Thursday 14 May 2009

You can make Paul McKenna rich - I Can Make You Thin - Paul McKenna

Advantages: This book will motivate the right person

Disadvantages: If you expect others to do the legwork for you, the book is no good

Some psychologists would have us believe that when we have a problem, we have that problem because we are blaming everyone else. Now while it is true that sometimes when we have a problem in life, it can be the fault of others and sometimes things are beyond our control. But, yes, the psychologists are right to generalise in order to empower us - to tell us to stop blaming everyone else - to grab the bull by the horns and get on with eradicating a problem. 

And so in the "important note from Paul McKenna", Paul McKenna goes ahead and blames everyone else on our behalf. He says "...you have been brainwashed by diets to believe that weight loss is difficult and it is not" and that "diets are the enemy of weight loss". How very convenient for Paul McKenna. This is because this is not a diet book he is selling and making money from you. This is because he is selling (and making money from you) a book about how to think about food - an approach if you like. 

Now it sounds as if I am doing the book down. That is not the case. 
I don't want to hear that diets are brainwashing from someone who is best known for practising a form of 'brainwashing' himself - for those that don't know Paul McKenna his road to fame started off as a stage hypnotist. 

But let's find some value in this book. 

The blurb, is what I always look at when I am browsing books. The blurb in this book cleverly turns itself over to the reader, not by telling, but by asking. It asks. 

Would you like to eat whatever you want and still lose weight? 
Would you like to feel really happy with your body? 
Are you unable to lose those last 10 pounds? 
Are you a late-night snacker? 
Do you find it difficult to say no to second helpings? 
Do you get disheartened about your eating habits and your weight? 

The blurb then claims that this is a revolutionary way to stop overeating, to feel motivated and control cravings. It claims Mr McKenna's method is a breakthrough weight loss system. 

Now to cut a long story short, this book as we have ascertained is not a diet book, it is a means of making you become more aware of thinking about and approaching mainly food and there is a little also on exercise. So it could be easy to say: 

Why not write a book saying eat a lot, within limits, and exercise often. Well simply, not everyone is motivated to take such good but succinct advice. Eating is also to do with factors other than simply enjoying food. This is where the book comes into its own. There is a lot of motivation within its pages. 

What I dislike about not only Paul McKenna's books, but other self help and motivation books, is the amount of padding, but some would argue it is not padding, rather, a way to reinforce a message. And it is chapter one, Are You Ready For Something Different, that reinforced in me the notion that the book is all about reinforcing a message in you. Chapter two is The Simplest Weight Loss System in the World - this is peppered with four rules 

the golden rule number one being - 
when you are hungry eat. 
golden rule number two 
eat what you want not what you think you should 
golden rule number three 
eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful 
golden rule number 
when you think you are full stop eating 

There are plenty of analogies and metaphors to get you thinking and bear in mind this, to me, is the point of the book. The golden rules in chapter two are probably the most useful parts of this book, this is why I have highlighted this chapter, but for me the rest of the book is 'samey' information. just wrapped up in a different chapter title and the information shaped around the title, so I will just give you the chapter titles, which essentially contain, again, analogy, metaphor, example and case study all designed to motivate. 

Chapter three is program your mind to slim your body. 
Chapter four is overcoming emotional eating 
Chapter five is make exercise easy and supercharge your metabolism 
Chapter six is craving busters 
Chapter seven is the final piece of the weight loss puzzle 
with a final note and a list of techniques. 

If you are one of the 'read about it but never get round to it' types, then this book is ideal for you in that, when you are reading about it you will feel refreshed and ready to go - much like the CD that comes with it - enough said about that. In other words the words in it are stirring and motivational. But also, if you can take in the motivational message that is there and actually do something about your desire to slim, it will be a really good book. Yes, it is hype and rhetoric, but put yourself in the right frame of mind and you really will be able to put this book to good use - at the end of the cliche though it will be you who will have done the work, not the book.

Summary: The book is full of the same old same old, but it will motivate the right person

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