PEERtrainer

How To Get The Motivation To Sign Up For Weight Watchers In 3 Days! (True Story From A PEERtrainer Member)

This email was just sent to us by someone who is on Day 3 of our course to Help Stop Emotional Eating. We are sharing it to show how quickly one can get back on track, EVEN if you have fallen WAY off track and gained a BUNCH of weight back"

"Hi, Peertrainer is helping me immensely. It gave me the motivation to sign up for Weight Watchers Online. I am a lifetime member but gained back 45 lbs now I have lost nine and feel empowered thanks to Peertrainer. WW has always worked for me when I work the plan, and with Peertrainer also, I feel very positive about my ability to lose those 45 lbs.

Peertrainer calls, (I am on call three,) helped me to re-frame how I define myself. I learned the importance of how we think about ourselves, and now I say I am not an emotional eater, I eat at times to avoid an emotion that I don't want to deal with. YAY, that is progress!

The second call stressed this and it is working for me. I stop myself before I eat and examine what I am feeling. I substitute exercise, journaling, or go to my list of activities I keep on my refrigerator and pick one. And, wow! It works!

It hit me when I scrolled down to see all the people in the group, and one member really caught my eye....2fat2lose I think that that person is setting herself up for failure, because she believes she is to fat to lose the weight, and this caused me to really think hard on all areas of my life, as to what I am saying as opposed to what I really want.

Thanks very much, love Peertrainer! 

Weekend Immersion Program With Dr. Fuhrman In Princeton, NJ January 14-16

Click the arrow on the following video to learn more about Dr. Fuhrman's Weekend Immersion Program:

We have been asked about getting a discount for Dr. Joel Furhman's upcoming Weekend Immersion Program January 14-16th in Princeton NJ.

There is a 15% percent off discount available until November 30th.

In addition, Dr. Furhman Online is offering PEERtrainer members a $50 off coupon that is good from October 16th to October 31st.

Simply use the coupon code "PEERTRAINER" at the check out page.

Here is the link to learn more:

http://drfuhrman.com/events/princeton_immersion/princeton_weekend_immersion.aspx

 

How To Be More Powerfully In Control Of Your Choices By Living Without Apology

We were recently sent the following question:

"I feel like I'm always apologizing for everything. I apologize when I order a salad instead of a cheeseburger by always saying, well I have a big event coming up, so I really need to watch what I’m eating".

I see other people do this as well. They "apologize" for their order with this: "I'm ordering a salad with grilled chicken because you should see what I ate last night! Margaritas, chips and salsa - I must have eaten three bowls of chips alone!" Why say anything?

It's everyone's dream to live without apology but no matter how many quotes we see, we take a step in that direction and we get hit so hard with a snarky comment that we go back to making excuses and "living with apology". How do you start to have the confidence - what is the first step to living life without apology?"

Joshua Wayne has created a detailed response to this question. Here is his answer:

http://www.peertrainer.com/how_to_live_without_apology.aspx

Do You Feel As If You Are Truly Capable Of Losing Weight?

This is something we emailed out Sunday, May 2nd: We are working on a "mission statement" at PEERtrainer, and in the process trying to hone in on "the thing we do best." It is a tough question to answer because we do a lot of things in response to the needs of different people.

From Habib's perspective the thing we do best is simply foster communication and conversation. Ideally we ask questions in a way that really gets you thinking.

Joshua Wayne is focused on the coaching aspect of PEERtrainer, and his response was very interesting. We had asked him "what is the single thing we do best with the coaching program and what have been the results?"

As an exercise this Sunday, read his response, and then think for a few moments about the question asked in the subject of this email:

"One of the key things we have set out to accomplish, from my perspective, is helping people feel like they are in control of their relationship to food so they can get where they want to go.

Feeling out of control is one of the worst feelings in life. Desperately wanting something, like to lose weight, and not feeling capable of getting there is a terrible feeling. Feeling like you'll always be overwhelmed by your lousy habits and that you'll never really be in control of them. Feeling like no matter how hard you try, and no matter how many times you try, that your negative emotions will ultimately derail you. These feelings build and build and build which leads to hopelessness.

So one of our main goals was to help people get back in control. One of the key ways we do that is to teach them to start being easy on themselves - not beating themselves up endlessly. People add insult to injury when they beat themselves up after they "screw up" on their diet. We see that many people have this "perfectionist"streak and we start to break that up by teaching them to be patient with themselves.

Simultaneously we're giving them REALLY good diet info. Not fad type stuff - in fact exactly the opposite. We help them lay the foundation for healthy, sustainable lifestyle change.

We also really embed this whole program smack dab in the middle of their lives too. This is crucial. We're not forcing them to create an alternate reality in their life where they can get healthy. They have to be able to do it in the middle of the crazy day with job, boss, kids, husband/wife because that's their reality and that's where they live.

If they have to attend to all that stuff, AND THEN have to go and carve out time for 3 elaborate meals per day (plus all the shopping and prep) so they can eat pistacio- crusted tilapia with carmelized onion asparagus consomme for dinner it's just not going to happen. Same with the exercise piece. It has to be centrally located in their life.

Not an alternate reality where they have to now squeeze 5 trips to the gym into their life.

Building on that, they have to be able to deal with: work dinners out, frenemies sabotaging them, the "crappy" food inertia of their family when they go home to visit. All that comes up and you have to have a "tool-kit" to deal with it. We give them that tool-kit.

Lastly, we provide consistent support. We're there for 12 weeks, at least a couple times a week. Sometimes with an email saying hi and a friendly reminder to look at the bright side, sometimes with a video or an article and of course the weekly calls.

Everyone needs consistency to make things happen, whether it's building a business, making a relationship work well or losing weight. We provide that consistent support which helps people internalize this optimism and get back to that place of self-control.

Fostering self-control is the key."

I thought that this was a very helpful observation for us, and a great question to ask everyone. This "Tip Of The Day" list that you are reading right now is designed to communicate with you and get you thinking.

And if you are one of those people looking to get in control, I would highly encourage you to try the first month of the Point Of No Return, and let Joshua work some of his magic. We often find ourselves "soft-selling" his work, but as we go through all the feedback from people who finish the program we see that he is very good at accomplishing his objective.

This isn't the kind of situation where we are promising this crazy quick weight loss. This is the complete opposite of all that. Joshua helps you take a step back, and helps you examine all of your assumptions.

At the core it is really about your relationship to yourself. So often at PEERtrainer we soft pedal what we do. But this is something we are doing well, and for many people it is the most important thing in their life that they can be working on.

When we help people to make better decisions for the rest of their life, the ripple effect that has is powerful. Frankly, if you are struggling with food and then do the work to gain control, there is almost nothing in life you cannot successfully tackle. The belief that you develop in yourself will be the new fuel that you can use in all parts of your life.

-Jackie 

P.S. One more thing I want to add here. Joshua wrote a book about emotional eating based entirely on what he saw in the PEERtrainer community, and we turned it into a downloadable digital guide. We sell it for $27, but we thought it made sense to offer it free to people who have opened this email and read the whole message for the next two days or so. If you are still reading this particular email, we have said something that has resonated with you.

Even if you decide to opt out of the program during the $1 month one trial period, Joshua's guide to emotional eating is yours to keep. The book is 175 pages, so there is a LOT in there to digest. Lots of ideas.

When you sign up via this link for the program, you will be sent the book in three days. There is a lot we throw at you, and we want to make sure you get acclimated.

http://www.peertrainer.com/coaching

Lose Weight By Writing Down What Is Great About You

The other evening I was watching The Real Housewives of New York City and one of the housewives, Luann, was participating in a workshop alongside several young teenage women.  The session was about Building Self Confidence and one of the tasks was to write down everything you liked about yourself. 

As I was watching it, I thought, I haven't done that in a long time.  I hadn't focused on my positive qualities or strengths since I had an interview in 2001!  And even then, I focused on my strengths that were specific to the position.

After I got over 3 second conversation in my head that went something like, "This is so cheesy.  Why am I even thinking about doing this?",  I opened up word and started writing without editing.  I just wrote and wrote and wrote about everything I liked about myself.

A few from my list:

- I can follow through and I did to lose 60 pounds

- I love that I can easily identify number patterns and can understand a spreadsheet and chart quickly

- I make an effort to constantly learn and improve no matter how uncomfortable or tough it is

I felt amazing after making the list!  What's interesting though is that this list has become a living thing.  I keep it on a sticky on my laptop screen where it catches my eye at random times.  It's like having a jolt of energy all throughout the day.

I want you to make your list.  If you were always taught that bragging is unattractive or self deprecation is a virtue, do it anyway!!  Just like a workout, you'll feel great afterwards.

After you do complete your list, make sure you review this article about How To Change Anything. 

Jackie

How To Feel Great Right Now

A couple of weeks ago, Isaac Alfandry, a subscriber to the Tip Of The day (click here to sign up for our free daily motivation email) emailed that delicious smoothie recipe which I quickly posted on the blog. 

We chatted back and forth a few times and he mentioned that he would love to write a follow up to our motivation article about 'The 7 Steps Of How To Change Anything'.  I was thrilled.  He is 49, full of energy and inspirational.  I suspected he would write something highly motivating and I was right. Read on...

So how's everybody doing today? I want to encourage all of you (and me), to think really hard about what's motivating you to stay healthy and fit. Do you want to look good in your clothes? Do you want to wake up in the morning all ready and raring to greet the day? Do you want to inspire others and yourself? Think hard about your reasons.

Here's mine: I want every day to be the best day I've ever had. Now, how can that be, you ask? How can your days consistently improve? How can one day ALWAYS be better then the next? Here's how: By keeping this awareness that you are creating your reality every moment through thought, word and deed.

Let's break it down. Think: Today will be the best day I've ever had! Say "Today will be the best day I've ever had". ACT like you're having the best day you've ever had!

If you truly believed that today was the best day you've ever had, you probably would take the time to really nurture yourself. You'd be open to others, open to your emotional intelligence, open to what the world is offering to you. You'd be keenly tuned in to your body's wisdom, reaching for only the healthiest foods, thoughts, and behaviors. You'd want to be embodied, you'd want to stretch out your muscles, maybe run, jump skip or play.

Ever heard of the term jumping for joy?

If you were acting like this was the best day of your life, you'd probably be smiling a whole lot. People would probably smile back. You'd inspire joy and happiness in others, and in turn, without even realizing it, they'd begin to inspire smiles and happiness in all of the people they came into contact with.

You'd be setting off a chain reaction of joy that could go viral.

If today were the best day ever, you'd accept yourself as you are while challenging yourself to be even better, all through thought, word and deed.

When it comes to weight loss, weight loss maintenance, being fit, being healthy, being emotionally, mentally and spiritually vibrant, it's your attitude that gets you there in the first place, your attitude that keeps you there, and your attitude that takes you to ever greater heights and depths of understanding about what this all means for you and everyone all around you.

I'm a huge believer in raw foods these days. Here's why: What you eat is who you are. Literally. And to eat the freshest, most nutrient rich, uncooked, live, super foods that are available on the planet means that my essence, my being, my body, my organs, my brain, liver, pancreas, lungs, heart, stomach, muscle tissue, tendons, bone, skin, eyes, knees, hands, feet and glutes are all getting fed in ways that maybe 2% or less of the general population gets to experience. You cannot believe what eating this way does for your energy levels, your attitude, your spiritual development.

Here's the deal: I encourage everyone of you in the next few days and weeks to seriously investigate the arguments for adding in more and more uncooked, nutrient dense fruits, and super-foods into your diet. The way that I began was with the "morning smoothie". I have done about 400 smoothies over the last 13 months, by my count. Everyone of them has been slightly different. But what they have in common: Rice Dream or filtered water is the base, about 4 cups, because I'm making one for my wife every day too. If it's just for you, then 2 cups is enough.

Then I add organic strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, dark sweet cherries., pineapple, or mango. You only need about a cup and a half of fruit. Most of the fruit I put in is frozen but I often use fresh in season. Organic is the way to go. Use organic as your first choice!

Now the superfoods: You can find most of the following at health food stores:
A TBSP of sprouted flax powder: Has Omega threes
A TBSP of organic hemp powder (high in protein)
A TBSP of Super Green Powder ( A mix of 35 or 40 different dehydrated green vegetables and fruits, super high in chlorophyl, antioxidants, minerals, vitamins)

Recently I started doing raw CACAO powder. Yes, this is what the native Americans call chocolate, and what the Spanish call coco. The cacao fruit's seed pod holds cacao seeds. These seeds are harvested, cold pressed and powdered. This is the most nutrient dense food on the planet. High in Manganese, which is the primary mineral in your heart, Chromium, antioxidants, polysacharrides, it's an incredible food. It's a super-food!

I don't always put Cacao powder in my morning smoothies. Sometimes I just blend it with rice dream and agave at night and cool it down in the freezer for a chocolate sorbet or I'll warm it on the stove for a hot cocoa. But I use it every day. It's an amazing, amazing mood lifter, full of incredible minerals and it's so good for you. Check out David Wolfe's Naked Chocolate or his You Tube Video "David Wolfe on Cacao"

I also put organic coconut flesh into the smoothie. Coconut is also a super-food that has incredible properties.

Lately I"m also adding baby spinach, or kale, or dark romaine. I only put a few leaves, you can't even taste it. But this way I'm getting my dark leafy greens in.

Color in foods is key. The richer, brighter, the more vibrant the color, the more pigmentation and antioxidants in the food. Eat color.

The more antioxidants, the more your will be able to counteract the free radicals in your bloodstream that are trying to damage your cell walls and defeat their functionality. Antioxidants are anti-aging formulas.

This is what you want to be eating if you are trying to look and feel your very best.

If you think about it just for a second, it makes perfect sense. Nature, it it's infinite wisdom, added in color so that we could find these fruits on trees more easily. Color is a natural attractant. Nature is trying to tell you something. Are you listening to your Mother?

My complexion has totally changed in the last few months. My skin is glowing.
Remember, I'm a 49 year old guy. You usually don't see that in 49 year old guys. Fat has burned away, muscle is more defined. ( I do work out a lot), but going raw has really helped me to show the definition that was hiding under the fat.

Here's the deal: You need to stay away from processed grains and sugars. These foods are your enemies. I'm not 100 % raw, and I don't know if I'll ever be. But I rarely if ever eat bread, or other baked grain products. And white, processed sugar is a battle, but I'm doing pretty good with it. The problem is we keep tons of candy around the office and sometimes I succumb during the mid afternoon when my energy dips. You already know I love chocolate, but I shouldn't be eating the processed white sugar kind.

I feel like a million bucks most of the time. The more I've gone raw, the more my energy levels have gone through the roof. There is a lot of intuition being released at this time in my sphere of life. I just know things, I sense them more than ever before. It's hard to explain. But women seem to have this skill. My guess is that Intuition is related to awareness. Awareness is related to our physical senses (smell, taste, touch, hearing) and the sensations that we come into contact with. 

As you clean up your diet and begin gravitating to super-foods, all of your sensory organs are receiving vitality and nourishment like they've never seen before. It only stands to reason that they are going to function more robustly. And that could be the reason that everything just becomes clearer, simpler, more beautiful, and more easily understood.

Here's something I can understand. Clean up your diet, gravitate towards raw, whole, organic, live foods, and the people that grow, deliver, prepare and consume them, and your life will change for the better.

It just so happens that the practices that go into creating this type of food for us happen to be better for our environment, too. So you are contributing to the best plant ever when you eat this way.

Finally, feel love in your heart for yourself at all times, if possible. This self love is what makes me gravitate towards my intuition, which is pushing me towards doing the best thing I do for myself in any given moment. Being the right weight doesn't mean anything if you don't have love in your heart for your self and the people around you. Having love in your heart will help you start the journey, arrive at your destination, and explore new vistas, all while feeling great and having a good time doing so. That's my two cents for now -- Isaac Alfandry

Thank you for sharing!!!

"Strength For My Mind And Spirit"

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

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

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

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

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

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

How To Be Happy With Your Body When You Are Not Overweight

As many of you know, I attempt to read every email I get from the Tip Of The Day subscribers and respond to as many as I can. Many are extremely interesting and help to further discussions in many different ways. This email got me thinking about those of you who are not overweight, but for whatever reason are not totally happy with your body. 

"Jackie-

Just thought I'd respond to your latest email to let you know that your emails are daily reminders that have helped me.

I've recently had my most challenging time with weight loss and also my most empowering breakthrough. If you don't mind, I'd like to share it with you.

I've never been "overweight" or what anyone but myself would call "fat." However, there has only been about one or two years in my young life (I'm 23) where I've felt happy with my body. Those years have come and gone, along with the college-level volleyball that got me into such great shape. Since then I've stayed away from dieting, but I've tried many different forms of exercise and managed how I deal with food in many different ways. I started noticing a few months ago that everything that used to work and get me back into shape when I needed it just stopped working. I started to get desperate and, if my husband hadn't stopped me, I probably would have used weight loss supplements even though the smart, rational part of my brain was telling me it was a waste of money and potentially dangerous to my health.

Then I had an epiphany. Well, I don't know if it was an epiphany, really, but it was a complete mindset change that I'm just now able to commit to in the form of writing. I want to have kids within a couple of years from now. Never before have I said I wanted kids within a set amount of time (or that I really wanted kids for that matter). But suddenly, with that thought, it wasn't about looking hot or being able to fit into the newest two-piece bathing suit. It was about being healthy so that I can have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. I'm not worried about getting ready for bathing suit season anymore. I've given myself a goal of two years - in two years I want to physically be up to my personal standards.

I'm having a much easier time with eating healthfully and not criticizing myself if I miss a workout or eat a chocolate chip cookie (or two!). I know I have time. And I know that what I'm striving for is worth picking myself back up, dusting off my (slightly perkier) bottom and trying again when I slip up.

I had heard about PeerTrainer before, but I rediscovered your site and signed up for the daily emails. I love your suggestions, and it's great to just have a consistent reminder. Weight loss is a very personal issue for me, as I know it is for most women, and I don't like to discuss it with my friends and family. Having this kind of anonymity and still getting personal support is amazing. You mentioned goal setting in your email, and I never had the correct state of mind to make this sort of goal before, but for some reason it has finally clicked with me and I cannot believe how amazingly different I'm feeling and thinking.

Thank you what you have created. Two things are keeping me going: my goal and your daily encouragement. Thank you again, and please keep it up!"

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your feedback and your email. It's so gratifying when I read about how PEERtrainer and our direction and guidance has personally helped. Weight loss is such a personal issue and to this day, even going on year 5 of PEERtrainer, I still take advantage of the anonymity in certain ways. I too have changed my mindset and I never thought i would be comfortable shopping for a dress or getting in a bathing suit in front of my friends and I am! I'm not a size 0 and I have cellulite but it doesn't matter because I am so comfortable with my figure and the choices I make. It has been an extremely liberating process and sounds like you've had a similar process in getting to a goal that works for you.

Please keep emailing me and letting me know your progress. We also have started a thread in the community on the subject "How To Be Happy With Your Body."