Weight Loss Guru

Hi everyone, here's a great little piece from a friend of mine. Her name is Susan Cass, she's a Personal Fitness Trainer and she really knows what she's talking about... Enjoy :)

I can't have that, I really can't have that - I want it, I want it - oh okay I'll just do an extra hour in the gym tomorrow, donuts aren't that bad after all anyway are they? Especially if I scrape a bit of the sugar off and it after all it has a hole in the middle.....

So tell me, Dust? high in fat, low in fat? Well probably both depending on your mind set that day. Had a great day? - yes? so its okay to reward yourself with "CAKE". Had a bad day? Yes? so it's okay to cheer yourself up with "CAKE"

Do you remember being at school and doing exceptionally well in your spelling test? Well it was more than likely your folks were waiting at the school gates with a huge smile and armed with that finger of fudge for being great. Didn't make the soccer team first squad? Your greeting at the school gates is now open arms, a sympathetic expression and that finger of fudge. So you can see a distinct pattern emerging. From a young age food was generally interpreted as both reward and condolence.

As we have gotten older we've understood that more calories we consume than we actually need leads to carrying additional body weight - so we start trying to balance out our calorie intake/expenditure formula by overtraining or going on bouts of sudden and severe training regimes which overtime can damage our internal body systems. For example in order to have that Krispy Kreme, you HAVE to do an extra hour on the stepper or run an extra 6 miles, or you'll feel guilty for the rest of the day.

So food can quite often resemble an emotional crutch to get us through any situation and battling your conscience on a daily basis could feel like the energy equivalent of fighting 10 rounds head to head with Mohamed Ali (if only the calorie burn were the same!)

The question is, Do I REALLY want to eat that, do I REALLY need it? If the answer is yes - then you will have it. If the answer is no, think about doing something that makes you feel good? Perhaps a long walk in the countryside alongside a babbling brook breathing in the fresh air? A competitive game of 10 pin bowling with friends at the local alley? a game of five aside with your friends after work? shopping with girlfriends and the purchase of those killer Jimmy Choo's, going to see the newest film release at the cinema? - just reading that probably made you smile.

Somewhere deep within us, we have some unique behaviour triggers, the things in life that truly inspire us and make us feel great and want to push on. Write down those thoughts, aspirations and goals that inspire you as well as your measurable goals and how you are going to achieve them. Refer back to them as often as you can as a reminder that will keep you on course. It will act as a motivational tool to make sure you stay focused and on track. Over time your goals and dreams may change, so you may need to try a variety of approaches and change your diet to find that winning formula for you. There is no right or wrong - if it works for you, it works!

If you always do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got - so chuck away those emotional food crutches, think about the consequences of your actions everyday and take a positive stance to change by taking responsibility to break the bad habits. Its truly liberating and you'll step out of bed every morning healthier, happier and more in control of you. No more food rewards and no more Majorie Dawes!

Article by
Susan Cass
Personal Fitness Trainer

Did you know that each one of us is made up of roughly:

63% water
22% protein
13% fat, and
2% minerals and vitamins

And, did you realise that every single molecule in our body comes from the food we eat and the water we drink. So eating the highest quality food in the right quantities helps us achieve our greatest potential for health and vitality.

Yet among the big news stories of the new millennium was this: the number of starving people in the world is now roughly equal to the number of clinically obese people. But the irony is that many people in the developed world are actually eating less than they used to, so what’s going on?

I have seen, over the last twenty years or so, that the quality of food we’re eating has got worse and there is now more focus on highly processed foods. The people I see in my one-to-one clinics and in workshops and seminars seem to be more stressed and very inactive. It appears that we are more obsessed with how we look rather than what we eat.

The sum total of this behavior is that we are gradually eating ourselves to death and, believe it or not, many people who are overweight are actually suffering from the same condition as people who are starving. Yes, MALNUTRITION, The reason being that the processed packaged food is often so heavily refined that it’s lacking in the vitamins and minerals we need for our bodies to work well.

Just as the quality and type of fuel used in your car influences both the performance and longevity of the engine, so the quality and type of food you eat influences the health, performance and longevity of your body.

If your diet contains lots of packaged and processed foods then chances are you are missing out on vital nutrients - so it’s time to cleanse your body. Every  single process that takes place in your body - including digestion, fat burning, thinking, breathing, walking and talking - requires vitamins and minerals.

When you eat fresh, natural foods, your stock of vitamins and minerals gets topped up: quite simply, when you eat well, your body works well.

As we lose touch with real ‘live’ food, it becomes harder to form the association with the vitamins and minerals in food and the realisation that we are alive because of them. Our body requires them to survive, so if we keep eating food that is lacking in them, our body’s stocks of these nutrients become depleted so we will start to malfunction and it will become increasingly harder to concentrate and process information. The  body will have less energy and it will find it more difficult to metabolise food and burn fat. That’s why junk foods are often called ‘anti-nutrients.’ They literally attack your stores of nutrients and damage your health.

So commit to giving your body what it needs, including good food and plenty of activity, and I will help you along the way, giving you encouragement, support and guidance.

Until next time

Here's some truely amazing feedback from Diane Stephenson - what a success story! Thanks Diane for sending this through and becoming an instant inspiration!...

P.S. Sorry i haven't been around much this mad month of May - so busy...
More blogging in June i promise!! :)

If you get a chance and want to see me on TV then check me out on Tuesday night on Channel 4 at 9:00pm, on the last of a six part series called. The Diets That Time Forgot.

Many people don't realize that diets are not a recent invention and  in this unique historic experiment, nine volunteers spent 24 days testing the weight loss diets and fitness regimes that were popular in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods and the 'roaring' Twenties.

This six-part series examined which plan worked best. Is it the Banting diet, first published in 1863, the 'chew chew' diet of the early 1900s, or the first calorie counting Lulu diet, one of the best selling non-fiction publications of the 1920s? Tune in and see how they got on and how much weight they lost.

I work with the volunteers during the last few days of this unique experiment. I show them how to use the power of mind and hypnosis techniques.

It’s was the London marathon on Sunday and I was listening to the commentary on the radio. Did you know that the first one was 100 years ago and was run in London? Did you also know that the finishing time was around 2 hours 50 minutes. Last year at the London marathon, over 500 hundred people beat that time. It’s interesting how records get broken and people manage to do things that some people said where not possible. With a will to achieve and a desire to succeed anything is possible!

So can you break your own records and achieve what you want? Can you become slimmer, fitter and healthier? Can you break the habits that have held you back in the past? Of course you can, but always remember that you might need to be patient and you might make a few mistakes along the way. Stay positive, be happy and enjoy the journey.

Hi there,

So lately I've noticed a lot of people who are following the petecohen.tv program are having great success using  Tool 3 - the Relaxation & Transformation MP3...

"I am still finding the MP3 tool is working the best for me"

"The MP3 is great. At the end I feel wonderful"

 "The relaxation MP3 helps me keep my stress levels down and increase my belief in my ability to keep losing weight."

"Pete is right about the MP3 - it does relax me and makes me feel more positive."

"I can't believe how much better the relaxation and transformation mp3 makes me feel. I am eaten better and feeling great"

Here's a 5-min sample of the track
(The full track is 30mins long)

But, dieting is hard work?

So how can this Relaxation Track help people lose weight when it seems like a dichotomy; going against everything that people are usually told about losing weight?

Most people associate weight loss with dieting, and dieting with hard work, denial, sweat and sometimes tears. The process of losing weight makes many people tense and anxious as they are so concerned about how much they are eating or whether they have lost enough weight.

It has always been my goal that in helping people to lose weight, I would also teach them to enjoy the process and become more relaxed and calm. 

This is especially important because most people overeat when they are tired, bored, lonely, stressed, anxious or sad, along with many other emotions.  Bad eating habits are not often associated with feelling relaxed, calm and peaceful.

The transformation and relaxation tool relaxes the body and calms the mind. The knock-on effect of this is that people become better at managing their emotions and make better choices, automatically choosing foods which are healthier as well as having an increased desire to exercise and be active.
 

The power of suggestion.

Everyone is open to suggestion and we are more easily influenced that we think. For example if I was to say to you "What do beans mean ?" - do you hear a voice in your head that goes "HEINZ" ?  Or if I was to say to you "Pringles, once you pop" - do you hear a voice in your head that says "You just can't stop" 

The power of positive suggestion or, as some people call it, positive affirmation is an essential part of achieving success in many areas of life, whether  that's sport, business or - of course - losing weight and getting fit.

In this tool I take the person, who wants to lose weight, on a guided journey where I make many positive suggestions to them and their ability to break habits and achieve. The result of this is that people start to give themselves more positive reinforcements and feel good about all the changes they are making. 

In addition there are many health benefits from using this tool because when people relax their brains works differently and this creates many positive changes in the body, like decreased blood pressure, heart rate, muscular tension and better digestion. 

Here's a 5-min sample of the track
(The full track is 30mins long)

So until next time, take time to chillax, which is my new made up word for relaxing in the modern world ;)

Our Inch-Loss-Ladies are back for a quick update. They're all doing really well and have stuck with the programme. Excellent job, Well done girls!

"Still doing really well and your programme is really helping as it offers me structure and keeps me positive and motivated. I have lost 21 pounds and loads of inches. I know I have turned a corner and that I will never put this weight back on again."
Karen Benford

"I have lost 20lbs following your programme and an amazing 46 inches in total. I'm still going to the gym and also I've just started power walking for 30mins at lunchtime and hope to do that 3 times a week."
Karen Parker

"Pete's  programme is really  working for me.  I have lost 22 pounds at the moment and am still losing weight. It's  not always been easy and i do try not to be too hard on myself as we all learn from our mistakes.  I often go back and look at my journey and realise how well i am doing and feeling better in myself. With Pete's programme I will not only lose the weight but I know I'll keep it off."
Gail

[Lifted from Cranky Fitness - originally from Morgan's blog]

This spoof infomercial is tres funny, take a look:

Hi there everyone,
Did you know that weight training could be as effective as endurance exercises like running, swimming or cycling when it comes to burning fat and warding off diabetes, a study suggests.

Professor Ken Fox, an exercise specialist at the University of Bristol, said that attention was increasingly turning to resistance exercise as a means to improve metabolism and help lose weight. Resistance training has been more often associated with serious athletes and body builders than with slimming, especially by women, but it is a beneficial way of helping your body get rid of those excess pounds.

Many women worry that by using weights they will turn themselves into the Incredible Hulk. But it’s actually quite difficult for anyone to put on significant amounts of muscle, and it is MUCH more difficult for women. The most important factor in muscle gain is the male hormone testosterone, which women have very little of, thankfully! But it’s not only woman that shy away from resistance training but also the older members of society.

Numerous studies confirm that resistance training can preserve and even increase resting metabolism. What that means is that regardless of age and sex - resistance training can help you lose weight. Here are some other very good to reason to take up resistance training:

• You can firm up your entire body and reshape it.
• You can increase your metabolism by at least 15 per cent. So, even when you’re sleeping, you’re burning 15 per cent more fat than you used to.
• Your clothes will fit you much better because as you tone your muscles your body shape will improve.
• You will develop more energy, feel younger and even improve your posture.

If you aren’t familiar with resistance training then I strongly suggest you get some expert advice before you start.  And if you haven’t exercised or a long time, or you have high blood pressure then please consult your doctor before doing any of this type of training.

You might want to consider investing in a personal trainer. Personal training is now much more accessible, it’s possible to get a trainer to teach you about resistance training and design a specific programme for yourself.

Take good care.
Pete.

Our fabulous Inch Loss Girls have agreed to make some posts on the blog in the coming weeks... they've also got access to my petecohen.tv on-line weight-loss programme. So, if you're interested in learning some more Inch Loss secrets, watching their progress and even offering some words of encouragement, please watch this space. You can get an RSS feed here or subscribe to the blog-feed by email here so you don't forget to come back. See you soon. Pete