Health: Lose Weight

I have lost 5lb in the three weeks since I last weighed myself on 16/05. I wasn’t supposed to weigh myself during the first couple of weeks following the “I Can Make You Thin” rules, to
allow time for my body to get used to being fed when it is hungry and for my metabolism to increase once my body realises that I’m not going to be starving it.

I have been eating when I am hungry, and eating what I feel like eating rather than what I think I ought to eat. Since I started I have had two small bars of chocolate and no crisps (except for the Doritos when I worked overnight), but that’s because I haven’t felt like eating them not because I am depriving myself of ‘bad’ types of food.

As I recognise that I
am an ‘emotional’ over-eater, when I think I’m hungry I ask myself whether I am bored or upset, so that I can address any emotional issues directly rather than trying to solve them with food. If that’s not the case, I have a glass of water and then see if I am still hungry, since feelings of hunger can
also be caused by dehydration.

It seems to be going well so far.

I’m not supposed to weigh myself for the first fortnight on the Paul McKenna weight-loss program, so I can’t vouch for any weight loss until I post again next Monday but I am quite content with my progress so far. I have made sure that I eat when and only when I am hungry, rather than either skipping meals or stuffing my face and I haven’t often found myself hungry between meals. When I have (which is usually in the afternoons at work), instead of thinking ‘Aargh, BAD! Must starve until next scheduled meal’ or ‘Must Have CHOCOLATE!’ and buying a mint Aero (okay, two mint Aeros) from the canteen, I’ve found myself thinking, ‘Hmm, a banana would be nice’. So the suggestions on the CD would seem to be working.

I have decided to follow the plan laid out in the book “I Can Make You Thin” by Paul McKenna.

Who could resist a book with such a supremely confident title? Not me, especially not as part of a 3 for 2 at Waterstones. This is not a diet book, it claims to use the latest psychological techniques to reprogram your relationship with food and convince yourself that a thinner you is a real possibility. You are supposed to listen to the enclosed relaxation CD a lot to help it all sink in, so I am trying to make time to listen to it every day.

There are only four rules:
1) Eat whenever you are hungry.
2) Eat only what you want, never what you think you ‘should’.
3) Eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful.
4) Stop when you even think your body is full.

I’m not allowed to weigh myself for the first fortnight, as I have to allow time for my body to crank up my metabolism once it realises that I’m no longer trying to starve it into submission.

I do know my starting weight, since I have been weighing myself at work once a week and I will continue to do that once the first fortnight is over. Three and a quarter years ago we started the Tub Club at work, and I lost three stones. But then I spent two years working on a very stressful project in a different building for two years, and when I rejoined the Tub Club at Christmas, I weighed exactly the same (to the very pound) as at my very first weigh-in three years before! So that’s why I’m going for a non-diet approach this time.