PEERtrainer

A Simple Tip To Improve The Quality Of Your Life

People often say that thoughts become things- but questions are what help determine our thoughts.

Successful people simply ask better questions. If you ask better questions, you get better answers. When you have better answers, you make better decisions. Better decisions lead to better results.

The quality of your life improves.

Now, you may be thinking, "ok that makes sense, but how do I do this?" We will tell you!

You have often heard the suggestion or saying "ask and ye shall receive." It's true.

Think for a second about something you want and what you are willing to do to get that.

Maybe ask a question that will put you in a better mood in an instant- what are you happy, proud, grateful, excited about? 

Once you are in a better mood you can then really start to focus on what you want.

An Exercise/Process To Help You Ask Better Questions:

• Set out to ask four questions about that thing that you want.
• What is in your way?
• How are you limiting yourself?
• What can get you to that goal?
• Who can help you?

Asking questions can get you anything you want. When you ask the right questions, and write them down you then have a plan. When you have a plan, you have instantly increased the odds that you will get what you what. Or at a minimum you will have increased your belief in your ability to get what you want.

We do a lot work at PEERtrainer to help people increase their belief in their ability to gain control of their health and energy for the long term. Our focus is to help you gain hope, increase your optimism. What is interesting about this focus is that you can get to this point, and start nurturing this, without sticking to a stringent plan.

Someone yesterday posted this comment on our Facebook Wall:

"I'm on Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. But I can't stay on the program. It seems... I keep nibbling at night and sometimes I want to binge eat."

Our whole point, and something that we keep coming back to over and over and over is that for many people when they can't "stay on the program" it leads to some very destructive behaviors. We tell people to think in terms of "tools" and not "programs."

You want to gather as big a set of tools as you can, you want to think long term, and you MUST go easy on yourself.

To use an academic term, our "thesis" is to think about your path to health and energy in terms of a journey. Step one is to simply commit to being on it. You don't need to achieve total mastery right out of the gate. That's nuts!

In this journey you also want to have an objective. We use the term "Point Of No Return" because it is so helpful to have some sort of objective. To us, the objective of this term is to get to a place where you are in a lot more control.

It is GREAT place to be, and WORTH the work it takes to get there.

People have responded to this concept, and really embraced it. If you think about it, so many traditional diet approaches are akin to pushing a beach ball under water. Obviously the ball will bounce right back up.

But when you think in terms of the journey, you break it down into a small series of adjustments. This changes your whole mindset. Maybe an email comes to you with an article with an idea, just like this one, and you get back on track. Or you try a new adjustment. But you enjoy it.

For those of you who are just "following along at home" you can nurture this same sense of of hope and belief. Even if you do just one thing a day or a week, you will remain on the journey.

Introducing The PEERtrainer Success Index:

Want to measure your success? Take this simple quiz right now. When you do, success tips will follow, over time:

http://success.peertrainer.com   <====CLICK HERE TO TAKE QUIZ

You will get there. We promise!

 

PS, If you found this post inspiring or helpful, this article is related and can help you build upon this idea.

Related articles

How To Make A Yummy Breakfast Shake That Keeps You Full Till 1PM

How To Slow Digestion, Making You Feel Fuller And More Nourished

"Why Have I Allowed Myself To Gain This Much?" (6 Reasons This Might Be True For You)

8 Causes Of Female Hair Loss (And What You Can Do About It!)

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

Should I Read Eat To Live or Eat For Health? And How The Nutrition Prescription Fits Into The Mix

This video goes over Dr. Fuhrman's three main works, and summarizes each.

1. Eat To Live- This book is ten years old, has changed people lives and gone through 17 printings. Little too advanced for beginners, and it is really a good book to read after Eat For Health. We suggest buying both. (Available at drfuhrman.com) This book is also now available in most Whole Foods.

2. Eat For Health- Newer book that has better success at the amount of people who succeed. It is easier to start and has a greater focus on the emotional aspects of weight loss (Available at drfuhrman.com)

3. The Nutrition Prescription- years in the making, enables people to take a computerized assessment and determines what your risk of getting certain diseases based on what you are eating. Identifies your individual risk factors. (available through Eat Right America)

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

"Why Am I Not Losing Weight??"

Hi There-

 

We have been sharing some older articles from Joshua Wayne recently where he shares some of his "mind secrets." Please keep the feedback coming- we know we are really connecting with this.

 

Today we pleased to tell you about a new article that we have from him that we just published on the site. We hope you enjoy it:

 

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

 

 

We also just uploaded a new video from the series I did with Dr. Joel Fuhrman. In this video he starts to answer the question: "is is better to eat raw or cooked vegetables?"

 

This is an increasingly common question, and as usual Dr. Fuhrman has a unique insight into this subject because of the deep amount of research and study he has done in the field of nutrition.

 

Just below the video is part of an article he wrote where he goes into much greater depth about the raw vs cooked debate. Very interesting:

 

http://blog.peertrainer.com/health/2010/03/is-it-better-to-eat-raw-vegetables-or-cooked-vegetables-dr-joel-fuhrman-gives-his-perspective.html

 

 

-Jackie

 

 PS- we continue to get a lot of feedback and insight from the articles we have been focusing on. This blog post contains an email we got from a reader with a very good tip on how to indentify and fight the foods that sabotage your efforts:

 

http://blog.peertrainer.com/tip_of_the_day/2010/03/interesting-strategy-to-combat-weight-loss-sabotaging-foods.html

 

 

 

Rethinking The New Years Weight Loss Resolution

(this is something I sent out to the Tip Of The Day members earlier) .....I thought it might make sense for all of us to take a step back for a second and think about something. It is "resolution season" and you are probably being surrounded by different messages and suggestions. Do this, buy that.

Maybe your friends and family are asking you what "your resolution" is, which is creating some pressure. Maybe that is a good thing for some of us.

But I also think that for many of us it might make sense to simply do nothing. Or at least wait before we act on something.

The reason why I say this, is that at PEERtrainer we get a lot of feedback about why people do things. Or don't do things.

At a very basic level people are either ready or not ready to do things. It is really that simple. We are always looking for that "deep insight" into why people were successful with a certain program or on the site, and often their answer is that "they were just ready, ready for a change, etc."

And the people who drop out of a program or stop doing something often say "I just was not ready." Funny thing is, those people often come back to the site, rejoin this email program, sign back up for PONR after stopping it. Sometimes this process takes years.

For those who are "ready" there is usually a very good reason or reasons to do something. These can be either positive or negative.

A very good friend who has been putting off dealing with weight for years finally decided it was "time to be taken more seriously at work." For others it was a culmination of things.

For others they hit a certain age and think "I was supposed to be...... by this age." And that provides the mental trigger to reframe things in their mind in an instant.

It is also important to think about what kind of change you are ready for. There are people who are ready for massive and radical change. These are the people who dig deep into the books we recommend, log daily, join all the programs.

And there are others who just want to tip toe into things, and take things very slowly. They just want one idea every now and then.

It is like there are people who want to "learn how to fish." And others who just want to be given the fish!

So in this new year at PEERtrainer we will be working hard to address the needs of both groups. And frankly, we need you to tell us exactly what you need, and where you are in your journey. You might have just joined the site in the last few days, maybe you are 50 or more pounds overweight, and you just want to be given a couple good ideas to work with.

You might also be one of these people who is ready to get on an "elite track." I will be using that word a lot in this new year, because we see people embrace amazing transformation. (Ed and company in the Marathon crew come to mind, and the people in the Acceleration team!)

Those of you who do end up radically transforming your diets, activities and mindset are really part of a very elite group of people on this planet. These kinds of changes are very possible and doable- yet very few people make them!

As usual, I will end this email asking you to reply to this email and think about where you are honestly right now, and where you want to head this year. Is getting on an "elite track" something that you are ready for, are interested in?

Is it something much simpler? It will be reading all the responses and answering as many as I can. Please feel free to ask a question on my Facebook Wall. (And please join me there if you have not already www.facebook.com/jackiewicks)

Lets have a great year and continue our wonderful conversation, debate, discussion.... 

-Jackie

Struggling With The "Mess-Ups": Weight Loss Motivation

Just got this today....

Hi Jackie-

Thank you for just being a friend to those of us who feel so alone in our
efforts to lose weight. Sometimes, all we need is just a little simple,
yet effective advice.

Your post about plateus was one that I really needed to hear. Currently, I
am struggling greatly with the "mess ups." I always pick a day to begin
changing, yet the one time I mess up, I convince myself to start the same
day next week. Doing this has made me go months without ever changing. Any
more advice about how I can stop this attitude? Is is literally driving me
crazy, and causing me more harm than good!

Thanks,

Savanna

Hi Savanna, Thank you!

The single best way to change an attitude is to make a small change that
heads you into the right direction. Just commit to one good meal right
now. Just one - not the whole week, or the duration of your weight loss
goal, but to a great, on track lunch. The little "wins" that you start to
have make you excited and confident to have another win. And they start
to build from there. I was on a plateau for an entire year. And then
very slowly, I lost a little less than a pound a month, until I lost 10
more pounds. It took me 2 years to lose 10 pounds.

I would like to go a bit deeper though and ask if you have a burning
desire to lose the weight. What is the specific number you'd like to get
to and when do you want to do it? Do you have a date attached to it? Do
you really have the compelling reason, the burning desire and have you
made the decision that your current weight and lifestyle has become
intolerable?

Jackie

Thoughts About Our Article, "Learning To Inspire Others: How To Become A Successful Leader"

Hi Jackie,

Learn to inspire others is an excellent article that made several
valuable points for being a successful leader:

1) great leaders seek to understand before they seek to be
understood, or say, great leaders seek to server before they seek to be
served

This is the first step to build loyal and trust relationship between
leaders and the people they lead.

2) getting people to change a behavior is extremely difficult.

My personal experience proved it is 100 percent of truth. People's habit
has been developed from the environment where they have been growing up.
When talking about changing, it means let them adapt to some things new.
The inertia is strong... so understanding is the first step to unlock
the inertia through finding the causes.

3) Asking a lot of questions before giving any advice is generally
a great start

This is one of the approaches for understanding people in this way
people are exposing their inner minds by speaking out. The understanding
will underline personalized solutions, specific advices.

4) The negative stuff gets people's attention, but people tend to
go for positive goals. This is where motivational skill comes in

It's not the negative things that get people's attention, it's actually
the things that matter to them or affects their interests catch their
attention. Those things that catch people's attention are the right
momentum for good solutions.

5) You need to communicate to someone their potential, and do so
in a manner that they can really begin to visualize it. Getting someone
to believe in their potential, their worth and their voice in a clear
and sustainable manner is the height of leadership.

This is a good way to arise self-esteem within people.

6) People naturally resist forms of authority, but they are very
open to a peer to peer framework or one where they truly feel listened
to in a cooperative and communicative manner.

The power of influence is greater than the power of authority. Influence
makes people willing to do things from heart but authority pushes people
to do things that they are not willing to do.

Best wishes,

Ling

Feeling Better, Gaining Hope and Motivation...

Something we have been thinking about recently is the idea that change can be easier and happen more quickly than we sometimes think. A key observation we have is that when people find the right information that meets their need, incredible things can happen. Because PEERtrainer is a big thing and we offer different types of programs, content etc-- the odds of us helping you connect to yourself is pretty good. 

Not everything will help everyone. But odds are good that some combination of things will help someone make some real change. As this email demonstrates:

"Just to let you know where I am coming from and the frustrations throughout my life. I have struggled with my weight my entire life - real chunky kid, was treated mean by other kids due to my weight- then lost weight when I reached 16 years old and felt on top of the world!- gained it back and more - been yo-yo dieting ever since - I've been active off and on, treadmill, running, walking, and last year joined Curves which I found to be wonderful for me.(am still going at least 3 times a week)

 However, I have a tough time mentally with myself. The past few years have gained too much weight and had taken to not liking myself at all due to my "lack of will power". Every morning waking up disgusted with the previous day telling myself today I will do better. Well, by the afternoon I would be on a downhill spiral and the vicious cycle of me hating me would start again.
 
Then 4 weeks ago I came upon your website - and let me tell you, I felt as though you knew me! Almost everything I have read and heard applied to me. Your program has given me such an uplift. In that short amount of time I have begun to like myself. I am setting small goals and am doing them!! No more waking up and not liking myself. I have actually journaled my food every day for a week - something I was never able to do in the past(tried Weight Watchers and did not care for it)

I am amazed at how your articles give me hope and a better understanding about me and that I CAN do this for myself! The 3 pillars was an eye-opener for me. Broken down like that - I know I can reach my goals! I want to be a healthy older lady - vibrant and full of life for my kids and grandchildren. (I turned 60 and have 5 grandkids, the oldest 14 years old.)
 
What has been working well for me, every day I put your articles in a notebook. I go through them and underline all that I need for me. Then every morning I read over all the notes before starting my day. That gives me such a positive boost!
 
So, all this in response to your email - Whew! this is a long email!! I adore your program. Thank you for this encouraging program. It was just the understanding I needed to get me liking myself again and being proud of me. I now know that I can be a healthy weight and to stop beating myself up mentally. I am still working on finding out the real why. The things I thought were the key turned out not to be. I realized that through your articles. But, that has helped me realize why I was failing- not that I am a failure - I just have not found that real why. I am closer to it though, because I have eliminated the ones I thought were it. So THANK YOU!!!! :-)
 
Keep up you great work!"

This woman is part of our Point Of No Return program, which is something that we designed to be an extension of our Tip Of The Day program. Some people do great on the reminders, others, like this woman want to go several levels deeper over a period of time. You can learn more about the specifics of the program at http://www.peertrainer.com/coaching

What Successful Weight Loss Really Looks Like

We just published a new article titled "What Successful Weight Loss REALLY Looks Like"

This was written in response to many emails I have gotten from Tip Of The Day readers and participants. So please check out the article, and at the end there is a link to a thread where people can share their experiences with this exact question and observation.

The point of this exercise is to really get rid of the expectations that create frustration. Let me know what you think!

-Jackie

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!!!

5 Things To Focus On In The First Week Of Your Diet

This is an article from the PEERtrainer Weight Loss Framework, which is a guide to some of the best ideas that we have found that address the fundamentals of long term weight loss. The Framework is a page that you can bookmark and it is especially useful for people starting out on a diet or weight loss path.

1. The Goal

We talk a lot in this guide, in our Tip of The Day email program, in our coaching calls the importance of goal setting and planning. It is so fundamental and you have heard this a zillion times, but it is precisely these things that you need to do to succeed. Like on a trip, you need to know where you are going, where your destination is.

Losing weight is no different. Setting a specific goal that is really yours is important. Not what anyone tells you, but what you really want at the core, what is in your heart. I think it was Thoreau who said that "people do not attain what they do not aim for." So no matter what stage you are on in your journey, take a moment and actually take out a pen or pencil and right down a goal you really want. Or better yet, one that you expect to attain.

2. The Why

Using another real life example, to do anything you need a reason to do it. Without a reason you are not going to do it. You are not going to follow through on a diet just because you think you are supposed to, or it is January 1 or whatever. You have to find a reason and is has to be a priority. It has to be something you deeply value and is the top priority. This reason, this burning desire, will help to fuel your motivation. When you get off track, which you will, this goal and this reason becomes this force that you gravitate towards, and that picks you back up.

3. The How

You also need to know how to get where you want to go, and you need a route, a map or some sort of itinerary. You need to know how get from point A to point B. You can do this on your own, but it is so much easier when you do it with others. Imagine going out in the wilderness without a map? Going to a party, you need the same mindset- you need to be prepared beforehand, you need a ruleset that you will stick to. You need to be able to cope with the "food wilderness."

This brings us to support and guidance which is one of our core organizing themes and ideas. Why do millions of people pay each week to travel to a room to weigh themselves and hear a pep talk? Because it works and is valuable. One thing we talk about at PEERtrainer is the idea of "diet fusion", of blending different approaches together. My own "diet fusion" is to use the Weight Watchers Points system and combine it with a very high nutrient diet like the one advocated by Joel Fuhrman. I think on week three of the bootcamp calls I go into this specific idea.

Once you have done the fundamental work of goal setting, expectation setting, finding your reasons you really need to figure out how to stick to it, to get the support to keep you on track. You can join a PEERtrainer group, make sure you are getting the daily emails, or join a coaching program that will help to customize your path for you. There are all sorts of things you can set up for yourself to help bolster your own self motivation and discipline. If you have heard the PEERtrainer bootcamp calls, you know how motivating they can be.

4. The Measurement

Develop a weekly plan to stay accountable. Do you hate the scale? That's fine. Maybe one day you will make friends with it. In the meantime, find a different way to chart your progress. Maybe buy a measuring tape and take your measurements weekly. Maybe you have a pair of jeans that you can try on weekly. Find something that works for you, whether it's an old pair of jeans that you try on once a week, a measuring tape, a scale, your partners eyes, whatever it is and measure your progress.

5. The Follow Through

It's important for you to see progress so that you'll have a reason to stick with your plan. You're not sprinting; you're running a marathon. If you don't see the miles tick off as you get closer to the finish line, how are you going to know that what you're doing is working? Logging your goals, your progress, and your daily habits will show you what is working and most importantly, give you the confidence to keep up your good work. Your first week on PEERtrainer is critical if you have never logged before. Once you develop the habit, other positive and healthy habits will start to happen.

Next: Get A Support System

Share on Facebook

The Relationship Between Losing Weight And Happiness

We all want happiness in life. It really doesn’t matter where you come from, how much money you have, what neighborhood you live in- what you ultimately want in life is happiness. You want to feel good about yourself, the people around you and you want to feel positive and optimistic about what life has to offer.

If you’re reading this, then it’s also likely that at some level you believe that losing weight will help you get closer to your happiness. You want to lose weight because you believe it will bring you closer to being happy.

Happiness can be a bit of a tricky topic, though, for 2 reasons:

1. It’s such an individual thing, and means something different to everybody.

2. Because very often the things that we think will bring up happiness in reality will not. They might even bring us greater frustration and unhappiness.

When it comes to understanding and mastering the connection between weight loss and happiness, I have found that there are three different things you need to look at that can really make the difference. You may have found that just one of the three will apply to your situation, or elements of all of them may be necessary.

1. Courage- Sometimes there are some significant emotional issues that stand between you and losing weight. I particularly find this to be true among people who have a lot of weight to lose. Ultimately, what you need is courage to face these issues. Finding this courage and working through your issues will bring you so much closer to not just the health and body you want, but true lasting happiness.

2. Discipline- You may have a strong drive to lose weight, but you just don’t follow through. Maybe you’re good for a few weeks or a month, but then you lose your focus. Developing discipline to stay focused on your goal can get you over the hump and on track to the weight loss and happiness you desire. You don’t have to go after all bad habits at once- in fact, it’s probably not a good idea to do so. But it is a good idea to start gradually building your discipline for focusing on one or two things at a time.

3. Self-acceptance- Sometimes the things we think will bring us happiness in actuality will not. Be careful that you don’t get caught chasing perfection. Sometimes we think losing those last 10 pounds will make us happy, but then we think it’s something else that will do the job. I’m not saying don’t go after the last 10 pounds, but be careful that you’re stuck chasing after goal after goal thinking each one will bring you happiness only to find they don’t. What may be necessary is to work on your self-acceptance, and accepting yourself as you are- not endlessly chasing a sense of perfection that doesn’t exist.  

In the following video I explore these three categories and further explore this connection. I would be very interested in your experiences, and please share on this PEERtrainer thread.




The relationship between weight loss and happiness is something we go into in depth in the Point Of No Return Program. We are currently offering the first two weeks for free. You can learn more here.

Joshua Wayne is a Personal Development Coach and Trainer who focuses on weight loss, fitness and mind/body wellness. He is the co-creator (with PEERtrainer co-founder Jackie Wicks) of the “Point of No Return” training program that helps people adopt the thinking and behaviors necessary to finally get “un-stuck” and overcome frustration and hopelessness in their weight loss efforts.

Getting Motivated To Lose Weight

This is another key component to the basics of long term weight loss, how one gets and sustains the motivation to lose weight. Joshua Wayne continues his series of clips on some of these very basic and elemental things. Just so you know, I work to add a very practical layer to his clinical layer and we find the two very effective. These blogs, videos are all part of the free PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day weight loss coaching program.