and people who've been here for a while, this is the definitive Paul McKenna support thread.

Whether you are dribbling over his Paulness or wibbling over pudding, we're here to listen, slightly mock you and tell you to step away from the scales.

The Paul Mckenna plan is not a diet but a way of teaching yourself to eat slowly and consciously and achieve the body you've always dreamed of.

There will be no diet foods on this thread, no starvation and no beating ourselves up because ^lifes' too bloody short to weigh a carrot and we'd far rather be doing something incredible instead!

YAY for mental repair. I find myself chanting sometimes "I will get well, I will get well..." :)

My exercise role models are the seven year olds I work with at school...they love to run and jump and do flips, just for the fun of it. I'm not sure when I stopped moving for fun, but I will get it back! :)

I work with 7 year olds too - they are so unselfconscious. I have started volunteering to go and get things that people have left upstairs/walk to the shop for milk/get up and put the kettle on etc - anything to keep moving!

Ladies may I join you? I have been too overweight for too long, tried all kinds of diets, lost some, gained it back and more, lost a bit again - blah blah.
I'm fed up with being fat, and I don't want my boys growing up with the same hideous relationship with food that I have.
I've got the book and CD, going to start listening tomorrow!

Welcome Alibaba :)

Celestial, I'm in the same position with regard to clothing...I spent last summer wearing jeans and a long (bum covering), thick, hooded, knitted jacket/cardi and sweltered through the summer. Today, I put on a summer dress that used to swing about me, but today at least, I got it on and done up! couldn't do that last year. It will come. It really will.

Evening all. Great inspirational posts nora. It really is about having a normal relationship with food. Had lunch out with the kids today - it was really enjoyable and I didn't overeat. Just sat back and enjoyed the sunshine while they scoffed down puddings.

My face feels a lot thinner today. Maybe there are cheekbones under there somewhere...

Welcome Alibaba and good luck. If I have one bit of advice when starting out, it is to just follow the 4 golden rules properly. Don't think, "oh I'll keep eating diet food but just eat it slowly and consciously", or "I'll eat a bit of food now even though I'm not hungry just because I fancy it". Try and get the whole mindset - do it for a couple of weeks and see how you get on.

Solo - good news on the dress. It sounds like you are in a better place than last summer.

Yes Olive, but I'd lost that stone before the seminar :(

Does anyone else have a hard time sensing when they're hungry? It's so hard for me!

Anyway. Pauled all day for the most part. I've been drinking lots of water and that seems to help. I know I need to get lots of sleep too; I eat so much more when I'm tired. (And I don't follow my cleaning routines, making my goal of 2011 being Cheerful's Year of Thinness and Organization that much more difficult.) So, off to bed and hopefully I won't "see" you for another eight hours or so. :)

I've been having a tough, very stressful couple of days. So last night I listened to the CDs (all of them) and I've been up since 5am sorting things out and I'm still not hungry. I need to keep on track today and I know that'll sort me out.

I seem to have got stuck at a certain point where I know I'm acceptably thin (for the rest of mankind - i.e. I'm in the healthy weight range - albeit at the top of it and I just CBA)

Which is not good. So I'm starting all over again. Well why not? It worked before, it hasn't really stopped working, I've just not been paying enough attention - I ate in front of the TV last night which is a killer for me because it's impossible to eat consciously in front of a screen. So I'm starting again.

And I'm going to try not to be a grumpy cow today as well regardless of whatever other crap is going on. So I'm back, signing back in! :)

Solo - I imagine if you had been following a conventional diet you would be in the putting back on phase now. Treat yourself as you would a friend. Be kind to yourself. I think if I eat whatever I like now I stay the same weight even if I am bingeing on jaffa cakes. If I eat whatever I like on slimming world I gain weight. If I Paul a bit I lose a small amount of weight. If I Paul a lot I lose masses very quickly.

CY - yes, I do have a hard time sensing when I am hungry. The thing I am finding hardest is when I think I am hungry, sit down to eat something delicious and then am full after three mouthfuls. So I probably was hungry but not very. I then find it impossible to stop as I don't want to waste the food or have to eat again in half an hour. But the way I am thinking of it is at least I am aware of it now. I will get there.

Yesterday I struggled to find things I wanted to eat at home. It made things really difficult. I think my shopping habits haven't caught up with my eating habits! I really don't want crisps/biscuits/bread. I really wanted a nice preprepared salad or something. We had a day of extreme emotions yesterday and I was all over the place with food. Today I am trying to stay calm and currently in bed while DH is up with the kids and I am going to think about exactly what I want for breakfast. Fruit salad, I think. We have grapes/apple/banana/orange and hopefully there's a tin of pineapple in the back of the cupboard.

Alibaba - welcome! You are going to love this. Guilt-free yummy food.

WMMC - how lovely to see you. Sorry you have been having a tough time. How is the Aikido going?

Interesting point about being stuck when you are acceptably thin. I seem to get stuck when I am looking ok and can shop in normal shops and do most stuff normally. I find it very hard to get over this bit and get fitter and slimmer.

Have had to stop Aikido - I dislocated lots of things and the GP says perhaps I should give it a rest for a bit till I recover properly - went back the following week and redislocated my wrist gah! However I have WII Zumba which is hard work (but fun).

The problem is for me. I'm now a size 12 - I can get clothes anywhere. My size 10 jeans fit but frankly they are M&S jeans and their sizes are ginormous so I'd like to fit in my Ralph Lauren size 10s really.

DS is having a tantrum as I won't let him eat his porridge in the living room - oh the joys of breakfast in a house with small people

DS2 is currently in a phase where he is insisting on feeding himself and getting very angry if you don't let him. He is 15 months old

I might have to get wii zumba. My BIL loves it!

He settled for a chocolate chip brioche roll in the end

Have just been the to local farm shop and bought some lovely fruit and veg and fresh bread and proper moo cow milk with a gold top.

DS just says 'nooooooo' to whatever at the minute. Tis a bit of a PITA but never mind.

Hello everyone!! just popped in. WMMC you could be me! Why do all fun festivals involve huge amounts of food? I'm still a fr. 12 though. Cheerful i love dancing for fun! Happy Easter everyone [busmile]

Hey, so nice to see you guys on here again :)

After a week of not listening to the rules or my body, I am back to doing it all perfectly again. Ive no idea why i sabotage my efforts (especially when Paul requires so little effort!) when all I do is feel ill and bloated and lack energy. As soon as I am back into the swing of it again, I feel thinner, energetic & healthy! I must be mad lol

It makes no sense. I have had a madly out of control day. I seem to be going wrong when I don't get what I really want so I then eat five things that are not quite right instead because they are not as satisfying as the thing I really wanted.

TY for the welcome :)

This is really odd to get the hang of.
I ate a piece of cake earlier and because I wasn't just shovelling it down, I realised that I have a commentary running in my head when I eat - which I have never heard before! It is basically a whole list of reasons why I shouldn't eat something, and a whole list of justifications and excuses about why I'm going to eat it anyway.
I'm a bit to find I am doing something so odd.

I also have no idea when I'm hungry, none at all.

Hi Alibaba, I'm glad you're here! :)

It's 11:15 a.m. here and I haven't eaten yet. I don't think I am hungry.

So...I gave into temptation and stepped on the scale today. BIG mistake. I haven't gained any but I haven't lost any either. BUT I feel better and stronger and more in control and that's what counts. I'm starting to use the checklist at the end of Paul's book to keep track.

Nora I hear you! I always used to do that. I'd really want a cupcake or a grilled cheese sandwich or something but I felt like I shouldn't have it, so I'd eat a million other "healthy" things that weren't what I wanted. Grr. I'd never feel full and I'd end up eating way more than if I'd just had what I wanted.

Is the Easter holiday ever going to end

Well today is going better, definitely more calm and happier. I guess I need to do the CDs again for another five days to get my head back in the right place.

Ce la vie.

Funnily enough Easter and Christmas is when I traditionally lose weight because I don't really like the sort of things on offer.

DD has an inset day on Tuesday as well. So no, they are never going to end. But luckily I go back to work on Tuesday so DH will be the one suffering.... Actually, I haven't worked since 30th March so it's going to be a shock to the system!

I am going to charge up my ipod now so I can listen to the CDs tonight.

Hello Yank :) I'm going to find it v.hard not to weigh myself, it is second nature to hop on the scales in the morning, I might have to move them out of the bathroom.

Do any of you stick to mealtimes - i.e do you eat when the rest of the family eat, or only if you are hungry?
For example the dinner is ready now - I'm not hungry but it feels anti-social not to eat with the others, and is also a PITA because I will then have to eat later.
Am I missing the point?

I tend to eat less Alibaba - and then I am hungrier by mealtimes. But I know what you mean. When I started off I wasn't hungry then and felt like a plumb sitting there eating nothing, so I started having a cup of tea while they ate.

It takes a little while to get into the rhythm but WMMC is right (as always...) and you will find you are hungry at mealtimes. I also have a cup of tea with the rest of the family if I am not eating - I don't even say anything or make any comment and the DCs never really notice and Dh understands it's because I am not hungry. Make sure you earmark any leftovers though - I have arrived at the fridge only to discover that the food I have been really looking forward to has been eaten by DH as he has misunderstood my intentions!

And consider throwing the scales away. Trust me on this, it is so incredibly liberating. Weighing yourself will not make you any thinner or fatter. Do it, I dare you! I now only weigh myself every 2-4 weeks at either the inlaws' or my friend's house.

I dont always eat at the same time as my family, but I still sit at the table with them, with a glass of water, and chat to them! But most of the time I am ready to eat when they are, it always seems to work out ok.

and dont weigh! I only weigh every 4 weeks, so have only had 2 weigh-ins so far. I love the freedom of not knwoing how much I weigh, no longer are my days good/bad depending on what the scales say in the morning. Do it, you will be glad you did it!

Ive just been for a 4 mile pwer walk, need a shower & bed now!

Weighed in this morning. In 2 weeks I've lost another 5lbs. So total weight loss is 22lbs in 8 weeks .