Watch TV, Lose Weight: Paul McKenna's I Can Make You Thin Debuts on TLC
"I Can Make You Thin" claims British self-help guru and hypnotist Paul McKenna. And TLC seems to believe him, as they're launching a series with the same name hosted by McKenna beginning Sunday, March 16 at 9 pm EST.In a nation where 64 million women age 20 and older are overweight, and 34 million are obese, if McKenna can help just half of 1% of the female population lose weight through this series, he'd be improving the lives of 320,000 women.
McKenna's done this before on British TV. He hosted a similar series on Sky One in 2006, and has written a book as well. His anti-diet approach focuses on "Four Golden Rules" that help control the mind's relationship with food.
If you follow any of the reality shows that attempt to help people lose weight, you'll notice that more and more, a mental health emphasis is being incorporated to enable 'big losers' to understand why they gained the weight in the first place, and why emotional eating is the greatest threat to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and keeping the weight off.
Does McKenna's approach work? Blogger Allison Wood, writing at Midnight Eden, says that after two weeks she's lost six pounds:
I haven’t felt like I’m dieting at all…I’m making a permanent change to the way I eat.In the U.S., Americans spend an estimated $46 billion on diet food and merchandise each year. So whether or not TLC's series I Can Make You Thin can help anyone lose weight, at least it costs nothing to watch.However, even above the weight loss...is the way I now feel. I am not totally worried about food and focused on what I am going to eat all the time. I don’t feel like I have to go on a massive binge, just in case there is no food there tomorrow….In short I feel liberated.
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Comments
You fail to mention that McKenna isn’t a doctor, in fact his first PhD was from a scam University in Louisiana, his very recent degree isn’t in medicine. He claims to be a hypnotist and uses neuro-linguistic programming and other totally bogus junk to sell books, tapes and seminars. This is psuedo-science, and I find it very disturbing that The Learning Channel is touting his advice.
I really don’t care what title this man has, I think his advice is brilliant. My husband didn’t go to college but is one of the most successful business men I have ever known. People with collage degrees come to him for advice. You don’t have to have a PhD to be smart and come up with a good idea….don’t ditch it to you try it, what can it hurt. At least it is not stupid diet pills who end up hurting you in the long run….by the way a guy with PhD prescribed. Think about it !!!
I agree with Anette, the point of this program is that it is a NON DIET! For those of us who obsess over food, the ability to retrain ourselves to eat like a thin person, and overcome emotional issues goes a long way. I have been on the program 2 weeks, and as a diabetic, have a better sugar than at any time over the last few years! Eating exactly what I want, only when I am hungry, and learning to tell when I am full, then stop!! Many, many of the viewers are amazed at how we feel about food now, no obsessions, no binging, and weight loss! Try it!
I also watch the program on TLC and I am here to say that Paul M’s program worked for me. Maybe some people just need that extra push to start. Like alcholism food can be comforting especially after alot of losses. then you just need to have some one like paul to giggle the brain a little. I applaud TLC because if they had not aired his show,which was free, then I would not have dropped four blouse sizes and two pant sizes and nor would I have the courage to join curves and feel better. In the real world people do all kinds of crazy stuff. So what if Paul crawled from under a rock. His words of encouragement are still working for me. there is a saying ” If everyone in the world was the same or liked the same thing It would be a very boring place” “differences ” is what makes the world go round,not everybody go get a shot of botox, or put on the acrylic nails, then we would all be the same. GOD created us ALL IN HIS IMAGE! No Mistakes ! Some of us failed him and didn’t take care of ourselves for one reason or another, then Paul has a program that works for some people, so let it be or we the tax payers will be paying for alot of medical bills for obese people, If people believe in something or someone why discredit it? Especially if it works for them I say cheer him on to continue to encourage the people .
I watched the show and thought if it could just keep me from gaining weight then that would be worth the effort because I was heavier then I had ever been and saw no end in sight. It has been about 3-1/2 months and I am 30+ pounds lighter. I laughed every time I got on the scale because I didn’t feel like I was on a diet. I have done very little exercise and now that is the next thing I have to take on. It is a very easy diet to stay on because there is no guilt. I have had ice cream, potato chips, hamburgers etc… The trick is all in moderation. The best part is I never go hungry. I could loose weight faster if I ate less but that’s not the point of the diet. The secret is an obtainable, realistic weight loss. It is no mystery, smaller portions = less calories = weight loss.
I have decided to try the Paul McKenna method and to record the experiment “live” on my blog. So instead of arguing with myself whether he’s bogus or genius, I’m giving it a go for 30 days. Here is the link: http://thirtydaytrials.wordpress.com/
Good health to all!
i heard of him years ago and bought his tape set “success for life” in the 80’s. really positive and helpful stuff. when i heard he was doing a show on getting thin, i googled him and saw he had a quit smoking program and i did it and i can say i’ll NEVER smoke again. i’ve smoked for 20 years. don’t close yourself off to things that may help and be positive for some people. maybe some people are not good candidates for hypnosis. all i can say is, i am very very excited to be a non smoker.
I really enjoyed watching the series and have tried to follow the golden rules, and in the last 8 months or so have lost a total of 5 lbs. I am actually very proud of myself considering I am now 9 months pregnant and weigh less than I did when I first got pregnant. My doctor says I (and baby) are perfectly fine! I have never felt deprived or hungry like when following diets prior to my pregnancy. Just letting anyone interested in this program that it really does help.It seems just like common sense but it really does work!
“You forgot to mention he isn’t a doctor”…and, you forgot to mention he isn’t a dentist, lawyer, elementary school teacher, or licensed asbestos removal specialist! Seriously, I don’t need someone to list to me what someone is NOT, I assumed that by their lack of mentioning it, that he was not a medical doctor. Since I’m not asking him to remove my appendix, I’m okay with this. His thesis (for his UK accredited doctoral degree) was “The Effects of Fixed Action Patterns and Neuro-Linguistic Programming in Determining Outcomes in Human Behaviour”. That officially means he knows more about the subject than either of us, and it seems to have worked for a lot of people, so why knock it? If it doesn’t work for you, or doesn’t interest you, look elsewhere.
Where IS this wonderful program?
Is it still being aired?
I want to try this!!!
I’m not certain that Paul Mckenna claims to be a Doctor, the bottom line is that he’s motivational and as an approach that everyone can follow, the approach is what NLP and Hypnotherapy uses and he gives the power to the individual without judgement or blame. It’s also great not to have to go out and by lots of weird foodstuffs . He’s no.1 in my book and I’ve only just started!
It’s so funny that Robynn’s tone is so anti-McKenna. Paul successfully sued for libel regarding the degree issue in the UK, you can check out the details on Wikipedia, or just look at the newspaper coverage from the time. He has a degree in a study of what he is good at: Hypnosis and NLP. To say that he “claims” to be a hypnotist is a perverse use of the word “claim”. He is a hypnotist. That’s his living, no doubt about it. As for NLP being a bogus pseudo-science - well - that is true of almost all psychotherapy, but Freud seems to have somehow managed to get himself a respect he didn’t entirely earn. Where do you draw the line on that one? The big difference between NLP and traditional psychotherapy is the results it gets. If you have ever seen anyone with a lifelong debilitating phobia cured in 20 minutes by an NLP Practitioner, in comparison to 20 years of psychotherapy, then you have to start thinking: “how does this work?” rather than “this is bogus.”
But I feel the criticisms above are so strident that what I am really reading is something written by someone who just has a bee in their bonnet about Paul - for whatever reason - not because he “claims” to be something he isn’t. Why? Because he doesn’t claim to be something he isn’t…