PEERtrainer Diet

Review and Feedback Of Weight Watchers Meetings From The PEERtrainer Community

We surveyed the PEERtrainer community to ask them about their experience with Weight Watchers, and their meetings in particular. We have published many of the more detailed responses on this page. Plus we are creating a Q and A so that the most popular questions will be answered at the top of the page.

A lot of detailed feedback, lots of positive responses in particular. Where there was negative feedback, it usually had to do with people not connecting to the leader or the other members of the group. From PEERtrainer's perspective, the type of support that Weight Watchers can provide in person is critically valuable. People need as much support as they can, and need it in as many forms as they can.

Weight Watchers has committed itself to becoming a company that is dedicated to helping people make permanent and healthy changes in their life. This was not always the case with that company, and we applaud the changes that the management has chosen to make over the last few years.

http://www.peertrainer.com/articles/weight_watchers_meetings.htm

Here are some of sample comments:

"I've been attending this past year and would HIGHLY recommend it. I would not recommend any of their "food" products because they are processed junk, but their concept of filling foods, 35 extra points for the week and earning points from exercise has completely changed my way of eating. "

"Love the support and the people. Also love the fact you can bring you questions there and get information. There is a lot of variability among leaders and the communities that form around various meetings. When it's possible to find a leader that speaks to your needs (I found two) and meeting members you find fun to relate to, that is invaluable."

"I went to Weight Watchers for 2 years, lost weight but did not make my goal weight, quit, and gained it all back and then some. Weight Watchers is a very good program and I hear that they have improved it. I just got really tired of paying weekly dues and not really losing weight very quickly. I spent over $1000 over two years time. I have done much better with PEERtrainer but am stuck at a plateau just like I did with Weight Watchers.

PEERtrainer gave me better tools and accountablity and dealt with the emotional aspect better. It was more personal. I belonged to a big WW group and it was really hard to get personal help. I can always count on a group or team to advise or encourage me right away. The PEERtrainer Point Of No Return program was a huge help to me and with it I lost 29 lbs. I have gained 2 lbs. so I have a total of 13 lbs. to go to reach my goal."

Can Yams or Sweet Potatoes Help You Lose Weight?

If you come to this page having googled this question, the answer is "absolutely they can!!"

Certain foods can help you lose weight and too often we get hung up on questions of calories and portion control. While it is critically important to control your calories and get an handle on portion control, you MUST eat a diet high in "Nutrient Dense" foods.

The REASON is that foods that are nutrient dense have high concentrations of vitamins and minerals in them. When your body starts to get enough nutrients, it starts to feel less hungry. Yes, you need to fill up your stomach, hopefully with foods that contain fiber. But your body is smart. If you eat a food like bread which is LOW in nutrients, your body will keep asking for more food in the HOPE that it gets the nutrients it needs.

If you ever suffer from food cravings, this is likely the reason. However, when you start to feed your body with foods that are Nutrient Dense (like Yams and Sweet Potatoes), your body will feel less hungry over time.

Which will usually help you lose weight, if you maintain good portion control.

There are foods that are even higher in nutrients than Yams and Sweet Potatoes. Based on Dr.Fuhrman's ANDI Food Scoring System (which you will see in the produce section of every Whole Foods Market in the US) Bok Choy has ten times the hunger fighting nutrients. Sweet Potatoes help fight the sweet tooth, so if you add a serving of greens, you'll really be helping yourself.

Calories in Yams  Calories in Sweet Potatoes

How To Stop Eating Ice Cream: A Three Step Process

I saw the following thread in the PEERtrainer community:

how do I stop eating ice cream? The person wrote that:

"I can order a salad for lunch but then all I want is icecream. Same thing happens after dinner. Ill have a piece of chicken and veggies and then the ice cream craving comes. Help! Should I eat it anyway because I'm eating so well all the other time?"

There are three steps one can take to reduce these cravings:

1. You are not eating enough vegetables for your meal. If you eat enough vegetables, especially greens you will feel less hungry. Your body is craving more nutrients and is telling you to eat more. Dr. Joel Fuhrman explains that as you feed your body more cooked, pureed or juiced greens, your body will feel full finally and these cravings will shut off.

2. Eat a big, high nutrient breakfast. Often we see that when people experience what they think is "emotional eating" later in the day, they did not eat a good breakfast. Or they did eat a breakfast that was full of "approved diet foods" like lowfat yogurt or high fiber cereal or low carb crackers. None of these foods give you the nutrient boost that you'd get by having a bowl of energy soup with a side of avocado or some healthy fat.

3. Sometimes it actually IS in your head! After you address the nutrition component, definitely explore the psychological component. Joshua Wayne goes deep into this issue in week 4 of the PEERtrainer Point of No Return Program. In this session he advises you to ask yourself if the RESULT of eating ice cream after dinner has become intolerable to you.

If you are worried about eating too much ice cream, odds are that you are gaining weight as a result of this behavior. You need to think about the mental or emotional comfort you get from eating ice cream and weigh that against the result. If the result (added weight) is truly intolerable to you, then you may have a powerful motivator. You can read more about weight loss motivation here.

Joshua has written extensively on the issue of the emotional satisfaction of food. That hyperlink will take you to a fairly long article where he addresses the following observation:

"I think most people enjoy food to at least some extent some of the time, but my experience is that some people develop a level of attachment - something that borders on emotional reliance - to food that goes way beyond normal appreciation for the food that is in front of you.

Often this comes from rich tasting foods.  Whether it's creamy sauces, heavy starches like pasta and bread, lots of sweets, salty snack foods or fast food that may combine all of these, they don't feel emotionally satisfied unless they have them.  If they have to eat food other than this richer stuff they've grown attached to, they feel bored and dissatisfied.    

It is almost like food is a primary source of happiness.  I don't mean that food provides a deep seated, grounded lasting sense of happiness because I don't think food can do that - ever.  Its way too temporary by nature.  Food cannot bring us anything more than temporary, sensory pleasure - a sense of pleasure that is inevitably short-lived and will frankly never be anything more than that.  It will never give us a true deeper happiness or sense of satisfaction in life, but that doesn't stop so many of us from trying over and over again to make it do so - of course with futility.  Its like trying to put a round peg through a square hole.  No matter how much we try, it will never fit.

I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy your food.  But what I am suggesting is that if you are really struggling to get your weight where you want it, you probably need to look at the way you use food as an ongoing way to provide stimulation, excitement and even happiness in your life.  How is your desire to avoid boredom and seek satisfaction in familiar foods (that don't help your weight loss) standing in your way?"

continue reading: http://www.peertrainer.com/enjoyment_of_food_preventing_weight_loss.aspx

 

 

 

 

How can I stay motivated to want to exercise?

We are doing something new in the PEERtrainer Point Of No Return Program- adding a strong layer of personal feedback. This starts in day six of the program, where we try to give each person one or two small things to focus on. As the program progresses, the bigger individual challenges come into focus.

It takes a lot of work, and we are taking some of the more common questions and putting them in blog format to create an archive of questions that people can easily access. For those who are not part of the program, this will also give you a little insight into what we are doing in it.

Here is a question that we get very often. Remember- these responses are designed to get people going in the right direction, some simple but personally relevant insights. We are posting this to give you a flavor of the interaction.

"How can I stay motivated to want to exercise?"

My answer is twofold. 

1. You can build up your discipline muscle and simply form a new habit. Every time you think you want to go to the couch, you go for a walk or turn on music and dance instead. You literally rewire the habit in your brain. 

You can find a sport you loved when you were younger. I play tennis and I never have to get motivated because I love it so much. When you find something you actually like to do, you will do anything, reschedule anything to make sure that you will have the time to do it.

2. I'd like you to give you something to think about as well: Here's what you listed as your daily intake of food:

Breakfast ~ mozzarella cheese stick, either oatmeal or a muffin; applesauce for a mid-morning snack.

Lunch ~ can of diet coke (that's my limit for the day), 1-2 veggie servings, Weight Watchers meal, SF pudding 

Dinner ~ typically try to stay within my WW points range for dinner. 4-5 oz protein, 3 bread servings, 1-2 veggies, fruit

Getting the motivation to exercise can also be directly impacted by your energy level and the nutrition that you're feeding your body. A cheese stick and a muffin in the morning will not give you as much energy as a handful of berries, grapefruit, cucumber with a little almond butter. 

I don't mean for you to make all the changes at once but you will start to have more energy as you increase the nutrient density of your food even more than you already are and it will give you more energy throughout the day. The greater the nutrient density of your food, the easier it will be for you to lose weight. We will be teaching you about this concept in great detail as the program unfolds. It is a very important key to permanent change.

To learn more about the PEERtrainer Point Of No Return Program Click Here.

Are You Having A Hard Time Losing Weight?

We just put together new section on the site designed to help people who are having a hard time losing weight. If you feel like you have no idea where to begin, or that your initial efforts are not working, this is for you.

We highlight a proven process that will take you from feeling frustrated to feeling like you can really master the challenge. The biggest part of this is simply changing how you think and view losing weight. We are fans of the "gradual shift" and the "no fail workout." Approaches that help reinforce positive cycles rather than set you up for failure.

You also might be interested in PEERtrainer's free Tip Of The Day, which is an email based motivation program sent out to you each day. Each day you get a message that is designed to support, motivate and otherwise keep you on track.

Are You Having A Hard Time Losing Weight?

We just put together new section on the site designed to help people who are having a hard time losing weight. If you feel like you have no idea where to begin, or that your initial efforts are not working, this is for you.

We highlight a proven process that will take you from feeling frustrated to feeling like you can really master the challenge. The biggest part of this is simply changing how you think and view losing weight. We are fans of the "gradual shift" and the "no fail workout." Approaches that help reinforce positive cycles rather than set you up for failure.

You also might be interested in PEERtrainer's free Tip Of The Day, which is an email based motivation program sent out to you each day. Each day you get a message that is designed to support, motivate and otherwise keep you on track.