PEERtrainer Diet

How To Not Be Hungry On A Diet

There is one critical adjustment one needs to make to stop being hungry on a diet. You need to shift your focus away from "bad food elimination" and towards "foods you can eat in any quantity." This article will explain in detail how to do this and why this approach works.

If you are like most people, when you decide you want to lose weight you get in "dieting" mode in your mind. For most people, this involves eating fewer foods that you enjoy and more foods that you don't. "Diet Foods" in your mind are likely to have less sugar, less salt and not taste good.

This process is unenjoyable, and ultimately unsustainable primarily because it leaves you hungry all the time. The single most popular complaint by people doing a "traditional" diet is that they are always hungry.

At PEERtrainer over the years we have developed a very loose concept that we have called "Diet Fusion" which has helped people start to feel less hungry. Very simply this involves combining portion control with a nutrient dense diet and figuring out the foods that give you the most energy.  Nutrient dense means a diet very high in green vegetables and some other foods that science has shown to help fight hunger.

What is interesting about this "fusion" approach is that it combines very mainstream diet ideas such as portion control (something strongly advocated by Weight Watchers) with some more advanced ideas from often hard to follow health and nutrition experts.

Over the years, this has worked really well, and will work for you. When you stick to keeping an eye on your portions, but you also get very aggressive with the foods you can eat unlimited amounts of, good things will happen.

You will feel less hungry and you will also have some "wiggle room" to really enjoy the foods that you enjoy. Losing weight and getting healthy doesn't need to be an all or nothing, zero sum game. At PEERtrainer we have recently built upon this idea of Diet Fusion, by launching something we call The Cheat System.

People had told us that they loved the Diet Fusion idea, but that they wanted some more stucture. "Tell me exactly what to do, and give me a list of foods to eat and foods to not eat so much of." So we did exactly this, and we also made it free.

We decided to write this particular article today after getting this comment in an email that someone sent us. This person had lost 11 pounds in two months, and was describing some of the success on the Point Of No Return Program. (Where we deal with the psychological aspects of weight loss). There is never one single thing that helps people, but she did make this comment:

"I have also been trying the CheatSystem, and I am finding it very helpful.... Past diet plans have left me hungry to the point of some light headedness, the constant supply of free foods, and filling my meal plates with those foods has helped. ALOT...."

This is something we are seeing a lot. We do a lot of work on the mental aspect of weight loss, but we find that a lot of the time, people are simply hungry. When you eat a lot of the "free foods" you will be filled up. But you will also find that your body is getting the nutrients it needs. When you eat these foods, your body starts to feel better, which results in fewer food cravings.

The Cheat System is designed to really make it easy for you, and show you how to make this shift. However, it does ask you to make some decisions. The neat thing is that you do get some instant rewards from making these good decisions. It is like anything in life- when you work hard and make good decisions, things in your life improve.

It is the same thing with eating. If you have not yet downloaded your copy of the Cheat System, you can do so here.

Recipes To Help You Not Be Hungry

In addition to the Cheat System, we have also developed a series of recipes that show you how to eat in a way that will leave you fuller, less hungry and give you energy.

The first recipe is something we call the "5 Minute Hunger Cure" This recipe is easy to make, doesn't cost all that much, but also includes a TON of hunger fighting nutrients. Best of all this recipe makes a bg quantity. If there is one thing we have learned it is that you want to have as much good food in your fridge as possible.

We constantly publish new articles. This link will take you to our recipe blog.

New From PEERtrainer:

Weight Watchers Points Plus and Fruit

Stopped Losing Weight On Weight Watchers

How Do I Get My Husband To Lose Weight?

Does The No Flour No Sugar Diet Work?

How To Not Feel So Restricted On A Diet

Why Should You Reduce Wheat In Your Diet?

Do You Really Need To Eat Organic Food?

4 Supplements Boost Your Energy

Gourmet Power Bowl Recipe

 

Why Is Fruit Now Unlimited On The Weight Watchers Points Plus Program?

We have been sent a series of emails asking why Weight Watchers allows unlimited fruit but the PEERtrainer Cheat System makes you count it after the first serving. With a few exceptions.

The first point to make here is that the people who do Weight Watchers and those who have really "gotten into" PT are fairly distinct. We would observe that the two tools serve people at different phases.

Weight Watchers is an excellent tool for people who are just starting to get their eating and weight under control, and who are starting the process of making better food decisions. If you are eating the standard Western or American diet that is high in processed foods and high in sugar, a shift to more fruit makes a ton of sense.

Yes, fruit contains a lot of sugar, but it also contains important nutrients, and as you make this shift you are essentially replacing worthless sugar with some sugar that has more vitamins, minerals and important micronutrients and phytochemicals. These added nutrients are critical to your long term health. 

Certain fruits, especially berries have some very powerful health promoting aspects to them. In fact, Strawberries and Blueberries are unlimited on the Cheat System if they are organic. Citrus also has some unique properties to it. Grapefruit is a powerful food in particular, and also one of the few unlimited fruits on the Cheat System.

That said, a lot of experts who deal with health, nutrition and peak performance recommend a limiting or even an elimination of fruit. You'll probably want to start doing that after you have lost your first amount of weight, and that weight loss is sustainable.

Related PEERtrainer Article: How To Burn Fat

You will only get to this place by making a shift to a much more nutrient dense diet, that includes lots of greens, vegetables, beans, a small amount of grass fed meat, good eye on portion control. And it can take time to transition. Weight Watchers is excellent in particular in teaching you portion control, and basically getting a solid set of "training wheels" going for you. Most people can't just jump in and do something like the Cheat System after doing the typical diet.

Once you do get to this point, you are going to be getting enough nutrients in your diet that you can begin to reduce your fruit, especially in relation to your overall vegetable intake. Our view is that you don't want to eliminate fruit, especially berries, cherries and grapefruit. But you are having health problems, you are hitting a weight loss plateau, or you want to improve your athletic performances you will want to start taking a closer look at this.

Timothy Ferriss, who has written an interesting new book called The 4 Hour Body, says that if your goal is weight loss, "don't eat fruit." Period. He writes, "Humans don't need fruit six days a week, and they certainly don't need it year round." In his view, the principal sugar in fruit, fructose ends up getting converted into a substance which ends up being stored as fat "more efficiently than almost all other carbohydrates."

Robert Young, PhD, says in his book, The pH Miracle For Weight Loss, "most fruits are high in sugar...despite the nutrients they also contain, are best avoided." He goes on to assert that "You will not lose weight, or lose it quickly, or keep it off, if you are eating high sugar fruits." He also asserts that fruit is especially bad for diabetics.

Joel Fuhrman, M.D. does not take as strict a view on fruit. In his food scoring system, green vegetables score much higher than any fruit. So anyone following that system will prioritize vegetables over fruit. However, for people who are sick or who have autoimmune diseases, Fuhrman recommends cutting fruit way down. In the case of eczema, he advises very low levels.

Related PEERtrainer Article: Do Low Carb Diets Work?

From our perspective, we are seeing a pattern where nobody disputes the nutritional benefits of fruit, but people do question the effects of sugar on weight and health. Given the overwhelming amount of sugar people eat in their diets, and the very low levels of green vegetables, we thought that it made sense to guide people in the direction we did.

To download your free copy of the PEERtrainer Cheat System, go to this page.

To view the latest PEERtrainer Recipes, go to this page.

 Update: The following comments have been posted on our Facebook Wall:

"I was probably the first "at goal" type person to convert to WW's new plan and actually GAIN weight. I'm still a great proponent of the plan as I feel we could all greatly inprove our wellness by swinging more towards a whole and/or plant-based diet, but I definitely have to count my fruit overwise those skinny jeans won't fit for long. (Gotta admit, for *me*, the WW plan seems much less effective if you're already "clean" without weight to lose.)"

"Thanks for this post, it really resonates with me at this specific point in my weight loss journey. Your Cheat system is exactly what I needed! I hate to use this word, but it really is :PERFECT: for me! I feel like PT had me in mind when creating this! Ha! I have reduced my excess fruit intake and have increased my vegetables... I still have much work ahead, but I am very confident I will reach my lofty goals sticking with this program. I didn't realize how much of a dependency I had for sugar until I started paying closer attention recently with my new focus on the Cheat System... The excess sugars (even fruits in excess!) in my diet are killing me!

I just wanted to add that when I first joined PT back in 2007, I was in the obese weight range. About 14 months later I was finally in the normal weight range. I think when you first start out on the weight loss journey, just cutting out th...e junk and eating natural whole foods is great! Bring on the fruits! :D However, once you are hovering in the normal weight range and it is your time to kick it up a notch, then definitely work the Cheat System! I run marathons for fun, so my focus might be different than most folks, I'm guessing... but I'd still recommend this for optimal performance, even if you are just walking around the block! My energy levels have soared just by increasing my greens! I feel fantastic!"

 

Recipes To Help Take You To The Next Level:

Pumpkin Nutrient Profile

Insane Man Hunger Power Bowl

Latest From The PEERtrainer Recipe Blog

PEERtrainer Mediterranean Power Bowl

How To Make Perfect White Rice In Three Easy Steps

How To Buy and Cook Quinoa

Why The Focus on Quinoa?

PEERtrainer Energy Soup Recipe

Asian Fusion Chicken Salad

How To Make Spicy Thai Curry

Tart Lime Mango Salsa

PEERtrainer Magic Fridge Recipe Guide

PEERtrainer Point Of No Return Program (When you know what to do, but need help doing it!)

Discuss How Much Fruit To Eat On A Diet In The PEERtrainer Community

 

 

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How Do I Get My Husband To Lose Weight?

Women are often very frustrated in their efforts to get their husbands to lose weight. One of the problems men have in losing weight is that a lot of the weight loss "solutions" are very oriented towards women. It seems that men often have an association in their minds that dieting equals something women do.

We would observe that when men are given a simple set of instructions, in a way not presented as a diet, their odds of following through are pretty high. If there is a clear and logical path, men can follow it.

The new PEERtrainer Cheat System has given us a new tool in our efforts to help men. In the past we have been very "support" oriented, with a lot of focus on emotions. We still do that stuff, and we do a pretty good job at it.

But with this new Cheat System, we are now starting to get very consistent feedback from men, who once they understand the system (and buy into it)... can VERY easily follow the essentials of it.

This is an email we were sent last night from a man in California:

"I looked at your system a few weeks ago when it first came out and the second I saw the left side column, I dismissed it. Even though I had already on my own been dramatically increasing the salad and vegetable intake. I was losing weight, it was very simple, but the daily diet was very rigid and had certain rules that if broken meant no weight loss for a day or two. This had worked once before very well but the boredom finally took its toll.

With much respect for Peertrainer, I took another look and realized everything I was doing already fit the cheat system, just not the best choices, so I took a leap of faith. It took 3 or 4 days to educate myself and turn my wife's kitchen into a farmer's market (which I though was very cool). I also learned how to chop, use a rice cooker (quinoa), craft salads from lots of fun green stuff, steam vegetables, use all those funny little cans of spices in addition to salt and pepper, etc. I'm having a great time... never knew who bought all that stuff in the vegetable department except apples and oranges. Finally, I put it all together and now feel like I know what I'm doing. Weight loss is back on track.

I am so glad I decided to download the Peertrainer Cheat system and glad I was able to get beyond my traditional thinking.

Good luck and thanks for doing what you're doing.

P.S. I was recently in the San Francisco Bay area and needed to go to the store and not knowing the area wound up in a large Asian market. I knew it was different because half the store was devoted to greens and vegetables. The customers, mostly Asian, were all thin-active looking people and most were buying greens. Now I understand why."

Link: Download The Free PEERtrainer Cheat System

Related: PT Community Discussion On Getting Husbands To Lose Weight

 

 

The No Flour, No Sugar Diet by Dr. Peter Gott

The No Flour, No Sugar Diet continues to be of interest to members of the PEERtrainer community. We found this interesting, because the book was first published in 2006, roughly 5 years ago.

We see a lot of diet approaches come and go, and when one "sticks around" it is worth looking into and seeing what benefit people are experiencing from it. In the PEERtrainer community forum, there is a discussion thread (called the No Flour, No Sugar Diet ) that spans 4 years, and contains a number of comments from people claiming to have lost weight following the advice that the book outlines.

We took a look at the advice the book gives (it is very simple and is summarized in this article) and found some very clear benefits. We also have some observations on the potential drawbacks, as well as some recommendations to mitigate those.

The very simple advice that the book gives is to "eliminate" all foods that contain flour and added sugar from your diet. And to "still enjoy lean meats, brown rice, low-fat dairy products, vegetables, fruits, and other goodies."

Some of this is pretty standard advice, but we do like that Dr. Gott brings focus to the idea that flour in particular is a substance that needs to be targeted. We observe that there is close to an epidemic of gluten intolerance and sensitivity in this country. For whatever reason, people have begun reacting badly to a substance that really seemed to not wreak the havoc in the past that it does appear to now.

The idea of focusing on alternatives to any form of wheat or gluten is a key part of the PEERtrainer Cheat System. (link takes you to free download page.) Through personal experience, experience with PEERtrainer members and discussions with numerous MD's, we have come to believe that this focus is very well placed.

That said, we have also become advocates of a diet that focuses on foods with extremely high nutritional content (or density.) The reality is that when you begin down the road towards flour, wheat and gluten elimination you are better off replacing the minimal nutrient density of flour with foods extremely high in nutrients, rather than foods with moderately higher nutrient density levels.

While Dr. Gott does focus on vegetables as part of a "balanced diet" we would observe that many people are "very unbalanced" in terms of their nutritional intake when they come to the table. These people will needs years of "nutritional therapy" to get their bodies back into a state of balance. Simply following a "balanced diet" will often not bring people back into balance quickly.

Simply switching to whole grains and brown rice will not pack as much of a punch as switching to a diet that includes very high levels of greens. For example, on the nutritional ranking system that Dr. Fuhrman outlines in his book 'Eat For Health" brown rice contains roughly 4% of the health promoting "phytonutrients" that are contained in greens like Kale and Collared Greens.

These distinctions in nutrient density values were not in print when the "No Flour, No Sugar Diet" was published, and are a relatively recent addition to the nutritional discussion.

It is important to note that while the PEERtrainer Cheat System does incorporate these nutritional distinctions, we do realize that people live in the "real world" and need to find a balance between getting high doses of nutrient dense foods and enjoying themselves.

When you make some choices in your diet, we have found that this gives people some wiggle room to stay on track. When you combine a no or low flour diet, with very nutrient dense foods, good portion control and a heavy dose of giving yourself a break, good things tend to happen.

The most important thing is that people stay on track, and do a diet that will bring them back into balance without going nuts in the process.

This is a tough "prescription" for people who are faced with giving up their beloved Croissant. One thing we observe from experience is that when the nutrient density of your diet begins to dramatically increase, your food cravings begin to decrease. This is a process, and it is very important not to beat yourself up in the process. You didn't get out of balance overnight, and there is no reason to expect that you can reverse this overnight.

Click here to read PEERtrainer User Comments On The No Flour No Sugar Diet

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is The No Flour No Sugar Diet Good For Diabetes and Diabetics?

The answer to this question is that it is definitely a good start. Obviously reduction in sugar will help anyone, including diabetics. Reducing refined and processed foods that contain a lot of flour will also help anyone. The key for diabetics is to not only decrease these foods but also increase the greens and other vegetables. A diet very high in greens and vegetables will help your body regain balance.

Can I Do The No Flour No Sugar Diet With Weight Watchers?

This is actually an excellent idea. If you combine the portion control that Weight Watchers teaches you, along with a heavy reduction in flour and sugar, great things are likely to happen. If you also dramatically improve the nutrient density of your diet on top of this, you will be unstoppable. The PEERtrainer Cheat System is proving to be an excellent tool to help people on the path to nutritional excellence.

Next:

A Look At The Science Behind How Gluten Impacts Your Health, Weight, Mood And More 

 

How To Not Feel So Restricted When You Diet Or Try To Lose Weight

Ok, this is something that we have heard many many times now in the short amount of time that the Cheat System has been out. People are consistently feeling "less restricted" and that they have "more wiggle room."

Some people are grumbling a little about the word "Cheat" but it is really designed to liberate you. It provides clarity. It is a more vibrant word than "Choices" which is a word that some people have suggested.

This is something that was just posted in the new Cheat System Team on PEERtrainer:

"the cheat system has really struck a chord with me. i love the idea of feeling i 'cheated' because i chose to have a hard boiled egg with tabasco with breakfast and the freedom to know that i can 'cheat' a little more throughout the day. mentally, it takes a load off.

i dont feel so restricted by any means. knowing my days and how some can be painfully long, i dont find if i go a little over the ten cheats, knowing that in the end, i made smart choices. maybe i snuck in a slice of whole wheat bread to tame my carb tooth.

regardless, i will make an attempt to log more and comment more as it feels a bit therapeutic and seems to keep me on track. good luck to all you guys on the cheat system!"

The other thing to keep in mind here is that people are feeling freer, because we are forcing people to make some choices. When you realize you can't have it all, you really end up enjoying what you do choose to have.

We have also been asked about the fact that Weight Watchers allows unlimited fruit, while our Cheat System restricts it to a serving a day. Our answer is that we really don't know their exact thinking. We would observe that it was a good step forward for them, because before a bag of chips and an apple counted as the same thing.

Which is crazy. People have traditionally eaten a lot of junk on Weight Watchers, and now, hopefully, they will get people to at least replace the junk food with fruit.

The PEERtrainer audience is pretty different than the WW crew. We have people doing their Points Plus and logging on PT. Some of these logs make our head spin. I know that WW wants people to eat better, but man, it is possible to eat the same old crap on their system.

It is not on ours. Which probably limits our appeal, because we do make people shift a great deal. WW really is a master of the mass market. However, one very very important service that they provide is that they teach people how to learn portion control. This is such an important skill, and we see that it is very hard for people who don't know it, to learn it.

 

Some Early Results and Feedback From The New PEERtrainer Cheat System

We are about two weeks into the "test phase" of the new PEERtrainer Cheat System, and I wanted to share some of the feedback with you.

1. We are seeing a lot of success from people right out of the gate, especially from people who know the basics of portion control, and know the benefits of vegetables. Here is one email that I just got this morning, and it contains some pretty interesting observations:

"The cheat system is working really well for me.

I don't follow it religiously, but the principles of it are really helpful. I generally am a fan of vegetables, but my policy was to try and cut down on portions, including vegetables, in order to get into the habit of eating less in general.

The problem was, after skipping the salad that went along with dinner, I would become hungry a couple of hours later, and find an excuse to eat a slice of bread with cheese or something of that sort. With your system, there are multiple advantages for me:

1. I eat a lot more vegetables so I do get more energy, like you said.

2. I don't eat more than I need in meals in order to not be hungry later, because I know I can always eat later at any time, as long as it's  on the "left column".

3. I don't have to spend so much energy resisting the urge to eat, and I can focus on my work a lot more."

2. Some people who have not read the PDF are resisting use of the word cheat. As we explain in the guide, our intention here is to turn a negative into a positive. So many people on a variety of plans fall off track and very often use the word "cheating" in a negative way. Our two main objectives here is to present something that people  a) wouldn't feel badly about, and b) be able to do. 

We know from hearing from so many of you that you can do this "for life" and as this mornings emailer said, you don't have to follow it religiously.

3. Guys are a huge surprise. We have tended to be a little "touchy feely" with a lot of things we have done at PEERtrainer. Emotions are a big deal, and we have paid close attention to them. But with the Cheat System, we are hearing from guys who are saying, "I read it, understood the basic principles, and I just do a lot of it." Guys like easy and uncomplicated.

4. The athletes love this and are getting more energy from the plan. We are getting strong feedback from people who exercise a lot that they are finding the system easy to follow, and are getting more energy. We will work to post some detailed feedback and insights from them. In general, many people are feeling more energized.

5. People who have already been healthy eaters but have not embraced the concept of portion control, are finding it harder to follow than others. We are paying very close attention to this group, and will be posting more detailed feedback from them. 

6. People are sharing this system with others. What is interesting about this is the first thing we have done that is not about emotions or support or any of that. Which makes it easier to tell others about. Because of the focus on health and energy, it makes it much easier to share.

If you do share, please use this link:

http://blog.peertrainer.com/tip_of_the_day/2011/02/the-peertrainer-cheat-system.html

We are rolling out new versions of the PDF as we make changes. (Which we did this morning) and will be sending that new link out to the people who signed up for the download.

If you have some feedback you would like to share, please hit reply to this email and tell me or please post it on our Facebook Wall.

7. Finally, we know people have a LOT of questions about why we have done certain things with this system. We are going to be awaiting feedback, but we will start "spilling the beans." Stay tuned!!

 

Introducing The PEERtrainer Cheat System

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

Here is a quick summary of the important details:

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

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

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

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

Conclusion:

There are a zillion directions that we can take this. The direction we end up taking will be based on your feedback. The fundamentals of the system are firmly rooted in what we see work, and those will not change. But it will be interesting to see how you respond, especially the incentive system.

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.

 

 

How To Do Weight Watchers On Your Own

For whatever reason, people are constantly trying to figure out how to do Weight Watchers on their own. We have some ideas for you, but it first makes sense to outline the strengths of Weight Watchers before you decide to set out on your own.

The primary service that Weight Watchers provides, is that they help people learn portion control.  If you are going to succeed on your own, you will need to first master that, and understand how a portion relates to calories. 

If you are going to lose weight on your own, in addition to getting a handle on portion control, you will need some sort of mechanism to make better food choices. You will need a simple system that guides you towards certain foods and away from others. The new PEERtrainer Cheat System provides a good starting point. It contains a list of unlimited foods, foods to start to move away from, and a very basic system to help you keep track of your portions.

It can be download here for free, and you can read it in about 10 minutes and process the main ideas.

Drilling down a bit further, beyond the main concepts of portion control and better choices, you'll need to decide whether or not you want to follow their system, or do portion control on your own.

If you decide you really like the Points System, know that there are many people who are Weight Watchers lifers. It works for them, for the way they live. This is something you'll need to figure out on your own.

There are four very fundamental areas you need to focus on to successfully do Weight Watchers on your own.

(1) The company sells a line of electronic trackers that you take with you to calculate points and keep you on track. This is really an excellent accountability tool. You can get them right on Amazon, and there are a couple different versions:

New 2009 Weight Watchers Electronic Tracker & Points Calculator
Weight Watchers 2009 Deluxe Starter Kit & Calculator

(2) You will need a scale, and if you don't have one get one:

Weight Watchers WW43/WW43D Memory Glass Electronic Scale

Weight Watchers often advise weighing in once per week. I sometimes weight twice per day. If you are trying to decide what to have for dinner, jump on the scale and see where you are. A nice incentive to have a huge salad for dinner if you are not at the number you want.

(3) Part of the power of Weight Watchers are their tips and recipes that you get in meetings and online. This very practical advice helps you make changes in your real life. The company has some books and publications that can help you follow the program on your own:

Best of Weight Watchers Magazine : Over 145 Tasty Favorites--All 9 POINTS or Less
Simple Goodness: More Than 100 Quick & Easy Recipes
Weight Watchers Magazine

You can also follow the tips that you get in the recently launched (and free) PEERtrainer Cheat System. It is a simple guide to healthy eating. Especially good for athletes and very busy people.

(4) You also need to focus on the mental aspect of weight loss which for many people is the most difficult. And you will want to get some help:

The Point Of No Return Mindset Program

Of course, the best way of doing Weight Watchers on your own is doing the program online, at least for one month where you can learn everything you need and then go from there. 

Next: A free weight loss program to help you master the basics.