Many thanks for all the reads, rates and comments - all are appreciated. An accountant by day and a ...
Many thanks for all the reads, rates and comments - all are appreciated. An accountant by day and a random reviewer by night I am not a professional writer, nor do I have any ambitions to be I guess I am just opinionated.
Member since:07.03.2007
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Paul McKenna is a hypnotherapist that has become a household name by personally helping celebrities to quit smoking, lose weight etc, releasing self help books and CDs and hosting a hypnosis show, that was aired on a Saturday night, that ridiculed some audience members by hypnotising them and making them do stupid things.
I have never been hypnotised and am sceptical about whether it works. Whilst watching the Paul McKenna show years ago I often wondered whether the audience were actually hypnotised or whether they were ‘plants’. In addition, of those people I know that have been hypnotised (and there are only two of them) it did not work, so I did not hold out too much hope for this book and CD combo. That said I had heard a lot about and was very intrigued to see how it actually worked.
****The book****
“I can make you thin” is a thin book that is published by Bantam Press. It is only available in paperback and has an ISBN number of 978-0-593-06092-6.
The cover is distinguishable and has a large picture of Paul McKenna with a cheesy grin on his face and looking smug. Personally, I think the cover is conceited and quite off putting so it is a good job that I actually wanted to buy the book (it was not an impulse buy) otherwise I would have walked away and a sale would not have been made.
****What is the focus of this book?****
This diet plan is centred round four simple concepts, as follows;
i) Eat what you want
Unlike many other weight loss plans this one allows you to eat what you want and there are no exceptions. The fat content, calorific value and the carbohydrate content does not matter. If you want to eat it then you can.
I find this concept extremely strange. There are thousands of diet books out there and most of them involve reducing, or even entirely cutting out, specific items to lose weight. So to be told that you can eat anything is just
great.
There is one caveat to the above though. You have to ‘really’ want to eat that food item. For example, if you are only eating the item out of boredom and can take it or leave it then you should not be eating the item.
ii) Only eat when you are hungryActual hunger can be difficult to identify and what a lot of people perceive to be hunger is actually thirst that can be quenched by drinking as opposed to eating. The book suggests that if you feel hungry have a glass of water and wait to make sure. If it is hunger and not thirst then eat.
There are also different stages of hunger from being ravenous to being able to go without, and everything in between. This book states that you should never get to the stage where you are really ravenous, nor should you eat when you can actually do without. You should actually eat when you are in between the extremes, which in practice, is not always possible.
iii) Eat much slower
Eating is meant to be an almost spiritual experience where you chew each mouth full slowly and savour the tastes, textures and the feelings you get whilst eating.
iv) Stop eating when you are full
Being full can sometimes be difficult to identify. One minute you may feel fine and carry on eating and then suddenly, bang, you feel really stuffed and ready to burst. This often happens to those people whom eat fast.
The above doesn’t give any new information, ideas or concepts and it is all very obvious. That said, how many people actually do it though?
****The CD****
The CD lasts for around half an hour and is meant to be your very own hypnosis session with Paul in order to re-program your brain and change your relationship with, and your relationship with food.
****My experience****
The book is of large, clear and easy to read (and understand) text, and at a mere 169 pages (and not all of these include writing) it is very concise and can be read in a couple of hours. The length of the book is perfect and being able to get in, read what you need to and get out, without having to trawl through pages and pages of waffle is just great. I found that after one read I knew the concepts and did not need to read it again, nor will I need to in the future. The negative of this is that it does not make the book that good value for money.
The back of the book claims “Proven – over 70% success rate”, which whilst it sounds impressive it is no more than other diets. The only thing that would make this better would be if the weight loss is actually sustainable and will not creep back on over the next few years.
The concepts are obvious but putting them in practice does take a bit of thought at first. I found that eating what I wanted was a strange concept and I felt guilty tucking to in ‘nice and luxury’ food items whilst trying to lose weight. This feeling is something that all other diet books drum in to you and it is not good since I think it develops an unnatural relationship with certain food items.
I found identifying when I was hungry quite easy, especially with the drinking a glass of water technique. However, trying to eat during the time when I was between the two extremes was not always easy. Like 99.9% of UK residents I have a hectic lifestyle and holding down a full time job, renovating a property, seeing family and friends, writing and rating reviews and generally living does not always allow me to eat during the optimum time and I quite often find myself getting to the stage where I am so ravenous I could stuff myself stupid.
There are times when all I want to do is shovel and horse my food down, a bit like the Simpsons so I found eating slowly difficult at times. The most difficult times were when I was ravenous and when I was eating something I really liked, since like many people all I wanted to do was get it inside me a quickly as possible. With a bit of thought and self-constraint eating slowly is possible and I find that food does actually taste better when I eat slowly.
Stopping when full can also be a challenge. I had quite a humble up bringing and was always told to eat everything on my plate by both my parents and primary school teachers and the phrase “there are kids starving the world over that would be happy to have what you have” was common place. This guilt has remained with me and I hate seeing food go to waste, therefore I will eat everything on my plate whether I am full or not. The only way to overcome this is to reduce portion sizes, which is fine when I cook for myself but when I go out and cannot control the portion sizes it can create a few problems. In addition there are times, mainly when I am eating something I really enjoy, where if there is food in front of me I have to eat it even if I am ready to explode.
The first thing I did with the CD was to rip it to MP3 (you’ve got to love Windows Media player for this) so I could listen to it on my I-pod. The CD contains a warning in that it should not be listened to whilst driving, and I was unsure why at first it soon became evident. I can’t comment on the effectiveness of the CD or whether it actually works or not. That said, I do find it very relaxing and it is great to get me to sleep although waking up with throbbing ears (where I have been laying on the headphones) with Paul still talking to me is not so good.
To get the most out of the CD it needs to be listened to when there are no other distractions. Therefore if you think that it is something that can be listened to whilst on Dooyoo, writing a review, watching TV or doing anything else then you’d be mistaken. It is definitely best listened to through headphones where you can block out the rest of the outside world and really focus.
So, the burning question is how much weight have I lost? That I will not divulge but I will say that I have got down to my body’s natural weight, i.e. where it is most happy and will not fluctuate too much. Whilst this level is acceptable I would like it to be less and the only way to achieve this is to change to a more ‘traditional diet’ which will lead to weight loss but it won’t be sustainable in the long term. Therefore, I am learning to accept this is my size.
This plan has been around for a few years now and is widely available from both online and offline retailers.
According to the back of the book the recommended retail price is £10.99 although I got my copy from Tescos for £7. It is also available from Waterstones in the current 2 for 3 offer.
As with all products I would suggest you do a bit of shopping around to ensure you get it for the best price.
****Conclusion****
I don’t think this book/CD combo is a traditional diet in the true sense of the word. It aims to change the readers’ attitudes and relationship with food and tune in to their body’s natural rhythm. This takes a lot of thought, practice and dedication but it is actually quite easy to do, although there are times when you will fail and fall back in to old ways. However you shouldn’t beat yourself up over this.
This revised eating plan will see you get to your body’s natural weight and shape and maintaining this is quite easy, providing you carry on following the four concepts that are not that difficult to adhere to.
The problem is if you are not happy with your body’s natural weight and want to go lighter then you are going to have to revert back to one of the more ‘traditional’ methods, which are not sustainable in the long term. Despite this I have found that this book has changed my attitude to food and I do actually enjoy it more (by eating more slowly) but there are times when I do stuff myself stupid.
(Originally posted on Dooyoo under the name of Yackers1)
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How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Well reviewed, I could be a size zero if all those naughty chocolate bars and cakes didn't keep jumping into my trolley :o) x
DixieChick10 11.04.2009 15:33
I think most of his technique can be taken from the net, I have got to slow down the speed I eat, mainly because a lot of the time, I'm legging it to the bus stop with a piece of toast or am having to get back to lessons... I've got to cahnge my lifestyle and eat when I have time. Fantastic review. Kirsty x
Advantages: Potential Weight Loss without "Dieting", horrah! Feeling Happier in yourself Disadvantages: Investing time in reading/listening to the CD, finding a quiet place to do this
Apr 10th, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
