PEERtrainer

PEERtrainer Get Moving Spotlight Part 2: Starts September 14th

On September 14th we are launching a new "Spotlight" and will be selecting 16 new members for the six week program. Members will be selected based on how active they are as participants in our community!

This Spotlight is sponsored by the Philips DirectLife system which helps get people to move more by measuring motion and acceleration. This data is then captured by an activity monitor which members upload to a website periodically where it is analyzed by a Philips DirectLife Coach.

Each member will be mailed an activity monitor and have a free account set up for them. If you are someone who is looking to start moving more, and are ready to really focus on this for six weeks then this is for you. If you are interested please read the following article describing how the program works:

http://www.peertrainer.com/philips_directlife_program.aspx

After you have read this article, please go to the following link to sign up!

Link To Apply To The PEERtrainer September 14th Spotlight Sponsored By Philips DirectLife

 

 

New Article By Joshua Wayne: Let Your Light Shine!

Joshua's newest article ends with this great quote from Nelson Mandela:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Nelson Mandela in his inaugural address, 1994 

read the full article: http://www.peertrainer.com/let_your_light_shine.aspx

How To Be More Powerfully In Control Of Your Choices By Living Without Apology

We were recently sent the following question:

"I feel like I'm always apologizing for everything. I apologize when I order a salad instead of a cheeseburger by always saying, well I have a big event coming up, so I really need to watch what I’m eating".

I see other people do this as well. They "apologize" for their order with this: "I'm ordering a salad with grilled chicken because you should see what I ate last night! Margaritas, chips and salsa - I must have eaten three bowls of chips alone!" Why say anything?

It's everyone's dream to live without apology but no matter how many quotes we see, we take a step in that direction and we get hit so hard with a snarky comment that we go back to making excuses and "living with apology". How do you start to have the confidence - what is the first step to living life without apology?"

Joshua Wayne has created a detailed response to this question. Here is his answer:

http://www.peertrainer.com/how_to_live_without_apology.aspx

How To Exercise Without Burning Yourself Out or Totally Losing Motivation

We just finished a process where we had people fill out a survey for our new PEERtrainer Spotlight. The first question we asked people was simply "where are you in your journey to become a more active person?" We got over 500 completed applications, which gave us a very detailed view of where a lot of you are.

The main thing I am seeing is that a lot of people are having a very hard time sustaining any sort of consistent exercise. And I am also seeing a lot of people who are burning themselves out, which often leads to long periods of inactivity. And I have a somewhat controversial suggestion that I think will help both groups.

Key Concept

If you are having a hard time starting to exercise or keeping up with it, it may be that your vision of "what exercise should be" is based on what you see in the media. All over the place we see people going all out, cardio to the max, burning it up etc. The drill sargeant making the person who lacks the motivation cry and then "break through."

The Problem With This Approach

A simple analogy will help to explain how crazy this approach is for the average person. Most first graders do not read Shakespeare. When you learn to read you start with the basics and then build up over time. It is the same thing with a baby learning to walk. Gradually the body grows, gets stronger and more coordinated.

But with exercise everyone seems to be trying to short circuit this process. I see this all over the place. Whether it is someone with a lot of weight to lose or it is someone who is in decent shape who starts training for long distance running, if you go "all in and all out" you are going to get frustrated or you are going to get hurt.

If You Are In These Categories Here Is What I Want You To Do:

1. The very first thing I want you to do is give yourself a major break and radically shift your notion of "what proper exercise is." Many people have very limited time, energy and even mobility but are looking to do something. If this describes you, a very helpful thing to do is start to view your everyday movement as exercise.

Simply become aware of how much you are already moving. You obviously want to become stronger over time and build your endurance. This is critical as you get older, you need strong muscles and bones. But I know that so many of you have become sedentary for whatever reason.

2. The second thing that I would like you to do is find a way to develop an exercise strategy that is a complete fit with your life. Not how you want your life to be, but how it actually is. If you only have two minutes on your way to the bathroom, garage, home office, kitchen or whatever, develop some sort of system (or game!) where you can get some sort of activity in every single time.

Automatically Trigger Daily Action!

People often talk about having a "home gym", but the ideal is to turn your whole house into a "challenge course" where there is always something that triggers activity as a result of visual stimulation. Meaning you see it, and then do it. It is like food. If you see it in front of you, you will eat it. The great thing about exercise is that you can take that phenomenon and make it work for you!

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Sponsor Section:
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Two Proven Products For Your Home That Can Trigger Daily Action:

There are two things in our own home that help trigger easy and consistent action. The first is the Total Gym, something you have seen on TV for years. Something that you may not know is that the company also makes high end versions of this product for physical therapy and rehab centers. The reason for this is that the Total Gym can be very easy and gentle to use. Especially on the lower settings. It engages the body really well, and is just easy and enjoyable to do. For people who have joint pain and don't want to go out and run, the Total Gym can help you get a full body workout in way that goes easy on the joints.

Something like a Total Gym will work if you have it in a place in your home where you are going to see it every day. It is the kind of thing that you can get on for even a few minutes and activate your body. You can also get a much more intense workout on the Total Gym as well. The company has been around for 30 years, so this is a really proven thing. The company often features special deals on their website, and from time to time sells pre-owned versions on their website:

Total Gym Website

The second thing you want to look at are Bodylastics Resistance bands. Resistance bands are cheap and can fit anywhere. But Bodylastics took the concept and built a unique clip and handle system that turned a simple set of bands into something that can mimic any exercise that you would get in the gym.

The best thing about these bands is that you can set up a couple pairs and leave them anywhere in your house. For example, you can take two bands and attach them to handles and leave them on the floor of your closet. When you wake up on your way to the shower you can do a set of curls or squats or flys in just a couple minutes. If you are looking to build muscle strength, this is an instant access exercise. If you are one of those people who "have not exercised in years" this is something that will instantly end that, just by having them in your bedroom, living room, office. Wherever. It is an excuse killer.

Bodylastics has been around for 12 years. The system is versatile, and allows you to use very low or very intense levels of resistance. If you go to their website you can see how the product works. And maybe if you already have a set, this article will help to remind you to put them in a place where you see them to get that visual trigger. Make it work for you.

Bodylastics Website

In the current PEERtrainer Spotlight we are testing a new product, the Philips DirectLife system. With this system you wear a small activity monitor which records your movement. The monitor is then connected to a website account where live coaches keep tabs on people and offer suggestions. We are intrigued about this concept and product, because it teaches you exactly how to create an exercise program built around your own life.

This very much fits with our overall philosophy of exercise, where you gradually build your fitness level based on what you are already doing. This is a critical concept because once you have this mindset or awareness you no longer think of yourself as someone who has "fallen off track", or who "used to workout", or who "doesn't have the time".

Those of you who left those comments, my objective here is to permanently change your mindset, and the way you think about activity. We are all going to get stronger and feel great!

-Jackie

New PEERtrainer Fitness Challenge Spotlight

We are just about to launch a new PEERtrainer Spotlight, and we would like to invite you to be considered for it.

The Spotlight is a team of 16 active PEERtrainer members who support each other and have their logs viewable to everyone in the PEERtrainer community to see. In the past this has proven to be an extremely active and close group, with a powerful level of support and accountability.

In an additional twist, this upcoming Spotlight will be sponsored by Philips new DirectLife fitness coaching system. The DirectLife system consists of a small device you add to a keychain or necklace and wear during your day. The device connects to your computer where you can periodically upload your data to a website which will gather your activity data.

What makes this system unique is that live coaches from DirectLife will be reviewing your activity and offering feedback. We know from extensive experience building and running PEERtrainer that this added level of accountability is a powerful motivator. (PEERtrainer pioneered structured online accountability for weight loss and fitness, and we saw it work from the moment we launched the site in 2005.)

When you know that there is even the smallest possibility that someone will see your food or exercise log, it changes your behavior in a positive way. The combination of PEERtrainer accountability and DirectLife accountability will be a powerful one.

Each member of this upcoming Spotlight will be mailed a device to keep ($100 value) as well as be given a three month subscription to the online coaching service. The Spotlight will run 6 weeks. If you aren’t selected for this first Spotlight we will be running a second one just like the first for another 6 weeks.

For this Spotlight we will be looking for people who ideally are just starting to exercise or starting to move more after a long absence. We are also looking for people who are active on PEERtrainer and committed. Participants need to be active in social media and blogging in general.

As a sponsor Philips is looking to generate a broader discussion about this new product in online communities such as PEERtrainer.

If this is something that interests you, and you know you can commit for a six week period, we have created a short survey and application here:

PEERtrainer, Philips DirectLife Spotlight Challenge Application

Warm Regards, Jackie

The Simple Till Six Weight Loss Diet: Healthy Eating For Busy People By Mark Bittman

I recently came across an article in Reader Digest called 'The Simple Till Six Weight Loss Diet" written by Mark Bittman. Mark is a food journalist and author who has a weekly column in the New York Times, appears on TV frequently. Like many of us, he has recently come to the conclusion that something has gone horribly wrong with the way most American's eat.

The Simple Till Six Weight Loss Diet:

His diet is based on the simple observation that vegetables in extremely high quantities are extremely good for us. Anyone who has read our articles on the work of Dr. Joel Fuhrman over the years understands the science behind why this is the case.

The strategy behind Mark Bittman's approach to dieting is a "vegan till six pm" one. This of course is more excellent advice. If you do this, most of your weight and health problems will go away. 

The thing that drives me nuts about advice like this is that most people have no idea how impossibly busy our lives are. OF COURSE we should all be eating these diets high in greens with a wide variety of vegetables, supplemented with grains with names we can barely pronounce. (What percentage of people can correctly pronounce the word Quinoa? More than 2?)

This has become the focus of a lot of my work with PEERtrainer. My mission is to take the advice and turn it into something that is doable in the context of the way we really live. I have recently developed an an approach that I use in my own home that I call "The Magic Kitchen." It is very effective in helping me stay on plan. I can have two days where life hits me, and then I can get right back on track and minimize the damage almost instantly.

The Magic Fridge also allows me to fend off the insane man hunger cravings of my husband. He has been transitioning from a diet high in meat, ice cream, beer and pastries. Even though he knows how to eat healthy, when the hunger kicks his thoughts default to the old way of eating. Hunger equals meat. However, with the Magic Fridge approach, I can quickly whip something up that truly satisfies him.

I have created a longer article on the PEERtrainer website that outlines this approach. Click here to keep reading.

Two New Videos From PEERtrainer

If you have not had a chance to see these new videos, please take a few moments to check them out:

(Video 1) http://peertrainerblog.com/what-it-takes

(Video 2) http://peertrainerblog.com/good-choices

They are part of an event we are doing, and I believe we will be taking them down after it is over.

-Jackie

Phase 2 Of The PT Point of No Return Program Is Now Available!

One thing we keep hearing from people finishing the PONR program is that they wish it kept going. For the last 6 months we have been developing a "Phase 2" of the program based on the detailed feedback you have been giving us.

This new phase runs 12 weeks, just like the first one. We are pretty excited to finally be able to make this available.

The sign up process is very simple, just click the link below. The sales pitch is equally simple- we know there are a ton of you who want to keep going!

Click Here To Start Phase 2 Of The Point Of No Return Program

What Topics Are Discussed In Phase 2?

Phase 1 of the program was in many ways about really giving you a "map and compass" to increase your belief that permanent weight loss is a real possibility in your life.    In this case the "map and compass" is a collection of all the tools we have seen really work in PEERtrainer over the last 6 years.  

Many of them were time-tested, reliable diet suggestions.  And other tools showed you how to change your thinking so you have an ever-increasing sense of control over your relationship to food.  It also focused quite a bit on building a solid, patient, accepting relationship with yourself so you don't beat yourself up if you slip, and instead get yourself right back on track.  

We loved building the program, and the positive response from you was amazing!  Your feedback also provided such a great learning opportunity for us as well, and we kept refining it to make sure it was meeting your needs.

As time progressed and your feedback came in, we got so many great new ideas realized that we had only scratched the surface in terms of the tools and knowledge we wanted to share with you.  

As a result, Phase 2 of the program was born!

For Phase 2, we really set out to create a learning experience that will change your life in a powerful way.  You could say we really wanted to go deep and "pull out all the stops".  We created something that is designed to make the changes that you made in Phase 1 permanent and deeply embedded. But more than that, we want to also present a formula for true life mastery and creating lasting happiness.    

The key to this has been developing a streamlined system, where this information can be digested and understood in what we believe to be the easiest way possible.

As many of you know Joshua was trained as a therapist and has been doing what he calls "Personal Development Coaching" for the past 10 years.  What you may not be as aware of is that for the past 20 years - since he was a teenager in fact - he has been tirelessly studying different approaches to personal development, spirituality, meditation and self-improvement.  For phase 2, we asked him to "go into the vault" and share the best tools he has learned for helping people create the life they really want. 

These are the tools people pay him as much as $600 for a 2 hour session and $1500/month for private coaching to learn.  Of course this program is not meant as a substitute for therapy - and we would never say that it is - but the intention is to provide thousands of dollars of value for a very small amount of money.

This is what we set out to do in Phase 1 as well. We built something that literally delivers thousands of dollars of value to people who connect with the material. We don't say this at the outset, because very few people would believe us. 

All we do say is, "hey, try this program for a month for a dollar and see if you like it."

(As an exercise, those of you who have made huge changes as a result of PONR, what amount of money would we need to pay you, to take that knowledge and experience away? If we paid you $10,000 for example, would you be willing to go back to the person that you were prior?)

In terms of specifics, here are some of the things we'll be covering in Phase 2. There is much more, but this is will give you a sense of where we are headed.

• How to uproot and eliminate the limiting beliefs and behaviors that hold you back. 
• How to write the final chapter on your self-sabotage so you're free of the old habits that weigh you down.
  
• How to know what you really want in life - and how to believe you really deserve it.
  
• How to eliminate the excuses and procrastination that hold you back from taking action and getting what you want.
  
• How to live with a sense of purpose, commitment and excitement.
  
• How to feel deeply in control of your relationship to food - without being plagued by the fear that this is only temporary and a matter of time before things return to being a struggle.
  
• How to increase your energy throughout your day.
•  How to not take things for granted in your life so you can experience a real sense of happiness today 

This is the essence of what we are after here, and there will be more. Plus as the program proceeds we will be adding in new material and bonus material, just like we did in Phase 1.

Click Here To Start Phase 2 Of The Point Of No Return Program

Is Coconut Bad For You Because It Contains Saturated Fat?

On the new PEERtrainer Facebook page recently somebody posted something to the effect of "Your vegetable soup recipe is great, but I took out the coconut milk because my friend the cardiologist says that the saturated fat in coconut is bad for you."

We had been thinking about this question for a few days. Then today a box arrived in the mail with 6 books from Dr. Jonny Bowden. He is someone that we have gotten to know recently, and have begun to dig into his work. What we have found so far is someone who has taken all the "health stuff" and made it very understandable.

Anyway, we were flipping through one of the books, titled "The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth." And one page 107 there was a section on Coconut, that answered this exact question! Bowden writes:

"I really looked forward to writing this section, because I felt that it would give me a chance to right one of the greatest nutritional misconceptions of all time: the idea that coconut, because it contains saturated fat, is bad for you."

Summary of Dr. Jonny Bowden's insights on coconut:

• Coconut and coconut oil are superfoods. Coconut is one of the most healthy, amazing things you can ingest.
• People in Asia and the Pacific Islands whose diets are high in coconut oil have low levels of chronic disease- cancer, heart disease etc. 
• The fat in coconut is actually good for you. The book explains the science in detail, but the basic idea is that the fatty acids in coconut are easier to metabolize, and are different from the fatty acids in other forms of saturated fat. 

These fatty acids are called Medium Chain Triglycerides or MCT's. From Wikipedia:

"Some studies have shown that MCTs can help in the process of excess calorie burning, and thus weight loss. However, close to half of the calories in one's diet would have to be from the MCTs themselves. Therefore, consuming medium-chain triglycerides in a regular diet may or may not be beneficial to weight loss; studies are still being conducted" 

Anyway, the bottom line here is that we now have a greater level of understanding now of WHY our soup recipe has been such a hit. Most of the calories in the soup come from the coconut milk, which might explain why so many people have found that it helped them lose weight.

And we have also found a great book, one that that we will be referring to again and again.  Also- if you are interested in our recipes, please keep reading this post for information on how to be sent new recipes from PEERtrainer that meet our criteria of being easy, tasty, cheap, nutrient dense, fill you up, give you energy....

Here Is One:

Spicy Thai Curry Recipe

 

Calories in Coconut Milk

What Kind Of Recipes and Food Ideas Are You Looking For?

We have just begun a big project so that everyone on PEERtrainer can get the exact recipes and kinds of recipes you have been asking for. We have teamed up with someone (Ivy Larson) who knows our approach, and will be helping us with recipes, some videos (and some other fun things that we are working on that many of you will really find fun and interesting....)

But we need your help in this process to make sure we give you 100% of what you want.

If this is an area of interest for you, we need you to do 2 quick things:

1. Please take a quick survey and tell us exactly what you are looking for, how we can help you with recipes, food ideas, cooking. You tell us and we give you exactly what you are looking for. (How cool is that?)

The PEERtrainer "What Kind Of Recipes Do You Want?" Survey

2. Sign up for our new Recipes Recipes Recipes email list. The plan is to send a couple emails per month as we get this project started. Here is the link:

Sign Up To Be Sent New Recipes From PEERtrainer

Everything we do at PEERtrainer is pretty interactive, and we are really looking forward to it. We will also be posting our progress in this area on the PEERtrainer Facebook page, so definitely check that out, hit the like button and jump in!!

In case the link above did not work, you can also sign up for the recipes list right here:

Sign Up To Be Sent New Recipes From PEERtrainer!

First Name:

Email:

We Will Send You A Couple Email Updates Each Month. Please Keep The Feedback Coming!

-Jackie and Ivy

"I feel like I should have lost something since I workout everyday and eat less than 1300 Calories"

This was a question that was posted to the wall of our Facebook page last week. It prompted us to create a fairly long article in which we outlined our thoughts in response to the question.

We get emails, posts, questions like this all the time:

“I do EVERYTHING right. I workout, I eat well, I watch my portions but I'm not losing weight. I'm doing everything right. What is wrong??!??!”

This is what we see on PEERtrainer everyday. Actually, not just on PEERtrainer, but also in our everyday lives. People make a goal, they get motivated, and then they get a plan in place.

They search their memory for what worked in the past, or they find a friend who "did it" or they scan for the latest diet and fitness breakthroughs and they begin with total vigor.

Because there is a certain "narrative" or accepted set of ideas of what an "Official Diet" is, it's not hard to come up a list of what this person will probably do. The person with the motivation and the goal and the plan, probably will come up with a plan that includes "Official Diet Foods."

continue reading the complete article

Should I Read Eat To Live or Eat For Health? And How The Nutrition Prescription Fits Into The Mix

This video goes over Dr. Fuhrman's three main works, and summarizes each.

1. Eat To Live- This book is ten years old, has changed people lives and gone through 17 printings. Little too advanced for beginners, and it is really a good book to read after Eat For Health. We suggest buying both. (Available at drfuhrman.com) This book is also now available in most Whole Foods.

2. Eat For Health- Newer book that has better success at the amount of people who succeed. It is easier to start and has a greater focus on the emotional aspects of weight loss (Available at drfuhrman.com)

3. The Nutrition Prescription- years in the making, enables people to take a computerized assessment and determines what your risk of getting certain diseases based on what you are eating. Identifies your individual risk factors. (available through Eat Right America)

Easy Dessert Idea That Is Also Fairly Healthy: Hot Apple Sundae

We have been asked for a lot more focus on recipes, and this is one that was very popular. We have posted it before. I got it from my mom and I am not sure where she got it from. But it is a good one. Please feel free to share your variations of this either on the comments section of the blog or on the facebook post comments. Btw- we are working on getting all of the recipes we have talked about over the years in one place. stay tuned.....

 

Interview With Ivy Larson, Who Has Used Diet To Control Her MS And Become A Best Selling Author In The Process

By Jackie Wicks

This is a great story on so many levels. I just met and interviewed a woman named Ivy Larson, and I want you all to hear her story because it is so inspiring. Long story short is that she solved her own health puzzle by taking total responsibility for her own outcome and getting some of the best help and guidance that she could.

Interview Summary and Introduction:

Ivy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at age 22. Up to this point she was a very healthy, athletic person. Summer of 1998 she started having all sorts of very out of the routine medical problems. Many parts of her body just stopped working properly.

Visits to many doctors in Palm Beach County didn't get to the bottom of what was happening. Finally she ended up in the emergency room, and she ended up seeing a urologist in Miami. It was there the doctor realized that the problem was likely neurological.

After a battery of tests she was diagnosed as being in the early stages of MS. She was given three options. 1) trial for medication that was in the human trial phase. 2) Begin one of the FDA approved disease modifying medications. But I was told that there were huge side effects and she wanted to have children. 3) Third option was a dietary overhaul.

She knew nothing about nutrition at this point. She contacted a friend from high school who was at the University Of Pennsylvania Medical school at the time. His immediate reaction to the suggestion of using diet was to look up the credentials of the neurologist suggesting this course of action.

He did and this began a process where he began to understand the limitations and risks of treating MS with drugs as well as the power of treating the symptoms through dietary changes. Down the road, Ivy and her friend at medical school ended up getting married (MS: A Love Story!). They ended up writing a best selling book based on their experience tackling this problem called, The Gold Coast Cure: A Lifestyle Plan to Shed Pounds, Gain Health and Reverse 10 Diseases.

Ivy has also become an amazing cook in the process. You can find many of her recipes on her website.

The interview runs 30 minutes. Talking to Ivy was interesting, uplifting and motivating. We hope you enjoy it!

Click Here To Download/Listen To The PEERtrainer Interview With Ivy Larson

About MS, (From Wikipedia)

"Multiple sclerosis (abbreviated MS, also known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata) is a disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms. Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females. It has a prevalence that ranges between 2 and 150 per 100,000. MS was first described in 1868 by Jean-Martin Charcot.

MS affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. Nerve cells communicate by sending electrical signals called action potentials down long fibers called axons, which are wrapped in an insulating substance called myelin. In MS, the body's own immune system attacks and damages the myelin. When myelin is lost, the axons can no longer effectively conduct signals. The name multiple sclerosis refers to scars (scleroses—better known as plaques or lesions) in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, which is mainly composed of myelin. Although much is known about the mechanisms involved in the disease process, the cause remains unknown. Theories include genetics or infections. Different environmental risk factors have also been found.

Almost any neurological symptom can appear with the disease, and often progresses to physical and cognitive disability. MS takes several forms, with new symptoms occurring either in discrete attacks (relapsing forms) or slowly accumulating over time (progressive forms). Between attacks, symptoms may go away completely, but permanent neurological problems often occur, especially as the disease advances.

There is no known cure for MS. Treatments attempt to return function after an attack, prevent new attacks, and prevent disability. MS medications can have adverse effects or be poorly tolerated, and many patients pursue alternative treatments, despite the lack of supporting scientific study. The prognosis is difficult to predict; it depends on the subtype of the disease, the individual patient's disease characteristics, the initial symptoms and the degree of disability the person experiences as time advances. Life expectancy of patients is nearly the same as that of the unaffected population."

Easy Way To Eat Healthy: How To Prepare A Filling Healthy Meal In 2 Minutes

This is a VERY short video where I show you the containers that I keep in my fridge, and what I keep in the containers. For me it is an ideal way to make sure I have EASY access to food during my very busy week. I have started to soak and cook my own beans. It is cheaper and a lot tastier. Just soak them over night and then cook them in the morning while you are getting ready for work, kids to school or whatever. 

Do You Feel As If You Are Truly Capable Of Losing Weight?

This is something we emailed out Sunday, May 2nd: We are working on a "mission statement" at PEERtrainer, and in the process trying to hone in on "the thing we do best." It is a tough question to answer because we do a lot of things in response to the needs of different people.

From Habib's perspective the thing we do best is simply foster communication and conversation. Ideally we ask questions in a way that really gets you thinking.

Joshua Wayne is focused on the coaching aspect of PEERtrainer, and his response was very interesting. We had asked him "what is the single thing we do best with the coaching program and what have been the results?"

As an exercise this Sunday, read his response, and then think for a few moments about the question asked in the subject of this email:

"One of the key things we have set out to accomplish, from my perspective, is helping people feel like they are in control of their relationship to food so they can get where they want to go.

Feeling out of control is one of the worst feelings in life. Desperately wanting something, like to lose weight, and not feeling capable of getting there is a terrible feeling. Feeling like you'll always be overwhelmed by your lousy habits and that you'll never really be in control of them. Feeling like no matter how hard you try, and no matter how many times you try, that your negative emotions will ultimately derail you. These feelings build and build and build which leads to hopelessness.

So one of our main goals was to help people get back in control. One of the key ways we do that is to teach them to start being easy on themselves - not beating themselves up endlessly. People add insult to injury when they beat themselves up after they "screw up" on their diet. We see that many people have this "perfectionist"streak and we start to break that up by teaching them to be patient with themselves.

Simultaneously we're giving them REALLY good diet info. Not fad type stuff - in fact exactly the opposite. We help them lay the foundation for healthy, sustainable lifestyle change.

We also really embed this whole program smack dab in the middle of their lives too. This is crucial. We're not forcing them to create an alternate reality in their life where they can get healthy. They have to be able to do it in the middle of the crazy day with job, boss, kids, husband/wife because that's their reality and that's where they live.

If they have to attend to all that stuff, AND THEN have to go and carve out time for 3 elaborate meals per day (plus all the shopping and prep) so they can eat pistacio- crusted tilapia with carmelized onion asparagus consomme for dinner it's just not going to happen. Same with the exercise piece. It has to be centrally located in their life.

Not an alternate reality where they have to now squeeze 5 trips to the gym into their life.

Building on that, they have to be able to deal with: work dinners out, frenemies sabotaging them, the "crappy" food inertia of their family when they go home to visit. All that comes up and you have to have a "tool-kit" to deal with it. We give them that tool-kit.

Lastly, we provide consistent support. We're there for 12 weeks, at least a couple times a week. Sometimes with an email saying hi and a friendly reminder to look at the bright side, sometimes with a video or an article and of course the weekly calls.

Everyone needs consistency to make things happen, whether it's building a business, making a relationship work well or losing weight. We provide that consistent support which helps people internalize this optimism and get back to that place of self-control.

Fostering self-control is the key."

I thought that this was a very helpful observation for us, and a great question to ask everyone. This "Tip Of The Day" list that you are reading right now is designed to communicate with you and get you thinking.

And if you are one of those people looking to get in control, I would highly encourage you to try the first month of the Point Of No Return, and let Joshua work some of his magic. We often find ourselves "soft-selling" his work, but as we go through all the feedback from people who finish the program we see that he is very good at accomplishing his objective.

This isn't the kind of situation where we are promising this crazy quick weight loss. This is the complete opposite of all that. Joshua helps you take a step back, and helps you examine all of your assumptions.

At the core it is really about your relationship to yourself. So often at PEERtrainer we soft pedal what we do. But this is something we are doing well, and for many people it is the most important thing in their life that they can be working on.

When we help people to make better decisions for the rest of their life, the ripple effect that has is powerful. Frankly, if you are struggling with food and then do the work to gain control, there is almost nothing in life you cannot successfully tackle. The belief that you develop in yourself will be the new fuel that you can use in all parts of your life.

-Jackie 

P.S. One more thing I want to add here. Joshua wrote a book about emotional eating based entirely on what he saw in the PEERtrainer community, and we turned it into a downloadable digital guide. We sell it for $27, but we thought it made sense to offer it free to people who have opened this email and read the whole message for the next two days or so. If you are still reading this particular email, we have said something that has resonated with you.

Even if you decide to opt out of the program during the $1 month one trial period, Joshua's guide to emotional eating is yours to keep. The book is 175 pages, so there is a LOT in there to digest. Lots of ideas.

When you sign up via this link for the program, you will be sent the book in three days. There is a lot we throw at you, and we want to make sure you get acclimated.

http://www.peertrainer.com/coaching

What Is Your Portion Distortion Profile?

This is something new that we've coined at PEERtrainer -- What Is Your Portion Distortion Profile?

Read this short list, watch the video below and then identify what your portion distortion profile is. These are the four basic categories:

1. You distort what a portion size is because you never knew. You didn't pay attention, you just never new. 

2. Life has changed on you (you've just had a baby or you've started a new job and your hours have changed): you have moved to a new stage of your life.

3. People who get rid of the processed foods and move to real food, whole grains- but who have a hard time losing weight.

4. People who work out all the time and look at their portions in relation to their workouts.

Share and discuss your portion distortion profile in the PEERtrainer Community:

http://www.peertrainer.com/LoungeCommunityThread.aspx?ForumID=1&ThreadID=172168

Plastic Surgery and Happiness: Thoughts on The Hills and Heidi Montag

I saw something on TV last night that saddened me, and really got me thinking. This was a "reality" TV show and the scene was a mother meeting her daughter for the first time since the daughter had plastic surgery. She actually had 10 procedures done, and had radically altered her appearance.

It was awful to watch, to see the pain of the mother as she gently got the daughter to explain what she had done, and then how she felt about herself after. Holding back tears, the mother asked "are you happy now?"

This morning Joshua and I were working on some material for a new program we are planning on launching, and we started talking about this show last night. As a therapist he had some very interesting thoughts on the subject and we realized that this discussion raised much bigger questions. So we recorded it and decided to quickly make it available to the community to test the response. 

Click Here To Listen:

http://blog.peertrainer.com/PONR_Bonuses/TH_3.mp3

Click Here to discuss this in the PEERtrainer community:

http://www.peertrainer.com/LoungeCommunityThread.aspx?ForumID=1&ThreadID=171992

Please let us know what you think about the subject matter as well as the format....

Do You Feel Like It's Too Late For You To Get What You Want?

By Jackie Wicks, PEERtrainer Co-Founder

Last night I was talking to someone about some of the stuff I had been reading recently in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." I had read this book before many years ago, and for some reason decided to pick it back up. (I'm very glad I did, and the reason for this post is to share something from that with you.)

I was really excited about a particular exercise that helps you figure out what you really want in life. It had a deep impact on me personally and I wanted to share this great insight.

This person mentioned that she had tried the book years ago but she just couldn't get into it.

But curiosity got the best of her. "Ok, tell me, tell me, I want to do the exercise you are talking about."

So I said here is the exercise, "You've just arrived at a close friend's funeral. You look around and you see a lot of your friend's family, mutual friends you've known over the years. Maybe you see some people from their job.

And some people they've played bridge with, or maybe tennis. You're filled with an emotional charge in the room and you move towards the casket. You look down and you see your own face."

The author asks you, "Now think deeply. What would like each of these speakers to say about you and your life? What kind of husband, wife, father or mother would you like their words to reflect? What kind of daughter? What kind of friend? What kind of working associate?

What character would you like them to have seen in you? Look carefully around you. What difference would you like to have made in their lives? As you answer some of these questions, you see what personally drives you and how you want to live.

Then I said, "Isn't this just wild? It's so powerful".

She responded by saying "That's nice. It's just really not for me."

I was shocked. I thought, how could this not be for you? This was one of the fastest ways I've seen to get to the core of who you are without having to actually go through a life-changing event.

Then I realized, oh. This must be too heavy. To actually contemplate your death.

But her answer was totally unexpected.

She said, "It's too late for me. There's no point in doing this. Maybe 20 years ago. But it's too late."

I was stunned at this answer, and I just felt the tears coming out of my eyes.

I thought, how could she think this way? How can I help her change her perspective? I see people change their lives every day at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, even 80.

Every single day.

Every day, I see someone get out of pain. I see someone change the entire course of their lives. I see 45 year olds with better bodies than they had before they were pregnant. Forget before they were pregnant, better than they had just out of college.

I see 50 year olds run marathons after only starting to run at 48. I literally can feel the excitement jump off the page when someone has lost 10 pounds after trying for 4 years.

So my question to you is this: do you feel like it's too late?

Have you lost all of your drive, really your hope of getting what you want because it's just too late?

I need you to do something today. You have the entire day to do it.

I want you to think of someone, a family member, someone you work with, someone you know who completely defies the notion that it's too late.

If you can't think of anyone, look around when you're on your errands today. It could even be on the grocery line.

You will find someone. I guarantee it.

And it will be the first seed to plant the thought and the belief that it's not too late to get what you want.

-Jackie

PS: Please share your thoughts with us on this PEERtrainer Community Thread:

http://www.peertrainer.com/LoungeCommunityThread.aspx?ForumID=1&ThreadID=171072

"Why Am I Not Losing Weight??"

Hi There-

 

We have been sharing some older articles from Joshua Wayne recently where he shares some of his "mind secrets." Please keep the feedback coming- we know we are really connecting with this.

 

Today we pleased to tell you about a new article that we have from him that we just published on the site. We hope you enjoy it:

 

http://www.peertrainer.com/why_you_are_not_losing_weight.aspx

 

 

We also just uploaded a new video from the series I did with Dr. Joel Fuhrman. In this video he starts to answer the question: "is is better to eat raw or cooked vegetables?"

 

This is an increasingly common question, and as usual Dr. Fuhrman has a unique insight into this subject because of the deep amount of research and study he has done in the field of nutrition.

 

Just below the video is part of an article he wrote where he goes into much greater depth about the raw vs cooked debate. Very interesting:

 

http://blog.peertrainer.com/health/2010/03/is-it-better-to-eat-raw-vegetables-or-cooked-vegetables-dr-joel-fuhrman-gives-his-perspective.html

 

 

-Jackie

 

 PS- we continue to get a lot of feedback and insight from the articles we have been focusing on. This blog post contains an email we got from a reader with a very good tip on how to indentify and fight the foods that sabotage your efforts:

 

http://blog.peertrainer.com/tip_of_the_day/2010/03/interesting-strategy-to-combat-weight-loss-sabotaging-foods.html

 

 

 

Interesting Strategy To Combat Weight Loss Sabotaging Foods

This is an email that Joshua was sent yesterday. It contains a very interesting tactic for combating weight loss self-sabotage:

"Joshua, I signed up last week on PEERtrainer, and I have just today been reading your articles.  At a time where a lot of negative things are going on in my life, your encouraging articles are really a help!

So, after reading your article on how to stop sabotaging my own weight loss, I am going to make my first attempt to stop the procrastination:  I am giving up one weight-loss-sabotaging food this week: deep-fried foods.  You also made me think about making a list of the foods that are the most detrimental to my dieting efforts, and then trying to give up one of those foods each week.  If there are ten "blacklisted" foods, then theoretically, within ten weeks, I will have really changed my eating habits for the better!

In any case, thanks for your encouraging words.  I know that you write them for the 'masses,' but I want you to know that they made an impact on one single person, at least." 

In case you missed yesterday's email and attached article here it is:

http://blog.peertrainer.com/tip_of_the_day/2010/03/positive-psychology-and-stopping-weight-loss-self-sabotage.html

"Positive Psychology" and Stopping Weight Loss Self Sabotage

This is an email that Joshua was sent a couple days ago:

 

"I just read your article on how to stop self sabotaging your weight loss efforts and I have one word. - Excellent.!!!I am a physician and I appreciate the positive psychology  in the article."

 

Here is the article:

A very common question I get asked by the people I work with is “how can I stop my self-sabotage?”  They typically have a lot of frustration with themselves for not following through with their weight loss plan and they often feel hopeless that their situation will never change. 

So if you feel like you keep sabotaging yourself for one reason or another, there are specific things can you do right now to get un-stuck and on track. It might be helpful to get a pen out right now, and write down some notes as you go through this guide. After you have written down some answers to the questions here, maybe pick on thing this week to work on.

First Steps:

The first thing you want to do is identify why you keep doing this.   If you don’t have a clear idea, then it’s hard to come up with the right solution.

In order to understand your "self-sabotage pattern", I’m going to ask you a very important (and maybe a little unusual) question. If you take a few moments to sit with this and really chew on the question, you will find that it’s very powerful and it can actually help you in many areas of your life .

What has to be true in your life in order for you to sabotage your weight loss efforts?

Read that a second time if you have to.  It’s actually a basic logic equation.  In order for a behavior like self-sabotage to be true in your life (and if you’ve read this far, then I’m assuming it is), then what belief MUST you be carrying that allows that self-sabotaging behavior to exist. If you sabotage yourself, then something else MUST be true in your life that allows that to happen.

I assure you this is not as complex as it sounds, and I really encourage you to take a moment to digest it. If you understand what that thing is, you will understand your self-sabotage, and you can then start taking the steps to reverse it.  

Keep reading: http://www.peertrainer.com/how_to_stop_self_sabotage.aspx

Free Jillian Michaels Workout Downloads

I mentioned last week that we would be sending you a link to some free workout videos from Jillian Michaels. I know from being in many of the teams on PEERtrainer that she is very popular.

What I like about the videos that Exercise TV made available is that they are very short (3-4 minutes) and broken out into different areas. They are GREAT for people just starting to get more active. You can do one a day, and feel totally successful.

So often we want to jump right in and see if can "make it through a week of Shred" and it leaves us burnt out. I actually saw this situation this morning. A woman had joined PEERtrainer and was commenting in her "New To PEERtrainer March 2010" team. She ended up pushing herself too hard, ended up getting sick. From there things really unraveled for her.

She had started out in such a great place, but just did too much at once. So my thought is that for those of you who are just getting going, commit to one or two of these short workouts a day, and add two servings of green veggies to what you are already eating. The objective here is to put in place a very doable plan where you can easily succeed, and where you don't run the risk of burning yourself out. Here is the link:

March 2011 Update: The download Is currently unavailable and we are working to get another one. One thing that we are making available free for a limited time is a free download of the PEERtrainer Cheat System, which is a new guide to healthy eating that people are finding easy to do, and they are not beating themselves up in the process.

 

Two New Blogs By Members Of The PEERtrainer Community

There are two excellent new blogs started by people that I know through PEERtrainer. They are both doing excellent work, and you should check them out:

Healthy Girls Kitchen

Diet Buddy Girls: Jana and Tina

Both blogs have buttons that allow you to subscribe.

A Vitamin D Test Is More Important Than A Cholesterol Test?? Dr Furhman Explains Why Even People Who Get A Lot Of Sun Should Supplement With Vitamin D

This is something that we have never heard of- that a Vitamin D test is something that 80% of Americans need, and for many of these people this test is more important than a cholesterol test. The test is called the "Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy." Ask your doctor about this. Very interesting discussion, click to view:

>>Further Reading: Why Is Vitamin D So Important?

How Much Protein Does An Athlete Need To Consume In Their Diet? Dr. Joel Furhman Explains What He Tells NBA Players and Olympic Skiers

Something we hear a lot is that when people start exercising more is "I have to now eat a lot more protein." Habib went through this himself in the last year, running 25-40 miles per week. The other runners and runners on PEERtrainer advised him to eat a lot of protein after a run. 

As a result the meat in his diet began to spike well above the recommended 10% level. He ended up emailing Dr. Fuhrman and asking if athletes were an exception to this 10% level. His response was that when you exercise more you need more calories. And if you are eating a nutrient dense diet with plenty of greens you are getting plenty of protein.

What interesting is that Dr. Fuhrman is an Olympic Medalist in figure skating. He also counsels the US Olympic team, world class skiers and NBA basketball players. In this video, he explains in detail what advice he gives professional athletes in terms of their protein intake:

Here is a bullet point summary of his main points:

• When you exercise and train hard you stress your immune system. If a world cup skier gets sick it might mess up their entire year. So they are financially incentivized to eat the best diet possible
• The more you exercise, the more calories you need. And you need more protein. The key is consuming high nutrient foods that are rich in protein. 
• For his athletes, he advises a green drink blended with 5 ounces of nuts and seeds. This would give them 1000 calories and 20 grams of protein for example
• It is not hard to get enough protein, and too much protein can be dangerous. Bodybuilders and football players who consume large amounts of whey and soy protein are putting themselves at risk for cancer. 
• From his perspective athletes need 1.2 grams of protein for every kilogram of bodyweight.

Interesting Insight From a Critical Care Nurse on Slow Burn, Stu Mittleman, and Losing Weight

This email came in this morning:

"I appreciate all of your articles. I just wanted to share with you a valuable point that I learned from your site. You recommended the book Slow Burn a while back. It had great information in it. I am a critical care nurse for 30 years. I pride myself on knowing how the body works, but mostly in crisis situations and in multi-system organ failure states. 

One of these states is metabolic acidosis. (Link to Wikipedia definition)

The patients will not respond to any treatment until the acidosis is fixed. I have also been into health and fitness especially for the last 5 years. I was going through perimenopause, which threw me for a loop as it seemed no matter what I did, I could not lose the weight. I worked out with a trainer who worked me hard. She saw that despite vigorous heavy weight/strength training, my body was not building muscle.

I was desperately trying to lose weight. I would spend 2-3 hours a day at the gym between cardio/weights/pilates/spin/yoga. My trainer told me that too much was not good, but she could not tell me why. So for over 3 years, I overtrained with little results, and I would come home with purple fingers and toes and mottling over my extremities, and felt lousy.

 It took reading the book Slow Burn to find out that I was becoming acidotic--like my sick patients--thus releasing free radicals in my bloodstream, and actually causing more harm than good. And I see this behavior all the time at my gym now. I hope to spread the message that too much is very harmful. Now I limit my workouts to no more than an hour, and see more results. I really do appreciate all of your updates, as I pass this info on to my friends, nurses, and trainers."

Thank you for the insight!!

If this blog post was emailed to you, you can sign up for our list by clicking here

How To Make Green Tea Taste Great

By Jackie Wicks PEERtrainer Founder

I was at Starbucks the other day and ordered my favorite green tea which is Tazo Green Ginger. It turns out that they stopped carrying it and are now selling a higher end line of Tazo teas that don't include Green Ginger as a flavor. This prompted me to look for a replacement because I love the taste of ginger in green tea.

At home today, I realized that I could simply use actual ginger in my regular green tea. Which I did. I cut up a couple small cubes of ginger, pressed them with my palm and then tossed them in the cup alongside the tea bag.

After a few minutes, the fresh ginger really made its presence felt. It tasted great! If you think about it, ginger is used as a popular flavor. Ginger ale, ginger snaps, gingerbread etc. So why not go right to the source. It is cheap to buy, it can sit in your fridge forever and it has a strong refreshing flavor. If you like, you can add a very small amount of cane sugar to the tea. Presto, you have something that literally tastes like you are drinking a ginger snap cookie. At night you can simply make tea out of fresh ginger and experiment with your own flavors.

The Health Benefits Of Ginger

Ginger is also great for your health. It has properties that function as an anti-inflammatory and as an anti-oxidant. It is widely used to help calm down upset stomachs. Additionally, if you are experiencing pain in your knees or joints, research now shows that daily ginger consumption has been shown to reduce pain in a statistically significant way. There is also new research to show that ginger can kill cancer cells. Researchers are finding that when inflammation is decreased, cancer cells decrease.

How To Get The Benefits Of Green Tea Without Drinking Green Tea!!

You might also be interested to know that both ginger and green tea are key ingredients in one of the most clinically researched supplements on the market. This supplement is called zyflamend, made by a company called New Chapter which has a golden reputation. If you have learned the health benefits of green tea, and don't like drinking it, definitely check that out. It also includes an array of other herbs and spices which all work together to do great stuff.

For those of you following the PT Cheat System, we have you count coffee, even if there is no sugar or milk, but Green Tea is unlimited. We are considering adding some incentive for people to drink the green tea and fresh ginger combination. The health and energy benefits are simply overwhelming. Even if you go to the store, buy some fresh ginger and try it with your tea and don't like it, you'll likely find another use for it.

There are many ways to eat ginger. When I make a trip to the local Whole Foods juice bar, I make sure to add 1 ounce of raw ginger to my drink. It helps any green drink taste good and as we are learning, it is very good for you. You can also puree it and add it to soups, stews- really anything.

If you want to read a little more about what we are doing with the Cheat System, click here. This is a new healthy eating plan, with some interesting twists. What we are doing here is making it easy to pursue a diet that gives you energy, while making it easy and forgiving. The easy and forgiving is a big deal because so many people feel badly about themselves when they go off track or "Cheat." The use of the word cheat has been controversial, but what we are doing is turning a negative into a positive, or at a minimum reducing the disempowering connotation that people normally have with the word.

The system is also free.

To learn more about PEERtrainer, you can go to our homepage. The Cheat System is also part of a broader free weight loss program that we have put together over the years.

Related PEERtrainer Community Discussion:

Does Green Tea Help You Lose Weight  (the answer is yes of course!)

 

Level 5 Leadership: "Humility Of A Very Special Type" and "The Willingness To Endure"

There is a science that studies what makes great leaders tick. At PEERtrainer, we think this is worth paying close attention to. You might not want to be a corporate CEO or a political leader (although I am sure many of you do.) But you can use these ideas in your personal life, with your own goals and challenges. Whether you are totally overhauling your diet or training for your first half marathon, you need to be the leader of yourself. 

The following video is only two minutes, and introduces a very important framework called "Level 5 Leadership." A writer named Jim Collins came up with this concept, which identifies a set of behavior patterns common to many of the world's great leaders. 

Quick Summary Of Level 5 Leadership:

Level 5 leaders posses unwavering resolve, are humble and modest, accept blame and do not seek credit, display a workman like diligence, and posses unyielding self confidence. This last trait is key I think. Not everyone is born with incredible amounts of self-confidence, but everyone can develop it over time. With the right information in your head combined with burning self-confidence you can literally do anything.

 

If you want to read more about this idea, you can download a PDF of the original essay which goes into this concept in detail. You can get it on Amazon and download it instantly. Highly recommended.

 

We Strongly Recommend You Get "The pH Miracle" or "The pH Miracle For Diabetes"

You might have seen us add the book "The pH Miracle" to an earlier list of books that we were reading and thought you might be interested in. We have since dug in a little more in the last few months and are now of the opinion that this is a book that we insist you have on your bookshelf. There are two other books that have some focus on people who are very overweight or who have some form of diabetes. Regardless, the message will be the same.

You might see us do a review of a book from time to time, but you rarely see us literally pounding our fist on the table saying "you must check this out." The reason for this new enthusiasm is that both Jackie and I have had a chance to incorporate some of the ideas into our own diets. In my case, a couple of very small adjustments that I made as a result of reading this for the first time have me feeling better than I ever felt. Seriously.

A Caveat:

A lot of things that we show you are outside the mainstream. You are not going to go into a Weight Watchers meeting and be handed a copy of this book. There are a couple things written in the book that frankly are nuts. That said, 99% of what is presented is so valuable.

 

It is important to know that Robert Young, the author of the book, has pioneered this field. There are now many imitators, but like Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Young has a thriving clinical practice. This is important to note, because he sees the direct impact of his ideas every day.

 

Another important point is that these books and the advice presented is from the perspective of trying to help the sickest people. Folks with various forms of cancer visit Dr. Young's clinic, so keep that in mind as you read the book. A big takeaway for me is that this book gave me the "why" that I needed to quit coffee finally. I cut out coffee (and the sugar that I put in it) and replaced it with Green Tea. I also added a cucumber to my diet each day.

 

It is one of those books that you really want to read and absorb the message and argument. It might interest you that Jackie and I have also spoken to Dr. Young's team in depth because of their relationship with Stu Mittleman. They were extremely concerned about our idea of "Diet Fusion" and the risk that we "water down the message."

 

And we do to a certain extent. The thing is, PEERtrainer is a different context. People come to us for help making some long term adjustments in their life. People often go to Dr. Young's clinic with the hope of saving their life. Very different. Right now, beyond our initial conversations with his team we have no relationship. Despite their hostility to our approach, we have no problem strongly recommending these books.

 

I asked Dr. Fuhrman recently about this idea of acid alkaline, and he felt strongly that a nutrient dense diet high in greens and vegetables would provide sufficient alkalinity. He is probably right from a scientific standpoint, but from my experience the pH adjustments had a big impact. And I eat a more nutrient dense diet than 99% of people out there.

 

Very interesting stuff, especially the direct discussions and debates we are having. We get a chance to learn a lot and that is something I am very grateful for. I was out for a run yesterday, really feeling great and it just hit me how lucky I have been to be exposed to all these different ideas, mix them together, test them and then go right back to the authors to ask follow-up questions.

 

Anyway, get one of these books. They are all available in paperback, on Amazon for a few dollars. Really no excuse not to check it out.