Paul McKenna 'I Can Make You Thin'

I read this book in one sitting yesterday (slow Thursday night LOL) and I have to say I am undecided if the guy is crackers or a genius

Anyone else read it??

Basically Mr McKenna says that dieting is the worst thing a person can do as the moment they restrict / cut out ANY TYPE of food then they develop an unhealthy obessession with it..... Which I have to say I think this makes total sense. Since trying to lose weight all I can think about is food - and not the good food at that.

He says that following 4 basic rules (plus he has loads of techniques etc) then you can lose weight ..... the 4 rules are quite mind blowing!!

1) Eat when you are hungry
2) Eat WHATEVER you want
3) Consciously enjoy every mouthfull
4) Stop when you feel full

Obviously this is behaviour you have to "learn" (IE you need to know how to distinguish between actual hunger and emotional hunger / boredom)

McKenna tells you to throw out all of your diet food and only have stuff in the fridge that you would love to eat...

He says to eat slowly, without distractions and to put you knife and fork down between each mouthfull (or put your sarnie down between each bite)

By eating slowly etc your body will recognise the signs of being full and stop eating.

He also has tips for people that always clear their plates... suggesting that you should alway leave food on your plate so when you go out to eat you don't feel you "have to" eat the whole portion...

I am just surmising here but it was def an interesting read....

And I am kind of tempted to try his techniques??

I have this book somewhere but I had a mass tidy up when the lodger moved in and I'm not sure where it is. I want to listen to the cd that comes with the book as well. I must try and find it this weekend.

I find the whole premise of it quite interesting (but I do find him personally a bit of an arrogant little weasle!!)

Going to read it slowly over the weekend and see if I can begin to adopt some of the techniques...

OK - I'll try and find mine and we can compare notes

I've made a start already - the book said to eat your food slowly and delibratley. Plus to leave a little bit of whatever you are eating on the plate (this is supposed to train your subconscious that you don't NEED to eat everything on your plate!!)

I did this with my dinner last night and with my toast and my yoghurt {took me 20 mins to eat the yoghurt}.

I am going to try it purely to see if it does work. Although I am not allowed to weigh myself for two weeks - and then you can only weigh yourself every fortnight!!

Will keep you posted with my "experiment"..

How are you supposed to teach yourself when your full though? or even when your really hungry?. I have real trouble knowing when i'm full.

I've got the book/cd somewhere too. Perhaps its time to find it and give it another go. Also got some cds a hypnotherapist gave me after I had several sessions with her a couple of years ago. I think Im more 'in the zone' now if you know what I mean, so they may hit the spot.

Did anyone watch that programe the other night "Fix my fat head". The lady went to a hypnotist to see if she could make her thin, but it didn't work.

Starbuck wrote:

How are you supposed to teach yourself when your full though? or even when your really hungry?. I have real trouble knowing when i'm full.

Its about getting to know your body and recognising when you should eat and when you should stop / When you are truly hungry or just emotionally eating or eating out of boredom.

It's about turning the whole concept of diet on its head - as he points out in his opening sentence as soon as you are "forbidden" to eat something you develop an unhealthy relationship with it!

He gives a scale of 1-10 to gauge your hunger and fulfillment

1) Faint with hunger
2) Ravanous
<snip>
9) Uncomfortably bloated
10) Stuffed to point of Nausea

And he has loads of techniques not to let your body to get to extremes.... You are supposed to eat when you feel 'moderately hungry' (I think that was number 4 on the scale) and stop when you are 'happliy satisfied' (number 7 on scale)

Obviously it takes time for us to realise how are bodies work etc... But I do like the idea!! There's nothing worse than overeating to the point you stop enjoying your food!!

He has tricks like eating slowly, putting your cutlery down between mouthfalls, not clearing your plate etc to get your mind into good habits!

It all sounds very interesting to me!!

It does sound interesting, I think eating when im bored is the worst problem for me. I might have to pick up a copy, I'll have a look out for it.

Starbuck wrote:

Did anyone watch that programe the other night "Fix my fat head". The lady went to a hypnotist to see if she could make her thin, but it didn't work.

My mum and I went to a hypnotist to 'make us thinner' it didn't work either!! All I came out thinking was God I could fancy some chips and a pint!!! It was in the evening and I don't get out much!!!!

1) Eat when you are hungry
2) Eat WHATEVER you want
3) Consciously enjoy every mouthfull
4) Stop when you feel full


number 1 and number 2 are what got me in this state in the first place!!!!!! lol

Flaxseed wrote:

1) Eat when you are hungry
2) Eat WHATEVER you want
3) Consciously enjoy every mouthfull
4) Stop when you feel full


number 1 and number 2 are what got me in this state in the first place!!!!!! lol

I know LOL - I thought exactly the same!!

I guess the premise is that you are meant to learn when you are physically hungry and eat only then (not when you are "bored hungry" or "emotionally hungry")

With regards to eating what you like - I must admit that sounds too good to be true but there are techniques the book will teach you such as potion control, not feeling that you have to clear your plate etc... Also I think the book kind of assumes that most people eat a well balanced diet and not every meal is fast food / junk / convenience??


It does throw the whole concept of dieting out of the window - and maybe that's the appeal of the book??? It does seem kind of "easy"

I am reserving judgement!!

I didn't get chance to look for it this weekend - will try tonight.