Paul Mckenna Gastric Band App is Gimmick says Obesity expert
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Paul Mckenna launched his Hypnotic Gastric Band App for download at the end of 2014 and the sales of the app have been impressive. Now though an obesity expert has spoken out about how he believes the app is a gimmick and a waste of time.
Reporting in The Times newspaper on the comments of a member of the National Obesity Forum Tam Fry they explain their opinion on gastric band apps and why they do not think they are a good idea....
FROM The Times:
An app promising to have the same impact as £5,000 weight loss surgery has been dismissed by experts as a “gimmick”.
The Hypnotic Gastric Band has been developed by Paul McKenna, the British hypnotist, and costs £4.99.
Gastric band surgery creates a small pouch from the upper part of the stomach, meaning the patient eats less because they feel full more quickly.
The app uses a “hypnotic trance that helps your unconscious mind and your body to believe your stomach is smaller”, McKenna writes in the app’s description.
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said apps promising weight loss were “a bit of a waste of money”.
He said: “The simplest way of losing weight is the one preached for years and years and that is just to take control of yourself, eat only that which you need, and exercise. It is as simple as that.”
He added that people were vulnerable to weight loss plans after making New Year’s resolutions, but that in general weight loss apps were “just a gimmick”.
It's interesting to see this point of view because of course it is easy for someone to say that. The support that people need is available in many formats and some will work for some people and others wont. Part of the problem with a Gastric Band Approach to weight loss as I see it, is that it does not deal with the real issues. Bad habits, emotional eating and our sedentary lifestyle all need to be taken into account rather than just imagining that you have a smaller stomach.