lucydear- I only recently discovered Paul McKenna. He's a "self-help guru"/hypnotist. He's written several books that help people with different problems such as being overweight, unable to sleep etc. His method is quite different and takes a bit of getting used to. Some people call it common sense, and it is. It's just common sense that most overweight people (myself included) don't have! He works around 4 golden rules:
1. Eat when you are hungry (but not bored, emotional etc)
2. Eat what you want, not what you think you should (no diets here, you can eat all your favourite foods but...)
3. Eat CONSCIOUSLY (you have to slow down and properly EXPERIENCE your food, taste it, savour it and truly appreciate it. no eating in front of the tv, computer, book etc)
4. Stop eating when you are SATISFIED (not full or bloated but satisfied. you have to pay attention to the muscle just aove your solar plexus that lets you know when you have had enough. its strange how actually you reach that point a lot faster than you think once you listen to what your body's telling you!)
Like I said, basic common sense. His "special something" is the hypnotherapy. You can buy his book and CD from pretty much any online/book shop and its about 25 minutes long. I listen to it right before I go to bed and I wish I could tell you what it says but actually the relaxation techniques at the beginning proper knock me out so I have yet to hear it fully! On his website he says this is normal though and that the message still works its' way into my subconscious. He basically "reprogrammes" your brain to help you put his 4 golden rules into practise. I think it must be true because without even thinking about it I'm eating a lot slower and am a lot more in tune with the signals my body sends me. I now know EXACTLY when I've had enough and when I'm eating for reasons beyond true hunger. The hard work for me is to actually follow through with those messages and stop eating! But I'm working on that and definitely eating less than I was
no WI for 2 weeks as per his instructions but I'm feeling good so I think it must be working!
His book has several chapters on emotional eating and cravings, and he explains a lot of techniques and visualisations that can help with those. I've used the craving-buster a few times and its worked. I'm slowly working my way through the emotional eating thing which is more complicated (as it is for anyone I imagine!)