Healthy Living Books Books

Rating: - It does really work!
I bought this book after I read all the really positive remarks by the other reviewers. If it had such a high star rating after so many reviews there must be something good about it. I had about 2.5 stone of post baby weight to lose which I haven't been able to shift since I had my little girl nearly 3 years ago. I was also eating due to being at home full time and being tired/bored. It seemed a catch 22 - I had resigned myself to being a fat frumpy mum which then led me to comfort eating.

However after reading Paul McKenna's book (which I did straight through in 2 hours) I knew I had found something that would help. Although common sense he puts it all in such a positive and supportive way it gives you the willpower to do it. I don't know how the CD works but it does. I listen to it fairly reguarly and find it very relaxing anyway, but my cravings for food and eating when I'm not hungry have totally vanished. I only want to eat when I feel hungry and I can feel when I am full now and stop. I seem to be eating half of what I use to but do not feel hungry or deny myself anything I want. In three weeks I have lost a stone and apart from the weight lose I feel so much more positive about my self image and feel more confident. After trying other diets which were a prison sentence this is fab. It completely changes your eating habits so that you can continue to eat sensibly and happily forever.

Thank you Paul Mckenna for making losing weight easy and enjoyable. Its made me much happier!!

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Rating: - Second time round for me
I bought this book a couple of months ago and was really excited by it. However, it didn't work. Looking back, I think that was due to the following:
1) I'm not exactly a heffer, and I wasn't sure it would work for someone who many people describe as thin already, (but I knew I was carrying an extra 6 - 9 pounds and still had trouble finding clothes that felt and looked good)
2) I read the book when I was away with my hubby for the weekend, and we got drunk a lot and ate out a lot, and frankly, it's hard to figure out whether you're hungry or not when you're got a hang-over
3) I was training for a triathlon, and I think I kept thinking that a few days of hard training and being careful with my food would sort it all out anyway, so I kind of wasn't committed
4) When the book spoke about emotional eating, and problems with lack of will-power, I just did not associate that with myself. I mean, I can make myself do a triathlon for goodness sake - I've got will-power. And I'm really happy, so why would I be doing emotional eating?

What finally did it for me was completing the triathlon and realizing that I was still half a stone heavier than I should be, but more importantly, just feeling miserably enslaved to food and exercise and finally realizing that the problem was partly down to me treating food like a reward. I had this massive reward thing going on. If I cycled hard for 2 hours, then I could have a bar of chocolate. Except I'd always go too far and just eat and eat and eat after a big workout, and in reality, I was getting heavier (even though a lot of the weight was muscle)
I was really unhappy about it - I felt like I was going to be trapped and feeling out of control about food for the rest of my life. I'm one of those people who would say "But I'm never full!", and I never felt like I was full. I would occasionally feel like I couldn't eat any more, but I still didn't have any real understanding of what it feels like to be full.
So anyway, after the triathlon, I kind of had this realization moment that actually, the problem must be in my head. I eat healthily, I'm really fit, I do loads of exercise, I've got loads of will power. I thought I'd give the book another go, because frankly, I quite literally couldn't think of anything else to try.
And do you know what? It has blinking well worked, and I have never felt happier about food in my whole life (well since I was about 17 and started worrying about my weight!) I've been doing it for 3-4 weeks now, and after 3 weeks I weighed myself, and yes, I've finally started to shift those last pounds (but I knew that anyway, because I could see my body shape changing). The feeling of control is just so amazing. I still can't accept after years and years of deprivation and struggle that I might actually get to be one of those women that I used to look at enviously in the street - the ones who can wear the clothes that are in fashion because they don't have to worry about their thunder thighs. But I'm not counting the days - I'm not waiting for it to be over. I want to carry on eating like this. It's easy. It's fun. It's liberating. It's just so great to cook what I want, and eat what I want, and not to be feeling jealous and inadequate.

But you know - the water thing is a very big point. I have realized that I must always have been massively dehydrated and mistaking thirst for hunger, because I am drinking constantly now. But instead of it being a chore like it used to be - I mean, how unappetizing is a glass of water when you think you're hungry? - now I look forward to it, because I know it will make me feel better. I think the secret is not to get too thirsty, because if you do, it becomes very hard to work out whether you're hungry or not, but if you keep yourself really hydrated, not only does it make you feel healthier, it's really easy not to eat until you're properly hungry.
It feels like my little powerful secret that I'm carrying around with me - the secret of all those "lucky" thin people. I look at some lovely treat and think - I'll eat you when I'm hungry. And when I am, I do. Happy Days. I'll report back in a month or so.

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Rating: - I can make you thin Paul McKenna
Excellent book I have been using this for over 2 months now and have lost over one and half stone. You can eat what you want and still lose weight as long as you are hungry. It just seem to click with me and it has changed my eating pattern for good.

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Rating: - Pure pleasure for all
Most of the book is really common sense NLP and other cognitive techniques. The best thing about it is, that it is really simple and truly liberating if you often find yourself exasperated with all the advice thrown at you from all corners. And have a bad memory. The first rule of four is to eat Everything you like, at all times, anywhere IF YOU ARE HUNGRY. And only if.And ENJOY EVERY BITE. So the real focus is learning to sense your inner signals. Learning to slow down, and really taste. Do you just want to change your mood? Then don't eat. Do something else..And adress your underlying motivations. Typically "I'm a failure etc., I won't stick to this" and other cruel selfdiminishing inner dialogues".
I know more than enough about nutrition, and would like to add my own mantra "Is this really nurishing?""Is it really delicious?" (or just lo-cal-carb-bardboard-trash)
As my tastebuds are whimsical the best place to live with this attitude would be in an enormous global delicatessen, but as I don't I just use my mental tastbuds when I buy stuff.
Paul does not mention vitamins etc. I would really advice you to get a test on your levels. My B and D-vitamins was extremely low at my doctors in april 08. and I had 2 bouts of pneumonia. Now I'm happier and much more strong. This advice is targeted at all you with low self esteem, low mood and a tendency to emotional overeating. ENJOY.

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Rating: - Worth suspending disbelief
This book is aimed mostly at fat women who feel disgusted with their bodies, and have serious problems with self-esteem. I am a 64-yr-old man who was never overweight until I gave up smoking, and to be honest I could care less about my appearance. I'm as active and fit as one can be when they're 3 stone overweight. However, there's no doubt that the extra weight affects my energy.

I never would have bothered with Paul McKenna's book had he not been interviewed by James Delingpole, a reasonably hard-headed journalist who reckoned that he's the real deal. Much to my surprise, I've lost 7 pounds in a fortnight--and I haven't even listened to the CD yet. Mostly, it's about chewing your food thoroughly, and learning to avoid 'comfort eating'. It really is effortless. I've dieted before, and to be honest I'd rather be fat than tolerate the endless cravings. Underneath all the blather about NLP (neuro-linguistc programming), there's a lot of solid sense in McKenna's book. There's a lot to be said for good snake-oil salesmen.

Update, 10 Aug 08--Still haven't listened to the CD, but it's still working. Six weeks on, I've lost a total of a stone. This is despite the occasional relapse; I'm often so busy that I haven't got time to eat, and when I do, I'm so hungry that I bolt the first few bites without thinking. But I soon slow down. Amazingly enough, my diet is very high in fat and salt, yet my blood pressure (previously high) is normal.

In retrospect, I am amazed that I had been eating so much when I wasn't really hungry. In my case, it's mostly due to my youth, when I had an extraordinarily high metabolism and often did heavy manual labour, and I was really hungry a lot of the time. I learned to gobble everything in sight, and it became a reflex action.