Did you watch ‘I can make you thin’ on TLC?

I had my head in the shower because I was cleaning my bathtub when I realized that Paul McKenna’s “I can make you thin” show on TLC was premiering tonight. I quickly rinsed off the shower and ran to telly with pen and paper in hand.

First off, I’d like to say that Paul McKenna is quite the showman. His approach is entertaining, but his words were words of wisdom and they were words that have been spoken so many times by every other diet and weight-loss guru before him.

The difference with Paul McKenna is that he’s turned giving advice about weight loss into a 5-week televised seminar on TLC.

Paul McKenna’s introduction was Hollywood-worthy when he announced that the audience weighed a staggering 42,015 lbs … that’s a lot of extra weight in one closed room.

The first session of Paul McKenna weight loss gospel was about delivering Paul’s “4 golden rules to being thin”. Over the next few weeks, he’ll deliver the other rules, but for most North Americans who have very poor eating habits and who have been fighting the bulge battle for years … if not decades … the first 4 rules of “I can make you thin” where more that most people can intake in just one hour.

If you watched the show than you know what I’m talking about, but if you didn’t watch the show, you’ll want to read my summary.

Paul McKenna’ ‘I can make you thin’ 4 Golden Rules to being thin:

Rule #1: When you’re hungry … eat: McKenna states the obvious: don’t starve yourself and you’ll never have to binge again. He does recommend to only eating when you feel physical hunger and not when you feel emotional hunger. Basically, starving will slow your metabolism and you’ll end up gaining weight instead of loosing it.

Rule #2: Eat what you want: Yes, for most French and Italians this is a given, but for most North Americans used to jumping from one diet to another, this might sound like craziness. McKenna’s logic makes complete sense … the simple fact that when you tell yourself a food is off limits … it becomes an obsession. He also talks about one of my biggest pet peeves in the world: low fat foods. I personally think they are tasteless for the most part and when you read the labels, you’ll see that fat has been replaced by fillers … and fillers simply just don’t taste all that satisfying. When you eat what you want, but don’t overeat, you end up being satisfied and your favourite foods don’t become forbidden obsessions. In Paul McKenna’s words: “get rid of food that don’t inspire you”! His conclusion to this second golden rule was quite surprising. McKenna recommends making a list of your top 5 favourite foods and making a point to head to the grocery store and getting them.

Rule#3: Eat consciously: Basically, the North American way of shoving food instead of savouring food will simply not do when it comes to loosing weight and keeping weight off. Paul McKenna also touches on something that drives me nuts: people who multi task while they eat. The worst in my opinion (and I’m sorry to offend some of my readers) is when people are walking down the streets and eating a meal that should be eating sitting down … that simply drives me mad. McKenna gives a more factual reality to multi tasking while eating: “if you focus on eating and if you slow down the pace at which you eat, you give your brain the time to recognize when it’s full”. I like how he summarizes it: “eat each meal as if you were eating a French gourmet meal”.

Rule#4: When you think you’re full … stop eating: This sounds simple enough, but it’s impossible to do if you are multi tasking while you eat and if you shove food instead of savouring it. Eating too quickly will desensitize your brain’s ability to know when to stop. McKenna did a blind fold test that was quite revealing where blind folded participants ate at least 30% less food than the previous day where they were not blind folded.

Finally, McKenna revealed a very important weight loss tip: if you think you are hungry … you might simply be dehydrated. It seems that 75% of the time we think it’s hunger … when in fact it’s thirst. McKenna recommends drinking one glass of water and waiting to see if the hunger passes.

Pass the half way mark of his show, Paul McKenna presented us to Paul (another Paul that is) and Claudia. These two lovebirds will soon tie the knot, but their weight (or should I say overweight) could become a serious issue for both fiancés. Claudia a school teacher and weights 180 lbs, while her soon-to-be-husband Paul (a part-time bouncer) weights 525 lbs. I must say that Paul’s health issues are not surprising given how much extra weight he is carrying on his frame. It’s incredible to notice that Paul eats as much during one breakfast than I eat in an entire week. Unfortunately, it wasn’t clear if these two would be part of the group of participants that we’d following over the next 5 weeks or not.

We were then introduced to Manjit Sahoota from the U.K. and one of Paul McKenna’s European success stories. Manjit has managed to lose over 160 lbs and has kept it off for 2 years now.

A few closing notes from Paul McKenna did encourage me to tune in next week for week 2 of his 5-week weight loss seminar: He will be following the progress of four audience members:

* A single mother who’s husband cheated on her with her brother’s wife.

* A chocoholic who consumes 40-50 lbs of chocolate a week!

* A fireman who’s overweight has caused him to suffer from high blood pressure.

* An attorney who suffers from serious low self-esteem and who medicates herself with food.

So, what did I think of Paul McKenna’s “I can make you thin”? I liked the show because of the message and the fact tat McKenna is not selling a quick fix solution to burning fat and loosing weight.

I will surely watch the next four episodes and I’ll summarize them for all my readers who might not have the time to watch the show.

You can read the first post I wrote about Paul McKenna’s ‘I can make you thin’