Mind over fatter
Gemma Calvert
News of the World - 30th December 2007
Eat, think and be merry. Paul McKenna on how brainpower can keep you thin.
TODAY hypnotist Paul McKenna brings News of the World readers the ultimate guide to shedding those extra Christmas pounds.
And the good news is you can eat WHATEVER you want WHENEVER you want. So forget following a strict diet.
Here, thanks to Paul’s new, improved bestseller I Can Make You Thin, he tells you exactly how to get in shape for the New Year.
He says: “This system is so simple you will probably find it difficult to believe it will work. That’s because you have been brainwashed by diets to believe that weight loss is difficult-and it’s not.
“The answer lies not in the diet, but in reprogramming the mind. It’s called behaviour modification.
“And if you follow all my instructions, I PROMISE you will begin to lose weight.”
LOOK into my eyes, into my eyes, not around the eyes…and get slim using your MIND!
If you’re keen to lose weight after too much Christmas over-indulgence we have good news. You can do it WITHOUT dieting.
Hypnotist Paul McKenna’s ten-point plan for News of the World readers will help you get trim for 2008.
And the key is in your head-so you won’t need to calorie count.
Two studies have shown that 71 per cent of people who followed Paul McKenna’s plan have lost weight.
Paul, 44, says: “I’ll tell you why dieting rarely works, how to reprogramme your mind so you can get slim for life and how to get fit and be happy and healthy.
“All you have to do is follow my easy ten-point plan which includes four golden rules. It’s that simple.”
The rules are-eat when you are hungry, eat what you want NOT what you think you should, eat consciously, enjoying every mouthful, and stop eating when you think you are full.
Here’s his full weight-loss guide.
1. EAT WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY. As soon as you starve yourself, your metabolism slows and your body stores fat for a rainy day. When you feed yourself regularly when you’re physically, not emotionally, hungry-your body learns it has plenty of fuel, doesn’t store additional fat reserves so your metabolism quickens and you lose weight.
2. EAT WHAT YOU WANT, NOT WHAT YOU THINK YOU SHOULD. As soon as you make a food forbidden, it becomes all you can think about. All naturally thin people eat chocolate, cheese and chips-just not to excess. As you make peace with food and learn to listen to the wisdom of your body, you are freed from the tension and guilt that comes from NOT following your intuition.
Only eat foods that inspire you and throw out whatever you don’t like.
3. EAT CONSCIOUSLY. People who are overweight think about food all the time except when they are eating it. They shovel the food in really quickly to get high on “happy chemical” serotonin that is released in our brains. The result is they never notice the signal from the stomach that lets them know they are full…so they keep on eating.
If you listen to the radio, read a magazine, or watch telly you will eat more than you should. Have no distractions during your meal-and that includes alcohol.
Focus on the food like it’s the only thing in the universe-you will appreciate it more and be able to stop happily when you’re full.
4. STOP EATING WHEN YOU’RE FULL. To lose weight effortlessly and keep it off, you must begin working with your body and not against it. When we have eaten enough, the stomach sends a signal, a feeling in the area below the rib cage called the solar plexus.
If you eat quickly, you don’t chew properly or digest the food well and then, because you’re so stoned on your brain chemistry, you can’t hear the signal to stop, so you eat past it.
Try eating at a quarter of the speed you are used to, chew every mouthful and taste it like a gourmet. You will feel the sensation of fullness and when you do, stop eating.
If you feel hungry later, you can eat as long as you eat what you want, not what you think you should.
5. STOP SELF-SABOTAGE*. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you must re-programme your unconscious thinking around food. You might feel that a part of you wants to lose weight and another part is worried you will miss out on your favourite foods.So try imagining the part that wants to lose weight in your right hand and the part stopping you in your left. Get in touch with what both parts want for you. Next bring your hands together and imagine what it would feel like if both parts could work together and help you lose weight.
6. SEND LOVE TO YOUR BODY. Think about someone who loves and respects you. Close your eyes and imagine floating out of your body and in to them in front of you.Look at yourself through their eyes.Then every time you look in the mirror, send yourself that love and respect. As it increases it becomes difficult to engage in self-destructive behaviour such as overeating.
7. MOVE YOUR BODY. I don’t believe you have to go to the gym. People don’t exercise because they have linked negative feelings to it. Really good exercise involves breathing more deeply and getting your heart to beat faster.
And yes, sex qualifies!
Medical research shows a 15-minute walk is the best exercise you can take. If you can’t build to a whole 15 minutes then do a minute or two here and there. Instead of driving around Tesco’s car park to find a space near the door just park further away and walk. Get a pedometer, take 2,000 more steps a day….you’ll be amazed how quickly they add up.
8. OVERCOME EMOTIONAL EATING. Emotional hunger is sudden hunger-when you turn to chocs to lift your mood. You can nip that in the bud with an effective technique that involves tapping on your body.
As soon as you feel a craving, rate it from one to ten. Then take two fingers and tap about ten times first under your eye and then under your collar bone. As you repeat this on the back of your hand, close your eyes and open them, rotate them in a full circle clockwise and anticlockwise and then hum a few bars of any tune, count out loud from one to five, hum again and stop.
By now the the craving should be much lower.This is not a distraction, it re-programmes the way your mind processes feelings.
9. STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF. You can’t get an accurate reading by weighing yourself every day, it’s bi-weekly, maybe monthly. Rather than upset yourself, leave it two to four weeks and you will see a difference. By the way, this only works if you’re using my system.
10. DITCH THE MAGS. People always tell me they’d like to look like models in the magazines. Well I’ve got news for you…so would they. Because thanks to a spot of computer wizardry they largely don’t. What’s more, I don’t know many blokes who think a woman who looks like she hasn’t eaten for a week is attractive.
AND FINALLY… Remember, you will get the system wrong, but don’t give up. It’s bound not to go perfectly at first. You’ll starve yourself or forget to eat slowly and binge at some point. When those on a diet fall off the wagon they rush off and console themselves with cream cakes.
With my system, if you make a mistake, it’s called learning. Forgive yourself, go back and try again. You WILL succeed.
Readers can order the new edition of Paul McKenna’s I Can Make You Thin for £ 8.99 including p&p (RRP £ 10.99). It includes a bonus chapter and FREE weight-loss CD. Just call Bookpost PLC on 01624 677237 quoting the reference code NOTW-PMCK. *Printed with the permission of Dr Richard Bandler
Tags: Hypnosis, NLP, Paul McKenna, Press Cutting, Weight Loss
