Paul McKenna - Opinions?

[BathildaBagshot]

So, have done WW, SW, Cambridge, 5:2 and countless others. Still overweight and just now starting to realise it's absolutely my problem, and nothing that can be fixed with a diet plan.

HOWEVER, I still think I need a little bit of a willpower boost and some gentle coaxing to stop eating out of boredom, lack of will power, through a 'sod it' attitude or similar.

I will point out here that I suffer from quite bad anxiety, which I do think is fuelled by my weight (vicious circle anyone?) and is contributing to the problem.

I've read some PK threads on here, had a look at reviews on Amazon and am starting to think it could be something genuinely helpful to me, rather than a faddy diet. The problem is, there are so many of them and I can't distinguish between them!

I'll point out as well that I know how to eat healthily, I'm quite a good cook and do cook from scratch, using low fat foods, fruit, veg and lean meat, but I think we all know how this doesn't neccesarily a slim person make.

I will list some of my 'vitals' and 'issues' here, in the hope one of you PK die hards can point me in the right direction.

Late 20s
5 ft 2"
12 st 7 (ish)

Issues:

Love of wine
Lack of will power
No portion control
Smoker
Diet Coke addict
Exercise almost none existent (have a desk job too)

Christ... having written that, don't I sound a treat??

Help please!

I'll also add that DP is underweight, so we're a bit of a pair tbh - makes it hard to manage meals for both of us!

Hi Bathilda

I'm a Paul McKenna convert. Started with the Emotional Eating book at the beginning of April. I've lost 20 lb so far, but I still have a long way to go to reach my target. I started a thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/2045506-Lots-and-lots-to-lose when I began my journey and I also post on the Paul McKenna thread.

He is totally against the diet industry who he thinks actually cause people to be even fatter than they were. If you starve yourself, as soon as you stop give up weight piles back on, and some more on top of that.

One of the things that has amazed me with the PMcK way is no longer craving foods that I used to desperately want.

Hi TooBig - thanks for this and well done you on that amazing loss - since April is incredible too! I'm just getting to the point now where, as you say, I give up (or have a cheat day) and it spirals from there. Just want to 'fix it' once and for all and knwo I can just be normal and healthy for my whole life, rather than deprived and miserable.

I'm not feeling hungry or obsessed with the next thing I'm going to eat as I would be on a diet.

I did ask the question on the PMcK thread if you need to refresh listening to the CD's long term and the answer seemed to be yes.

My sister has now stopped going to SW after I sent her a copy of the Emotional Eating book. She and my niece are now doing it.

Sounds like it's definitely worth a shot! I'm not averse to re-reading or listening to the CD long term, I just don't want to constantly be obsessing over food wine long term.

Now just to plump up DP a little god love him - don't suppose PMcK does an 'I Can Make You Fat' book?

On another note, I've just come up with a list of times I may over eat... it's a little more extensive than I thought...

Tired
Sad
Celebrating
Bored
Friday
Hangover
Sunday
Weight gain
Weight loss
Discounted food/drink
Peer pressure (very mild)
Special occasion
Someone else's special occasion
Bank holiday

I think I might be onto something here...

Definitely get the emotional eating one. You do a technique called Havening where you separate the trigger in your brain from wanting food. It basically redirects the neural path and stops the craving.

OP, I swear you are me

After a weekend of debauchery and bad food & drink, methinks I shall purchase this book ASAP!

I posted yesterday on the "chat" section asking about how people had got on with the PMcK Emotional Eating book/cd/dvd. Could do with advice before I shell out.
55 years old, done Slimming World successfully in the past but now can't face the weekly meetings. Only about 10lbs to lose; am a perfectionist (wish I wasn't...). If I start on a "diet"/healthy eating plan I then start to obsess about food.
Not in paid work at pres. so spend a lot of time on my own at home where no one can see me or pull me up for snacking.
DH a bit overweight and not bothered about "joining" me in losing weight.
He thinks I'm fine as I am, I'm tall and know how to dress to disguise "fat bits".
SO - finding it really hard to get motivated....
Havening sounds intriguing TBN
Anyone help me/advise me? Thanks in advance x

TBN it's not just when you stop starving yourself you put weight back on is it? I can do SW successfully but it's when I stop - the pounds simply go back on. Also I saw a medical herbalist a while ago about another health issue and she thought SW wasn't good for me at my age - that to eradicate too much fat from your diet isn't good.
I think I know beyond all reasonable doubt that "Diets Do Not Work".
I am sure I need to unravel just why I eat when I'm not really hungry.

Lazurda I bought a copy for my sister and sent it to her as I was so impressed with what it has done for me.
She has now stopped going to SW and has started the Emotional Eating book with her 17 yr old daughter.
I haven't binged at all since I started this and haven't wanted to.
Yesterday we were at a BBQ with LOTS of delicious food and drink.
I ate one sausage, one burger (no bread as I didn't fancy it) with some coleslaw and potato salad.
When the desserts came out there was a huge spread of gorgeous homemade desserts.
I ate a very small slice of chocolate cake, a very small slice of pavlova and a very small slice of some sort of torte with strawberries on the top.

Didn't feel as if I wanted anymore at all. Normally I would have had big slices and probably gone back for more after everyone had had some.

Later at home in the evening I didn't want a meal, so just had a piece of toast when I felt a bit hungry later.

I'm also at home most of the day and know exactly what you mean about wandering into the kitchen for a snack. Not been interested in snacking since I started.

PMcK is very adamant that diets don't work, and the diet industry is making people fatter. He has four golden rules which you follow which are all sensible. All of them are healthy. Eat when you are actually hungry otherwise you don't know when you are full. Stop when you are satisfied, not when you are stuffed. Eat what you want, not what you think you should. Eat slowly and enjoy what you eat. If you don't enjoy it, don't eat it - eat something else that you enjoy.

My brother regularly starves himself (diet shakes of some sort) and loses tons of weight. Then he binges and puts it all back on again. He had a heart attack in his early 40's which was probably brought on by the starve/binge behaviour. My mum thinks he wouldn't read the PMcK because he is dyslexic, but I'm wondering if his wife would read it to him and join him in doing it. She yoyo's a bit with her weight too.

OP I am the same, just a bit taller and heavier, and ive just bought paul mckennas emotional eating book. I really want to get to the root of my over eating and I know its emotional and hoping this book can help.

I have been eating the way PM advocates for well over ten years if not longer. It is basically relearning how to eat like a naturally slim person with no food hangups eats. Eat whatever you want but only when you are really properly hungry, stop when you are satisfied.

Toobignow Your brother just needs to get the CDs (there are DVD s too).

I have always eaten healthily but managed to put on nearly 3 stone after moving to Fr.! I have lost all the weight and am maintaining with Paul Mckenna. It's the RIGHT WAY TO EAT it's not a 'normal' diet; no calorie counting or weighing of food or low fat foods at all.! It works.

You just go right back on it if you over eat on a weekend or whatever it's not a big deal!!

TBN thanks so much for your detailed post- that's really helpful. I know that I am rarely physically hungry and am sure my problems are in the emotional eating category. So I think I will definitely invest in the book. I do need to "relearn" how to eat because my eating patterns have been disordered for a long time. and I too want to get to the root of the problem(s).
For example over the weekend I made Eton Mess for my son and girlfriend and had some myself. I was then left alone in the kitchen to clear away and found myself picking at the left over whipped double cream. I wasn't hungry for it, I didn't want it really, I felt angry with myself afterwards. With hindsight I was lonely - the family had all eaten then gone off to watch football.
My own good sense tells me I should have washed all the cream away down the sink, and gone and done something else to make myself feel better....
Anyway I will get the book, thank you.

You see with Paul Mckenna lazurda and bathildabagshot you just say to yourself Oh never mind about the cream or whatever and wait till you're REALLY hungry before you eat next (so you just carry on) it's not a big deal.

I like the fact that he repeats that we must love and approve of ourselves . It's just bad habits that got us O.W. and a change in habits will get us slim!! EASY.

Hello all - so sorry for the radio silence, had some internet issues and couldn't get the blinking mumsnet app to work!

It's lovely to hear that so many people feel the way I do. Not lovely that you feel like that - but that it seems it's such a 'normal' way to feel.

I have ordered my copy and it should be with me on Thursday. I'm really excited to get to grips with it and get back to my normal, smiling, slim self. The last time I was a healthy weight I was 19 years old, and I don't remember doing any exercise or eating particularly healthily.

I know some of this will be down to me no longer being that young and having a crazy metabolism that teenagers seem to possess, but I don't think a 3-4 stone weight gain since then is all from getting older.

I think, personally (and I don't know about you lot) that I also need to step away from the mental state of 'it's only going to take me X amount of time to lose the weight'. I've shied away from weight loss emthods in the past due to them seemingly taking too long, and have always looked for that magical 'Stacey lost 10 stone in a week on this diet' to get me motivated. I'm now 5 years down the dieting road and bigger than I ever was before!

I say we all get a copy of this and support each other/compare results.

Brilliant Bath I'm a VERY old hand at the Paul Mckenna I'll give you some support if you want! (I left the old support thread because they were not flexible enough for me) I was on it for years!

pp then let's start our own! Flexibility shall be our first rule.

I do have one question, how have you all dealt with 'peer pressure'? I personally find it quite difficult to say no to friends when they rock up at my house with bottles of wine, or they top up my glass without being asked.

I really struggle with the thought that I'm missing out on something or that, weirdly, if I turn it down they'll know I'm trying to lose weight and therefore see me as fat (I think I have a bit of a delusion that people won't notice my weight if I hide it under clothes or don't mention it).

Okay you're on Bath (you don't mind me calling you that do you? ) Shall we just continue with this thread or do you want to start a new shiny one !

I'm lucky in that we live between Fr. and London and here Fr. you always have something to eat with a glass of wine or whatever. I've reached the stage where I just say no to a 2nd glass, I usually leave most of my 1st. tbh (I have nasty hangovers so it's not worth it for me!).

Just tell your friends, I'm sure a number of them would be the same as you anyway.

Well that's not strictly true pp. The Paul McKenna thread is totally flexible and does the pm way of eating. Absolutely no food is banned and you eat whatever you want.
It was you doing the Hay diet and the Blood Group Diet at the same time as PM which caused issues. With all due respect to your own " diets" they did tend to clash with what people were trying to do on the thread which was to learn to eat normally and end disordered eating and faddy diets. You mentioned several times that some of us didn't eat healthily enough and quoted your Blood Group Diet and Hay Diet which eliminates many foods as the the optimal way that people should eat. I too have eaten the PM way for over ten years .

Not at all - I do love a good bath!

Tonight I've eaten what I want but tried to be sensible with portions. Felt so liberating to walk round the shop without dietary restriction, we even ended up still having salad but I had avocado, which SW hasn't really allowed me to have for months.

I also had half a small glass of wine before going off it and giving to DP. He thinks I'm ill.

ppeatfruit - thanks for your help! Nearly cried when you said - love and approve of yourself"... that's my problem. I see myself as seriously flawed, though all around me would probably sing my praises.
Am going shopping tomorrow and will buy the book.
Would love to join you on a dedicated thread for this.
Bath - I know just what you mean re. friends topping up the glass! Went back to your "issues" and that could be me. I think we're pretty normal actually!
Re. the wine - DH and I have some friends who regularly ask us out to dinner and they are major, and I mean major drinkers. Somehow when I am with them I am ( and DH can do the same) I manage to pace myself - otherwise I would be as sick as a cat. Yet, when I am at home, alone, and that is quite often, as DH works away a lot, and my two DS are both away at uni. I can be quite unhinged with both food and drink...so I think it is emotional - due to boredom and common-or-garden loneliness.
So basically I'd love to be part of a little support group if we could arrange one....

Bath also I just read about you and avocados, which you said SW "didn't allow you to eat"...
I am not being rude here, because I have long been of exactly the same mindset. But we both know it's bollocks don't we? Who the F are SW to tell us what we can and can't do?
I went out on Sunday with my closest family for Fathers' Day and I'm sure that, because I was in the bosom of my family, with those I love the most, I was relaxed and happy, and so didn't overeat or overdrink and had a lovely time. Ate a "sunday lunch" but didn't really need anything else to eat for the rest of the day - just a little cheese and biscuits snack later in the evening.