Monday, March 05, 2007

We Love Paul

Since January I've been determined to be healthy. Which (for me) means losing weight. As I'm someone who naturally has a curvy body shape and I also have developed some very bad eating habits, I've tried to diet many many times in my life. I haven't always been overweight...I weighed about 9 1/2 stone when I was living in France and Belgium in my 20s, and same again when I was living in America (despite the wonderful Mexican food and grasshopper milkshakes!). Since getting married though, I've piled on the weight...and it's reached crisis point now.

HOWEVER, whenever I've tried to diet, except for one time when I lost a load of weight in my late 20s, I have failed. I can't do it. I fail and then eat because I'm fed up I've failed... ya di ya di ya. I tried to diet with my colleague from Scrappers Unlimited last year and started out fine (I always do), but then crashed. She's gone on to lose 2 stone (and has maintained that, and intends to lose more), whereas I just put back on the little I'd lost. Hopeless.

I have said for years that for me dieting is psychological. I have used those actual words. Thin people NEVER get that. They just say stuff like, "Rubbish! I just eat less and exercise. Psychological - pah!". But most overweight people I know really understand the whole stuffing your face when you've had a crap day, working your way across the kitchen cupboards when you're feeling lonely, bored, annoyed, etc. Or eating socially...the need to have a meal or an icecream or a sweet because everyone else in the group is eating, etc. It's very very very hard to cope with.

And then right around the New Year when I said I would lose weight to help a friend who needs to lose weight for health reasons, I happened upon Paul McKenna's TV show which was a 4 week series that talked through his programme for losing weight. Of course it was ALL about psychology. I was fascinated by it. It really made complete sense to me. What I find amazing is that figures show that dieting groups have a 9% success rate of people who lose a significant weight and keep it off, whereas this programme has over a 70% (SEVENTY percent!) success rate. Basically (and this is basic) his rules for losing weight are (and I can never remember these in the order they are in the book, so forgive me if I do it wrong):

1. If you're hungry, eat! (But you have to be hungry. Not starving. Not a teeny bit peckish. Hungry)

3. Eat what you like. (This one's a bit mad. All 'diets' say eat low fat such-and-such, low carbs, low calories, etc. He says if you want sticky toffee pudding (and you're HUNGRY and you only have enough to satisfy you until you're full) then HAVE sticky toffee pudding!)

3. Eat consciously (eat slowly. Slow the speed of your eating down to about a quarter of the speed you eat now. Put your knife and fork down or the sandwich down between chews. Savour the tastes and flavours as you eat the food)

4. When you're full, stop! (Make sure you eat slowly so that your stomach gives your brain the message that you're full in time. If you stuff food in at lightening speed, you don't get the full message until you're stuffed. AND always leave a bit of your meal. Do that consciously at first... after a while you find yourself leaving some of your dinner or whatever anyway because you recognise that you're already full before you finish it).

Now there are other things to it as well. Tapping (I'm not explaining that here, but it does work!). Spinning (LOL!) and visualisation techniques to rewire your mind into achieving these eating patterns. And with the book there's a CD that is basically hypnosis (which is deep relaxation and NOT making you leap around the room with a turnip up your bottom to look silly by the way!) . The CD definitely makes a difference. I don't find the time to listen to it very often but when I do, I'm much better the next day. He also talks about exercise (it's very very funny when he talks about it on the TV show)...basically you just increase what you're doing now. Walk a bit further. Climb stairs. But that's a bit simplistic. It's better expained by him!

The thing I love about this programme is that I don't have to buy in extra foods for me. I don't have to go anywhere and get weighed (in fact, he encourages you not to weigh yourself hardly at all. You're supposed to go 3 weeks at a time before you weigh yourself, if you HAVE to). You just eat what you want. You just eat less of it.

It's. So. EASY.

And yet...

This morning I did weigh myself. And since 2 January I have now lost 1 stone and 3lbs. One more pound and I shall be seeing numbers on the scale I haven't seen for a long long time. So I really feel very psyched about all of this and had to BIG UP Mr McKenna. My scrapping friend Nat has been following this programme too and been seeing success as well.

And for anyone out there who's sceptical about his methods, as he said on one of his shows once, "You don't have to believe in me. You just have to do what I say." He's not a guru. This programme just WORKS.

Because dieting is psychological.

Go me!

We love Paul.

8 comments:

Sketchy said...

I soooo get what you are saying...I'm going to check out Paul too. Congrats on the weight loss! Good for you!!

Nat said...

In the best possible Swansea accent - I loves 'im I do!!!
It really is amazing - well done on your fab weight loss chicken - keep it up slim jim!!! It's slowed down a bit for me - but at least it's still heading in the correct direction instead of piling all back on (with extra pounds too)like on all those silly diets I've tried before! We love Paul! We love Paul!!! xxx

Beth said...

Chrissie, I can relate to what you've said about dieting, socially and otherwise, it's so blinking hard. Ole McKenna is good mind, been adopting his behaviour lately, well, sometimes, lol. Dying for those Mcvities choc biscs in the fridge mind with a cuppa tea later on when watching Eastenders, 80 cals a biccy though!! Lol. Well done on losing what you have, you'll do it lovely. Beth XX

Beth said...

Chrissie, I can relate to what you've said about dieting, socially and otherwise, it's so blinking hard. Ole McKenna is good mind, been adopting his behaviour lately, well, sometimes, lol. Dying for those Mcvities choc biscs in the fridge mind with a cuppa tea later on when watching Eastenders, 80 cals a biccy though!! Lol. Well done on losing what you have, you'll do it lovely. Beth XX

Carole Bryson said...

Wow Chrissie - you're doing brilliantly - might give this a go myself !!

Well done you xxxxxxxxx

Jools said...

Another Paul lover here too. Can't tell you how much weight I've lost as I've done away with weighing myself (was always my downfall before as I would get obsessed with weighing myself).

I'm also going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week.

Weigh to go on the weight loss Chrissie (pun intended!!!).

Terrie Farrell said...

Congratulations onthe weight loss, that's amazing! Had my doubts about this but i'm going to give this a go now. Love the site by th way

Andrea said...

How awesome for you. Sounds like some great advice that I will for sure have to try. Thanks so much for the great info.