PEERtrainer

"Strength For My Mind And Spirit"

We just got a very profound email from one of the members of the PEERtrainer community, and I thought it would be helpful to share some of the comments. It is an excellent articulation of the value of our Point Of No Return concept, and helps to show that we are able to deliver on the central premise with both our Tip of The Day And Point Of No Return Program:

"The things I am learning from the 'tip of the day' and also the 'point of no return intensive' is what makes me think that this will be the time that matters....the time I can reach my goals. I realize that there will be no more "times" after this because over the past 2.5 months my whole life has started to change."

This is really the whole point. Most of us have been through things like Weight Watchers, NutriSystem, South Beach. We own copies of Dr. Oz's books. We have Oprah Magazine sitting in our bathrooms and living rooms. Yet we don't make the progress we desire and we don't become the person we want to become.

We built the PEERtrainer coaching program with this problem in mind, and engaged with a talented therapist who is familiar with both the mind- and the spirit. And the email contained a great recognition of that, that we help move people to a different way of thinking about themselves which can trigger immense personal change:

"I knew how to get an awesome workout....I knew how to eat to lose weight....what I needed all these years is the strength for my mind and my spirit....all the tips and exercises and thoughts that I am totally addicted to now! Health and weight loss is not just a physical journey and I am so happy that I finally realize this."

This was one of the best emails we have ever received at PEERtrainer, and are very grateful for it.

Gotta Love Emails Like This: "I'm Doing Great!"

Hi Jackie,

I'm doing great! My good friend and I are buddies in a group I created, and
we're having a great time encouraging each other. I also am part of the
Weekly Weigh In, Daily Accountability team, which gives me a broader sense
of how and what others are doing. Your weekly emails are also helpful. I am
logging everything, which has really opened my eyes to my eating habits and
has also made me feel accomplished in regard to my workouts. Plus, I've lost
6 pounds since the beginning of the year!

Thanks for providing such excellent, encouraging free services.

- Lauren

If you want to join the Weekly Weigh in, Daily Accountability team, I've provided the link directly to join above.  It's 1928 members and growing daily.  It's a great active team.

Jackie

Everything You Need To Know About Weight Watchers

Readers of the PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day, this blog, listeners to our coaching programs know that we are fans of Weight Watchers, and generally advocate it as part of a broad toolset of stuff that just works. It is important though to not get into this mindset of "I am on this diet" or "I am on that diet". Just try and be open to mixing and matching what works for you. Because we have a deep and focused community on the site, we have accumulated lots of interesting bits of information.

This post will serve as a central place where we will gather important information about the program, as an "FAQ" for the program. It will be updated and if you see something, please feel free to post it in the comments section.

The Weight Watchers Momentum Program

This is the latest update of the program. Old concepts of Core and Flex are renamed although ideas stay the same. The Filling Foods List has some healthier versions and the general tone seems to be towards healthy foods. The basics of counting points, staying accountable and getting support at meetings remains the same. You need to sign up to get the details of this new program.

Here are some relevant discussions from our community:

What Do You Learn At A Weight Watchers Meeting?

This was the best response from that thread so far:

"You can learn a lot.

- How to estimate portions when you can't measure

- How to plan for specially occasions

- How to choose more healthy options

- How not to deprive yourself, but instead control yourself

- Great recipes

- Tips for cooking lighter

- Strategies for changing your behaviors to be more healthy

Most of all, you'll learn how to plan and make better choices that you can live with instead f depriving yourself of everything you love."

Weight Watchers, To Join Or Not To Join?

Here is one great comment from that thread:

"I just joined. So far i really am liking the plan. You are held accountable and you do weigh in every week (only one person sees it) and when you attain certain small goals the group recognizes those and asks you what worked for you and if anything you do may help the group to achieve their goals. I have found this part pretty motivational.

Also, I guess you could eat junk if you wanted to but if you did you certainly wouldnt be able to eat too much of it and still stay within their "diet" However I do enjoy the point system because I can eat healhty and eat a lot of food, but I can also have a SMALL treat and it is still ok and i am still on the plan and it does not make me discouraged."

Can Someone Explain Weight Watchers Activity Points?

"I've been using WW points for a long time and here is how I calculate the activity points: I weigh about 180 at the moment ...

if I'm working hard and sweating - I earn a point for every 15-20 minutes or 100- 150 calories if the machine I'm using calculates calories.

So if I work out on the elliptical for 30 minutes - 1 pt ... 45 minutes - 2 pts ... 60-75 minutes 3 pts

If I'm being active but not necessarily working up a big sweat - I calculate 1 pt per half-full hour. So if I'm out walking with my kids for half an hour - 1 pt but if I go out for the day with them and walk all over a park or an event with them for hours on end - I calculate 1 pt per hour I was out and on my feet. "

How Do You Calculate The Weight Watchers Points You Need:

"Thought this was helpful - new way to calculate your points for weight watachers.

Weight Watchers Updated: Your personal daily points target- use this formula

1. Are you

female?- score 2

Male?- score 8

A nursing mom?- score 12

2. How old are you?

17-26- score 4

27-37- score 3

38-47- score 2

48-58- score 1

over 58- score 0

3.What do you weigh?

Enter the first two digits of your weight in pounds.

(for example, if you weight 199, you will add 19 to your score)

4. How tall are you?

Under 5’1- score 0

5’1-5’10- score 1

Over 5’10- score 2

5. How do you spend most of your day?

Sitting down? score 0

Occasionally sitting? score 2

Walking most of the time? score 4

Doing physically hard work most of the time? score 6

Now add them all together and that’s your daily total. It might be higher for some. My WW coordinator said if this is the case, take the difference between your new and old and divide it in half and then add that much to your previous total." 

I would note that this is a very very rough guide and they have changed the program so much (for the better from the looks of it) that you really need to go to the meetings or join online. It is not longer just a thing of counting some points and learning some values. There is much more to it. We have more here on the recent changes.

Can Someone Explain The Pros and Cons Of The Weight Watchers Points System?

Tips For Success In Weight Watchers

This thread has a nice balance of reviews and experiences- some great, some not so great.

The Cost Of Weight Watchers

You can save 25% if you sign up for 3 months and you need to go to their site to get the current prices. This banner takes you to pricing for the new Momentum Program

Portion Control Is Key To Success With Any Diet Plan

We got permission to post this comment from the Eat To Live/Eat For Health Challenge team. It is important because it helps to illustrate one of the key components of our "Diet Fusion" framework. No matter what diet you are on, you need to do portion control. With so many people now adopting plant based diets, many of us are tempted to think that we can eat whatever we want. We see Dr. Oz on TV giving people huge piles of fruits and vegetables and they lose weight. But you really have to be careful with the oil, nuts and fats.....

"Other than my slip this past week, I thought I had been doing fairly well, but I lay awake early early this morning really thinking about what I am eating and why I'm not losing a little faster. And I think I am sabotaging myself in a couple different areas. I think somehow when starting to follow the E2L guidelines as well as using some McDougall recipes, I sort of adopted the idea that now I was eating for nutrition I could eat as much as I wanted - being careful of course not to ever stuff myself. While I do measure my flax meal, nuts & avocado, I also usually go back for seconds of whatever I have made for dinner. And my salads at lunch are huge. Even though I make my own dressings and count the fruit and nuts I use in them towards my daily totals, it's still a lot of calories for someone who wants to lose weight.

So today I am going to really pay attention, and start cutting back on quantities - because my activity is a little limited and I can probably eat less and still be satisfied. Maybe I needed to work my way towards this, maybe I needed to learn I don't have to restrict what I am eating - that I can eat tons of healthy food and not gain. And having learned that, maybe now I can trust in the quality of the food and accept that I don't need to eat quite as much since it is all so nutritionally dense. Speaking of which, that's the second thing I thought of. I've been using up the vegenaise that made it's way into the house over Thanksgiving, and those are empty calories. I think that's the last of the holiday extras and the house is once more a safe place."

Discuss this post in the PEERtrainer Community!

5 Things To Focus On In The First Week Of Your Diet

This is an article from the PEERtrainer Weight Loss Framework, which is a guide to some of the best ideas that we have found that address the fundamentals of long term weight loss. The Framework is a page that you can bookmark and it is especially useful for people starting out on a diet or weight loss path.

1. The Goal

We talk a lot in this guide, in our Tip of The Day email program, in our coaching calls the importance of goal setting and planning. It is so fundamental and you have heard this a zillion times, but it is precisely these things that you need to do to succeed. Like on a trip, you need to know where you are going, where your destination is.

Losing weight is no different. Setting a specific goal that is really yours is important. Not what anyone tells you, but what you really want at the core, what is in your heart. I think it was Thoreau who said that "people do not attain what they do not aim for." So no matter what stage you are on in your journey, take a moment and actually take out a pen or pencil and right down a goal you really want. Or better yet, one that you expect to attain.

2. The Why

Using another real life example, to do anything you need a reason to do it. Without a reason you are not going to do it. You are not going to follow through on a diet just because you think you are supposed to, or it is January 1 or whatever. You have to find a reason and is has to be a priority. It has to be something you deeply value and is the top priority. This reason, this burning desire, will help to fuel your motivation. When you get off track, which you will, this goal and this reason becomes this force that you gravitate towards, and that picks you back up.

3. The How

You also need to know how to get where you want to go, and you need a route, a map or some sort of itinerary. You need to know how get from point A to point B. You can do this on your own, but it is so much easier when you do it with others. Imagine going out in the wilderness without a map? Going to a party, you need the same mindset- you need to be prepared beforehand, you need a ruleset that you will stick to. You need to be able to cope with the "food wilderness."

This brings us to support and guidance which is one of our core organizing themes and ideas. Why do millions of people pay each week to travel to a room to weigh themselves and hear a pep talk? Because it works and is valuable. One thing we talk about at PEERtrainer is the idea of "diet fusion", of blending different approaches together. My own "diet fusion" is to use the Weight Watchers Points system and combine it with a very high nutrient diet like the one advocated by Joel Fuhrman. I think on week three of the bootcamp calls I go into this specific idea.

Once you have done the fundamental work of goal setting, expectation setting, finding your reasons you really need to figure out how to stick to it, to get the support to keep you on track. You can join a PEERtrainer group, make sure you are getting the daily emails, or join a coaching program that will help to customize your path for you. There are all sorts of things you can set up for yourself to help bolster your own self motivation and discipline. If you have heard the PEERtrainer bootcamp calls, you know how motivating they can be.

4. The Measurement

Develop a weekly plan to stay accountable. Do you hate the scale? That's fine. Maybe one day you will make friends with it. In the meantime, find a different way to chart your progress. Maybe buy a measuring tape and take your measurements weekly. Maybe you have a pair of jeans that you can try on weekly. Find something that works for you, whether it's an old pair of jeans that you try on once a week, a measuring tape, a scale, your partners eyes, whatever it is and measure your progress.

5. The Follow Through

It's important for you to see progress so that you'll have a reason to stick with your plan. You're not sprinting; you're running a marathon. If you don't see the miles tick off as you get closer to the finish line, how are you going to know that what you're doing is working? Logging your goals, your progress, and your daily habits will show you what is working and most importantly, give you the confidence to keep up your good work. Your first week on PEERtrainer is critical if you have never logged before. Once you develop the habit, other positive and healthy habits will start to happen.

Next: Get A Support System

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