I had my hypno gastric band 'fitted' by Paul McKenna last night...

[lynniep]

...so far so good! Admittedly its not even 11am yet, but I havent eaten my snacks which are sitting on my desk and not even tempting me! Normally I don't allow myself anything till 10am, then I pounce!

I am doing this in conjunction with weightwatchers, which Paul McKenna would not approve of, since he despises 'diet clubs' (boy does this come through loud and clear in his book).

However since I don't know the man personally, and I feel I need the WW sessions for support, I am carrying on with pro- pointing and hoping that my gastric band will provide the backup I need to not binge and eat more than my body needs.

I've been (back) on weightwatchers for several months now and failed miserably because I am both a compulsive eater and a (hopefully) reformed bulimic.

I'd like to think this will help me - and I'm willing to try it because I am now as heavy as I was just after I gave birth to DS2 3 years ago (my heaviest, unless you count when I was 40 weeks pg!)

If anyone is interested I will report back :)

@starmis - first of all, are you following the Four Golden Rules?

@starmis - also, what do you mean by "it's not working for me" ? Do you mean that you are still overeating? Or that your eating habits haven't changed at all?

Finally installed this morning - don't feel any different, but fingers crossed I will.
the hardest rule for me is the conscious eating, I can hardly believe how I have been eating while doing something else, I don't mean just snacking watching TV, I mean eating my lunch at work while on internet/mnetting; even breakfast while making lunches for school, or watching TV.

This is going to be the hardest one for me - because of the habit I think - but fortunately we are lucky to have a separate dining room which hardly gets used, and I will take up residence there!

I am not telling anyone about this - my DH just thinks I am following some new eating rules - his eyes have almost rolled out of his head. I can't take his sceptism about another eating fad/diet etc

@angelinterceptor - I also thought that eating away from the TV/Radio/reading material/conversation was going to be impossible. (Since I can't remember, before a month ago, a single time in my life when I ate consciously!) But now, it has become second nature and I honestly don't believe I could go back to eating any other way! And you will notice how flavourful your food is when you eat consciously. And if it isn't flavourful, ditch it for food that is!

Oh, and my nearest and dearest's first reaction was to have near-hysterics when I announced my intentions. One month and a stone lighter, she's not laughing any more! (Actually, after the initial scepticism, she has been a great support. Especially when she saw how my eating habits and portions had been transformed!)

I'm with Starmis on this, I'm really struggling and desperate to do well . Not listened to cd for a week tho so will try again tonight

After your comments Chinhealer I've just reread the 4 Golden Rules and although I started following them I soon got demotivated and slipped back into my old ways! The main one I find hard is eating away from TV/Laptop etc. I also find it hard to stop picking at food during the day (I must be very weak willed). Do you think listening to Cd again would be a good idea?

I did the installation last night - much eye rolling in this house too so I am really hopeful that it works. The conscious eating this morning was ok but I have just made my lunch and sat with it next to me whilst reading this thread . Must try harder!

@starmis and wouldrather, are you sure you are eating enough? I'm pretty sure I 'got through' the first couple of days by willpower only and ate far too little. I was so worried about overeating!

Now I am more relaxed around food, eating until I am genuinely satisfied. Some days I eat more, some days less.

I was concerned when I first started because most people were commenting that they weren't hungry or had gone off food. I'm still hungry at most meal times and really enjoy my food. The difference for me is that I don't think about food 24/7 and I take my time when I eat.

I used to eat every meal in front of the T.V. It's been a massive change for me not to do it, but it has helped me enormously to eat consciously.

As the book says-'it's a small ask, with a massive reward'

I hope it gets easier for you both
X

@starmis - I don't think the CD has any/much bearing on whether or not you follow the four golden rules, but listen to it again if you feel it will help. I think you have to just accept in your head that, unless you are willing to eat away from ALL distractions at EVERY meal - but, especially, the TV/Internet - then this is not going to work for you. Paul says as much in Hypnotic Gastric Band. He says he can't help you unless you are willing to do that. And, believe me, I was the biggest watcher of TV during mealtimes and never imagined that I could free myself of that yoke! But I took his statement to heart and, therefore, followed every rule to the letter.

I attended Paul McKenna's Weight Loss event in London on Saturday. It was hugely interesting. I intend to blog about it in the next couple of days. But in the meantime, please feel free to take a look at the rest of my blog which began at the end of Jan when I first started to Eat Consciously.

cheeriofatty.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/eating-consciously-day-34-fattys-getting-thinner/

@chin, it was actually your blog that made me realise I was still in 'diet mode' for the first few days. Looking forward to hearing about the weekend.

Congrats on the weight loss so far

X

@Fairygen - Thanks so much! But, in a sense, the weightloss is almost incidental! The much more earth-shattering things for me have been the total retraining of my sensitivity to my body's satiety signals and my transformed attitude towards food!

I'm so pleased if my blog helped you in some, small way! That's part of the reason I continue to write it. (As well as to help keep me mindful of this massive life-change!)

Hi, well its a week now since i started, and installed the gastric band, I am a bit dissapointed with the weight loss so far, 2pounds, but i can honestly say i am not eating half as much as i used to, i left half my dinner again last night, i usually am starving when i wake in the mornings, and could easily put away cereal and toast, but i dont feel hungry at all now in the mornings, i just dont ever feel that starving feeling at all anymore, i think the best thing about it, is the fact that i dont feel i am being deprived of anything now, unlike other diets etc, and that takes the pressure off knowing i can eat what i want, i just dont want to now, i have listened to the trance 4 times now, and each time it makes me feel so relaxed, and gives me a boost of determination each time, i think i need to try and excersise more, to get the weight to shift quicker, good luck to you all, keep at it, and stay focused..x

Well, I've fallen off the wagon!! Have no one to blame but myself!

Running round like a headless chicken this morning, feeding cat, dog, rabbit, guinea pigs, hoovering etc so threw a piece of toast in the general direction of my mouth! Ate it in about 2 seconds, and that was the start of a very bad day ( as far as golden rules go)

Haven't eaten consciously all day and now feel bloated, dis satisfied and very angry with myself.

Tomorrow is a new day so going back to basics- reading the book and listening to the cd tonight. Weigh day tomorrow so dreading it!!

@Fairygen - no need to beat yourself up about it. It happens. Nothing more than a blip. As you say, you start anew tomorrow. And don't sweat about weigh day. The weight will take care of itself if you take care with the rules! Here's hoping tomorrow is less manic for you! See if today's bloating can inspire you to want to feel ten times better tomorrow without bloating!

End of week 3, - 1.5 lbs. 8.5 overall. Quite please as 1've only got 2 stone to lose and haven't really had to put much effort in at all!!

@chin, yes I agree about the weight sorting itself out. Tbh when I first started this, it was all about the weight. I was desperate to lose as much as I could as quickly as I could. Now i'm happy plodding away at -1.5 a week because I don't feel deprived at all, and feel in control of food (not the other way round) unlike previous 'diets'. It's so great being able to go out for lunch/ dinner and not having to starve myself for the rest of the week to compensate.

Yes, yesterday has really inspired me to stick to the rules from now on!!

I've managed to lose another 3lbs making it 10lbs altogether.
Some days haven't been good because of a clingy baby. On those days, I just eat when I get the chance whether I'm hungry or not.
I have noticed that I'm much more likely to want to eat healthy stuff and proper real food.
Only 1lb left til I'm in the 'overweight' bmi range rather than obese!
And then another 2 stone til I'm in the 'normal' range.

@Fairygen and TheMaskedHorror -well done to you both on your losses! Just goes to show that even when you are juggling children and/or busyness of other kinds, you can still keep going on this (endless) journey! (Endless in the sense that eating consciously is now for life!)

Well done you who have lost weight. I have installed the band 2 days now and I feel no different at all.

I am so disappointed - I guess i was expecting something as so many of you posted about not eating much or feeling hungry.

I have tried to follow the rules and will see next week how I feel.

Hiya. I'm new and would love to join this discussion, I have just purchased pm gastric band and awaiting its arrival, I do slimming world but think this will work well with this as its not really like dieting ca eat what I want when I want, but it's all bout healthy eating, really excited after reading all your reviews, iv started my 2 weeks prep after reading this is what I need to do, so I can start straight away, I already follow the 4 rules from doing pm easy weight loss, will keep you all posted, good luck everyone xx

Happy St David's Day to all our Welsh friends!

@Pinupkeza - welcome! Grab a pew. Sounds like you're doing everything right. (Even though PM is absolutely vicious about diet clubs! I don't know what goes on in SW, so I can't really comment myself.)

Hiya chinhealer, thank you, I'm really looking forward to the postman coming with my book DVD/cd :0), Sw is all about healthy eating, there's nothing you can't eat but helps you re focus on eating better, so I dnt really class it as been on a diet as this is a life changing way to look at food how you cook it, so iv got the good food trained in my head now to just reduce to amount I eat! Loool Sw say eat as much as you want but that's all good but I dnt know when to stop even with pm four rules lol I just love food, will keep you posted, so far I lose about 1 1/2lb a week, lost a stone and 3lbs another 3 stone to go xxx

@pinupkeza. Hi, I was on sw too, but couls only do red days because I didn't get ( listen to) my stomach telling me when I was full. I couldn't do extra easy because I was eating too many carbs, (probably enough for 3 people!!) and really struggled to lose the weight

I know PM is really against any form of diet, but looking at what I've been eating, I've probably been doing extra easy without realising!!

For me, the four golden rules have really changed how much I eat and I have the backup of the band.

Good luck x

*could

@angel, I was a bit sceptical to start off with, and not sure if I had worked for me. I decided to give it 100% for a week. If it didn't work for me, then at least I would know I'd followed it to the letter.