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
