PEERtrainer

A Three Step Process To Help You Feel Like You Are Doing Your Best

By Jackie Wicks, PEERtrainer Co-Founder

 

One thing that I am hearing from many of you is that you simply don't have the time to make the changes you want to.

If you are lucky you have plenty of time and space to do the experimenting and exploration needed to get you to the place you want on a more permanent basis.

But if you are like most people, you are dealing with some limiting forces that have nothing to do with how motivated you are.

What I have been finding is that when you accept that you may be overwhelmed in any way, and then identify one thing that you can do "anyway" you begin to feel like you are doing your best.

This is very important- especially for the "achievers" out there. There are some very accomplished people within the PEERtrainer community. We have written about this before and noted a phenomenon where people who are familiar with what it takes to get something done in other areas have not applied those skills to making the changes that get you to a weight, energy and health equilibrium.

Sometimes they have not made the connection between the two. Other times they are simply busy. Regardless of the reason, this can lead to a feeling that one is "not doing their best."  This very simple three step exercise can help you feel better about yourself and also stay on track.

1. Ask yourself if you feel as if you are doing your best with your food and exercise choices. Maybe take a moment or two and think about your efforts in relation to everything else going on in your life.

2. What is one thing that you do have room for right now that you could do right now, today or this week?

3. What is one thing you don't have room for but that would benefit you? Maybe this is something that you are not ready for but that you have been thinking about. This is an interesting step because it functions as some very lightweight planning.

If you find that you truly don't have the time you need, this may help you go a little easier on yourself. If you identify one thing you can do right now you'll work your motivation muscle. And if you think about something you would like to do, you help plan. All things that will help you!

You also might find it helpful to re-read this article:

Unusual List Of Ideas Which Will Help Identify Your Reasons For Not Following Through

Pay close attention to the first three. We found that people strongly related to those.

If you are feeling particularly brave, you can share the answers to your question on the PEERtrainer Facebook Wall. We have also placed a backup link for the latest version of the PEERtrainer Cheat System in the discussions section. If you want to re-read it or review it, you can download it directly from there.

 

Great Review Of The PEERtrainer Cheat System

This is an email that we were sent yesterday. Very powerful, and frankly this is our intended result. The most important thing to know is that you can get to this point.

Even if you are just starting the weight loss process and doing very basic portion control, you can get here. For those of you who are in the "professional dieter" category, please keep an open mind to new adjustments.

Here is the email we were sent:

"1 month on the PT cheat system!

I can honestly say this has been life changing. I have been a part of PT for years. I have struggled with maintaining weight loss and also with binge eating. I thought there was no way the cheat system could work cause I was eating so much food, nothing was off-limits, I can snack whenever. To someone who has had issues with binge eating this has worked wonders at stopping that cycle of depriving myself till I go crazy and eat everything.

I was always in the mindset of "I will use this diet till I get to my goal weight and then stop." How come it took me so long to realize that doesnt work! On the PT cheat system I dont feel like I'm dieting. It is a way of eating I can/will continue for the rest of my life. I love it! It is so freeing! My body always seemed to get stuck at 150lbs and at 5'5 that put me just into the overweight category. Well I've lost 6lbs in the first month of the cheat system without ever feeling hungry. In fact I'm often full of delicious foods!

The system forced me to experiment with foods I never ate before. Edamame baked with olive oil and a little Parmesan is fantastic. Quinoa (the apple pie recipe) with some organic blueberries and a tsp of agave syrup is so yummy! I find myself coming in at 700 points sun-thur. and on the weekends I max out at 1000. This allows me to have a drink or some dessert (and this is a diet??) and I still maintain my weight loss.

Best part is I have had so much energy I was able to quit coffee. If you knew my love of coffee you would be shocked at this. But I have anxiety issues and the caffeine is really bad for me. I have so much energy just from the food alone within a week of being on the cheat system I was able to cut out coffee completely and never look back.

Any down sides? I'm gassy from all the beans! I spend a lot of time meal planning. I plan my whole weeks meals on sunday and do a lot of cooking on sundays to make sure I have all my lunch meals ready for the week. Everything is thought out before it goes into my mouth. It takes a bit of extra time. I am vigilant about keeping my veggies stocked in the house and have taken over most of the weekday cooking so I can make sure meals are more focused around veggies. Thats about it. Thanks for introducing me to such a great plan!"

Get your free copy of the PEERtrainer Cheat System 

 

How The PEERtrainer Cheat System Works With The Point of No Return Program:

 

For those of you who have been part of the PEERtrainer community for

many years, you know about the Point Of No Return Program. Many

of you have done the program and have experienced some amazing 

results.

 

We have just designed a new page  that features many

of those results and also outlines in detail what the program entails:

 

Learn What "The Point Of No Return" Is

 

For those of you who are new, the Point Of No Return program is

designed to completely reshape how you think, how you move

and how you eat.

 

Those three areas represent our core area of focus at PEERtrainer.

 

And yes, this is a very ambitious agenda.

 

What we are realizing is that people experience true success

over a long period of time. They do it at different stages, often

over a few years.

 

People take breaks, and they shift their areas of focus. We have

built PEERtrainer to address this reality, and help people really

make some incredible progress, from many different angles

of attack.

 

The Point Of No Return is designed to heighten your focus

for a three month period of time. The single most important

objective we have is that you exit the program with a

LOT more confidence than you came into it with.

 

Yes, people have lost a lot of weight on the program, as you

will see on the page describing the program. More importantly

we see that the people who go through it emerge with a

very different perspective on life.

 

And it may not be for you. The things we do are designed to

be a touch out of the mainstream. Not in a "weird" kind of way,

but definitely in a way that challenges your assumptions a bit.

 

If you are looking for a different result, you have to try different

things. And there is nothing like the Point Of No Return out there.

 

This is a new page we created that goes into the details and

the "why" behind what we are doing. We lead it off by asking

a very pointed question:

 

Learn About The Point Of No Return

 

-Jackie and the PEERtrainer Team

 

PS: The Cheat System that you downloaded is a key part of

this program. You will find that the two work hand in hand

to get you to a very exciting place. The Cheat System is

working very well for the people who get up to speed on it.

 

If you haven't and would like to, the Point of No Return

Program will definitely help you. 

 

Introducing The PEERtrainer Cheat System

By Jackie Wicks PEERtrainer Founder

The PEERtrainer Cheat System is a new, simple to follow system for eating. The objective is to help guide you towards a way of eating that will make it easier to lose weight, give you more energy and help you feel better.

Here is a quick summary of the important details:

1. It Is Free. We reserve the right to change this in the near future, but everyone who gets on the "Cheat System" mailing list will get updates and revisions as long as they stay on the mailing list. There is a simple form at the bottom of this post to enter your email address. You'll be sent the system and you'll get on the list.

2. It Is Easy To Do. The PEERtrainer Cheat System is a 26 page PDF that consists of two lists of foods, a description of the system, and a very simple incentive system. We literally could have written a book about this, but we want to keep it as simple as possible.

3. You Can't Fail At This. A lot of people have made incredible transformations using the various tools that PEERtrainer provides. But one thing we have observed is that everyone makes progress at different speeds. It is critically important. The Cheat System allows you to go at your own pace. You can do as much or as little as you want. 

4. It Will Be Controversial. What we have done here is presented what we have seen work over the last 5 years at PEERtrainer. It is also what we do ourselves in our own life.  When you see the list, you will probably have some questions. Just know that there are good reasons for everything we have put in there.

Conclusion:

We want to guide you towards as much of "the good stuff" as we can. But also give you a way of staying on track where you don't feel badly about yourself, or end up beating yourself up because you can't stay on track.

We have also created a Cheat System Video Instruction Series which helps you use the system. We teach you the two things that you must do to start losing weight, and then we take you on a journey to more advanced topics and tools.

This video instruction series is brand new and teaches you everything that we see set you up for success. We also teach you the exact things that set you up for failure. The video instruction series, like the PEERtrainer Cheat System is free.

When you sign up by entering your first name and email below, you will immediately be taken to the first instruction video. In that video you will get some important tips to help you get started, as well as a little intro to PEERtrainer if you are new:

"By far one of the simplest systems I've ever tried and produced the results I wanted; it helped me lose 50 pounds and transition my way into making permanent changes in my eating style."

-Erin Evelyn, Flint, MI, USA

"Much easier to follow than other diets/trackers/changes I've tried, especially not having to keep track of every single morsel of food I eat. Only keeping track of cheats is SO much easier, and I always know I can eat off the free list if I'm hungry without feeling guilty!"

-AJ Kunsman; Vallejo, CA

 

Watch this video to learn more about the PEERtrainer Cheat System. You'll learn what we mean by you cannot fail! You'll also learn why following a fail-proof diet is the thing that really leads to lasting, dramatic change:

A Simple Tip To Improve The Quality Of Your Life

People often say that thoughts become things- but questions are what help determine our thoughts.

Successful people simply ask better questions. If you ask better questions, you get better answers. When you have better answers, you make better decisions. Better decisions lead to better results.

The quality of your life improves.

Now, you may be thinking, "ok that makes sense, but how do I do this?" We will tell you!

You have often heard the suggestion or saying "ask and ye shall receive." It's true.

Think for a second about something you want and what you are willing to do to get that.

Maybe ask a question that will put you in a better mood in an instant- what are you happy, proud, grateful, excited about? 

Once you are in a better mood you can then really start to focus on what you want.

An Exercise/Process To Help You Ask Better Questions:

• Set out to ask four questions about that thing that you want.
• What is in your way?
• How are you limiting yourself?
• What can get you to that goal?
• Who can help you?

Asking questions can get you anything you want. When you ask the right questions, and write them down you then have a plan. When you have a plan, you have instantly increased the odds that you will get what you what. Or at a minimum you will have increased your belief in your ability to get what you want.

We do a lot work at PEERtrainer to help people increase their belief in their ability to gain control of their health and energy for the long term. Our focus is to help you gain hope, increase your optimism. What is interesting about this focus is that you can get to this point, and start nurturing this, without sticking to a stringent plan.

Someone yesterday posted this comment on our Facebook Wall:

"I'm on Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. But I can't stay on the program. It seems... I keep nibbling at night and sometimes I want to binge eat."

Our whole point, and something that we keep coming back to over and over and over is that for many people when they can't "stay on the program" it leads to some very destructive behaviors. We tell people to think in terms of "tools" and not "programs."

You want to gather as big a set of tools as you can, you want to think long term, and you MUST go easy on yourself.

To use an academic term, our "thesis" is to think about your path to health and energy in terms of a journey. Step one is to simply commit to being on it. You don't need to achieve total mastery right out of the gate. That's nuts!

In this journey you also want to have an objective. We use the term "Point Of No Return" because it is so helpful to have some sort of objective. To us, the objective of this term is to get to a place where you are in a lot more control.

It is GREAT place to be, and WORTH the work it takes to get there.

People have responded to this concept, and really embraced it. If you think about it, so many traditional diet approaches are akin to pushing a beach ball under water. Obviously the ball will bounce right back up.

But when you think in terms of the journey, you break it down into a small series of adjustments. This changes your whole mindset. Maybe an email comes to you with an article with an idea, just like this one, and you get back on track. Or you try a new adjustment. But you enjoy it.

For those of you who are just "following along at home" you can nurture this same sense of of hope and belief. Even if you do just one thing a day or a week, you will remain on the journey.

Introducing The PEERtrainer Success Index:

Want to measure your success? Take this simple quiz right now. When you do, success tips will follow, over time:

http://success.peertrainer.com   <====CLICK HERE TO TAKE QUIZ

You will get there. We promise!

 

PS, If you found this post inspiring or helpful, this article is related and can help you build upon this idea.

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5 Unusual Adjustments Guaranteed to Help You Reach The "Big Goals" In Your Life... And That Very Few People Actually Do...

This is a guest post by Jinny Ditzler, Co Founder of Best Year Yet. 

Jinny is an expert at helping people get what they want, and the author of the very popular PEERtrainer article "How To Obliterate Your Limitations." In this article she suggests 5 "adjustments" one can make that are highly likely to help move you closer to what you want. There is no magic "secret" to getting what you want. You can't wish for something to happen. You need to take action. These suggestions will not only help you take action, they will get you to do things that most people do not do!

1. Give Everybody Else the Credit for Your Successes

What do the traits of the most successful Fortune 500 CEO’s have to do with helping you reach your goals?

The answer is everything!

In the book “Good To Great," best selling business author Jim Collins revealed characteristics that the most successful CEO’s shared. (These are the guys who outperformed the S&P on a consistent basis and had a long tenure in one of the most high-pressure jobs out there).

The single most important trait was a habit of relentlessly giving others credit for success. This is a powerful adjustment.

When you get in this paradigm, you become more forgiving, you react much better to external “crap”- this is a shortcut to self-mastery. What is interesting is how RARE this trait is. If you make this adjustment and you are highly likely to alter the path of your life.

2. Look Forward To Making Some New Mistakes.

This might seem obvious, but for so many of us coming off the weight loss or health improvement track, we have the mindset of “avoiding” mistakes. In eating, mistakes are what set you back or get you off track. When you are in the process of mastering other personal objectives, you have to TURN THIS MINDSET ON ITS HEAD.

Mistakes mean you are trying new things and you need to embrace mistakes because you learn from them.

Don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again! This is one of the things that makes the US so powerful. No other country has a culture that is so forgiving of mistakes. We are a “dust yourself off” culture. You want to tap into that power! And if you are reading this from another country, you too can get a major leg up on your competition by embracing this paradigm.

3. Express new beliefs in the present tense – the future never gets here.

This is another adjustment that might seem a little new. We are so used to saying and thinking that “I am GOING to do something, GOING to meet some goal, WILL make that happen.” But if you really focus on expressing your paradigms and beliefs in the present tense, you’ll start to experience the joy right away! The benefits of this adjustment are so big one could write a book on them.

The most important benefit is immediate motivation. You give your mind a taste of success, and it will NEVER let that go. You could even go flat broke, but you’ll have that mental map to get right back to where you KNOW HOW to be. Imagine what happens when you start thinking that “I AM a master at achieving my goals!”

4. Focus on "How To Be" Goals Before "What I Want" Goals

This is a biggie....

The dirty secret of goal setting is that some goals are MORE EQUAL than others. You will find that you first need to master the “how to BE” goals before you will meet your “what I want” goals. This is the unwritten code of the universe—once you learn the “rules of the road”, the keys to limitless possibility are handed to you. You already know how to do this, you just need to do a little planning, and provide some structure to your plan.

5. Would You Watch A Sporting Event Where There Was No Score? 

This one is so obvious, but HARDLY ANYONE makes this adjustment. Can you imagine going to a game with NO scoreboard --- you just watch guys running around for a while, and then they stop, and you go home! Not only BORING, but absolutely pointless. But isn’t that the way most of us act about our most important goals – the things that matter most deeply to us?

Even if we know what our top goals are, we just run around hoping for the best and never know how we’re doing in the GAME OF LIFE. You have NO idea how powerful it is to have goals and then SCORE how you’re doing along the way – and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, at the end of the game. All you need is a way to SCORE your progress – and then MOTIVATE yourself by celebrating the RESULTS along the way.

(To learn more about the Best Year yet system, and why it is likely to help you get what you want, click here.)

How Better Hormone Balance Can Improve Thyroid Function...And Help You Lose Weight

In response to our blog post yesterday, someone unsubscribed from the Tip Of The Day email list with the comment, "I want weight loss tips, how does a blog post on digestion have ANYTHING to do with losing weight???"

This was an interesting comment, because it seems obvious that if you improve your digestion your whole system will be working better. You are going to be converting a lot more food to energy, and storing a lot less of it as fat. Which will likely lead to weight loss!

However, it does seem that many of us view weight loss only as a process where we burn more calories or consume fewer of them. At PEERtrainer, our focus is on long term weight loss, better health and energy. The reality is that all of these are connected. When one makes the proper fundamental changes, these areas of focus all start to improve at the same time. These benefits are usually highly interrelated!

For example, tip #7 yesterday was to find a way of naturally detoxing on a regular basis. Some of the best ways to do this are to drink fresh vegetable juice and consume plenty of greens. This is "Dr. Fuhrman 101", who teaches that greens and vegetables are the single best way to lose weight over the long term. A "side effect" of this advice is that people also tend to prevent or reverse some pretty nasty diseases and ways of dying.

In another video, Dr. Mark Stengler discussed the importance of hormone balance, why hormone balance is important, and how to get your hormones back in balance. One of the key benefits to better hormone balance is proper thyroid function.

According to Dr. Stengler, a poorly functioning thyroid "leads to weight gain." This is something that anyone with a poorly functioning thyroid knows all too well. Hormone imbalance can ALSO cause anxiety and depression, as well as sleep problems.

So, if you seek to improve your thyroid function with the objective of losing some weight, you also just maybe will feel a touch better, maybe get a little more sleep.

Two Suggestions To Help Get Your Hormones Back In Balance:

1) The single most important cause of hormone imbalance according to Dr. Stengler is a poor diet. In particular many of the foods we eat are laden with pesticides. Pesticides are something that we know to be "scary" and "bad for us" and can cause cancer.

But what is really evil and interesting about pesticides is that they "mimic" certain hormones, throwing you off balance. This can happen to both men and women.  Eating organic can help to avoid these pesticides. Green vegetables can also help you detox and eliminate these pesticides, bringing you back in balance.

The "usual suspects" like Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale and Bok Choy in particular can help you a great deal in this detox process. (Click here for the awesome Asian Fusion Chicken Salad recipe, featuring Bok Choy.)

2) The second suggestion that Dr. Stengler made was to target and help support your adrenal gland through the use of supplements. We poked around for a "second opinion" on this suggestion, and found a book called "From Fatigued To Fantastic" by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum. 

Dr. Teitelbaum is a chronic fatigue specialist and leading researcher into fibromyalgia and had this to say about the adrenal glad:

"If the adrenal gland is suppressed and cannot make sufficient adrenal hormone, a variety of fatigue symptoms can result."

Dr. Stengler suggests the use of Ginseng as well as an herb called Ashwaganda to help with hormone balance. Ginseng is a well known energy boosting supplement, that has been used for thousands of years. Ashwaganda is lesser known but has also been used for thousand of years.

Dr. Teitelbaum suggests that one take Ribose and Coenzyme Q10 to help balance out hormonal deficiencies and also improve energy production. We did some poking around on Ribose and found some very credible sources, outlining a variety of possible benefits.

According to Dr. Andrew Weil, ribose can benefit people with congestive heart failure, "speed muscle tissue recovery after exercise", and "help ease the pain and fatigue of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia."

Both of these suggestions, diet and supplement appear to be fairly well founded. The suggestion to eat more green vegetables is a bulletproof one. It would be very interesting to hear from those of you who have taken any of these supplements.

The key to supplements is figuring out what you cannot get from your diet, or get enough of. In addition, you need to figure out what you need a lot extra of, if it is safe and effective. You'll always need to do your own research.

But it is interesting, especially for those of us who walk through the vitamin and supplement aisles of stores and really have no idea what all the fuss is about, beyond things like Vitamin C!

Please post any feedback below or on our Facebook Wall!

 

 

 

 

Why Better Digestion Can Lead To More Energy, Some Simple Tips To Get You There

As part of a promotion, Dr. Mark Stengler created some videos to help you get familiar with his work. A lot of you wrote in and said that you didn't want to watch videos, didn't like the promotional aspect and just wanted the information. So we are creating some blog posts to summarize his suggestions, which we think are pretty common sense. Many people are familiar with these ideas and tools, but for many others this is new or something that you have heard about but not put into practice.

The reality is, most people don't have a complete grasp of many simple tools available to them to improve their health and energy. The simple reason is that these tools are not emphasized by most doctors. But as you dig in, you'll find that these tools have been part of healing for thousands of years across many different cultures.

A core suggestion by Dr. Stengler is to improve your digestion. If you do this, you will likely have more energy and better health. This is an important point because digestion is really not something that is emphasized by US medicine. Yet 60% our the bodies immune function is a "function" of digestive processes!

That is a big deal. When your immune system is off, you can experience all sorts of symptoms.

1. The first suggestion Dr. Stengler has is to mix up your sources of grains with the objective of reducing your gluten. You are probably hearing this all over the place, and see "gluten free" options in the supermarkets.

A key reason for this is that a lot of people have a hard time digesting it. Quinoa is an excellent grain to rotate in, and this simple shift can increase your energy and take a lot of burden off your digestive system.

2. Good bacteria help keep a healthy digestive system. Antibiotics do a number on your "intenstinal flora" and you need to help build them back up after any round of antibiotics. This is common knowledge to many, but is new to a lot of us. A lot of fermented foods help to build up your good bacteria.

Another good suggestion here is to take a probiotic supplement.In our house we just started keeping a good probiotic in our fridge. The people at our local Whole Foods recommended a brand called "Mega Flora." If you are not near a Whole Foods or health store you can learn more about them on Amazon.

3. Omega 3 fatty acids. This is something that all hear a lot about. What is important is they they help reduce inflammation in the whole body, as well as help support the digestive system. A family member of ours has been struggling with skin inflammation, and a doctor strongly suggested fish oil capsules which are high in both DHA and EPA. The doctor said the capsules were a much more potent source than simply eating fish, and this is important if you are really struggling with inflammation.

We now keep an Omega 3 Supplement called 'Whole Mega" from New Chapter in our cupboard. New Chapter is one of the highest quality makers of supplements out there because everything they make is whole food based, nothing synthetic. You'll pay more, but you'll likely find the extra price worth it.

If you are a Dr. Fuhrman fan, his company makes a plant based, liquid Omega-3 supplement. His pages are pretty informative and further outline the health benefits of Omega-3.

4. Reduce packaged foods as much as you can. This is an obvious point, but I bet that most of us are not aware of the extra load that junk food can put on our digestive system. If you are on the verge of a binge, this extra bit of self-awareness can help to muster enough "why" to head it off. Maybe...

5. Reduce chronic stress. A very interesting point that Dr. Stengler made was that stress shifts blood flow away from your digestive system towards your muscles and this slows down your digestive system. Stress reduction can really help. This suggestion makes a lot of sense, especially in light of the feedback people have given us over using hypnosis in the weight loss process. There are some who have religious objections to that, and we respect this. But pretty much everyone else who has tried this has given us positive feedback. Our own experience is that any form of hypnosis can be highly relaxing. 

6. Reduce your tap water. The chlorine in tap water helps kill "good bacteria." It could be that a simple addition of a good water filter or making sure to get a fresh cartridge for your existing one, could help your support your digestive system.

7. Find ways to naturally detox on a consistent basis. Dr. Stengler suggests that you don't treat detox as a one time event. You want to find ways of detoxing on a regular basis, which will help to support your digestive system. Here are some ideas he outlines:

• Green supplements. Some of these greens have powerful natural detox effects.
• Fresh vegetable juice with a little bit of fruit. The body is trying to detox constantly, and these food will help support this.
• Focus on giving your liver a break. Liver has to detoxify everything. Anything you do to improve liver detoxification, your mood, energy and health will improve.
• Milk Thistle is an excellent herb to help the liver function. There are several studies which have back this assertion up. This is one.
• Saunas help to accelerate detoxification through the skin. Many people have access to Saunas but don't use them.

Related PEERtrainer Article: What Is The Best Way To Cleanse Or Detox?

Which one of these tips has helped you in your life? Please leave a comment below or leave a note on our Facebook Wall. We love hearing from you! 

Dr. Oz Interviews Dr. Mercola About The Natural Health Controversy

This is a very interesting debate, and we are glad to see Dr. Oz paying some attention to this. Dr. Oz has been a longtime advocate of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and tends to be "ahead of the curve" when it comes to emerging health trends that run counter to the conventional "wisdom."

Mercola seems spot on with his critique of medicine, but some of his alternatives do seem a little out there. What do you think?

The Alternative Health Controversy, Pt. 1

Part 2....

Meet the man your doctor doesn’t want you talking to - Dr. Joe Mercola. Hear about his alternative health practices..Part 3

How To Quickly Reduce Your Cholesterol Levels

Arguably the most important "modifiable risk factor" for heart disease is one's "blood cholesterol level." This is an EASILY MEASURABLE THING! According to the U.S. National Institute for Health: 

"Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. A risk factor is a condition that increases your chance of getting a disease. In fact, the higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater your risk for developing heart disease or having a heart attack. Heart disease is the number one killer of women and men in the United States. Each year, more than a million Americans have heart attacks, and about a half million people die from heart disease."

Green Vegetables Like Kale Can Help To Quickly Bring Down LDL Cholesterol Levels!

Scientists and researchers are just starting to understand how green vegetables like Kale can quickly and measurably bring down blood cholesterol levels. When you consume Kale for some reason your "bile acids" are used in the process of digesting it. The "bile acids" are then excreted.

When bile acids are excreted, the body needs to make more. One of the main uses of cholesterol in the body is in the production (or "synthesis") of new bile acid! So, high daily consumption of leafy greens can speed up the process of bile excretion and production, which can help to directly lower cholesterol levels.

Broccoli functions in the same manner, especially when it is steamed. The fiber in the broccoli binds together with bile acids in your digestive tract. Which causes bile acids to be excreted, which lowers cholesterol. Virtually every other green vegetable has similar properties. Additionally, you are ingesting incredible nutrients, which improve your health, help you lose weight and just feel great.

Pectin-Containing Fruits Like Apples and Pears Function The Same Way...

You have heard the old saying that "An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away." This is literally true. "Pectin" is a fiber that binds to bile acids in the digestive system. So when you eat an apple, or a pear or a pile of green vegetables, you are triggering a process that can literally suck elevated levels of bad cholesterol out of your system!

The Ideal Way To Cook Kale:

According to whfoods.com "Kale can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in kale do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they've been steamed. When this binding process takes place, it's easier for bile acids to be excreted, and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw kale still has cholesterol-lowering ability - just not as much."

How Quickly Can One Reduce Their Cholesterol Levels?

This will depend on the person, but one CAN reduce levels significantly in a matter of months if they bring their consumption of greans, beans, salad and lentils up to very high levels. According to a Dr. Fuhrman article on reversing heart disease, the diet that will most quickly reduce cholesterol "takes into account the nutrient-per-calorie density of foods" in a "rigorous" manner.

At PEERtrainer we find that for general weight loss, a less rigorous adherence to the nutrient density can help boost overall compliance. However, if you are in a high risk category, you really want to pay very close attention to the detail of the advice that Dr. Fuhrman is giving out. Please!

In fact, Dr. Fuhrman has objected strongly to our "Diet Fusion" concept, because he views us as "watering down" his important ideas. 

If you have any confusion about how to put his ANDI points system into practice, PLEASE take the time to go to your nearest Whole Foods Market. They are doing an amazing job of putting his ANDI points system into something that you can easily do, in a cost effective manner.

A Simple Plan To Eat High Amounts Of Cholesterol Reducing Foods

At PEERtrainer we have developed a simple list of foods to focus on and foods to move away from, as well as a simple incentive structure that helps you easily eat these foods each day. We call this the "Cheat System" and you can download it for free from this page. 

PEERtrainer Community Member Jennifer S. Posted This On Our Facebook Wall:

"I was doing the Eat to Live (so lots and lots of kale and spinach) about 90% between mid-July and late August and during that time my cholesterol dropped 105 pts overall. My LDL came down significantly, as did my triglycerides. Even though ...I was 3 weeks on a low-dose statin at that time, the doctor said the change in diet is probably what really pushed the numbers. I also dropped 11 lbs in that time frame (continuing to lose, and still on Eat to Live about 75% after that, but back to about 90% for the next few weeks for post-holiday reboot)."

 

 

 

 

 

New Nutrisystem Program For 2011

Nutrisystem has released its annual "program refresh" and have announced some changes that appear to increase the quality and value of the program. As we have written previously, the "core service they provide is convenience, and the core benefit is that this approach works for many people."

We observe that many people, especially men, do not want to focus on counting calories or points nor do they want to jump right into a high nutrient diet that requires extensive habit changes. At PEERtrainer we strongly advocate a high nutrient diet and we help people make long term changes. But if you have not been able to make these changes on your own, you need to do something, now.

The reality is that Nutrisystem works for many because the company helps people take these important three first steps that you will need to master following any diet program:

• Getting Your Portions Under Control
• Starting To Increase Your Food Quality
• Understand The Critical Value Of A Support System

Nutrisystem has been criticized in the past for having poor tasting foods that are low in nutritional value. Over the last couple years the company has worked to overcome these concerns, as well as build out a support network that helps people make long term behavioral changes. In late 2009 the company introduced Nutrisytem Select, which featured fresh frozen food delivery for the first time.

Fresh Frozen Meals Now Included In All Plans

This year Nutrisystem is rolling out fresh frozen foods in all of its plans, as well as reducing the monthly cost of the "fresh food option" by $100. The new price of the basic Select program for women is $299, and the basic Select program for men is $329. (The price is higher for men because there is more food and calories delivered.)

New Chefs Culinary Council To Improve Food Quality

As part of their long term effort to increase food quality, Nutrisystem has added some well known chefs to their "advisory board." The company states:

"The Nutrisystem Culinary Council includes: Tony Mantuano, recently one of the Top Chef Masters Chef contenders; Mark Estee known for his restaurants in Nevada and California; Michael Solomonov, owner of Philadelphia restaurant Zahav; Carmen Gonzalez of New York, also a contender from Top Chef; and Kent Rathbun, owner of Texas restaurants Abacus and Jasper’s, and a former contender on Iron Chef America. 

“With the addition of the Nutrisystem Chefs Culinary Council, we now have some of the hottest and most talented chefs in the industry as advisors. They’ll be guiding us on the latest trends in the food industry and help us bring foods and programs to market that will be truly innovative"

Why Are The Changes To Nutrisystem Important?

At PEERtrainer we have observed that many people are interested in the convenience of home food delivery. The core problem is usually the cost. There are services out there that can cost over a thousand dollars a month. If you have the budget there are many great locally based services.

Nutrisystem appears to tackling this problem by increasing food quality and taste while keeping a lid on costs. We will be interested to hear from people how the rhetoric of the company matches the reality of the customer experience.

If the changes that the company have communicated are for real, this will represent a good step forward for the home food delivery market.

Visit The Nutrisystem Website To Learn More

FORT WASHINGTON, PA. (December 28, 2010) /PRNewswire/ — Nutrisystem, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI), the number one home delivery weight loss company, announced today that it is revamping its programs by incorporating its highest scoring, best tasting fresh frozen gourmet foods into all of its weight loss plans at the lowest price in the Company’s history. Part of Nutrisystem’s “Hooray You! New You Revolution” initiative is to empower and celebrate the success of its members, and with these significant changes it will make Nutrisystem® weight loss programs more accessible to a wider audience than ever before. The new Nutrisystem 28-day program will now include one-third frozen foods and two-thirds of pantry foods. Additionally, the program previously cost $399 per month and it will now cost $299, including an additional free week of pantry foods, a gourmet money back guarantee and free shipping. The New Nutrisystem® Select® Plan, available only in the Continental U.S., can be purchased by calling the Nutrisystem hotline 1-800-891-3215 or logging onto www.nutrisystem.com.

“The launch of this program is a groundbreaking accomplishment for our team. Nutrisystem has now found a way to do what no other weight loss company had been able to do – and that is to provide home delivery of fresh-frozen foods at the lowest price in the category,” said Joe Redling, Chairman and CEO of Nutrisystem. “We spent the better part of the last year conducting extensive category research and, of course, listening to our own customers. The message we heard was clear and simple – they want great tasting, high quality foods at a low price with no gimmicks and no complicated plans. Through this system wide revamp I’m truly pleased that we’ll now be providing just that.”

Added Redling, “This winter season, many weight loss companies are launching new programs. We applaud those who are working hard in the fight to combat the national obesity epidemic but warn consumers to be wary of the newest fads and magic pill solutions. At Nutrisystem, our program is backed by the science of the low Glycemic Index and at a low price. We believe the solution to a healthier lifestyle can be just that simple.”

Nutrisystem Chefs Culinary Council

As part of the effort to revamp its food program, Nutrisystem has assembled a Culinary Council of industry leading chefs from around the United States to act as an advisory board to guide Nutrisystem in developing the best tasting and most desirable foods and menus going forward. The Nutrisystem Culinary Council includes: Tony Mantuano, recently one of the Top Chef Masters Chef contenders; Mark Estee known for his restaurants in Nevada and California; Michael Solomonov, owner of Philadelphia restaurant Zahav; Carmen Gonzalez of New York, also a contender from Top Chef; and Kent Rathbun, owner of Texas restaurants Abacus and Jasper’s, and a former contender on Iron Chef America.

“With the addition of the Nutrisystem Chefs Culinary Council, we now have some of the hottest and most talented chefs in the industry as advisors. They’ll be guiding us on the latest trends in the food industry and help us bring foods and programs to market that will be truly innovative,” said Redling.

The New Nutrisystem Select

“Nutrisystem Select” offers gourmet, fresh frozen cuisine to every customer, delivered right to their doorstep. As part of the revamp of its food programs, Nutrisystem is adding new items to its menu including: Garden Vegetable Omelet, Margherita Pizza, Roasted Vegetable Pizza, Asian Style Beef, Roasted Turkey Medallions, and Orange Crème Bar.

The New Nutrisystem Select program includes:

* Free 24 hour, seven days a week phone access to nutrition support and counseling from the Nutrisystem team of registered dieticians as well as weight loss counselors

* Free membership and access to online tools, tips and community support on Nutrisystem.com

* Savings of hundreds of dollars compared to other weight loss programs

* New – Gourmet Guarantee – money back if not completely satisfied

* New – First seven days free

* New – Transition plans to help keep you on track after reaching your goal weight

* Available for Women, Men, Seniors and people with type 2 diabetes who want to lose weight via Nutrisystem D

* Nutrisystem is delivered right to the customer’s door, and free shipping is included with Auto Delivery – there’s never any center visits or calorie or carb counting required

“As the nation continues to spiral into an ever-worsening cycle of obesity, we’re taking action now that will make our weight loss programs more accessible to more Americans than ever before. When crafting this new program, we recognized that the barriers to dieting and the reasons why people fail often comes down to a matter of cost, convenience and eating foods that taste good,” said Dr. Bruce Daggy, Vice President of Research and Development of Nutrisystem. “Feedback from our members has always given the highest food ratings to our frozen foods, but cost has been a barrier. One of the most important aspects of our programs that will continue is our adherence to a balanced diet based on the low Glycemic Index. We recognize that weight loss and health is not just about counting calories. Our focus remains to support a sensible and sustainable approach to eating.”

To order the new Nutrisystem, visit www.Nutrisystem.com

Can Coconut Help You Burn Fat and Increase Your Energy?

Last week we published "How To Make Spicy Thai Curry" which featured coconut milk as an ingredient. Since the saturated fat of coconut milk is high, we linked to a piece we wrote a few months ago called "Is Coconut Bad For You Because It Contains Saturated Fat."

We had written this piece in response to someone saying they had removed coconut milk from our PEERtrainer Energy Soup recipe at the suggestion of a cardiologist friend who had said that "the saturated fat in coconut is bad for you."

In this piece we had presented the views of Dr. Jonny Bowden, a well known author and nutritionist. Bowden has argued strongly that this view of coconut was incorrect. A long time PEERtrainer member left a comment last week challenging his view on this subject:

"Unfortunately, if Dr Bowden is asserting that Pacific Islanders have low rates of obesity related disease, the evidence does not back this up. Studies among Hawaiian and Samoan Pacific Islanders indicate that they have among the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the world. There is also published research that coconut oil can cause an immediate increase in LDL, (bad), cholesterol after ingestion. I have not read Dr Bowden's book so can't comment further without knowing what research he relies on but until more solid research is available, I would proceed with caution with this saturated fat. For now, the evidence in support of olive oil as part of a mediterranean type diet is much more compelling."

We reached out to Dr. Bowden and asked if he would like to respond. Here is his response:

"The studies you are talking about are more recent, and were done since the introduction of western fast food restaurants and the adoption of more Westernized diets.

Studies going back to the early 80's on the Trobriand Islanders when they ate their native diet show quite the opposite result. In these studies, virtually 80% of calories in the native diet came from coconut and coconut products and the rate of heart disease was almost unmeasurably low. (ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7270479).

As far as saturated fat' (from coconut oil or any other source) raising LDL, you have to realize that saturated fat also raises HDL, usually more than it does LDL, resulting in a somewhat improved lipid profile. Much more important is the fact that we now know that LDL is not a single, homogenous molecule. There are at least 6 different subtypes of LDL, and not all of them are "bad".

Saturated fat will raise LDL, but it often raises the more harmless type of LDL particles (called pattern A) and lowers the more athrogenic particles (pattern B).

Your LDL may be higher, but your lipid profile is improved. (This often happens with low-carb diets, but that's a different subject.) Moreover, recent research on coconut oil and obesity showed that coconut oil actually raised HDL and lowered LDL as well as reduced abdominal obesity.

(Ref: http://www.springerlink.com/content/02ngg2413wm2w630/?p=b15b9325833647369012d5e19a06ac9dπ=1).

Coconut oil contains lauric acid and capryllc acid, both, known to be anti-microbal. Most of the saturated fat in it is actually MCT (medium chain triglycerides) which the body tends to use as energy rather than to store as fat.

While the reader is correct that there's a lot of support for olive oil as a healthy oil (which it is), that doesn't mean that coconut oil isn't an excellent addition to your kitchen (along with almond oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, macademia nut oil, and other healthy unrefined oils).

Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

Board Certified Nutrition Specialist

Nutrition Editor, Pilates Style

Editorial Advisory Board: Men's Health Magazine

Columnist Clean Eating, Better Nutrition, AOL

Author: "150 Healthiest Foods on Earth", "The Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy", "Living Low Carb: Controlled Carbohydrate Eating for Long Term Weight Loss","The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer"

www.jonnybowden.com

Follow me on twitter.com/jonnybowden Become a fan on Facebook: Dr. Jonny Bowden

What Successful Weight Loss REALLY Looks Like

Hint: It's not the weekly 7 - 20 pound loss you see on reality television!

We tend to see the same thing over and over at PEERtrainer: people can actually be on a successful weight loss track, but because they don't KNOW what a successful track looks like, they think they are failing.

Once they believe they have screwed up, then they say "screw it" and really screw up. If only they knew how well they were doing! While success does depend on your specific goals, starting point, body type and regimen, there are a few things that are consistent across the board. Once you measure your weekly weigh in against this checklist, you'll know if you're on the right track.

1. Weight loss does NOT come in the form of losing 2 pounds every week until you reach your goal, no matter how well you've stuck to your food and exercise plan.

When you were gaining, you didn't gain 2 pounds every single week in a measured fashion. You're not going to lose it in a measured fashion no matter how well you stick to your plan.  You might lose 2 pounds one week.  You might even lose three pounds in a week.  Then, you might lose 1 pound the next week.

Some weeks you might lose zero and there are weeks you even gain.  These weeks are the most frustrating and we all have these kinds of weeks where we feel like we're doing everything right and the scale doesn't give us what we want.

Keep track of the weekly weigh-ins but take a look at the month and see the overall trend. You might have gained a 1/2 pound one of the weeks but take note if you lost 4 pounds overall for the month. If the month is trending downwards, you are in the right place.  

2. Nobody is perfect 100% of the time.

Sure, there are a few people that are perfect.  I haven't seen them but I'm sure they're out there.  There are also a few people who can eat 3000 calories a day and have a perfect figure and that's just the way it goes. Just because you went out drinking and ate all the bread, stuffed your face with pasta, and had 2 desserts, and then woke up and had a cheese omelet the next day does not mean you have failed.

Everyone does this.

We all make a committment and we all slip up.  Just like Vince Lombardi says, it's not if you fall, it's if you get back up. You fell. So what? Learn what will work for you to get back on track. You can fall and still be on a successful weight loss track by simply making the decision to get back there.

3. You've been doing everything right and you're not losing anything. (aka The Dreaded Plateau)

We rarely see members who don't hit a plateau in the weight loss process. Some can last for a few weeks. I was on one for an entire year!

It's so easy to say to yourself, "I'm doing everything right so this is where my weight should be."  That might be true, but it might not be true. It wasn't for me. Once I changed my approach and made the decision to be thinner, no matter how long that would take, I dropped the weight. I increased the nutrients. I changed my exercise approach. I kept the principles of optimism by Martin Seligman in mind. Plateaus do not mean you are done. They are usually a sign that you need to make a change. Do you have the courage to figure it out and keep on going?

Keep in mind that a real weight loss track of ordinary fluctuations are boring to watch. The double digit weekly losses you see have to be created somehow, which is why it's television. Sometimes the loss is real and lasting. Many times, the weight loss results are usually over once the 6 week "sprint" has come to an end.

Real life is more like a marathon, some miles are effortless, some are excruciating and the only way you really fail is if you quit.

Jackie

The Magic Fridge: The PEERtrainer Guide to Hunger-Free Weight Loss

By Jackie Wicks

Welcome. I’m happy to finally sit down and write this because people have been asking me for this information for a long time. I’ve never had one place where I could refer members to all of the recipes, suggestions, kitchen aids and tips and this is it! The guide....the way to finally make the concepts that we outline in the Cheat System come alive in your kitchen and your life. This guide teaches you how to actually do what you know and live hunger-free and change the way you look at diet food forever.

The GUIDE.

This is my guide to living the ‘diet fusion system’ and making your diet and food choices work for you. How often do you feel like a slave to a particular diet or a way of eating? How often do you find yourself saying to yourself, of course I would eat a healthy meal but who has time to prepare it? Besides, my children won’t eat it so who wants to make 2 dinners? So often the answer becomes the same pasta and butter with Parmesan because it’s easy and you know how to make it. It’s not that you don’t want to eat well with a diet full of vegetables and high nutrient foods: it’s that no one has made it easy for you. No one seems to want to give 2 minute ideas. It’s all so “gourmet” out there.

Quick Definition of Diet Fusion.

Diet fusion materialized when I observed over and over what worked with the people who have been through PEERtrainer.com. What worked for losing weight. What worked for sustaining weight loss. What worked to improve health. What worked within the context of their life. It’s simply means fusing diet approaches together to find what works for you. We recently created a more structured system that people could follow each day.

Here are the three pillars:

- Nutrient Rich: Eating foods with a high density of nutrients, i.e. vegetables and preferably the green leafy kind that are the key to feeling full and improving health.

- Eating for Energy: If you don’t have energy, you really won’t do much of anything. I’ve lost years of my life because of low energy. You have to find the food combinations that make you feel like a rockstar.

- Portion Control: 80% of your day should fall in the first 2 categories of nutrient rich and eating for energy but 20% of the time, for those times when you’re out and celebrating with wine and Triple Creme Cheese, you have to have a sense of how much you’re overdoing it. This works when you’re out at a restaurant, when you’re traveling.

INTRODUCTION: We All Know What To Do:

And we would do it all the time if it was easy, fast and tasted good

I practice diet fusion. PEERtrainers do diet fusion. It works. The Magic Fridge guide does NOT include low fat cheesecake recipes or whole wheat pizza. There are millions of recipes already out there that are easy and taste delicious.. The Magic Fridge focuses on the 80% of your plate, the part where you have to get in the high nutrients for sustainable and hunger free weight loss.

I would still prefer to pick up a slice of pizza any day of the week. A slice of pizza is fast, tastes great and it’s easy. Unfortunately, now that I’m 40, portion control doesn’t work like it did. One slice of pizza leaves me hungry. I want 10 more slices! The cure is high nutrient food that tastes great and doesn’t require an all day slaving in the kitchen.

The purpose is to teach you some basic concepts of diet fusion but most importantly, make it easy, and make it taste good! I’m not going to put in tons of spices that you don’t know the name of because it can be intimidating. For those who love food, love the process and make it the main event in their life, this book is for you as well. I do not sacrifice on taste. If I had to eat bland food, I couldn’t sustain my weight loss of over 60 pounds. When I do make high nutrient dishes, it’s an investment.

What do I mean? If I spend the time making food, it better be the gift that keeps on giving. I want to spend 45 minutes making something that taste great and then be able to have it over time. I’ll make a soup that will last me for a few days in the fridge and I can freeze the rest. I’ll make a staple to a salad that will last for days and I can grab anytime I want to make something. If I’m going to soak beans, I’m going to soak a lot of them so they are in the fridge waiting for me.

When I first mentioned this concept to my husband, he remarked that it reminded him of an Indonesian story he read when he was young of a rice bowl that was always filled with food to help feed hungry villagers. It was a gift from the gods. The book was called ‘The Magic Pot’.

I’m here to give you your "magic fridge". Because I have one and it’s the way I sustain my good habits.

-- You will start to see yourself eat well because it’s easy to do so with these tricks and recipes.

-- You will start to feel full because you’re eating nutrient rich foods.

-- You will have the process of ways to make vegetables taste great de-mystified.

-- You’ll make small steps because it’s easy to and you’ll start to discover flavors and foods that you never thought you’d like. And they become a big part of your life. 

Sample Recipe, (Inspired by Beau at The Food Shack In Jupiter, Florida)

How To Create The Magic Fridge:

...And make it the gift that keeps on giving

I’ll introduce a few kitchen tools that I could not do without: you don’t have to get the fancy stainless steel version and after you have them you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.

The most important thing is that you’ll learn what you like and you’ll understand how to find great tasting nutrient rich foods when you’re out and about in your day.

If you discover that you like tomatoes and onions and avocado, you’ll start to look for these combinations and you’ll find them. One of my favorite “go -to” places is Chipotle. This chain has spread like a weed and you can almost always find one. I order the beans, salsa, extra tomatoes and guacamole and while it’s not full of greens, it’s delicious and it gives me energy.

One important note: I make every effort to eat in a nutrient rich way 80% of the time. 20% of the time, I go with the flow. I don’t want to be one of those annoying people who says I’m on a diet, I can’t have that. So when I’m out at my children’s carnival at school and they only have hamburgers, hotdogs and chips, I don’t have to leave. I make the best choice for me (and I’ll show you what that is) and that falls into the 20% of my day that I practice the portion control part of the equation.

*****If I can leave you with one thing: no one knows your body better than you do. No one knows what gives you energy and makes you feel so excited you can’t stand it better than you do. Just because someone tells you to eat in a certain way (including me!), still question if this is right for you. Try something, see if it works for you and modify it as needed. This has been the only characteristic I have seen from everyone who has lost weight and kept it off and not been starving, or a slave to discipline. They’ve found what works for them and they’ve kept doing it.

Use this as a guide and tell me what works and what doesn’t and feel free to send new things. I’ll include them in the next version.

A final note: All the pictures were taken in my kitchen. I could have gotten a food stylist and made beautiful perfect looking foods, spices and dishes but you already see that everywhere and sometimes that’s what makes you think you can’t do it yourself. I don’t have a nanny or a personal chef. I am married with 2 young children and I run a business and I want to be lean and fit but most importantly eat for health and energy.

Everything you see here is what I make and what I do on a daily basis. It’s for you to do right now, within your constraints and busy schedule so that you can truly have it all.

Your Magic Fridge:

The way to being full and losing weight

I founded PEERtrainer in 2004 after realizing that after the height of my pregnancy weight, 185, I had only lost 20 pounds. After months of being at 165, it was evident that the myth of breastfeeding was only a myth, and I wasn’t going to be one of the lucky ones. I knew what to do. I just wasn’t doing it. A friend and I started emailing our daily food and workout habits back and forth with the hope that this would provide the accountability we needed. Two other friends joined us and the first “PEERtrainer group” was born. Buddy up and slim down worked.

One Final Thing: About PEERtrainer

We’ve helped people over the years and our success stories have been featured all over the press, in PEOPLE and Good Morning America. PEERtrainer has become a weight loss lab of sorts, with the collective sharing what works for them. There is no one person or approach that works. I’m not the end all. No one is. You have to learn the basics and make it work for you. I have finally lost all of the pregnancy weight and a few more. I’m 5’5 and I’m between 120 and 123 pounds and I don’t live in the gym. I don’t have rock hard abs and I’m ok with that. I’m more comfortable with my body than I ever was at 20. In these pages you’ll see who I am and how I did it. This is just part 1 because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, the more you learn when it comes to food and nutrition, the more you realize you don’t know. I love it though. I love figuring it out and learning something, just one little tool that will change how I do things.

-- Jackie Wicks, cofounder, PEERtrainer

How To Purchase "The Magic Fridge."

This guide is priced at $10, and you can click here to purchase and download. When you buy a copy you will be placed on an email list, and you will sent updates to this guide when they are available as long as you stay on the list.

The Magic Fridge is also provided as a free bonus for people who choose to start the PEERtrainer Point Of No Return Program. To watch a video presentation of this program click here. To read a page to learn about the program where you don't need video or audio, click here.

 

 

Differences Between European and American Eating Habits: From The Perspective of An American In Europe

There has been a thread in the PEERtrainer community that asked the question, "Do Europeans Eat Better Than Americans." It was started a few years back. A couple days ago someone posted an excellent response. This person had lived in Europe for a year and a half.

Here are the observations:

I worked in Central Europe for 1.5 years because of my job. I traveled all around the EU and stayed at nemerous places and experienced anything from Scandinavia to Greece to Ireland to Poland and all points in between. The differences that I saw were these:
1. The frozen ready made food section at supermarkets was usually small
2. Most veggies and meats were hormone free and organic.
3. people ate full fat everything (milk, cheese, fatty meats, ect)
4. There are fast food restaurants like McDonalds, KFC, BK but it was kinda "taboo" to go there
5. People eat many more meals a day but they are small.
6. Most everyone cooks at home
7. There is a lot more exercise in the form of using public transit to or from work, biking, ect.
8. The portions are smaller but they taste soooo much better.
9. Alot of people drink and it is socially acceptable to do so (in reasonable qualities)
10. Better/free healthcare.
11. There was a lot less salt/sugar in the food
It is not to say that there aren't fat people in Europe but there is a lot less of them. I lost 15 pounds while I was there just by eating home cooked meals and drinking a lot! On the downside some EU countries have a shorter lifespan than the US but they are catching up. A typical day of eating in Poland went like this:
1. Breakfast at home was a sandwich with tomatoes/cucumbers and tea
2. "Second breakfast" was tea and maybe a small sandwich/pastry
3. Lunch was chicken with cabbage and potatoes
4. Evening snack was a soup or salad, something small
5. Dinner was scrambled eggs, sandwich, soup, small sausage, ect
Yes you est 5 times a day but you never go hungry and the portions are usually enough small enough to fit on a small plate.
Most people brought lunches to work and everything usually tasted great. Lunch usually involves at least a beer or some wine. I know that Poland is not the pinnacle of cusine but it was all very hearty and tasty. When I came back to the states I was disgusted by the bread, meat, dairy products, pastries, the salty/sweet foos, and the ammount of people who not only had a little junk in their trunk but were 100+ pounds overweight!

Before I used to eat frozen pizza for dinner and call it home cooking but now I cook 90% of my meals and I have started shopping at Whole Foods because it is the only place that has decent food. I know that food there is more expensive there but, I feel that the quality of food that you put in makes you feel better and helps you loose weight. It is ok if it is not fat free as long as you don't eat 5 pounds of it a day and moderate alchohol is not bad for you either; a beer or two a day is not going to kill you. 

Interesting insight!

Add to this thread

 

 

What Is Your Exercise Motivation Type?

One thing that we see in the PEERtrainer community is that there are about three different "motivation types." The first type we see are the people who start losing weight and then start running long races. They jump right into it, get involved in the running community. (You guys know who you are!!)

The second motivation type we see are people who are a little less hardcore, but do run from time to time. It seems that their motivation is also internal, and it comes and it goes. Usually these people need to kick themselves in their own butt to get going. But they do.

The third type that we see are people who respond well to external stimulus. We observed this very clearly in our latest PEERtrainer Spotlight, which served as a mini "motivation lab" for the last few months. We have been testing a new "exercise motivation device" from Philips. We were able to see very clearly who responded well to it and who didn't.

If you struggle with motivation to exercise, you'll find the results and analysis interesting. Click the link below to read:

How To Get The Motivation To Exercise

-Jackie

Weight Watchers Points Plus Program

By Jackie Wicks PEERtrainer Founder

December 2011 Update: Weight Watchers has announced some changes to their Points Plus System For 2012. The changes are not all that big. The three most important changes are:

• Added flexibility for daily points ranges
• Greater flexibility to follow their healthy eating plan instead of counting Points
• Bigger focus on activity points which will help you earn points for exercise.

That's about it. To understand what makes Points Plus "tick" keep reading:

What Makes Weight Watchers Points Plus Different From Their Previous Programs:

Weight Watchers has announced that they are coming up with a new version of their Points System. The company has stated that this new points system or new program will better reflect the latest "science."

According to Gail Gedan Spencer, the new Weight Watchers Points System will be called "Points Plus."

Summary Of The New Weight Watchers Points System:

• The Points System will better emphasize the quality of food.
• Fruit and most vegetables will have zero points.
• Addition of 49 "Real Living" bonus points to help people deal with party foods and "snacky" situations.

Why Are These Changes To The Points System Necessary

Hopefully this will address the biggest weakness of their system. Which is simply that people CAN lose weight following their points system by eating food that is really bad for them and bad for long term health. Weight Watchers has helped perpetuate a notion of dieting that almost primarily involves a portion controlled, low fat, high fiber diet. What they have not done over the years is done a good job with their points system of differentiating between high nutrient foods and low nutrient foods.

Last year Weight Watchers made a step in the right direction with the launch of the Weight Watchers Momentum Program. The points system did not change, but their recipes did start to include foods that were higher in plant content and higher in overall "nutrient density."

An Easy System To Help You Eat Better

The company had visited with Dr. Joel Fuhrman before the launch of the Momentum Program, so it is clear that they are going in the right direction. It would appear that the "New Weight Watchers Program Of 2011" is a continuation of the direction that they began with Momentum.

The biggest thing to watch for with Weight Watchers new program is a shift in how points are calculated that properly rewards high nutrient foods like greens, and properly penalizes low nutrient foods. 

What Is The Science That Weight Watchers Is Changing Their Program In Response To?

The most important change in the understanding of the "science of hunger" is that certain foods that contain high nutrients can almost "turn off" hunger. Any green vegetable like broccoli and spinach or green leaf like kale, romaine lettuce are very high in micronutrients. These greens and vegetable are packed with nutrients that cause people to call them superfoods. This is something you have probably heard before, and it is no secret that greens are considered good for you. But what has changed is how these foods are strongly correlated with reducing your hunger. So in addition to reducing your calories and fat, you MUST increase your greens.

Again, this is common sense, but Weight Watchers has such mindshare (and large marketing budget) that they have, for many years, essentially controlled how people think of a diet. What Weight Watchers should be doing with this update is creating an incentive structure where if you eat a huge portion of greens, you should get a very small point "credit." We will see if this new Points Plus system includes that, but it would make a lot of sense to provide people a half point "credit" if they ate 8-16 ounces of greens.

Will This Program Change Improve Weight Watchers Success Rate?

A lot of people look at programs like Weight Watchers and ask "will I succeed on this or not." The short answer to this question is that if you are looking at ANY one company or product as your single solution, your odds of success are going to be low. But if you rethink and redefine how you approach your weight loss efforts, you are going to be a ton more successful.

At PEERtrainer we recently created a presentation that outlines Why Most Weight Loss Programs Set You Up For Failure. One of the key concepts that we have isolated is "magic bullet thinking" which is really a function of weight loss program sales processes. Companies have to make you think that their solution is THE thing that will work for you. In reality, one has to turn this concept on it's head, which is tough because it is more work.

But you can do this. Once you get into the mindset that no one company or idea is going to be "the magic bullet", it frees you up to really focus on what will work. Frankly, a big part of weight loss success involves simply managing your own expectations better. When you make the decision to go easy on yourself, your odds improve. When you commit to a plan BUT give yourself plenty of time, your odds improve.

When you do a simple thing like write down one daily goal in the morning, your odds improve. There is no secret to any of this. But there is a structure component, and often we see that when people choose their correct structure, it helps them a lot. Some people like the in person accountability of a Weight Watchers Meeting. Some people love being motivated by a leader. (<link takes you to a motivational video that you can watch without entering any information!)

Some people feel as if they really know everything about eating less, eating more vegetables and moving more- but they just have a hard time following through. 

Additionally, if you feel as if your weight issues are emotional in nature, you probably need to dig into that a little. PEERtrainer has put together an emotional eating course which may help you a great deal if you are one of those people who struggles with night eating, emotional eating and stress eating.

As we learn more about the details of this program we will make sure to update you on a periodic basis. We will also work to make sure to guide you to good recipe ideas that are based on these new Points values. We find that people love these specific suggestions that they can do on their own. (And For Free!!) If you want to be sent these suggestions, make sure to join the (free) PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day email list.

December 1 Update: Concerns About The New Weight Watchers Program.

We are starting to be sent some feedback from members of the PEERtrainer community who are also longtime Weight Watchers members. These are people who have been helped by both companies. The concerns fall into two general categories:

1. People feel like this system was designed primarily with the profitability of the company in mind. Here is a snippet of something that just showed up in our email:

"I'm thinking the new "system" requires a person to think of all foods they consume in terms of protein, fat, carbs and fiber in the form of extracting that specific information for the purpose of inputting it into one of the new Points Plus calculators they will gladly sell you for that purpose.

This "new" Points Plus program all but requires you to buy an accompanying calculator, introductory price of $5.95, otherwise there is no way a person can figure a points value of the foods they eat. That was a tidy little decision made at a corporate level destined to boost the profit margins."

2. The emphatic emphasis towards Protein and away from Carbs and Fat seems to be taking a page out of the Atkins and South Beach playbook. There have been some serious concerns about high protein, low fat and low carb diets. You can read here about the fundamental differences between Weight Watchers and other approaches which many health professionals consider much healthier and safer.

Whole Foods Market has recently entered into this debate, and has strongly endorsed an alternative view, which we discuss in the following paragraph.

We will be updating this post as we get more information and feedback.

Suggestion For Making The Adjustments On Your Own

The single best thing one can do to improve the quality of their diet is to understand how powerful high nutrient foods like green vegetables are. If you are near a Whole Foods Market, take a stroll into their produce section, and you will see something called "The ANDI Points System." You just need to spend about 15 minutes looking at the scores to get a good sense of what you should be eating. Stick with the Weight Watchers Points system that you know, but FOCUS on as many high nutrient foods from the ANDI points system as you can.

 Discuss the new Weight Watchers Points Plus Program in the PEERtrainer community.

Feb 15th Update:

Click here to read about the new "PEERtrainer Cheat System" which is a new, simple to follow system for eating. The objective is to help guide you towards a way of eating that will make it easier to lose weight, give you more energy and help you feel better.

Related PEERtrainer Weight Loss Articles:

Hit A Plateau On Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers Fruit Points

Free Weight Loss Motivation Videos (3)

Does NutriSystem Work?

Are Weight Watchers Meetings Right For Me?

Jillian Michaels "Shred It With Weights" 

The Magic Fridge: PEERtrainer's New Guide To Hunger Free Weight Loss

 

 

Health Information	Nutrition Data
free online weight loss journalDaily journaling or logging of your food, exercise and emotions are an extremely powerful tool to help you lose weight. When you write down high nutrient densityNutrient density is the measurement of the concentration of micronutrients in food. Some foods, like green vegetables have very high nutrient density measurements. Processed foods have very low nutrient density measurements. Foods that are nutrient dense are associated with greater health, increased energy and weight loss. weight watchers log in onlineKeeping a weight loss journal or log each day is a core part of the Weight Watchers program. PEERtrainer provides a free daily weight watchers log how does weight watchers work health communityParties can trigger overeating for several reasons - maybe you like to have your hand on food because you're nervous. Maybe they're serving food you rarely eat because you pick healthy choices or maybe, it's the simplest answer that you didn't get a chance to grab a snack prior and you're very hungry. It's hard when there is lots of food, readily available and sometimes even a waiter that has a large serving platter at eye level with a napkin and a welcoming gesture. Here are a few tips to help you get through the party simple food journal what are acrylamides weight loss support onlineOnline Weight Loss Support how to count fat grams to lose weight beck diet solution reviewThe Beck Diet Solution	coke zero nutrition factsFind Coca Cola Zero (Coke Zero) Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com hummus calories avacado nutrition calories in scallopsFind Scallops Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com orange juice caloriesFind Calories in Orange Juice Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com kraft american cheeseFind Calories in Kraft American cheese slices Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com squash caloriesFind Butternut Squash Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com tangerine caloriesFind Tangerine Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com olive oil calories
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simple food log  |  chicken quesadilla caloriesFind Chicken Quesadillas Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com  |  calories in zucchini  |  cheddar cheese caloriesFind Cheddar Cheese Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com  |  clean diet dr jungerThe Clean Program by Dr Alejandro Junger is part of a new wave of programs that seek to redefine what a cleanse is and broaden the term. For many years, products like the Master Cleanse had people ingest certain ingredients. The Clean Program views these as incomplete. The clean program and others like it, take an approach that is much more rooted in science and common sense and less in tradition.  |  weightlifting weight loss  |  nutrient density chartNutrient density is the measurement of the concentration of micronutrients in food. Some foods, like green vegetables have very high nutrient density measurements. Processed foods have very low nutrient density measurements. Foods that are nutrient dense are associated with greater health, increased energy and weight loss.  |  kale nutrition factsFind Kale Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com  |  weight loss weight training  |  ferrero rocher calories  |  butter nutrition facts  |  cantaloupe nutrition  |  calories in tomato  |  miller lite caloriesFind Miller lite Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com  |  croissant caloriesFind Croissant Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com  |  how to lose just 10 pounds  |  grapes nutrition facts  |  resistance home gym  |  big mac nutrition facts  |  calories in a tootsie rollFind TOOTSIE ROLL, chocolate-flavor roll Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com  |  wt watchers meetings

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Dr. Andrew Weil's Vitamin Advisor Helps Guide One To The Right Vitamins and Supplements

At PEERtrainer we are big fans of the book, "8 Weeks To Optimum Health" written by Dr. Andrew Weil. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, but he also very open to exploring natural healing methods with the objective of helping you develop a great preventative health foundation. We highly recommend that you have a copy of this book in your house. It does take a little work to digest this information.

Throughout the "8 Weeks" Dr. Weil goes into some depth about vitamins and supplements. He starts with a very basic introduction to the value of Vitamin C. From there he progresses and discusses the benefits of a variety of vitamins, minerals and supplements. Many of which people have been using for thousands of years.

Recently, Dr Weil has developed an online tool and service that helps to guide you through some of these supplements. Over the course of 5 minutes you are asked a series of questions about your health, your habits and some basic background. Once you enter in this information you are presented with some interesting recommendations, a free vitamin and supplement recommendation, with the option to purchase.

PEERtrainer finds this valuable because while the objective here is to help his company sell vitamin products, the advice and guidance is very high quality. What sets Dr. Weil apart in the industry is that he really embraces both modern and traditional medicine. The result is advice that represents deep knowledge, but also a fundamentally open mind.

Even if you never buy a supplement from him, you'll most likely learn something. Few consumer items are as mind-boggling as nutritional supplements. Store shelves featuring endless bottles of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids can leave the potential buyer thoroughly confused. In addition, many people don't know where they can find these fundamental nutrients in everyday foods.

Dr Weil's "Vitamin Advisor" may also help you comparison shop and help you become a better educated consumer:

"Vitamins are much like anything else - you generally get what you pay for," says Dr. Weil. "But even very expensive vitamins sometimes miss the mark."

I hope this book recommendation and website recommendation helps you. I have personally owned "8 Weeks To Optimum Health" for over 10 years, and Habib and I have two copies of this book in our house right now. The book is a great resource and I never tire of strongly recommending it.

If you have questions about vitamins, minerals and supplements, I also recommend going to http://www.drweilvitaminadvisor.com  and taking their short survey. You may learn something that can help you!

Additionally Dr. Weil donates all of his after-tax profits from royalties from the sale of Vitamin Advisor products to the Weil Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting integrative medicine through training, education and research.

 

The more open minded doctors, the better off we will all be!

 
Regards,

Jackie

 

PS: If you find something that interests you on his site, the following link will give you

25% off your first order:

 

Custom Vitamin Packs from Dr. Weil - Save 25% OFF First Order

 

 

 

 

 
  

Story Of A Woman Who Cured Hashimoto's Disease (And Lost 15 kg) In A Year!

This is a story of a PEERtrainer member that was sent to us today. It is awesome!!

15 kg in 12 months or how I got a new attitude of life

I’m a 31 years old woman from Germany and today I’d like to share my story with you.

I’m with Peertrainer since October 2009 and this time has been the most inspiring and uplifting time in my life. I don’t exaggerate when I tell you that I have a totally new attitude of life and an absolutely new and great body image.

When I started at Peertrainer in October 2009 I was very desperate and not happy at all. You must know that I suffer from a chronic autoimmune disease in my thyroid (Hashimoto’s disease). I must have had this disease since about 16 years now, but never recognized it until it got really worse – starting 2007 basically. I was tired all the time, totally depressed, low in energy, overweight, losing hair, muscles aching awfully and my whole body basically messed up. It was very difficult to find a doctor who knows about this disease and would treat me properly and without this smug “it’s all in your head” bullshit. I nearly ended up accepting that I would have to live like this forever. So in all my mess I started binge eating. When I felt down, alone at home, didn’t want to deal with my feelings and just wanted to numb me  - I ate whatever was in reach, until I felt really sick. But somehow it never helped, I only felt worse.

On yet another binging day I felt so disgusted about myself, I searched the net for some help on binge eating and I ended up watching videos of Jackie on Youtube. And those videos somehow stroke a chord in me. And I knew I have to change my life, so I signed up for the tip of the day and started looking for some groups and teams. The beginning was all new to me, never have done such a group thing and it took some time to get used to it. But soon enough I got hooked and some days later I couldn’t imagine my life without this support anymore.

Today I’m at 70kg (I started with 85kg) and all my troubles with Hashimoto’s have disappeared. The disease is still there obviously – it’ll always be, it’s chronic – but it doesn’t disturb my life anymore. I’m full of energy, started working out 4 days a week and feel like a different person – from body and soul.

So how did I do this? What are my dos and dont’s that I want you to know? I’ll sum up my top 5 points here for you:

• #1: Get some help!

I tried to lose weight and become fit for a long time, but after coming to PEERtrainer everything fell into the right place all of a sudden. It’s so crucial to have a lot of support on that weight loss journey and to know that you are not alone.

• #2: Take care of your soul and spirit!

While losing more and more weight I learned that I also have to take good care of my soul and spirit to make this journey a successful one. And I learned so much about myself during that time. It’s all about bringing body, mind and spirit in balance. I do that with writing a lot and always starting the day with a little thinking.

• #3: Look for a role model!

I don’t talk about stalking or obsession. But it helped me a lot to have a role model to motivate me. My role model might be a bit unconventional, as he’s male. It’s Dave Gahan the musician. He went through serious drug problems in the 90ies and came out alive on the other side. I can totally relate to his feelings and philosophy of life, when he talks about it in interviews. And you might be surprised how many parallels there are between drug addiction and weight problems.

• #4: Try vegetarian or vegan!

After I learned that a lot of people feel better when going vegetarian or even vegan, I thought it’s worth to give it a try. It’s not as hard as you might think of, and I feel so much better. The book “Eat to live” by Dr. Joel Fuhrman was very eye opening for me.

• #5: Keep your awareness up!

You might come to that “point of no return”, where you think you are stable now and nothing can ever cause you to fall down again. I’ve been there. But I made the experience that I’ll never be there forever. I always have to be watchful not to fall back into old habits. It’s not as present as at the beginning, but for me it’s a lifelong journey.

Did I reach my goal? Not completely yet – my actual goal was to reach 65kg, so that would be another 5kg to lose. But I’m very happy already that I’ve come so far and I’ve figured that those last 5kg will be really hard. So I’ll give it a try the next few months, but I try not to stress myself out on that.

I just started reading “Slow burn” by Stu Mittleman – and it’s very inspiring. So you always learn something new and it’s so nice to be part of life and grow every day. I can’t believe that I nearly threw that life away!

So I hope this is a little inspiration to all of you out there who are still struggling. Don’t give up the fight – it’s really worth it! You deserve to be happy and healthy – so go for it! 

 

****

Great Story, Thanks For Sharing!!!

 

How To Get The Motivation To Sign Up For Weight Watchers In 3 Days! (True Story From A PEERtrainer Member)

This email was just sent to us by someone who is on Day 3 of our course to Help Stop Emotional Eating. We are sharing it to show how quickly one can get back on track, EVEN if you have fallen WAY off track and gained a BUNCH of weight back"

"Hi, Peertrainer is helping me immensely. It gave me the motivation to sign up for Weight Watchers Online. I am a lifetime member but gained back 45 lbs now I have lost nine and feel empowered thanks to Peertrainer. WW has always worked for me when I work the plan, and with Peertrainer also, I feel very positive about my ability to lose those 45 lbs.

Peertrainer calls, (I am on call three,) helped me to re-frame how I define myself. I learned the importance of how we think about ourselves, and now I say I am not an emotional eater, I eat at times to avoid an emotion that I don't want to deal with. YAY, that is progress!

The second call stressed this and it is working for me. I stop myself before I eat and examine what I am feeling. I substitute exercise, journaling, or go to my list of activities I keep on my refrigerator and pick one. And, wow! It works!

It hit me when I scrolled down to see all the people in the group, and one member really caught my eye....2fat2lose I think that that person is setting herself up for failure, because she believes she is to fat to lose the weight, and this caused me to really think hard on all areas of my life, as to what I am saying as opposed to what I really want.

Thanks very much, love Peertrainer! 

Great Story Of A Man Who Lost 48 Pounds Following Dr. Joel Furhman's Eat To Live

Just got this comment on one of our YouTube videos about Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Eat To Live:

 

"I wrote the first comment on this video a year ago. I ended up buying the "Eat to Live" book rather than the "Eat for Health." It is my Bible!! I read and reread this book for motivation and to learn everything I can. I've since lost 48 pounds. 198 pounds to 150 pounds. Blood pressure is below 120/80, without any medication, and the blood test for cholesterol, LDL, HDL, etc. were all good. Thank you for suggesting this great resource."  Gary - In a Little Town in Northern NY

 

If you click into the video comments you will see his first comment was a year ago where he says he's going to buy the book.  There's some other great feedback there too.

You can find out all about the book at http://www.drfuhrman.com. 

 

 

How To Have the Willpower To Stop Eating After Dinner

I saw this question the other day in the Point Of No Return team and it's one I see over and over so I'm sharing the answer.  I hope you find it as helpful as I did when I fully understood the concept.

"I'm thinking I don't have the willpower to allow myself any "points" after dinner. Any ideas how I can hold myself accountable? I don't have anyone in the house on a regular basis to help me out. Forget the 3 bite rule- I currently only do "devour everything in sight". My cravings do not go away in a couple of minutes. I hold on to them for days, then attack."

Here is the answer:

The secret is this:  It doesn't take willpower at all.  The answer is that you are simply not full. If you are hungry after dinner, your body isn't getting enough nutrients. Discipline, such as the 3 bite rule, works when you're happy and you have a specific goal like a date or a reunion but the second you've had a stressful day or you've worked out, discipline goes out the window. 

That's why the Weight Watchers Points System is a great way to understand portion control but it's only 33% of it. You've got to fill up on nutrients, aka vegetables.

Yummy vegetable soups are a great way to fill up on vegetables. You have it in the fridge, you grab a bowl before you go out, or have instant nutrients with lunch or dinner. Have you made the PT energy soup?  Sometimes just one recipe can help you think of new ideas about how to make vegetables you like and want to eat every day.

I remember meeting with a client who was so frustrated by her lack of discipline with snacking at night.  "I run a business, I run my family and I'm successful at it all!  Why don't I have control over this??"

I had to help her find a food she loved that would also be full of nutrients and keep her full.  We uncovered her long lost love of gazpacho. 

I asked, "If both a brownie and and gazpacho were sitting eye-level in the refrigerator, would you have gazpacho or the brownie?"  She answered, "I want to eat healthy and I love gazpacho.  I would choose the gazpacho every time."

This is the key concept:  High nutrient foods are the only way to feel full.  Find some high nutrient soups or salads you love and you have unlocked the secret to lasting weight loss.  Because there will be no more hunger.  No more discipline.  You will feel full.  You will lose the weight because you will no longer be "great all day" while you mess up at night.

Salads, greens and vegetables.  I can't emphasize this enough.  At a certain age, only high nutrient foods will make you feel full.   You can spend your time lamenting over why you can't stop at one slice of pizza anymore or you can step up your vegetables.   This is how I do it.  Want to come over for dinner?? :) 

Jackie

Reebok Easy Tone Shoes: I LOOOOVE these things!!

I love the REEBOK easy tones.  I saw the commercials and had some familiarity with the MBTs and the Skechers.  These easy tones are the best shoes I've had in years.  I wear them ALL the time.  They are more comfortable than my running shoes and I never thought I'd say that!  You MUST try them.  

They have incredible room in the toe box.  They are the first shoes I want to put on in the morning.   And they're so cute!!  Well done Reebok!  I haven't had a pair since those white ones in 7th grade!

Be sure to order a 1/2 size bigger than what you think you might need.

Click here to see all the designs!

 

P.S.  Let me know if you get them.

 

Here is

Stu Mittleman Responds To Your Questions, Today 2PM EST. (Link to Recording Will Be Provided)

At 2pm today I will be holding a conference call with Stu Mittleman. The call information is below. Stu will be responding to many of the most frequently asked questions that he was sent by PEERtrainer members. Those questions are also below.

If you have not signed up for the free 7 day running course, you can still do so right here:

http://marathonmastery.com/peertrainer/

Btw if you have signed up before but not gotten the emails, please send an email to info@marathonmastery.com. Someone over there will manually send the videos to you!

List of questions covered in this call

1. Will running help me lose fat, belly fat?
2. Will I ever enjoy running? I like the high it gives me, but I always seem to get side cramps. How can I avoid getting cramps?
3. How do I get started if I haven't ran in a long time, or if I don't have a regular exercise routine of any kind before?
4. How can I make it fun - not a dreadful experience! and make it more enjoyable?
5. How do I minimize skeletal and muscle strain in my legs and back while running?
6. How do you prevent injury and pain?
7. How do you stay motivated to keep running and finish?
8. How do I build stamina


Call Details

Title: Stu Mittleman - Marathon Mastery Time: October 18th @ 2:00 pm PST Listening method: Phone Only Call in #: (712) 432-1001 Access Code: 434-589-533#

By the way, if for some reason you not able to get on the call live, because the lines are packed or some other reason, don't worry the call will be recorded and will be available within 24 hours after the "Live" call.

-Jackie

PS: Facebook has been a great way for us to understand that some people were not getting the emails. If you are a Facebook user PLEASE feel free to use our wall and comments to ask questions:

http://www.facebook.com/PEERtrainer

A New Tool To Help Your Kids Eat Healthy and Excel Nutritionally

Learn the Secrets to Getting Kids to Eat Healthy

Many health experts have predicted that this new generation may not outlive their parents. Rates of childhood obesity, type II diabetes, ADD, ADHD, chronically low immune systems, and other nutrition-related diseases are on the rise, and parents are struggling to raise healthy kids in a fast-food and junk-food filled world. National campaigns focused on childhood health problems and on unhealthy school lunches have brought the gravity of the health crisis involving American children to the forefront.  

What can a parent do when his or her child refuses to eat anything green and seem to subsist on chicken-fingers and French fries alone? 

Here are a few tricks of the trade from Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand, authors of the new children’s book The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach™:

• Make food preparation a family affair. The more you involve your kids in the preparation and selection of meals and snacks, the more willing they are to try healthy foods. Even a simple trip to the grocery store to allow them to pick out the fruits and vegetables for the week (each child in the family should get his/her own choice) can make a world of difference. Let older children find recipes online that sound good to them using healthy foods. Allow them to choose how the vegetable of the day is prepared and even help in the preparation.

• Have a make-your-own smoothie party. Fill bowls with various ingredients, such as berries, mango, spinach, broccoli, flax or chia seeds, and let kids pick what they want. They can even turn the blender on! They love to be in control!

• Make your own salad. The same trick will work for salads. But don’t just include lettuce. Use seeds, fruit, dried peas—anything goes!

• Let them dip. Make a quick salad dressing/dip or use a store-bought one and watch them eat string beans, carrots, celery, cucumbers, and any other veggie that you cut into strips for dipping.

• Make veggie and fruit shapes. Thinly slice carrots and cucumbers and use tiny cookie cutters to make shapes. Everything is more fun when it’s in a shape (think silly bands).

• Make a vegetarian soup at least one night of the week. Pureed soups are great because you can’t see what’s in them (kale is easy to use this way). You’ll be amazed what they’ll eat when it’s been whizzed in the blender or mixed with an immersion blender.

As adults, we can be told that good nutrition fosters academic and athletic performance, but getting children to understand the importance of a healthy diet can be a daunting task, even with some tricks up your sleeve. Children need fun and entertaining ways to learn about healthy eating. One way is to lead by example. Another way is to tell a story about a super hero who gains powers from fruits and vegetables. The subtlety of fiction enables children to learn without even realizing that they are learning.

Start with the colorfully illustrated book called The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach™.  

Mitch Spinach seems to be an ordinary kid, but his classmates have begun to suspect something. The notes in his custom-made, temperature-controlled Nutripak™ lunchbox appear to have been written in code. While other kids eat their usual chicken fingers and pepperoni pizza, Mitch Spinach mixes up his meal in a battery-powered blender before their curious and envious eyes. Although he is the smartest, nicest, strongest kid in Ms. Radicchio’s class, he often misses recess when he is called to Principal Lycopene’s office. The truth is that his high- powered fruit and vegetable smoothies give him special powers, such as super-sonic hearing and amazing night vision, which help him tackle problems and solve mysteries at Sunchoke Elementary.

 

Written in collaboration with renowned family physician and best selling author Joel Fuhrman, M.D, The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach is a unique book series that provides a perfect way for kids to learn about healthy eating while enjoying exciting adventures and mysteries. Each book in the series contains a healthy recipe and a “Secrets for Parents and Teachers” section, written by Dr. Fuhrman, that explains many of the nutritional concepts alluded to in the book. Dr. Fuhrman is a board-certified family physician, author, and nutritional researcher who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods.

 

While many books focus on a child’s dislike of a certain food (usually a vegetable), this book series is devoid of that type of negativity and instead transforms healthy eating into a behavior to be copied in order to gain “super” powers like those of Mitch Spinach. The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach children’s book series has the power to significantly change the way that children eat because it actually prompts children to ask for healthy food without preaching to them about the benefits of a healthy diet. Good health begins in childhood, and scientific evidence suggests that the food children eat in the first ten years of their lives can have a critical and profound effect on their life-long health.

 

The Mitch Spinach website http://www.MitchSpinach.com features creative, multidisciplinary lesson plans and outlines the importance of sound nutrition. Kids can print educational games, such as crossword puzzles and word searches that pertain to the healthy foods used in the books to reinforce what they have learned.

A new resource to help you in your quest to adopt a healthy lifestyle as a family, The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach can make your transition even easier. When kids start asking their parents for broccoli, carrots, or flax seeds because they want to be like Mitch Spinach, your own healthy choices will seem effortless and fun!

To get kids on the right track with healthy eating, order your copy of The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach by visiting the website: http://www.MitchSpinach.com. This children’s book combines the fun of reading with the invaluable gift of health.  

About the Authors:

Frustrated by the lack of a healthy, smart, cool role model for their five and six year-old children, Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand created the Mitch Spinach children’s book series. They decided to combine their expertise (Jeff holds a BS in Exercise Physiology, and Hillary holds a BA and MA in English) to teach kids about the importance of eating healthy foods and reduce the number of children struggling with weight, chronic colds, ear infections and other nutrition-related problems.   Learn more about the Mitch Spinach mission at http://www.MitchSpinach.com

 

Weekend Immersion Program With Dr. Fuhrman In Princeton, NJ January 14-16

Click the arrow on the following video to learn more about Dr. Fuhrman's Weekend Immersion Program:

We have been asked about getting a discount for Dr. Joel Furhman's upcoming Weekend Immersion Program January 14-16th in Princeton NJ.

There is a 15% percent off discount available until November 30th.

In addition, Dr. Furhman Online is offering PEERtrainer members a $50 off coupon that is good from October 16th to October 31st.

Simply use the coupon code "PEERTRAINER" at the check out page.

Here is the link to learn more:

http://drfuhrman.com/events/princeton_immersion/princeton_weekend_immersion.aspx

 

3 Tips to Make Your Water Taste Great And Refreshing

WATER:  To Drink Or Not To Drink (8 glasses a day)

I've seen both sides of the water debate.  Some suggest you MUST get in 64 oz of water a day.  There's even a neat little customized formula. Take your weight, divide by 2 and you have an invidividualized water prescription.    If I weigh 120 pounds, I divide that by 2 and get 60, so my personal optimal intake is 60 ounces of water a day.

The other side of the water debate claims drinking all that water a day is nonsense and completely uneccesary.  You will be at your optimal water intake if you consume your calories from water rich foods such as fruits and vegetables.  If you're eating an adequate amount from this food group, you will be hydrated.

Regardless, most agree that water is a better option than sugar fruit juice or a coke.  But I often hear this:

"I know I should reach for water instead but I just don't like the taste. It's not satisfying".  Take a look:  69 responses to this question in the community:  "I don't like the taste of water!"

I agree.  The only time I've found that plain water tastes great is after a workout.  I've spent years experimenting and finding ways to make water taste great and satisfying.

The reason for my blog post is I stumbled on the lastest way by pure accident and I wanted to share!  I've listed the others below but I must start with my new favorite:

GINGER WATER!

 
I've added fresh ginger to my hot green tea for years.  Over the last few months, I watched my husband squeeze it into cold water and didn't find it appealing until a couple of weeks ago when I sprained ankle and I wanted to find ways to help with the inflammation.  I was plopped on the couch doing mental gymnastics trying to figure out ways to speed up my recovery while watching him and his ginger ritual.  I thought, I have to try that!  It was AMAZING!!

This has become a daily ritual. I squeeze about a finger of ginger into my thermos of water and I add a bit of lemon as well.  I use this Lime Squeezer which I bought because I squeeze lime into almost everything I eat and it works perfectly for lemon, oranges and now "ginger".  Even if it sounds weird you MUST try it!

Other great ways to make water taste great:

1.  Spa water: Place sliced cucumber in a pitcher of water with ice.  Add a bit of lemon or lime.

2.  Citrus Splash:   Use that lime squeezer and drop in any of the following:

•     lime
•     lemon
•     orange
•     grapefruit

  
3.  Mix it up and get exotic!

•    Mandarin orange
•    Citron (from India)
•    Blood orange
•    Pommelo. 
  
  •     One of my favorites.  Also a symbol of the Chinese New year.  This fruit is   a cross between a grapefruit and orange and it is sublime!
•     Fresh pineapple
•     Clementine

For hot water, mango can work well. Many times we keep frozen mango in the freezer for an alternative to hot tea.

Have other suggestions?  Share them here because it's a big frustration for so many people who write me.  Share the wealth.

 

Jackie

 

 

 

The Truth About Making Diet Changes That REALLY Stick....

...and how to break through the "invisible barrier"

We sent out an email over the weekend and we got a very powerful response to something we wrote. And this response triggered some thoughts on what it really takes to lose weight and keep it off.

We have been writing and thinking a lot about this issue because people go on tons of different diets and programs. But the stats show that people are having a very tough time keeping the weight off.

What is interesting is that the PEERtrainer community is full of people who have lost weight, kept it off and then progressed way beyond that. The members of this community make tremendous changes in their life on a very routine basis. For example, we keep seeing people lose a bunch of weight-- and then become a long distance runner. Half- marathon, marathon.

It keeps happening. 

So we decided to create this blog post to try and identify why this is the case. This may be a little controversial as well because we have some different thoughts on how to go about things. Often this has created some conflict. And I think it may be interesting to share that conflict with you, and show you some of the decisions we make "behind the scenes" at PEERtrainer.

Here is what we wrote first of all:

"Life is too short not to really go for it. It is truly possible to make big, positive and permanent changes in your life."

A very simple statement that was part of an overall plea for people to set their sights a lot higher. Here is one response we were just emailed:

"Wow! What a statement! Thank you for that one; I just printed it and put it up in my cubicle at work. Thanks for all the great encouragement - it really helps!"

Why Did This Comment Resonate?

We get a lot of great feedback in general. (We also get our share of people who object to certain things we do!) But we have started to get more adamant in communicating to people that there is a tremendous benefit to really deciding to expect more of yourself.

It's almost like there is this "invisible barrier" that most people bump up against---and then stop. But the secret is that if you put your shoulder down and take a slightly harder run at it, this "invisible barrier" comes crashing down. It really does.

A lot of what we do is simply encourage people to take a harder run at that barrier. And people are responding well to this encouragement!

Now, one important reason this particular comment (and approach) resonates is that almost EVERY product or service to help you lose weight is designed to either manipulate you or appeal to something that you REALLY want but is unrealistic or not helpful over the long haul. 

So much of what is out there is fundamentally short term in nature. 

For example, when was the last time you were offered a "7 Day Zap Your Belly Fat" kind of diet program? Probably a couple times in the last 24 hours! Do you think you are truly going to zap your belly fat in 7 days?

Of course you are not, and in all likelihood you probably know exactly what you need to do over the long haul to actually zap your belly fat. But the ugly truth in weight loss marketing is that people generally are highly responsive to short term and short cut approaches that are counter-productive in the long run.

Short term manipulation is where the money is.

At PEERtrainer we know this because over the years we have hired and worked with some of the best minds in marketing. These people demonstrate to us beyond a doubt that the "7 day belly fat zap" approach works from a sales perspective.

But we refuse to do this approach because we know how people really lose weight over a period of years. And when we refuse and try to develop a different approach these people get MAD at us. Seriously. They say, "Habib and Jackie, you guys need to understand that people need to be sold. It may be cheesy, but people respond to cheesy."

We respond and say, "no, we want to inspire people and help them over the long term. We understand where the marketing minds are and we want to try something different." It usually doesn't go well from there. They think we are stupid or at least unreasonably stubborn.

Maybe we are on one level, but this is the approach that we have chosen to take. 

We hope from a business perspective that this a good long term decision, and that we have identified a "gap" in the market. If we are right that people want to be inspired and not just manipulated then that is good for us. And when other companies in the space start to maybe copy this approach, then maybe we will have had a role in changing things on a more widespread basis.

The development of PEERtrainer has been a step by step process. One of the key things we have learned over the years is that the most important thing for us to focus on is a message that impacts people fundamentally. 

In truth what has happened over the years is that we have developed an "agenda" here with PEERtrainer. And many of you have picked up on the fact that a lot of this goes way beyond weight loss. (Those of you in Phase 2 are learning this and hopefully benefitting from this.)

We believe that when people develop the ability to make long term changes in their diet and fitness, they are then able to make a whole BUNCH of other positive changes in their life.

So it is great to hear responses like the one we just got!

-Jackie

In case you missed the email over the weekend, here it is:

********

We just published a new article that picks up on a conversation we started last week:

A Critical Component To Successful Long Term Weight Loss

One of the key differentiators to what we do at PEERtrainer is our focus on helping people make changes that really stick. From a statistical perspective, this issue is dominant. The number of people who succeed long term on traditional plans is extremely low.

Our whole approach at PEERtrainer has been to try and liberate people from the thinking that they need to focus on one method at a time. We get people to "fuse" their knowledge. But there are SO many other components of success, and this article goes into one of them.

I hope this focus resonates with you. Life is too short not to really go for it. It is truly possible to make big, positive and permanent changes in your life.

The more we see this happen among members of the PEERtrainer community, the more adamant we become about making sure we communicate to everyone that change is possible.

We also want to make sure that we address as MANY of the components of success as possible. And please keep the questions coming!

Read The New PEERtainer article

Why Do Elite Athletes Often Have Lower Life Expectancy?

• Startling fact: many elite athletes is that they have lower life expectancy than the general population
• So how do you become fit while also being healthy? What are the consequences? After you watch the following video, you can read this PEERtrainer article on how to exercise in a way that is healthy for you. The article goes over Stu's advice in greater detail.
• This is the first of several videos where we are going to share with you. If you are new to PEERtrainer, it is important to communicate to you that what Stu is saying below is VERY different from what you will hear from your spinning instructor. 
• We think his approach is both unique and very important, and relevant to ANYONE who is starting to become more active.
• Stu's view is that there ARE incorrect approaches to exercise and these can hurt you over the long term. The healthiest approach to exercise is the opposite of "no pain no gain."
• Stu also follows a diet that is similar to the ideas we outline in the new PEERtrainer Cheat System. It is a diet that is ideal for athletes, and you can download a PDF copy of the system from this link.

 

How To Stop The Pain While Running?

I am constantly hearing about how painful running is.  It's been one of the most popular threads in our community for months.  Even in US magazine this month, Kate Gosselin was quoted as saying, "I run every day.  It's painful".  

I find most people think that pain is synonmous with running and believe if you're going to run, you're going to have to be disciplined and deal with the pain.

This is simply not true. 

You can be in pain if you feel that makes you feel better about yourself and makes you a true runner.  But you don't have to be.  You can run a mile, 3 miles even a 10k, even a marathon without pain.

I watch people do this all the time on PEERtrainer.  What is the secret?  They follow a different philosophy shared by Stu Mittleman and other athletes, even 6 time Ironman Champion Mark Allen.

Stu ran 1000 miles in 10 days.  That's every day, for 10 days straight.  He ran 100 miles a day.  Just to give you a sense of what the Hawaii Ironman is:  from the wikipedia entry:

"The Hawai Ironman consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break. Most Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the race, where the Ironman race starts at 7 AM, the mandatory swim cut off for the 2.4 mile swim is 2 hours 20 minutes, the bike cut off time is 5:30 PM, and all finishers must complete their marathon by midnight."

 

Mark Allen won this event 6 times.  He did it by following the principles of Dr. Phil Maffetone.  Stu incorporated these same principles and explains them so succinctly in "Slow Burn: Burn Fat Faster By Exercising Slower".  This book by Phil Maffetone is in my library as well.  You don't have to grind it out.  You don't have to be in pain.  Unless of course you insist on it.   But then, it becomes your choice. 

You can get both books used for a total of $10.  Small price to pay to get rid of the pain.

• Slow Burn: Burn Fat Faster By Exercising Slower

• The Maffetone Method

Let me know if you get them.

Jackie

 

 

 

"Send Cupcakes To Benefit Childhood Cancer??

‎"Send cupcakes to benefit childhood cancer??" Come on. Cupcakes??? I'd rather see Joel Furhman's new research project on my morning news.