PEERtrainer Diet

Why Does The PEERtrainer Cheat System Work? Because It Is Aligned With How The Brain LIKES To Function

By Jackie Wicks PEERtrainer Founder

The PEERtrainer Cheat System is a simple to follow diet, that makes weight loss easier and less frustrating. 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.  When you enter your email below you will be sent a free copy of the diet!

The PEERtrainer Cheat System is an advanced weight loss and health plan, made super easy, and designed to work with, not against how the brain actually works. Here are some leading doctors commenting on it:

"it works in a real way with how human psychology works...I love that it relates closely to how the brain likes to function...without crazy effort and with significant short-term gains."

--Srini Pillay, MD, Harvard Medical School

"gives you the template to lose weight without sending your hormones in a disastrous death spiral."

-Sara Gottfried, MD

"The Cheat System Diet is brilliant! Jackie Wicks understands how the brain works, and how habits are developed in the real world."

--Steven Masley, MD,  Assistant Professor University South Florida

The Cheat System has also been turned into a major book to be published May 6th, 2014. Here is a preview of the cover:

 

Here is a quick summary of the important details of the PEERtrainer Cheat System

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 drop 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:

The PEERtrainer Cheat System has now been turned into a major book!!

Here are some comments from leading experts:

"The Cheat System Diet" is a fantastic book for many reasons. Firstly, it works in a real way with how human psychology works...everyone is looking for a way out...and this book gives it to you...step by step. I love also that it relates closely to how the brain likes to function...without crazy effort and with significant short-term gains.　 And most of all, it is really congruent with how the author lives her life. For anyone who loves food but wants to lose weight without their brain objecting," The Cheat System Diet" is for you." I am certain that you will not only NOT be disappointed, but that you will also be ecstatic with what you are allowed to eat while still losing weight."

--Srini Pillay, MD, Harvard Medical School

"The Cheat System Diet is brilliant! Jackie Wicks understands how the brain works, and how habits are developed in the real world. This book clarifies why portion control is so hard, and makes it crystal clear why her "eat" foods will extinguish hunger. This breakthrough plan is realistic, loaded with practical information, and will add years of health you your life."

--Steven Masley, MD, FAHA, FACN, FAAFP, author of The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up, Assistant ProfessorUniversity South Florida

 

"In this breakthrough book, Jackie Wicks reveals a food plan that won’t perpetuate the tiresome diet - stress - fail pattern.　The Cheat System Diet　gives you the template to lose weight without sending your hormones in a disastrous death spiral."

–Sara Gottfried, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Hormone Cure, Graduate of Harvard Medical School and MIT

"The Cheat System Diet perfectly melds what works for weight loss with what works for people. The result is a fabulous diet that won’t just help you lose weight, but that you’ll actually want to stick to!"
–JJ Virgin, author of the New York Times bestselling The Virgin Diet

Is nutritional yeast as much of an allergen as regular yeast found is bread?

The idea that yeast is a common allergen is a misinterpretation of some blood tests that often get run in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) like Crohn's, ulcerative colitis (UC), and celiac. When someone suffers from these diseases, they frequently also have compromised integrity of the intestinal lining. This allows more potential antigens to enter the blood, which will stimulate an immune reaction.

Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) can be used as a diagnostic tool for IBD, because people with IBD can be expected to frequently have compromised linings compared to healthy controls. Thus, people with IBD tend to produce ASCA when exposed to dietary yeast (which is almost always *Saccharomyces cerevisiae*, whether it's used to make beer, wine, bread, or nutritional yeast).

It's unclear how much of a problem these antibodies actually are for someone with an IBD, and it appears to depend on the specific IBD the person suffers from. Crohn's disease appears to have the most frequent reaction with yeast, so for someone with Crohn's it may be worth trying to remove yeast-containing foods/beverages to see if there is any improvement. For celiac and UC, it doesn't appear as if the yeast itself is much of a problem in the majority of cases.

If you do test positive for ASCA, the biggest thing I would take from it is that chances are good your intestinal lining is compromised, which is really the bigger issue. Our immune system is designed to get rid of foreign particles, so I would argue against a general immune reaction being a sign of an "allergy". An allergy is an OVERreaction of the immune system, not just any reaction. Regardless of whether you have a reaction to a particular food, if your gut lining is compromised, you'll continue to have reactions large or small as foreign particles inevitably make their way into your blood!

So, unless you have an IBD, I wouldn't worry about yeast being an allergen--I could find only one case study of a boy who suffered a true yeast allergy, and otherwise all reactions to yeast occurred in individuals with an IBD.

Yeast doesn't *cause *any IBDs, no more than gluten *causes *celiac disease--these diseases have a complex and not fully-understood etiology, but it likely involves genetics to a great extent. But, just as gluten aggravates celiac disease, yeast may aggravate certain other IBDs, especially Crohn's.

-Brian

Related articles

How To Slow Digestion, Making You Feel Fuller And More Nourished

"Why Have I Allowed Myself To Gain This Much?" (6 Reasons This Might Be True For You)

August 23rd Q&A Session With JJ and Jackie Notes and Highlights

This is the first half of notes from the latest Q and A. People had asked us for an easier way to digest the calls, so we are experimenting with this. We are also publishing this for the whole PEERtrainer community to see. We have a lot of people who are successful right away- and some for whom it takes some more effort. We are making a big effort to paint as realistic picture as possible, to show you the full range of results. The rest of the notes will be published tommorrow on this same post.

 

Question 1: A question from someone looking for help with hunger and belly fat:

JJ: If people are looking for something to help with their hunger and help with belly fat, the first thing, obviously, is do the Metabolic Booster Packs that we use with Appestacin, Satiecin, and Relora Plus. You know the results we've been getting with that.

Jackie: Oh, and people love it.

JJ: Love it. So I have that. I travel with it. And Relora Plus, if you're a stress bomb, oh my gosh, does that save me.

Jackie: Yeah, I use Relora Plus. It's a noticeable difference when I run out, and I have it right after... [laughs]

JJ: In fact, the whole family says things about it.

So that's the thing I would tell you is that's my starting point is that.

Question 2: Can you comment on staying motivated if the scale is not going down

JJ: I would love to know how long is the scale not going down for, obviously, because that's important. It brings up a bigger story and first off, again--motivation, inspiration, support and accountability are key for long-term success. Not only in weight loss, better health strategies and long-term weight management and long-term better health.

It's key to surround yourself with like-minded people. We know that people who are around, that like tends to draw like. If you're around people who have not such great health habits and are overweight, you'll tend to be so too.

You know I've always loved this community, it is so great. I really surrounded myself. In fact, my coach has called it your growth friends. I think whether it's growing to be healthier or to be more spiritual, whatever it is, you surround yourself with people with like goals. That's going to really support you, and then you get really clear on why you're doing this.

There are going to be some weeks where nothing happens, or maybe things get a little worse.

Then the next part is to realize that we're working in layers of weight loss resistance. The peer training fresh start plan is going to really versus the anti-inflammatory diet. Creating infinite Cortisol problems and inflammation that will make you hold to weight, gain weight, and crave the very foods that are hurting you.

Once you start to get through that you find the diet that really works for you and supports your health long term and you get going with your exercise, if things are clicking the way they should be you've got to start looking at other things that impact your weight.

We know genetics are a big impact here, but remember, genetics loads the gun and lifestyle pulls the trigger. So a lot of what we are doing in the peer trainer fresh start cleanse with exercise make those shifts.

The other things we have to look at in terms of weight loss resistance, and I know you really need to have programs in all these, are stress. Stress is so huge. That's why, I mean, I love the Relora Plus and, again, we will look at doing some things specific with stress. Stress, sleep, toxicity and beyond just "Hey, let's do a detox program" but like people who really have some serious chemical toxicity, they're very reactive people.

Hormone imbalance, either low testosterone for men or an imbalance in estrogen and progesterone for women and low testosterone for women, thyroid fatigue, low thyroid function, insulin resistance, gut problems like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or candida, these things can have major impact on your body's ability to lose weight.

So if you're finding that, "Gosh, I'm doing the food correctly, I am exercising" look at your stress, look at your sleep, and then you're going to have to go through these areas of weight loss resistance because your body is going, "Hey!"

Remember, it's not a bank account. It's a chemistry lab. You've got to have your biochemistry chugging along in order to be able to lose weight. Weight is just a symptom of other stuff not working here, you know, if you're not losing it.

Jackie: Yeah. I know it can be frustrating in the trajectory of losing weight. There are definitely weeks that I have gone...When I was losing weight after my pregnancy there was a week that I would go up a pound and I would say, "I can't believe it." It could have been that I had sushi the night before and was really retaining...

Question 3: "How do I lose weight specifically in the upper arms and thighs?"

JJ: You can't lose weight specifically anywhere. All you can do is tighten those areas up. I mean, let's create our own version of Spanx, which is muscle. But muscle is even better than Spanx because muscle holds everything together tight and boosts your metabolism and improves insulin sensitivity while it does it. So it helps you burn more fat, it elevates your metabolism, and holds everything tighter.

You burn fat systemically, and again, by having the thyroid function, by having balanced hormones, by having lower insulin, fasting, by eating right, by exercising, you burn fat systemically, but you can make everything look better with muscle. Does that answer the question?

Jackie: I love it. Make your own Spanx. Make your own Spanx. That's fantastic. It's true.

Question 4:

Jackie: OK. The next one, which I saw prior to this, "Very concerned. Logged into my food diary and it calculated my calories for yesterday. My first day of the cleanse. I'm at 887 calories for the day and I've run 346 with my workout. I cannot go through 14 days with less than 1,000 calories a day. Will this kill my metabolism? Also, be difficult to maintain my active lifestyle. I need advice."

JJ: Yeah. I'm trying to figure out why someone on the program is eating that few calories?

Jackie: That's what I said. The first thing I said when I saw it is I said, "This is not from the plate at all?"

JJ: Yeah, you're not eating by the plate!

Jackie: ...At all.

JJ: That's not what we have people do. We have people eat...I mean, just the shakes alone, my goodness. The shakes are 300-400 calories.

Jackie: I know. I was just about to say, "That would total...mine are 400 each."

JJ: Yeah. Mine are, too.

Jackie: So that would total 800 right there.

JJ: If you're doing this the right way - and you can always add a snack in, too - you're going to be in the 1200-1500 calorie range. We really don't focus on our calories. We focus on where those calories come from and ensuring that you're getting optimal nutrition there.

They shift up or down based on your personal needs. But something is wrong because that's not the program. So I don't know what's going on there.

Jackie: Maybe, just to also reiterate. There are those handouts, especially from the "Getting Started." It really gives you your shopping list. It gives you the plate.

It might be a good idea to maybe review what the best shake recipe that we give is and all of those things-- because you might start to see, "Oh, wow! I didn't realize I was supposed to do," I don't know, maybe, "The good fat," or whatever it is.

But it's just always a good idea to review that. So that you know that you are getting the plate and you're getting all the right mix of the nutrients.

Question 5:

Ellen: How long could you keep up the cleanse, only for two weeks or forever?

JJ: To be honest with you, you can eat. Sometimes I'll do two shakes a day. It depends on what's going on. A lot of times when I travel I do it, because I'll get into a hotel and it's like, "I don't want to have a whole meal." I might go get some vegetables and then have a shake.

I eat this way all the time. I don't eat dairy, gluten. I eat eggs now, occasionally, if they're OK for my stomach. I don't eat them every day. I don't do soy. I rarely do corn or peanuts. I try to really watch sugar. I don't eat desserts. I don't do artificial sweeteners. I do a shake every day and sometimes two.

It's something you can do for life. It's not hurting you. It's just going to help you.

Ellen: OK. I have a question that's related to something you said. I don't think of myself as somebody who eats a lot of sugar. I have, except for this morning, cut sugar out of my diet even with coffee. I've got a book that you recommended. What is it, "The 100 Greatest Foods in the World," I forget.

Jackie: Oh, Jonny Bowden's book?

JJ: Jonny Bowden.

Ellen: Right. He says that raw honey is a good food.

JJ: So, here's the deal with raw honey. You've got to realize, Jonny and I are really in sync, but you can put 10 of us nutritionists in a room and we will still get in a fight. I've yet to meet anybody out there who I agree 100 percent with.

Ellen: OK. I hear you.

JJ: We're never going to get 100 percent. Here's my feeling, "Honey is sugar and sugar is problematic." So there are issues with it. However, honey has some amazing qualities, if you're buying raw local honey it can be a homeopathic for you for allergies.

And in that sense, a little bit of it - a teaspoon, a half-a-teaspoon - can be therapeutic.

Question 6:

Elizabeth: Hi. I just want to say this is my second time doing it. I did it in May. When I did it in May, I got really constipated. I had a lot of problems with it. I lost a little weight, but mostly I really had a problem.

I did keep taking all the digestive things and that was even through a trip to Europe, which was pretty hard to do, the no gluten/no dairy thing. But I kept taking all the digestive stuff. Now, this time I've done it, and it's just been great. I haven't had any problems. And I'm at the lowest weight I've been in years, without drugs, which is great.

Jackie: Congratulations. Congratulations, that's great.

Elizabeth: Yeah, I feel great. And this is post-menopausal. So I feel great about that. But what I wanted to ask you, JJ, a couple things. Do you think that I, continuing since May to take all the digestive stuff, do you think that that probably is what's helping me get through this one better? Like maybe a lot of my digestive issues were addressed through taking those things?

JJ: Yeah. My sense is when you first started just with what you were describing as issues, is that you had gut dysbiosis that had to get handled.

Elizabeth: Yeah.

JJ: I immediately went, "Huh. She must have had some gut dysbiosis, and that's your...you've got to heal your gut. So that's where things like the pump clear, enzymes, even extra Floramend prime, extra probiotics, maybe throwing in some extra glutamine in the shake and really focusing on that. Because the fact that your constipation cleared up, all that stuff, yay, and you're finally able to lose weight.

Because remember, if you have something like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, you don't lose weight because you actually extract more calories from the food you eat and store it as fat. So if your digestion's off, everything's off.

Elizabeth: Now how much of the glutamine do you put in the shake? I haven't tried that yet.

JJ: A teaspoon. It ends up being about three grams. 

Elizabeth: OK. And then I just wanted to say, I don't know if I heard it in this program or your other program, but every afternoon I do an Emergen-C with some magnesium in it, with some powdered magnesium in it. Is that OK?

JJ: Yeah. I use the Emergen-C lite, not the regular one. If you're just using one, it's fine, but I use the lite one.

Elizabeth: OK.

JJ: And I'm a big fan of magnesium. I think it's one of those common things we are deficient in.

Elizabeth: Right, right.

JJ: So big fan of magnesium.

Elizabeth: Right. And one more thing. I cannot believe I can go six, seven hours without eating, with these shakes.

Elizabeth: I'm telling you, I do it at like six in the morning, I don't eat lunch until 1pm. I have another shake at 1pm. I'm blown away. So yay girls, thank you.

http://shop.peertrainer.com/shakes

JJ: You are so welcome. But that also shows you, it's kind of a test. If someone eats and is starving right away, one of two things. They either did not eat correctly, they did not hit a hormonal winner, or they're a sugar burner, and they haven't trained their body how to use fat. And either one's a problem.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Well, the other thing too is I really see how much I use food, like when I'm bored, or when I'm...I'm not hungry. And I see how, in like four or five hours, I'm like, if I'm bored or trying to ground myself or something like that, it's just amazing how I'm starting to see, I'm not hungry. So I get a lot more done if I'm not trying to use food to fill in.

JJ: Well, when you stop eating the foods that are really addictive that cause cravings that we eat not because we're hungry but because "ooh." You stop looking at food that way.

Click Here To Find Out When The Next PEERtrainer Cleanse Starts

Do Artificial Sweeteners Promote Weight Gain?

This is a segment from a larger guide to sweeteners:

Do Artificial Sweeteners Promote Weight Gain?

The biggest reason to avoid artificial sweeteners is not related to their potential toxicity, but is rather related to their purpose. The only reason to use a zero-calorie sweetener is to avoid... the excess calories one would ingest through the use of a real sugar, in an effort to reduce total daily caloric intake.

While this goal is achieved in the very short-term, all evidence suggests the use of artificial sweeteners perpetually leads to increased daily caloric intake.

Research shows that when we consume an artificial sweetener, it triggers the first food reward pathway (sensory) but not the second (postingestive). Because we only partially trigger the food reward pathway, we are left feeling unsatisfied with the neurological result of increased hunger, particularly for the sweet food our body thought it was going to receive.

Glucose, on the other hand, triggers both food-reward pathways and suppresses hunger signals in our hypothalamus.

The danger associated with partially triggering our food reward pathways goes even further. When the brain is habitually tricked, it changes its expectations to match the new information, which says that sometimes food is not as satisfying as our mouth thought it would be.

This leads to a diminished sense of reward from eating, which means it takes more food or drink to reach the same level of neurological satiety, or fullness. Furthermore, because the artificial sweeteners are so sweet, they influence our taste for food and we begin to crave sugar more than normal.

Read The Whole Thing Here

PS: This is why we count drinks containing artificial sweeteners as a Cheat. For those of you who were wondering!!

 

What Is A Complete Protein?

This is a small excerpt from a new guide to protein on PEERtrainer. This section helps to shed light on an interesting subject. So often we hear that vegetables are not a complete protein. Here is what that really means:

"One concept always brought up when debating animal versus plant protein is the completeness of the protein. Animal proteins offer a complete array of the amino acids our body needs, and has always been set as the golden standard of protein completeness. Vegetable proteins, on the other hand, are derided as being "incomplete", or lacking in certain essential amino acids. This is true, but in a limited sense.

In reality, the only commonly lacking amino acid in plant-based protein sources is lysine, and plant-based proteins are only lower in it, not completely devoid of it. The amount of lysine considered necessary is a highly debated topic. Low estimates put it at 12 mg/kg, or 870 mg a day for a 160lb. adult, whereas high "safe level" estimates place it at 60 mg/kg, or 4350 mg a day. The estimated amount of lysine the average American consumes in a day is 7600 mg, which is 175% more than the amount even the highest recommendations place."

The article goes on to say that different vegetables have different amounts of lysine. Some of these vegetables have close to the amounts in animal protein!!

Examples given are " legumes, spinach, quinoa and amaranth, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, apples, potatoes, and pineapples.

Read The Whole Article Here

How To Lose Weight Naturally

We just published a new article titled "Natural Weight Loss" and we go into the science of how people lose weight naturally.

You might think that this article will go into all sorts of weird tips of how you go into a health food store and find some weird herbs and things. You would be wrong!

Instead this article goes into some very simple suggestions that you need to take that will help you lose weight in a natural manner.

Read the whole thing.

The Dangers Of The Master Cleanse

One of the biggest challenges we have at PEERtrainer is when we are introducing a new idea that contradicts a deeply held belief or thought.

The areas of cleanses is a prime example. When most people think of cleanses, they think of things like The Master Cleanse, colonic cleanses, juice fasts or other things where there truly is a negative connotation.

These cleanses feature water, sugar and juice and no other food. They are essentially liquid fasts.

The most important concept to communicate here is that your body detoxes naturally. And there are two distinct phases of this process. 

Step one is where "your liver converts toxic substances to highly reactive metabolites. Many of these metabolites are free radicals and more toxic than the original toxin. If your liver doesn't properly excrete them in phase 2, you can suffer significant cellular damage"

Step two is where your body actually eliminates these substances. While step one requires numerous nutrients such as B vitamins and Bioflavinoids, this second "Phase 2" almost entirely depends on amino acids such as taurine, glutamine, and lysine.

Meaning, if you are not getting in the proper amount of protein, your detoxification process will be incomplete. Worse, you may feel bad or even sick. Google the term "master cleanse feel" and look at the rest of the suggested terms.

We are not making this up. The Master Cleanse produces this result because you eat no protein on it!!

The PEERtrainer Cleanse on the other hand features a pea/rice protein shake, among other things. This cleanse is also highly nutrient dense, which means that you get all the nutrients you need.

We also teach you how to do a cleanse, from soup to nuts. But the bottom line is that no matter what, never do The Master Cleanse!

Dr. Joel Fuhrman Responds To Tara Parker-Pope Of The NY Times

By Habib Wicks, PEERtrainer co-founder

At PEERtrainer we have been following Stephen Covey's advice, being very mindful of the space between stimulus and response, following the publication of an article on the difficulty of weight loss from a widely followed blogger at the New York Times.

Many people have read the article and asked our opinion of it, because the conclusion it reaches is completely, 180 degrees opposite of everything we have learned running this company. We have talked to a lot of people in our industry, and also considered our own experience helping guide people toward healthy, long term weight loss.

One of the more thoughtful (and measured) responses was from our friend Dr. Joel Fuhrman, which we have included in this post.

Our own quick summary of the situation is that the writer named Tara Parker-Pope managed to conclude that weight loss was futile for most people based on a) a study that showed people failing at long term weight loss on a low nutrient, low calorie diet and b) her own personal experience where she has failed to lose the 60 pounds she has gained since her high school graduation.

Our Key Point: One of the reasons that we have reacted so strongly to Tara Parker-Pope is that we have a situation where someone who has admittedly failed at figuring out how to lose weight in a healthy and sustainable way, has somehow managed to widely influence the way people think.

Not only are there diet approaches which get people out of the cycle of failure that Parker-Pope is trapped in, there are tens of thousands of people at PEERtrainer who have been through our free and paid programs who have experienced breaking this cycle.

We see that when people 1) incorporate nutrient density as a core part of their long term eating plan, 2) explore the removal of toxic foods to see how they react to things like wheat, eggs, dairy and corn and 3) take an in-depth account of how they make decisions- incredible progress can be made.

This happens every single day, and the pattern repeats itself with such clockwork regularity that we want to literally scream when someone says that losing weight is just not possible, because they are following the wrong plan.

To compound matters for Tara Parker-Pope, she recently revealed in an interview with Jean Fain that her plan this year to lose weight is to "be mindful" of what she eats and exercise between 90 minutes and two hours a day.

It doesn't take an expert in logic to conclude that the likelihood of her actually exercising this much is very low. And that her attempts to "be mindful" have clearly not worked!

PEERtrainer's Advice To Tara Parker Pope

Since Ms. Parker-Pope is very likely to read this post, we would ask you to do what we advise everyone who comes through PEERtrainer to do. First, pick up a copy of Eat To Live by Joel Fuhrman MD. And when you do, make sure you understand the concept of nutrient density and apply it.

Second, we'd strongly encourage you to check out this interview with weight loss resistance expert JJ Virgin, PhD. In the interview that she conducted with my wife and PEERtrainer co-founder, Jackie Wicks, she goes over a "cleanse" protocol that helps you see what foods you might react to. There are many ways to implement this protocol, but the bulk of what you need to know is right on that page.

In our experience, when you combine these two approaches, it becomes a lot easier to lose weight. And since Parker-Pope made herself a personal example, I want to point out that Jackie currently weighs what she did at her high school graduation. 

In fact, there is nobody that we work with at PEERtrainer who is not in excellent shape, because we make sure that everyone we work with and present walks their talk. Now, we do understand that someone who is engaged in a struggle deserves compassion, and that someone who is publicly talking about their own struggle is displaying enormous courage.

But that same person cannot possibly be in a position to influence the debate, at all. 

One person who is in a position to influence the debate is Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who has an amazing track record at helping many obese and sick people recover. 

Dr. Fuhrman's Comment:

"The article perpetuates the simplistic and most common error in the dietary arena; that is focusing on dietary quantity instead of dietary quality.  Calorie counting diets almost never work because people are never satisfied with eating less and their metabolism slows as they reduce calories. 

My advice is of a completely different nature, because my discovery and studies show (Nutrition Journal Nov 2011) that nutritional quality reduces food cravings, reduces appetite and has people prefer fewer calories.  Furthermore the anti-angiogenic qualities of the healthiest foods interfere with fat storage by the body. 

The metabolic rate can only slow so much, and one's desire for food reduces to match a healthy (slower) metabolism perfectly.  In other words while the rest of the world is trying to speed up their metabolism so they can eat more and still lose weight, I am encouraging people to slow down their metabolism, so they will age slower, protect themselves against cancer and then they can comfortable eat less without getting too thin. 

Once you eat right, you simply enjoy eating more but do not enjoy overeating anymore.  If Tara Parker-Pope was right anorexics would all be obese too.   It’s H = N/C, that means taking in fewer calories in a high nutrient environment is the secret to cancer protection and dramatic increases in life expectancy.  The rest of the diet world needs to better understand my work, because they are all ignorant in this area.  The healthiest diet leads to a healthy weight."

The H=N/C means Health = Nutrients Over Calories. If you go into any Whole Foods in the US, you'll see this formula applied to many of the fresh foods in the store. John Mackey, Co-CEO of Whole Foods, has been a strong advocate of the work of Dr. Furhrman, and has had some good success recently getting his own employee base to lose weight and get healthy by incorporating this general idea of nutrient density.

Tara Parker-Pope might be well served to directly speak with both Fuhrman and Mackey and hear from both of them directly about this whole subject.

 

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steps to changing your life beck diet solution reviewThe Beck Diet Solution fat smash counting fat grams weight watcher points best vegetables for you weightlifting weight loss safe protein 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 nutrisystem select reviewNutriSystem is one of the most popular diet programs out there. It is easy and relatively cheap. People often have great success using the diet. This guide will help you find out if it is right for you and will help you make the most out of this program by placing it in the context of a broader array of tools that are available to you.	plantain chips subway saladsFind Subway Salads and Dressings-- Grilled Chicken & Baby Spinach Salad Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com calories in honeyFind Calories in Honey Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com white rice nutrition factsFind Calories in White Rice Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com ferrero rocher calories cheddar cheese caloriesFind Cheddar Cheese Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com squash caloriesFind Butternut Squash Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com kale nutrition factsFind Kale Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com calories pear frosted flakes nutrition factsFind Kellogg%27s Frosted Flakes Calories and Nutrition Facts at PeerTrainer.com calories in a kiwi
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Weight Watchers Points Plus 2012: A Look At 3 New Changes

Weight Watchers rolls out new changes to their core program every year around this time. Last year they introduced the Points Plus Program. 

This year they are rolling out some adjustments to the Points Plus Program, and are calling it Points Plus 2012. We have put together a quick look at the three most important changes to the program.

Some Of The Changes:

1. Greater flexibility With Daily Points Plus Ranges.

According to David Kirchhoff, Weight Watchers CEO, the company has adjusted its system to provide "a new level of flexibility to allow members and subscribers to fine-tune the program to their specific needs."

He continues:

• We’ve lowered the bottom level of daily PointsPlus values from 29 to 26.
• We now have a system that allows members and subscribers to tweak their daily target by +/- 3 PointsPlus values (with a minimum of 26 to ensure nutritional needs are met).
• We’ve introduced more flexibility in how members and subscribers use their activityPointsPlus values as well as the weekly PointsPlus Allowance.

These are pretty minor adjustments, geared toward helping people adhere to the plan.

2. Instead of Counting Points, You can opt to do the Simply Filling Plan.

The Simply Filling Plan used to be called the Core Plan. It is Weight Watchers' attempt at a healthy eating plan. It might sound funny that they would need a healthy eating plan, but the reality is that most people are comfortable with just eating less of what they are already eating.

Moving over to a "healthy" diet requires a level of change that most people, according to every statistic available, simply will not do.

However, for those people who don't want to count, the Simply Filling plan provides a nice incentive to eat healthy. Incentives to eat healthy foods have long been a weakness of Weight Watchers overall offerings.

It is actually unfair to criticize Weight Watchers for not pushing healthy foods enough. The reason is that they do a pretty good job at helping people take the first few steps towards a better diet. Their approach is by no means perfect, but they get you going in the right direction.

3. Greater focus on Activity Points, as well as fitness tips to help you get there.

Weight Watchers used to have something called the Flex System, which essentially incentivized exercise. This was a sensible and popular option. The term Flex System and Flex Points were phased out with the introduction of Weight Watchers Momentum program, and the incentive was rolled right into the program.

Weight Watchers Points Plus 2012 promises to give you incentives and instructions to help you get to your fitness goal.

Overall, these are fairly minor changes and reflect a program that is working well in the marketplace. The big concern we continue to have at PEERtrainer comes from looking at the logs of our members who follow Weight Watchers. They tend to eat less healthy food than those people who follow other plans that seek to help people make big changes and not small adjustments.

However, we recognize the reality that most people don't want to eat a lot of vegetables and fiber from non-processed foods. In fact, we recently surveyed 1,000 of our own members, and learned that only 10% of people are getting more than 30 grams of fiber a day from non-processed food.

The Two Weaknesses Of The Weight Watchers Points Plus 2012 Program:

1. The biggest continuing weakness of Weight Watchers overall offering is that it does not specifically encourage or incentivize the consumption of green vegetables. Meaning, you don't earn points for consumption of specific amounts of greens.

At PEERtrainer we have been pretty vocal about this for a couple years now. We even launched our own healthy eating plan (which is free) and in it we specifically incentivize the consumption of green vegetables. We also included an added incentive to eat greens after 5pm, which helps people combat the effects of emotional eating.

2. Weight Watchers also has not yet jumped on the "Elimination Diet" bandwagon. It has become increasingly common for leading health experts to recommend getting rid of wheat from your diet. The reason is that many people have developed intolerances and allergies to wheat.

Weight Watchers continues to encourage an approach to eating that seeks to make small changes in the food mix, as well as reduced portions. For people who are allergic to certain foods, portion control will not help them.

Additionally, some people develop such a habit of portion control that they actually portion control their vegetables! We recently published an article called "Is Portion Control Keeping You Fat" where we outline our experience with this phenomenon.

Related PEERtrainer Articles:

Weight Watchers Points Plus Program

 

 

 

How To Eat Beans And Not Get So Much Gas

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This question was sent to us this morning by a participant in the new PEERtrainer Mastermind Program

"Hi Jacqueline,

I am really enjoying the process and the wealth of information and support you have provided. I have no doubt in my mind what so ever that I will shed these excess pounds. Down 16.8 already!

That said, I am eating according to the Cheat (System) and would like to replace beans for meat or incorporate them more in soups and salads but find when I do I get bloated, full and frankly a little constipated after eating them on the day of and after. Is there a food combination or suppliment that will remedy this situation and allow me to enjoy my beans?

Thanks"  

Here is some information that will hopefully help you. The first thing to understand is that as you increase the amount of fiber in your diet, your body is going to work a lot better. The process by which your body naturally detoxifies itself speeds up, and toxins are eliminated at a more rapid rate.

Additionally, many of the molecules and compounds in fiber rich foods are not easily broken down in the small intestine. The following is a segment from an article published on PEERtrainer, "Why Does Fiber Cause Flatulence?"

"Your body does not digest and absorb fiber in the small intestine because of a shortage or absence of certain enzymes there. So this undigested food then passes from the small intestine into the large intestine, where normal, harmless bacteria break down the food, producing hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and, in about a third of all people, methane. Eventually these gases exit through the rectum.

Everyone has intestinal gas and that is a good thing. The normal amount of flatus passed each day depends on whether you are male or female (men fart more) and what is eaten. Foods that can cause flatulence (gas) in some people may not produce flatulence in others. It all depends on the amount and type of bacteria each person has in the large intestine." 

That said, you need to understand is WHY this is happening with beans in particular.

Why Do Beans Give You Gas?

Many beans contain sugar molecules called oligosaccharides, and for some reason our digestive tract does not contain the enzymes necessary to break these molecules down as part of the normal digestive process. These molecules are "processed" by bacteria in the large intestine- which results in gas.

How Do I Reduce The Gas From Eating Beans?

1. In order to reduce a good part of the gas from beans is to target the sugar molecules. The most common tactic is to simply soak the beans for a day, which loosens the skin of the bean, releasing some of these sugars. Make sure to not cook the beans in the same water you soaked them in.

2. Beano, which is a popular product, contains the enzymes needed to digest the molecules in beans. The product also helps to digest some of the other "complex carbohydrates" found in fiber rich foods.

3. Reduce the amount of beans that you eat. Often when people make shifts in their diet, it takes some time for the digestive system to adjust. Additionally, fiber rich foods are helping to heal your body, and this healing process can take a longer time than you might expect. If you have been abusing your body for years with processed and nutrient poor foods, it is going to take some time for your body to get back to equilibrium.

4. Use a wide array of foods to reduce your meat consumption. PEERtrainer takes a broad view of things, and we want to be clear that we are no advocating any sort of vegetarian or non-vegetarian diet. We ARE saying to eat a ton more plants, especially greens. The benefits of adding the good things are proven, rooted in science. 

When eating meat, if you do, our advice is to make it super tasty and use it as a garnish on a huge salad. Bacon is a particular guilty pleasure of ours and goes great on a huge salad ;)

Also remember that greens have a good deal of protein in them. When you dramatically increase your greens (both raw and cooked) you are giving your body a huge array of important nutrients. As you bring your body towards equilibrium.

5. Spices, spices, spices!! Many spices function as something called a "Carminative" which "is a herb or preparation that either prevents formation of gas in the gastrointestinal tract or facilitates the expulsion of said gas, thereby combating flatulence."

The basic rule of thumb here is that ANY spice will help the situation. If you need some spice ideas, here is a list of "carminatives" from Wikipedia:


* Anise seed
* Basil
* Caraway
* Cardamom
* Cinnamon
* Coriander
* Cumin
* Dill
* Eucalyptus
* Fennel
* Garlic
* Ginger
* Goldenrod
* Hops
* Lemon balm
* Liquorice
* Marjoram
* Mustard
* Nutmeg
* Onion
* Oregano
* Parsley
* Pepper
* Peppermint
* Rosemary
* Saffron
* Sage
* Spearmint
* Thyme
* Valerian
* Wintergreen

For those of you in the PEERtrainer Mastermind Program, the meal and recipe guides that we had developed feature many of these spices. So keep this in mind if you see a spice that you have not tried before. The health benefits of these spices are pretty amazing as well!

Discuss This Article In The PEERtrainer Mastermind Community. (A free community that gathers the learnings across the PEERtrainer Platform)

Calorie and Nutrition Profile For Black Beans