PEERtrainer - Site Guide

Welcome! Here we'll post diet tips, fitness articles, PEERtrainer group postings and anything relevant to achieving your diet and fitness goals. Please forward any suggestions - we'd love to hear from you. Jackie

blogfeedback@PEERtrainer.com

June 2023

Forwarded to me from Elle's notes today...thought she raised a few points worth sharing.

Many of you have been asking how I've lost weight "so quickly", and that I eat too little. And I suspect that some of you even think this but don't mention it! Since it's been exactly 4 months (I started PEERtrainer on 2/28), I thought I would address this today. I've lost 19.5 pounds in 4 months. I def. wouldn't say this was too fast, I'm averaging about 5 pounds a month. I just started working out for "real" so most of this was defense (reducing fat, increasing fiber, making different choices) vs. offense (working out).

I do sort of my own customized regimen, a combination of the zone (40/30/30) and the weight watchers points system (20 pts for my weight, this was higher when I started). I've realized this is not an exact science, it's an art and I've made changes slowly and ones that I can consistently maintain. After about 2 weeks after I started, I changed my eating habits. About a month ago, I decided to quit my wine habit. Then about 3 weeks ago, I realized I needed to start my offense. I find that by making changes one at a time, I am able to stick to them.

I have about 10 pounds to lose so I'm 66% of the way to my goal. I can't believe how quickly 4 months went by. So glad I started when I did vs. putting it off. The time really did fly and I'm 20 pounds lighter! That's almost 80 sticks of butter I was carrying around.

jackie , Wednesday, June 29, 2005, 7:26 AM

Still working on the success stories.

Haven't forgotten about this.

jackie , Wednesday, June 15, 2005, 8:11 AM

"Any insights on people's tendencies to sabotage themsleves?"

Elle, who is a moderator for PEERtrainer, passed this along....

Here was the group question:

I hear the same thing in people saying "I knew I shouldn't have eaten that..." Do you think it's just an inevitable part of change--for some people to set themselves up for failure?

Here was Elle's response:

this is really good question. I can only speak for myself but here's why I do it. If I dont' have a strong enough reason of the "WHY", meaning why I shouldn't do something, I continue my bad habits. For instance, I used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. Every few months, I knew I should quit, but I just didn't. Of course I knew every health reason, it smelled, etc, etc. And every few months, I would give a somewhat feeble attempt at quitting. But then I decided to go live in Colorado for ski season. I was really doing something out of the norm for me and I wanted to give it my all, I wanted to become a really great skiier, hike the bowls, etc. Because of the altitude, I knew that I would really have a hard time if I smoked. To me, I really would have potentially put myself at a pretty high risk and how was I going to be in shape to hike up to the bowls? I was going to spend all of this money, time, energy and realized, for the first time, that the "WHY" to quit smoking was more important than the habit. Literally, I had a full pack (only 2 had been smoked) and I was in the car in Nebraska and I threw my pack away and never smoked again. That was 11 years ago. Once you have a real WHY, I think you can commit to doing anything in life.

jackie , Thursday, June 09, 2005, 9:38 AM

Do you workout harder in a guy/girl mixed situation vs. all women or all men?

Most of the groups are same sex but I was thinking about something. If I'm at the gym by myself, I definitely workout. But if my husband is on the treadmill next to me, I push myself like no other. I know many people say the same thing -- if the opposite sex is around, I workout a lot harder. I just do it.

So I have a question, would the same extra motivation work in your group? Would you eat better if you were in a group logging with the opposite sex? Or would it backfire and you might either

a) leave your logs blank if you didn't want them to know or
b) lie?

(LOL)

Does the extra motivation of a mixed group only work "in person"?

jackie , Wednesday, June 08, 2005, 12:39 PM

What if we had to wait on line for an hour just to get a loaf of bread?

I read a book by a russian guy, can't remember the title but it was about losing weight and quitting your bad habits (smoking, etc.)

His thesis was this: sure, pre-liberated USSR was its own prison. But we in a free society are in our own prison as well: the prison of choices. When he arrived in the US, he was in disbelief about how easily accessible food was -- you could have extraordinary food in minutes. In his homeland, you had to stand on line for an hour just to get a loaf of bread for your family.

His argument is given all of our choices and instant gratification, we no longer appreciate the meaning of food and its main source of use. We are in our own prison of gluttony. What if we were forced to wait on line for food for an hour. Would we still want 8 cookies?

Thoughts?

jackie , Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 11:33 AM

Your submissions to be a PEERtrainer success story

Thank you for your stories! They've been extraordinary to read. I'll be getting back to you next week. There might be room for a few so if you still want to send me something, please do.

Jackie

jackie , Friday, June 03, 2005, 10:30 AM

PEERtrainer recommends:

Weight Watchers Momentum Program

Weight Watchers new Momentum Program answers the key criticisms of the Weight Watcher points system.

Forwarded to me from Elle's notes today...thought she raised a few points worth sharing.

Still working on the success stories.

"Any insights on people's tendencies to sabotage themsleves?"

Do you workout harder in a guy/girl mixed situation vs. all women or all men?

What if we had to wait on line for an hour just to get a loaf of bread?

Your submissions to be a PEERtrainer success story