I Can Make You Thin w/ Paul McKenna

So I watched this last night.

He is going to use 4 people from the audience over the next 5 weeks and apply his rules and techniques. I wonder if it will work... these are his rules...

1. When your hungry eat

2. Eat what you want, not what you think you should

3. Eat consciously

4. When your full STOP!

It all makes sense (minus eat what I want..but I guess the eat consciously fixes that)

Anybody else watch this last night, and plan on it for the next 5 weeks.

Anybody have thoughts or comments?

 

Hi and Yes I watched....

So far he hasn't told us anything we don't already know.

I'm  not really into the "putting the fork and knife down" everytime you take a bite.  Might cause a recurrence of my carpal tunnel syndrome LOL

Not really sure if I believe the "eat what you want" idea.  I guess all is good in moderation however if I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, i'm sure i'd be deficient in all sorts of vitamins and minerals.

I'm interested to see how he says to stop the emotional eating part.  I believe that's next week.  Yes i'll definitely watch.

~H~

I watched as well. I'm pretty sure it's all common sense. I definitely know I need to eat more consciously! That's a big part of it. But I'm really not sure about the eating whatever you want either. I know I'd definitely be lacking tons of nutrients as well - goodbye fruits and vegetables! I'm sure I'm not the only one who eats certain things because I know I have to.

I'm going to continue to watch.

I have to say though, they used the word "fat" a lot, and I didn't really like that.

I watched and will continue to watch.  It is interesting.  I also am not really sure about eating only the 5  things I love....Chocolate, peanut butter, nougat, cake and frosting....I don't know about that.  Actually I love so much more than just 5 things and I wouldn't want to fill my fridge with just the top 5. I am going to try to apply the four principals though and just expland on my menu.

BTW, you can join a community at his website.  McKenna.com.  It is free.

Karen

 

I watched the program too...

1. Eat When You are hungry - important cause most people starve themselves to lose weight... and drink water first is a great trick - lost 53 lbs doing that! Paul says 75% of the time we are actually thristy!

2. Eat What You Want - well the no forbidden food is good - and with rule 3 its hard to eat exessively... seriously how many licks of frosting can u really tolerate if u have a lick, put spoon down, taste, swallow, lick again? (I bet its not a huge amt)

3. Eat Consciously-  still have trouble with this one - so this is most beneficial part of program - I assume will be sitting on my hands alot today (already failed at breakfast inhaled my oatmeal!)

4. When You are Full - Stop! - thats another hard one - but def something thats important to do - my thin friends stop eating when I continue on!! So I hope w. Rule 3 I can do this better

I'll post next week to let u know how Rule 3 goes... ok forks down and time to get back to work!

I am all about trying it ( with still ball-parking my calories, of course.....)  I bought his book a few weeks back after seeing the TLC commercial and googled him. I already have sticky note with the 4 rules on my monitor at work.....

I have a thin friend who always puts her utensils down in between each bite. She said she learned it from Weight Watchers 20 years ago Same kind of theory. Eat slowly and you will hear your body say, "You're full!"

The only rule that really makes sense is "eat concsciously". But even that's sometimes uncontrollable.

The rest of the rules are over-riden by my overpowering need to bingebingebinge on peanut butter and pizza and cheese slices and whatever else my housemates have lying around the place.

1. When your hungry eat That would be all the time then. Grrrr.


2. Eat what you want, not what you think you should I don't really like healthy food, so this normally only ever includes baaad food. Like cake. Or chocolate spread.


3. Eat consciously I try but when my brain gets into binge mode I literally can't help myself. I don't come to my senses until it's too late and I've just shoved an additional grand of calories to my daily intake down my throat in 5 minutes.


4. When your full STOP! Haha, I could eat two medium pizzas in a row and still not feel full.

I hate Paul McKenna. What a nob :/

I also think the "eat consciously" is the most important rule, and that's the one I'm going to take to heart the most.  (I probably won't be following the "eat only what you want" rule as strictly, because nutrients are important and I can't be eating a bagel or, like, cookies every day.

i watched.  i think it's all pretty straight forward and obvious; then again, i already eat that way (and i'm not overweight).

i was annoyed by the audience of extras/confederates.  obviously they were prompted and then the prompts were edited out.  it seemed a little cult-like to me.

in regard to rule 2, he doesn't seem to be particularly concerned with nutrition and is catering to people who feel the same.  the theory that when you're eating consciously, you'll stop wanting to eat junk food should hold for most people, though.

but that woman with the plate of mac & cheese - that was disturbing.  i regularly make homemade mac & cheese, and that looked like about six servings to me.  i think that was a trick to hook in the fatties (look!  you can eat a huge plate of starch and cheese AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT!!).

essentially, i think the rules are common sense but the sales pitch is propaganda.

Original Post by karefreeman:

I watched and will continue to watch.  It is interesting.  I also am not really sure about eating only the 5  things I love....Chocolate, peanut butter, nougat, cake and frosting....I don't know about that.  Actually I love so much more than just 5 things and I wouldn't want to fill my fridge with just the top 5. I am going to try to apply the four principals though and just expland on my menu.

BTW, you can join a community at his website.  McKenna.com.  It is free.

Karen

 

 I think he ment to make sure u buy your 5 favorite foods.. and of course others. The principles are like DUH!!! But everything is easier said than done!

The eat consciously is the biggest one. I do that already (not as much as I probably should) He has some off the wall way of doing things, and I think following "his rules" but still eat calorie and fat conscious you will have great success.

I didnt have a problem with the word FAT being used alot, hellp reality check, some people need to hear it. I did realize how FAT I was (I suffered thyroid disease that I could not correct with the normal medicine so I had to take steroids..so yea really hard to lose weight) anyways, I did not realize how FAT I was until a little kid said 'ha ha look mommy its Santa's wife'. I knew I was big, but that big... then I stepped on the scale a WHOA!

Sometimes, some of us may need to be told because we do not see ourselves as FAT or thin as others do.. I believe its called Body Dysmorphic Disorder and it goes for fat and skinny people    

Yes, I watched the show last night. I have to say that at first I thought it was going to be kind of a crock but when I sat down and looked at those rules, it makes so much sense.

We all know (at least most) of these things but we don't put them together. I'm going to try it. I think it might make a big difference for both me and hubby.

As far at some of the others' comments. I think that our tastes will change. When I first started on c-c, I cut out all fast food for like a month and then had a McDonalds hamburger. It was disgusting. Tasted like salt. If we really have to taste what's in our mouth then I think it will change what we eat. Plus I think he's teaching us to listen to our bodies and I think our bodies are pretty smart. They will tell us (if we will listen) what we should eat and how much. As far as the woman with the macaroni and cheese; I think he was proving that if you listened you would stop. After watching it, I was hungry for mac and cheese and so, I had some but followed his methods. I made one of those single-serving microwave things which I can easily eat all in one sitting. I ate not even a third of it last night. Then today I warmed the leftovers up for lunch. I didn't even finish it and that was one serving. I mean, I know I can normally eat that easily (and more) in one sitting.

I guess I didn't even notice that he called people fat but the honest truth is that people are fat (as hard as it is for me to hear, I know I am at least). He also didn't blame it on Americans only or on us. He explained what we were doing wrong and tried to help. I liked the show a lot and I'm excited to see about the stopping emotional eating.

I think it can make a really big difference for me and hubby.

I tried out his four golden rules on breakfast this morning after watching the show last night and I have to say I was pretty impressed.

I made the same size portion that I have been normally eating every morning. I took my time and put down my fork after each bite and concentrated on what I was eating with no distractions. I ate just under half of what I had been eating! I was full. I felt satisfied and didn't feel like I wanted to take another bite. I was a bit shocked to be honest. I'm going to keep at it for at least the next few weeks and see if I drop any pounds from this.

Any one else try it?

I'm so bummed I missed the show.  When is it on again?  I wonder if it would work for me.  Didn’t think since I was doing CC that I was still suffering from emotional eating, lol, but alas VERY stressful day and before I knew it I was at 1100 calories BEFORE LUNCH!  And I usually eat about that in a day…lol.  SO, I think I need to start practicing this process if it’s supposed to help people with binge eating and emotional eating.  I sometimes know at night I’m super full and yet, I crave crave crave.  Not sure how to combat that.  Thoughts?  Anyone know when it will be on next?  Or where I can get the notes from last nights show?

I am also trying it and hope that it is true that common sense prevails, since most posts agree that these are common sense rules. My thin friends do eat what they want, when they want, but they do stop when they are full, which I, up to now, have not done. I had the same experience as the others that tried and ate much less today with just the four rules as my guide.

I'm confused by the people that say they would not eat fruit and vegetables and/or get nutrients. If you understand the benefit and have found some that taste okay to you (or great for that matter), doesn't that mean those would be included in some of the food you want?

It seems that those who focus on the conscious eating have it right. If we changed our practice and really tasted what we were eating, our decisions might change as well.

Who knows if it works or not. I was just happy to see something that didn't promise quick results and attach a lot of blame. Losing weight is almost as difficult as keeping it off. I'm surprised so many of us are immediately dismissing this approach. He seemed to go right to the solution and it should not be a surprise that his rules are behavior modification through intential action. That's how we achieve most things in life, isn't it?

 

They said on the show last night that you can go to the website www.tlc.com/thin for more information. You may even be able to watch last night's show online, I don't know. I haven't checked it out. The show will be on next Sunday at 9/8 central on TLC again. It will be the new episode where they teach us how to combat emotional eating.

I have to say that I wanted a snack this afternoon and I went to eat some Red Vines and I normally would eat like a dozen but even though I wasn't totally concentrating on what I was eating I still only ate like 4. I think it's even made a difference in myself even without taking total time to sit down and pay complete attention. It's so awesome.

I didnt watch but the rules sound like what I do. I dont not eat anything. I just listen to my body eat when im hungry and stop when im satisfied not full. I usually make good choices but will eat mcdonalds or pizza if im out with the kids. ive lost 48 lbs since last fall so i think its a good concept. I also excercise regularly and on those days sometimes i eat more. good luck to you all!!!

Hi all,

That system is really good. I've the book, that comes with a CD that you listen to every day, and it's like 20 mins of relax and half sleep, very helpful. All the rules definitely work, and I lost some weight on it.

It's very liberating when you are addicted to food, to finally be able to stop thinking about it 24/7, and you feel very healthy when doing it. It you follow all 4 rules you will find yourself eating way less, and if you are really hungry when you eat you won't want chocolate and stuff like that, you will want real food (that can be anything). At some point, your choices will become healthy and normal, with the occasional treat, but since you have to be hungry to be allowed to eat, trust me, it's very difficult to fit any cookies or ice cream into that (personally, if I'm hungry I need real food).

 

Other helpful things included:

-Craving buster system, taping some parts of your body that really makes the craving go away.

-When you are hungry, first, drink a glass of water. If 5 mins later you are hungry again, it is hunger. If not, you were just thirsty (the feeling is the same).

-Don't let yourself too hungry, and don't let yourself get too full when eating, but definitely satisfied.

-Eating consciously means it might take you over 30 mins to have lunch, and that might still be a just a little bit of food.

-You have to learn to trust your body.  The natural way our bodies work has been so overridden with starvation diets, all you can eat culture, etc, that we don't know when we are truly hungry or emotionally hungry anymore. This is going back to listening to your body. And eat when you are hungry, whether that's 4am or 2pm. Ignore eating times.

-Emotional hunger comes over you very suddenly. It's urgent, you have to suddenly eat, you can't wait. Physical hunger comes over slowly, and if you ignore it it gets louder, it's your body telling you it need fuel. (this def helped control binges). 

There are so many more interesting things on the book. There's also a 90 day journal where you can record your food, and thoughts, and feelings, and activities, etc... I strongly recommend the whole thing. One of the difficult things for me, though, was to control my eating pace and amount when eating things like fries, bread, ice cream, etc... which have always been my trigger foods, so even though he tells you to eat what you want and not what you think you should, I would be careful at the beginning. He doesn't want you to go extra light and ban certain foods (that works against you, it will be the only food you can think of if you do that), but other certain foods just make me lose it, so I wouldn't have them, even with this system.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask any questions. :)

PS. It is very scary for the first few days, until you see if it works. I mean, truly scary... :) I ate too little at the beginning, I just couldn't believe I could lose weight eating burgers, pizza, etc... In a lot of senses though, the system works for the same reason that CC works. Never eat if you are not hungry, that's for me what naturally thin people always do anyway.

wow, baandito.  is this a pyramid scheme?

I dont really buy this. I mean you might lose weight, but eating what you want until your full seems like your setting yourself up for health problems. For example, my grandma is the perfect weight. She only eats until shes full and eats what she wants but shes still become diabetic. She ate white bread, chips, processed meats and such. She  followed all these principles and ate what she wanted not what she thought she should eat throughout her whole life and although she isnt overweight, she still has health complications. I know people who are in the normal weight range are much less likely to develop disease, but it doesnt mean their healthy.

I noticed a lot of posts that critize the eat what you want principle of McKenna's plan.. While it would seem to be bad advice I understand his idea.  Most of us who struggle controlling what we eat and going on huge binges is often because we deprive ourselves and starve ourselves until we go ape **** crazy over junk food and begin to obsess over it.  I know whenever I have been on a diet and said "you must not eat cheese (thats my favorite binge food)  I would eventually  just concentrate of cheese so much that  I would finally buckle and eat half a pound of it...  He also mentioned that when you eat consciously you begin to notice that the fast food or junk food that you used to inhale doesn't taste as good eaten consciously so you would naturally make those changes... I used to be a huge fan of the big mac and can attest that, while I didn't do McKenna's method, I vowed not to eat McDonalds for 6 months and just recently ordered a big mac after not having ate one for so long and didn't even come close to finishing it... it was disgusting to a former Mac attack fanatic....  It makes sense to start this way to control your binging and then add more healthful foods after you have control of your eating habits.

First..this is very interesting reading and does get you thinking.  However, Im not grasping the eat until you are full and what you want because of the fact that most peoples stomaches stretch while becoming over weight from over eating before.  So my thoughts would be that you would have to eat until the larger stomache is full.  So how is that causing you to lose weight?  I thought it all has to do with what you eat..healthy eating and smaller portions.  I could be wrong but it's something to think about