PEERtrainer

A Nice Note About Our Emotional Eating Program

Jackie,

I loved the talk today. Totally in the context of the season.

Remembering to be hopeful - so important and so great to be reminded!
Love the stacking the good things done, etc. and focusing on the positive.

The Voltaire quote was great, in fact my Dad taught me to ride a bicycle
that way. Put on at the top of a hill and pushed me down the hill.

I will use the idea of 'what gives me hope today' as Today's Affirmation
in one of my groups today.

- Emily

Thank you Emily!  Here's the link to sign up for the program - it's free and it's a series of 8 audio calls over the course of a month to help you combat and solve this problem. 

Is There Anything I Can Do To Build Up My Resolve?

Posting an email exchange from today...

"Jackie,

My biggest problem is persuading myself that I don't have to do something.
Like I'll eat an extra serving
of spaghetti and saying it's just because I need some extra comfort food,
I had a hard day. Or with exercise I think, I'm super tired today, I'll do it
tomorrow; one day won't hurt. I'm so good at persuading myself I can stop
or quit, and I have such a hard time persuading myself that I should keep
up my willpower. And then I get completely off track.

And another problem is, I'm too good at not beating myself up about it. Is there
anything I can
do to build up my resolve? Thanks, A."

And my response:

Dear A,

It sounds like you don't have a compelling reason to actually change.
That you are ok with who you are, that you've gotten to a point that you
can live with the results, your weight, your lifestyle. Does this ring
true? If not, what will help you make the decision that these habits are
intolerable, and you must change now?  When will you choose to gather the info, the
tools, and most importantly, make the decision that you will live your
life differently?

Jackie

Alone For The Holidays?

Hi There-

We just started a new team for people who are looking for some extra support and community especially over the next few days and week. We find these teams that we set up and promote get active almost instantly.

PEERtrainer Holiday Table

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Jackie

What Is The One Thing You Are Putting Off Because Of No Time, No Money, Etc. Etc.?

In our Pursuit of Excellence program, I ask the following question:

"What is one thing you want in your life that you are putting off
because of no time, no money, not the right time, do it when the kids get
older etc. What is that one thing for you?"

Look what came in my inbox today:

"I would love to take piano lessons - has been a dream all my life"

Beth, This is something you could do! You don't need a piano in your house.
They have great keyboards right now that you can get for less than $100 if
an investment in a piano is what is stopping you. Teachers can be found
on craigs list, through google "piano teachers and your zip code". This
is something you could start doing right now. You can't imagine how far
you'll be in a year because you actually want to do it vs being made to do
it at 5 years old because your parents have enrolled you in lessons.

If you're reading this, don't put this off! Take one step right now
towards that one thing you want in your life. The best time to plant a
tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today.

Jackie

What Are You Doing During Holiday Time To Get Back On Track?

Just received this response to the question: What is one thing you can do
right now to get back on track?

Hello Jackie,

The one thing I can do right now, and have been doing is calling
friends, getting out of the house, and drinking more water during this
holiday time than other beverages like pop.

Joan

Nice easy steps to follow.  Love it.

Notes From A Conversation With Dr. Oz, Comments About Recent Mammogram Controversy

I had a chance to participate in a conference call yesterday with Dr. Mehmet Oz, and had the chance to get some very interesting answers to some questions I had. He has his own TV show now, and the call was part of an effort to promote his new venture.

The focus of the call was squarely on "getting healthy for the holidays." What you need to do at holiday parties, as you travel on airplanes, stay in hotels, deal with your relatives. He had some interesting tips. For example:

• When you are on a plane, turn on the air vent above you on low and aim it at your chest. This helps push germs in the air away from you.
• In hotel rooms, immediately remove the bedspread because it is rarely washed 
• After you do that, sanitize the TV remote and wash any glasses
• Zinc supplements help the immune system, and interestingly help food taste good. (you can help support PEERtrainer and follow through on this suggestion by stocking up on Zinc at Amazon.com). He also recommended that people need to make sure they are getting enough Vitamin D, and specifically Vitamin D3.
• He also had a helpful recommendation when it came to dealing with kids- "you can't hide your emotions from them, and they sense stuff immediately." 

I knew the focus of the call was on the holidays, but given the recent controversy about the age at which women should take mammograms, I had to ask his thoughts on this subject.

I am glad I did and so was he.  He was very pointed in his comments. He said that "one governmental organization gave their opinion." He added that this opinion has generated an avalanche of anxiety and fear among women and that people have flooded his show with emails about this subject.

So much so that this coming Monday he canceled his scheduled topic and is bringing some of the nations leading experts on the subject to his show. He said that "the mammogram is a wonderful test" but added that he has some strong ideas on how the whole screening process can be made better, and that will be discussed on the show.

Personally I am very heartened to know I can get information like this in an unfiltered manner. When someone from the government makes a statement like this, and essentially freaks everyone out, it is nice to see people like Dr. Oz step into the void and provide leadership on the issue.

-Jackie

How frustrated are you that you're still at a certain weight? Are you frustrated to the point that you've given up?

We are hearing from a lot of you that "all the different stuff we are doing is really helping." Meaning people are getting a lot of benefit from the groups and teams, from the different email programs we are doing, the coaching calls and programs. We help different people in different ways.

As an exercise, I want to put forth a series of questions to you. The purpose is to identify those of you who are not yet on a path they are totally happy with:

1. Do you feel like everything you'll do is useless because the scale will go down but it will always go back up because something will always happen?

2. Do you have a hard time figuring out all the conflicting information that seems to be out there?

3. Do you feel lost or that you don't have an absolute foolproof plan or map? Everyone can follow a plan, but do you really feel like you have a plan that you can do within your existing schedule? That you're actually going to do it? That is actually doable. Not something that a celebrity can do, but something that you can do day to day, through your parties, sisters baby shower, your friends at work, even through your TV watching at night. Do you have a plan that you can stick with or is it too restrictive, expensive or too much work to actually follow through on?

4. Do you feel like you only have time for quick fixes? Do you tend to go back to your quick fixes because they've worked in the past?

5. What is your frustration level? On a scale of 1 - 10 how frustrated are you? How frustrated are you that you're still at a certain weight? Are you angry at yourself? Are you frustrated to the point that you've given up?

Do you feel like you've reached the threshold of frustration but there's this little thing in the back of your mind that says there must be something I haven't tried, there must be another way.

We find that these questions represent some of the biggest challenges people are facing. If you have read this list and don't identify with any of it, that is great.

If some of these do resonate for you, these are the specific issues that we help you begin solving or provide clarity to in the first month of the Point Of No Return Program.

The challenge is to simply try it for a month. We charge a buck to get people in and start interacting with the coaching materials. At any point you want to stop, just send us an email. Even if you like the program, but just want a little jumpstart, that is totally fine as well. No matter what, we are here to help you.

Start Month One Now

What Are Some Of The Things We Help You With In Month One?

1. How to sort through all the different opinions out there on diet and find something that a) will work, b) you'll actually enjoy, c) will keep you from being hungry all the time, d) will work in your life, and e) is sustainable over the long haul.

2. Help you to overcome the fear that real change is simply not possible, the fear of not knowing how it will change, the lack of belief that things will change-- and possibly overcome the hopelessness and frustration at circumstances not being different. End the "If I could just..."

3. Most people have a low level of belief that they'll be successful long-term. We show you how to start changing that by helping you develop a real map, your own GPS so that you are not feeling lost, frustrated. This helps to change your underlying beliefs about your chances of being successful at weight loss.

4. How to set a goal that you can't fail at. Instead of yo-yoing and feeling out of control, you start to feel in control again.

5. How to become your own friend and ally in the process. How to start cultivating patience with yourself; and persistence through the normal ups and down. How to rebound from mistakes without beating the crap out of yourself. How to actually turn "bad days" into constructive learning opportunities.

This Sounds Pretty Intertesting

I Am Very Confident In My Plan, But Thanks For The Reminder To Log What I Did This Weekend!!

-Jackie and the PEERtrainer Team

If you are looking for help losing weight, where do you START?

We thought that it made sense to share with people the ideas that get people on a NEW track. And we wrote a short article for people who are looking for help losing weight. 

Here is a summary:

1. Be more open to ideas than you are probably comfortable with. It is surprisingly difficult to absorb new ideas, no matter how open you are. Your ability to access and absorb new information will strongly determine how quickly you will reach your goal. For example, If a doctor is only offering you pills and surgery as an option, how comfortable are you either questioning that knowledge-- (in the face of overwhelming authority?)

2. Get in the habit of fusing information and approaches together. We call this idea "Diet Fusion" and find that people respond powerfully to it. A core insight we have working with people in our weight loss coaching programs is that people and their lives are so different. Often very subtle adjustments can have a huge impact.

3. Belief is a biggie. To use a football metaphor, it is the "lead blocker." Do you believe that losing weight is truly possible? A brutally honest assessment is key here. This is not something that you can do all in your mind. As you learn new skills and successfully apply them, your belief is going to grow because now you KNOW you have what it takes. This is the central idea behind the Point Of No Return and PEERtrainer in general. We give you the information and the support and provide the environment to reinforce those new skills as much as possible.

4. Find the best leadership possible. You solve problems when you interact with people who have solved that problem or have specialized knowledge. PEERtrainer Coaching grew out of that key insight-- that people are often hungry to be led. Most of us are very self-directed and resourceful. But it is like the gym where you can use all the equipment yourself. But you know the results when you go to a yoga class or have a session with a personal trainer. 

5. True Decisions are extremely powerful things. If you want to stop your habit of night eating for example, and you have some nagging belly fat as a result, is that belly fat no longer tolerable? Or do you get some benefit from the comfort of eating during those times? Even if you have decided that the belly fat is tolerable, that is a decision. You have decided to tolerate that.

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