Ever since I was a little kid I had problems with my weight, I remember that other kids in school and in my neighborhood always gave me nicknames, the bullying was constant and I remember being called “piggy” and all the kids making fun of my weight with no consideration of my feelings. I was a total loser! When I became a teenager I stopped paying attention to the other kids but I had another problem: I was interested in what the girls would think of me and unfortunately I got a lot of rejection. They all told me that they loved my personality and liked me as a friend but that they were really no attracted. Having to be in the “friend zone” with every girl I knew was my day to day and this caused me a lot of suffering.

I never really talked about this before Alejandro proposed the great Yes You Can! Diet Plan challenge to me. It felt really great to talk about it, especially with someone who had lived through everything that I did. I went through a very hard process of bulimia when I was 14, I used to throw up everything I ate and this got me really sick at one point. All the loneliness that I felt led me to eat compulsively and then I felt bad and had to throw up everything I ate. My parents were really concerned and the doctors could not figure out what was going on, I was too ashamed to tell them what I was doing.

I always remember that for some time my father, Paco Stanley, had a very popular hamburger brand sponsor his tv show, obviously I had free hamburgers whenever I wanted so I would just eat them every single chance I got. This might seem like a funny anecdote now but back then it was really harmful for my health and self esteem. My father was my hero and I always wanted to emulate him, even his eating patterns which were very unhealthy. We always tend to inherit habits and behaviors from our parents and without knowing he was affecting my health my dad always encouraged me to eat a lot so I would “grow up strong”. After he passed away I had to really grow up fast and I started building my own life and habits.

I became a lot more aware of my body and health but I lacked the knowledge on how to revert the situation so when Univisión approached me with the idea of the Yes You Can! Diet Plan challenge I immediately said YES! The first thing Alejandro talked to me about was my mental diet, I never really though about this and it was the major key for my success. I was able to say goodbye to that “chubby kid” in my head who always used food as comfort. The most amazing thing about the first step of my process was that the emotional component of the Yes You Can! health and wellness program helped me work on the root of the problem and I was able to understand that real change comes from the inside out. This is the only way in which we can raise our self esteem and make the change permanently.

Alejandro Chaban’s diet plan also gave me the knowledge I was lacking, I learned how to choose food, the right portions and how to combine them to get the best results possible. Mexican cuisine is my absolute favorite, I can’t resist it but it can be very unhealthy if you don’t choose right. The plan showed me how to keep eating my favorite dishes by using whole wheat tortillas, natural salsa and cooking meat and chicken on the grill instead of frying them or using lots of cream. Also, I love my Yes You Can! carb Blocker pills I’m still able to eat enchiladas, fajitas, tacos, tamales and all those amazing dishes that I grew up eating and I love. It’s unbelievable that in a diet you get to eat tacos!!!

Movement was a very important part of my process, I wanted to become a more active person and I took this opportunity to do it. I rushed into it and made a few mistakes at the beginning, I wasn’t eating all my meals so when I did exercise I built a huge appetite and this was affecting my progress. When Ale asked me about it he quickly helped me correct these little details and in only a few days I could already see the results. I was also taking long breaks between one workout and the next to talk to all the pretty ladies at the gym but Ale told me that my results were gonna be a lot better if I only took 60 second interval breaks and really put effort into it. This adjustment, and everything else that I learned helped loose over 20 pounds in only a few weeks.

Now my life, my career and especially my self-esteem are better than ever! I received such positive feedback from my hosting experiences at Despierta America that for the first time in years I felt like new doors were starting to open up for me and that a new Paul Stanley was born. When you have so many eyes on you all the time you become really self aware but when you build up confidence you start taking in only the positive and you leave out all the negative. My journey with Yes You Can! Diet Plan and Alejandro Chabán left me things that I’m going to have with me forever and that are going to help me become the best version of me possible.