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 :)

[LexyBear]

So I listened again yesterday - without interruptions this time lol - and at lunch I made an omelet, I ate half and thought I could leave that but the old me kicked in and thought no I want it though so I finished it. At dinner last night when I was half - three quarters way through I knew I'd had enough and left it. Just now at breakfast I ate one slice of toast (when if I'm honest on a sat morning it might have been 4!)

So far so good...I'm not probably as aware as I could be with signals, I'm not sure I pick up on them properly after years of obvs ignoring them but last night and today when I "think" about it I know I've had enough and just stopped.

Hope everyone getting on okay with it x

[LauriesFairyonthetreeeatsCake]

My gastric band app only cost £4.99 - the lite version is free.

I'm on day 4 and its great so far

[Lucyfer7000]

Hi Lynnie,

Well done on following the plan so far. My partner and I have started it a week ago and I'm finding it a little easier than he is - he's struggling with the full signal too but he'll get there.

I read your posts and just wanted to comment on the counting thing. i've done other hyposis programmes before and while I'm no expert at all, I do find that for myself, I feel a change very quickly and I stop counting - 297 in the case of this plan - and I don't then keep up with the numbers. I find my consciousness seems to drop three times or so through the CD so I presume it's working. My chap stopped counting and lost this thread then picked it up again. If I understood the instructions correctly, it doesn't matter if you count or not - it's the fact the messages he's saying while you're counting are going in that matters (Hypnosis experts please feel free to correct me) I actually don't count. I listen to his count and that works for me.

On another point, hoping I don't sound critical, I am a bit worried for you with the WW points issue. i've never done WW so I don't know the pitfalls of not having all your points but I would say that it's probably conflicting to deliberately ignore the full signals on this and finish all the points when you don't want tem and the band programme is making you feel like you've eaten enough. What would happen if you didn't eat all your points? And could you speak to your WW rep and see what they say? (I'm sure they won't love that you're doing a plan that isn't theirs but is it worth a conversation?).

From doing the plan this far, I find I want to eat so much less than I used to and I don't think I could keep eating beyond that feeling if I wanted to. I'm concerned that keeping going eating will fight with the band for you and the plan may not work as it should. The point of the first few weeks seems to be to retrain the system and stomach to eat less overall so maybe you aren't meant to want everything on your WW plan?

What do you think?

[SauvignonBlanche]

I'm going to get this!

[ControlGeek]

lynnie I'm doing WW and PM's hypno gastric band too, but I've long since stopped worrying about eating all of my WW daily points. I got to a point where I was having to force myself to eat stuff I didn't want, just to hit the magic 26. Now, if I'm not feeling particularly hungry (which is most of the time to be fair) I just make sure I have higher points stuff - a bit of extra cheese on top of my jacket spud with beans, or an extra rasher of bacon in my sandwich. Chances are I still won't hit 26 points, I tend to only do that on days when I am drinking.

As long as your meals are healthy, and you have a couple of days a week where you have at least your 26 (a good roast dinner, or a takeout or something) my leader says it's better than eating past your full point.

[TheFallenNinja]

I'm getting him to fit some hypno-pecs and do some hypno-lipo.

[SparePants]

Nice to see others doing this. I had my virtual gastric band "installed" last Weds and I seem to be doing ok so far. I need to lose 4 stone and am a compulsive over-eater/sugar addict. At first I thought that the hypno hadn't worked as I didn't feel any different afterward and still wanted to stuff my face! However, I've found the havening exercise really useful for refocusing and giving myself a little endorphin rush when I'd normally be reaching for the nearest chocolate. Just doing the arm stroking works wonders. Wish I'd discovered this years ago!
Anyway, things are going well and I'm not nearly so obsessed with where my next mouthful is coming from. I'm following the golden rules and stopping when I've eaten about half what I normally would. I struggle a bit as I don't seem to get that comfortably full signal but hopefully that will come as I retrain my system.
I've done many many diets over the years but this is the first time I've felt genuinely optimistic for a long time. It would be really good to stay in touch with others who are doing it to see if it really does work.

[SparePants]

Ooh forgot to say - I lost 6 lbs last week

[MacaroniAndWalnut]

I've ordered it!

[ControlGeek]

arf @ FallenNinja

lynnie I meant to add in my post above (bit addled due to DP being ill and me being high on bleach fumes) WW call those days 'Filling & Healthy' - you don't count points as long as you're eating food from the filling & healthy list, you just eat until you are full. Anything you eat that isn't on the filling and healthy list needs to be pointed, and comes off your weekly allowance.

well done SparePants! 6lb in one week is amazing!

[Divster]

I lost 5lbs in my first week, without even having fitted the band! Just with the 4 golden rules. I love the book, primes the mind ready for the band to be fitted. One thing that has struck me is if you start eating but are not hungry, that is then when you overeat, as there is no stopping point, but to eat when hungry, you can then stop when not hungry any more.

This week has been completely painless, and totally liberating

[Charliefox]

Just bought the book today (half price at WHS). Nearly finished the book which didn't take long as it's all blank pages, big text and the same flippin message over and over again. Doing the DVD and CD later on tonight. Never done anything like this before, so am feeling all positive about it. Just tried the Havening technique and felt like a right blimp though (humming happy birthday - what's that all about then?!). Will come back and update on progress. In the meantime, I'm off to eat giant chocolate buttons, before that mindbender gets his mitts on me and stops me from eating em!

[lynniep]

Lucyfer and CGeek yes you are right. I've now modified my eating again since I originally posted.
I wasn't entirely sure last week what to do and thought that undereating might not be the best way to go about out it hence eating all my points even when I felt full, but I agree it conflicts with how the gastric band is supposed to work, so I'm just stopping when I feel need to, and I go back to it later if I want it.

I've found that snacking on the healthy stuff which is quite high in points (nuts, dried fruit) is a good way for me to up my points a bit too and keeps me going till 'mealtime' if I do feel that tummy rumble (my god - I never thought I'd feel my tummy rumbling again - its bizarre - but in a good way)

[SJT62]

I've just bought mine, read the book in my lunch hour and will try the CD tonight. I'm feeling optimistic as Paul McKenna certainly sorted my fear of flying.....I even managed to get to New Zealand!

[ControlGeek]

wow SJT62 that is quite a result on your fear of flying!

I have my weigh-in tonight, so will post back how it goes. HGB was 'fitted' last Thursday.

Lynnie when is your weigh-in?

[angelabbie]

hi everyone, I have just read the book and will listen to the CD tonight, its very exciting and lovely to read how you are all getting on,
tina
x

[lynniep]

Controlgeek - weigh ins are Thursday night for me. I lost 2.5lb last week. I was a mixture of disappointed (in my head, first week weigh-ins should be at least 5lb!) and elated, because I knew I deserved to lose weight.

Thats another mindset I have to change - being content with losing the sensible amount of weight each week, rather than being disappointed because I havent lost loads - I know logically that for instance, losing half a pound is good, because its a loss, and the idea is to chip chip chip away. (and not put all the weight back on you lost like last year - I did a VLCD and did lose over three months, but put nearly 2.5st back on over the year)

I have abused my body so much in the last 25 years I need my head training to react appropriately - the CD seems to have helped with the subconcious part of that which affects my body - but my head still battles with it.

[SJT62]

I'm looking forward to hearing how people do with it.

[SparePants]

I'm a Thurs night weigher too. I go to Rosemary Conley classes because it's a nice group and it forces me to do some exercise.
I'm still managing to stick to all the rules and find that I'm doing the mindful eating automatically now. I haven't told my dh anything about it and he's most surprised and pleased that he's able to help himself to my leftovers! I was strictly a finish-everything-on-the-plate girl until now.

[ControlGeek]

I had a lovely surprise at WI tonight - 1.5lb off! That's double my average weekly weight loss! I've been losing regularly for almost 15 months now, so I'm well past the point of having a few lbs off in a week. I normally manage 1.5 in a fortnight, so I am very pleased with the result!

I'm still struggling with the emotional eating at work a bit, but nipping to the loo to do the havening technique has helped quite a lot.

[Dottiespots]

Hi.....I do the Paul McKenna ICMYT which is over on another thread. I notice with the "Band" method that alot of you are still doing weight watchers etc but as you know PM does tell you that doing that is a mistake as it will screw up your ability to do the four golden rules. For it to work perfectly band or no band you need to stop the diet mentallity and eat whatever you want when you want it and stop when you are full. Bit like a child does and naturally slim people do. The idea is to reset your mind to not see food as the enemy.

[bopper198]

Hiya I am doing the gastric band to I listened to the trance on saturday but my kids were chatting through the walls (in there bedrooms) so I might listen to it again when they are asleep.

I think I might try really focusing on the 4 golden rules as I find it hard to stop when im full. I too have had years of eating disorders so I think it takes a while to retrain yourself to react to food like a naturally thin person! It also takes a lot to give up dieting. When I first got the icmyt book I did it and was going to ww. But I just followed the icmyt and got weighed at ww and didnt tell the leader what I was doing. I remember feelig so free when I read that book for the first time. No more points or counting or feeling guilty it was great. So I might reread my icmyt book again.

Has anyone else done the i can make you thin as well?

Hope you dont mind me joining in aswell. I am also on the other thread about I can make you thin. Hope your all having a good day.

[lynniep]

ControlGeek thats brilliant well done!! My weigh in tomorrow. Got zumba tonight too. Am going to leap around like a mad woman LOL!

awsangel, yes PM does have massive issues with diet groups. I agree with you that doing ww isnt strictly sticking to his philosophy. However I feel I need that support and a set of goals to keep me focused.

We have been discussing this on the thread (what I wrote originally about sticking to exact points, I have revised), and whilst the ww program is based on counting points - it isn't based around food being the enemy - its based around getting the right kind of food into you if possible, but not excluding anything at all i.e. you want it, you eat it, in moderation.
Yes on propoints (not on filling and healthy) you monitor what is going in, but as mentioned above you stop when you are full just as you would with the four rules.

I have adjusted how I do it so I allocate my points (34 a day approx maximum, 27 minimum ) and plan my meals weekly which is actually working much better for my family financially as well (have bought a slow cooker - why didn't I do that before?)

I eat what I want to eat - something like egg on toast or porridge for breakfast, sandwich or ready meal or sushi (my friday treat) for lunch at work and whatever is in the slow cooker for tea which I eat with the kids when I get home. I point this to the max, then eat till I'm full. I try to sit and concentrate on what I'm eating (bit difficult with constantly yapping and messy children!)

My other support is distraction. I've started crocheting a monkey in the evening. This keeps my hands and mind on things other than food.

[ControlGeek]

Apologies for the number of exclamation marks in my last post, I have no excuse other than being tired and overexcited. Tonight I'm just tired

Good luck Lynnie for your WI tomorrow. Remember, any loss is good as it means the weight is going in the right direction. I'm on day 2 of the 30 day shred, but also spent the day mucking out horses so am feeling a little sore and sorry for myself tonight.

awsangel I'm another one with food issues, I don't fully understand my issues myself so I'm not going to try and put them all out here on the thread. What I do know is that WW isn't a diet club to me, it's an education on what healthy eating is all about - what is a normal portion, what proportion of the different food groups should you have on your plate, that kind of thing. I really need that structure and support if I'm to not fall back into my food issues.

bopper I've not done the ICMYT - is that just going into more detail on the 4 golden rules, or is there more to it that the HGB doesn't touch on? I'm still working on recognising when I feel full, but eating at a snail's pace is really helping a lot.