I want shout out a HUGE thank you to my buddy SK1NNYFUTURE!
Through her comments on several of my journals she's been mentioning the hypnotherapist Paul McKenna, who has a series of books and CD's that can help people with insomnia, stress addictions etc... I've been putting it off a little checking him out, really only because I had a lot of other things to do, and thus it didn't become a priority to do so. Well, I checked him out yesterday, and boy am I glad I did.
I found 4 things that can be - and already are - really helpful:
1. A CD called SLEEP LIKE A LOG.
2. A CD called EASY WEIGHT LOSS
3. A DVD of a broadcasted TV show called PAUL MCKENNA WILL MAKE YOU THIN
4. A short little video file that can instantly kill cravings.
This is wild. I'm honestly amazed with all of it.
As many of you know, I have a battle with treats and especially chocolate. It's not so much that I want them, but they seem to want ME and they aree frickin' relentless about it. Once the thought of snacks crawl into my head, there isn't much I can do about it but bow to the chocolate demon. This has been a severe challenge for a while.
Well, I listened to the weight loss CD yesterday morning, after journaling, but before I went to work. This was probably the best 17 minutes I ever spent. I had no craving for chocolate or other baddies all day. I had the ability to stop eating when I was full. I was aware of my food intake. I even skipped the bread at band practice, something I'd never do. More on that one in a moment.
The downside was that my control bounced WAY to the other side. At absolutely no point was I hungry. At no point did I want to snack or graze. I had no urge for candies. I had only a common sense feeling of when I should eat. The result: I only consumed 600 calories yesterday. Not good, of course, and I'll have to do better than that.
If this is a starting trend, though, these new techniques can really help me through my days in maintenance. It can and will help me becoming "normal" when it comes to my eating habits. And best of all, it's helped me to handle cravings already. I've seen this in effect twice already.
Wife and I were watching the TV show. It's a four parter, and you're supposed to watch one per week, but it was so good that we ended up watching two shows back to back. It was this second show that really did it for me. It talks about cravings and how to kill them. On the show, their guinea pig was a girl who was addicted to cola, to the point where it was an obsession. She was severely overweight, her teeth had rotted etc. You get the picture. They put her cols turkey off her cola, for three days, she became depressed, angry, frustrated, sad, showed all the signs of an addict. Then they implemented a little exercise, and after a few minutes she was actually okay, to the point where she was okay with going to her local put to buy a glass of orange juice. Not cola. Orange juice. She was smiling, happy, and free of the cravings.
In the show, we're taught how to do it. As we learn, we are asked to invoke the demon that we normally can't say no to, make the urge real, and then kill it. It worked! I went from actually wanting chocolate to not really having a need or a wish for it in less than a minute. I couldn't even invoke the demon again. How weird and how awesome!
Later, at band practice, as we're about to have our break and have bread and cheese, I'm telling the guys about the technique. They're already eating, and I'm about to get my bread. Mind you, I had PLENTY of room in my RDI to eat. It's a tradition to have this meal. Hanging with the guys make it one of my most important meals of the week. We'll, after SHOWING them the technique, simply because it's strange and interesting - and not because I was escaping an invoked demon - my urge for bread was gone. I skipped it.
We've been together as a band since februar 2011. I have skipped bread once before, a day I was getting sick. This time I didn't even want to. I didn't even try. I simply implemented the technique. How wild is that???
I found a little video online that shows the technique. Watch it learn to do it. If you only do one thing today, make this little exercise the one. Then send SK1NNYFUTURE a thank you note. I owe her heaps for pointing me towards this.
Of course, I have only tried this twice. I don't have any experience with the effect long term. I just know what I experienced, and I assume that a well renowned psycho therapist knows his stuff. I trust him on this. I see this as a potential tool to help me getting much, much better at maintaining my weight.
...
Oh and I'm not sure if MCKENNA did this, or if it's all me and a new found motivation... But I'm writing a long journal on a Saturday morning. I'm writing it from my exercise bike. I've been on it for 45 minutes, and I will of course do the full hour. I woke up refreshed, after listening to the SLEEP LIKE A LOG CD last night going to bed. I woke up with a great outlook for today, an urge to get on the bike - absolutely no arguing with myself about it - and eager to write this journal. Wife instill sleeping, and most Saturdays I'd be right there sleeping too. Not today, I had to share this with you guys.
I highly recommend that you look into this. It seems like awesome programs that really brings in a new player on our team. I will see if I can find a way to share the video of the "curb cravings" technique. I really want you guys to see this. If it's not there, at the bottom of this journal, then I haven't found it on YouTube or anywhere else - yet. Come back later in the day to check again. Om sure you won't regret it.
I'd try to explain it in my own words, but I don't think I can. Sorry for being all mysterious about it.
EDIT:
Here is the video. I recommend you try it - it's worked greatly for me already. I know, it looks silly, but who cares. :)
EDIT 2: YouTube pulled the video, so I'm posting a link for you to get the video file. I hope it'll work better.
http://db.tt/bgNj9q2XToday I'm thankful for :
- SK1NNYFUTURE being so Damn persistent on this. Thank you thank you thank you.
- the most positive outlook on maintenance I've had in a while.
- Weekend!
So, off I go. Saturday. Doing right. NOT Indulgence Day. Let's see if I can do this. Of course I can - and I will. Life is good!