I have recently returned from a trip to the deep South of the United States, visiting Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. I know America gets bad press these days but I am a big fan. However, they really love food, portion sizes are massive and fast food outlets are everywhere.
It’s funny how our lives have changed and how years ago people used to hunt to live and survive. This obviously involved blood, sweat and tears. These days, especially in the states people hunt in their cars and there is drive-in everything, drive-in fast food, drive-in pharmacies, drive-in banks, drive-in supermarkets. In fact people don’t really have to move these days because if you don’t go out hunting in your car someone will bring everything to you.
I couldn’t believe how many overweight people I saw, people of all ages and backgrounds. It’s such a big problem and I am sure we are catching up with our American cousins as us Brits’ waist lines are ever expanding.
In fact, in the plane on the way home I read in a recent survey that almost three-quarters of Britons believe they are overweight and have vowed to start a health campaign in the New Year. This got me wondering as to just how many of these vows will result in success.
Perhaps this is highlighted by McDonalds who recently revealed it had recorded growth rates close to their peak of the 1980s -- with 88 million visits to its outlets in the UK last month alone!
It is estimated that obesity causes 9,000 premature deaths each year in England and costs the NHS about one billion pounds annually.
A recent government study predicted that half the population could be obese within 25 years and Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum charity, said the country's obesity crisis was "quite dire".
While it appears people want to tackle obesity, evidence such as the sales figures revealed by McDonalds, paints a markedly different picture.
The government is desperate to do something about this situation and in October, they unveiled a strategy where parents of severely overweight children may be sent letters warning them of the health dangers involved.
Do you think this will make any difference? I am not sure but I know that my weight loss programme is making a difference to many people.
If you want to see the progress people are making then have a look at our blog and check out our updated video of some of our amazing case studies.
Take care, and if you want to sign up before Christmas we have a special offer. You can sign up for a 50% discount. Just go to petecohen.tv and use the promo word xmas.
Hi all,
Here's a little something you might like to see... It's The Phillips vs The Mitchells in the first full-episode (5 parts) of Fat Chance, a series that I was involved in back in 2003. Wait till you see what these families were doing and eating before myself and Jane DeVille-Almond got hold of them!
You can watch the whole episode on petecohen.com:
http://www.petecohen.com/go/episode/fat-chance/
P.S I'm putting loads more clips up from my TV work over the next few months - so stay tuned.
If you pick up a magazine or newspaper; there's always a new idea on how to be healthy, a fad diet or celebrity endorsed fitness regime that claims to make you healthy and improve your life.
But the real truth is, experts consistently agree, that one of the simplest ways to maintain your health and improve the quality of your life is to eat a healthy balanced diet and have an active healthy lifestyle. We've been told this all our lives, from our parents, to medical science - as the old saying goes "an apple a day keeps the doctor at bay".
We've all heard countless times that were meant to have 5 portions of fruits or vegetables a day - at least (doctors are now saying we actually need more like 7 portions). It's not just a 'nice thing to do' - it's actually essential for maintaining a healthy body and mind.
If you're not having enough fruit and vegetables in your diet, you can feel tired, have difficulty concentrating, find it difficult to fight off coughs and cold and it can even make it harder to lose weight. And fruit and vegetables are even essential to your daily beauty regime - making your skin, hair and nails look good from the inside out.
But the reality is on a day-to-day basis; with our busy lives it can be incredibly difficult to achieve this daily requirement. And even if you are stocking up, because of the way we farm and transport our fruit and vegetables you can't always guarantee their quality and the amount of nutrients they contain.
And the irony is that because our lives are so busy, our bodies need an even more nutritionally rich and balanced diet. Some of you may have health kicks and stock up at your supermarket on fruits and veg, only to throw them away the next week when you haven't had time or the energy to eat or prepare them.
With this in mind we've been looking for easy ways to improve your health and get the nutrients you need and I think we've found it... with Juice Plus+®
Juice Plus+® is the next best thing to fruits and vegetables. It's a whole food-based nutritional support made using the highest quality, fruits, vegetables and other naturally sourced ingredients available. The fruits and vegetables are simply chilled, cleaned and washed, then juiced. The chilled juices are dried using specialised drying processes, which preserve phytonutrients and put in easy to take capsules.
Simply, these little capsules give you all the goodness from 7 fruits and 10 vegetables and grains.
Juice Plus+® Fruit Blend contains the essence of seven fruits including Apples, Oranges, Cranberries, Peaches, Pineapples, Papayas, Plums, dates and Juice Plus+® Vegetable Blend contains the essence of ten nutrient-dense vegetables and grains: carrots, parsley, beets, kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, and the fibre from rice and oats.
Can you imagine how difficult it would be to eat all of those fruits and vegetables everyday? Juice Plus+® offers you an all round solution, that's simple, effective and easy to take over time. It's even suitable for vegetarians, vegans and children.
To find out more or if you're interested please go to
http://www.juiceplus.co.uk/
and you can order online by clicking on the store
If you're also interested in weight-loss have a look at their product Juice Plus+ Complete® is a fortified protein rich high fibre drink containing 23 vitamins and minerals. Unlike protein based products it's free from artificial sweeteners, colours or flavours, doesn't include preservatives and is suitable for vegans. Mixed with water, juice or any type of milk it makes a healthy 'on the go' breakfast, pre-exercise energy drink and post-workout recovery drink.
Check out http://www.juiceplus.co.uk/ for more information
Enjoy, and stay healthy,
Pete :)
"I enjoy following the plan and it's great to go to the workshops where you can meet other members who you have got to know online. I have lost over 4 stone following PCTV - it's such a different and refreshing approach to weight loss."
Ruth Alexander
"What makes PCTV and specifically being on the blogs extra special is that you soon become part of our family, we're all together pulling in the same direction and we are accepted and feel free to be ourselves with our ups and downs. Once we're helping other people we're also realising our own abilities to help ourselves - what could be better and I have lost 6 stone"
Annie Garcia
"I joined the programme back in June after being bowled over by Pete and his amazing system, it has worked for me where 40 odd years of conventional dieting hasnt, in just over 3 months i am 3 stone plus lighter, i am walking unaided where before i needed a stick, i was virtually housebound and now i go out every day, its completely lifechanging and the best thing is I haven't once felt hungry or deprived."
Sue Hedges
"PCTV has changed my entire view on getting slimmer, fitter, healthier and happier. Ten months on, I'm still on the programme and still losing weight. I have never managed this before- usually I'm "good" for a few weeks then fall off the wagon and give up. Then as the next big thing in my life approaches I try to "diet" again. I've now broken this cycle thanks to Pete and all the wonderful people on the Weightloss Journals Blog. Since starting PCTV on Jan 1st 2008 I have lost 2st 10lbs. I attended Pete's weight loss event in London on Oct 11th and it was an elightening and motivational day."
Vikki Crawford
Thanks so much ladies! It was great to see you all again at the event. Keep it up you're all doing so incredibly well!
When I was at school, our biology teacher told us a story of what happens when you put a frog in boiling water. I have no idea why he did, but it’s interesting from a behavioural perspective. In the same way as if you or I were put in a bath of boiling water, the frog will jump straight out. He will then be petrified of going anywhere near the water because he knows how hot and uncomfortable it is, which is understandable. So how do you get a frog to stay in boiling water, assuming you have a good reason for doing that? Well, you put the frog in water of a comfortable temperature and then gradually heat up the water: the frog gets used to the rise in temperature so stays there even when the water is at boiling point. Unfortunately the frog is unlikely to be able to survive and will die but doesn’t jump out because he doesn’t realise how much danger he’s in because he’s got so used to it.
With the hundreds of people with whom I’ve worked, I see a similar pattern in how people look after their health: people collect unhealthy habits, none of which seem that bad in isolation but over time they add up to be really painful. Just as the frog doesn’t realise how the temperature of the water is getting dangerous, many people don’t realise how their gradual decline in health is dangerous. For example, someone may start by putting on a bit of weight; then their excess weight makes it harder for them to breathe; this is followed by high blood pressure; and they then end up with Type 2 diabetes. At each stage, it’s ‘one more thing to cope with’, ‘a bit of bad news’, or, simply, ‘bad luck’: but, rather like heating up the water one degree at a time, this person eventually finds themselves in boiling water but doesn’t realise how serious it is. If they had suddenly gone from fine to poor health overnight, they would have noticed the significant change in how they felt: but because their health problems have been gradually building up, they don’t realise how far removed they are from perfect health. The good news, however, is that, even when you’re sitting in boiling water, many health problems can be reversed simply by changing your behaviour
If social pressures to eat have brought you down in the past and you find it hard to say “NO” it doesn’t matter. You’re free to make up a whole new set of rules for dealing with situations in the future. Your circumstances might not change, the people around you might not change. But you can change!
So why do we find it so hard to say NO when we are offered tempting food? There are few reason for this, one being that we don’t want to hurt other peoples feelings when they offer us something. Another reason is the simple fact that these foods taste great and give us a high. In the western world most people eat, not because they are hungry, but because food stimulates their senses and makes them feel good.
We're biologically driven to feel good and our brain seeks out pleasure. Food fits the bill for a lot of people a lot of the time and this is why so many waistlines are expanding. To help you, the next time someone offers you something and you are not hungry, stop for a moment and ask yourself the question “Do I like this food enough that I want to wear it?” Then picture this food on your thighs or on your backside. I am sure this will make you think twice and make it easier for you to say the magical word “NO”
Hi there everyone,
As you probably already know I have weight loss programme called www.petecohen.tv
It's been up and running for about eight months and during that time we have had some amazing results from people following it.
Recently we were able to get a few of these people together to film their testimonials about the programme. If you like, you can see this video here
Hope you enjoy,
Best, Pete.
I am often asked by people who want to lose weight the best ways to measure their progress. The most popular measure is of course using the scales. I sometimes tell people that weigh themselves often that scales are for fish rather than weighing.
It’s important to remember that the scales don’t always give an accurate reflection of how you are doing. When you get on the scales, you’re not just measuring fat loss, you’re weighing everything else as well: muscle, bone, skin and water. Fat loss needs to be your primary focus and it should be a priority to actually increase your muscle and bone density. There’s a lot more to slimming than shedding fat. If you just shed fat, it’s very likely to creep back on again. If you want to be permanently slimmer you’ll have to replace some of that fat with energy-burning muscle.
Fat takes up to five times more space on your body than muscle, but muscle weighs a lot more so the scales won’t show that rapid reduction you’ve been hoping for. Remember that your weight can fluctuate from day to day for many biological reasons – and women, in particular, retain more fluid at some times of the month than at others. More important, even with modern scales it’s hard to be exact about your muscle mass and tone, or work out exactly what proportion of your weight is made up of fat, muscle or bone.
Over the years, I have seen hundreds of people, who have followed my weight loss programme, who couldn’t understand why their jeans were getting baggier when the scales didn’t register any change for, three, four, or even six weeks. The reason, of course, was that as they were losing fat they were gaining muscle, and the muscle they gained was heavier than the fat, it also took up much less body space.
When some people follow my programme they find that their weight can fluctuate a bit to begin with, especially if they have been yo-yo dieting. Some people start to lose around 2 pounds a week steadily right from the first week. While others will be two or three weeks into the programme before they see a consistent loss. This is absolutely fine – it took you a long time to gain the weight, so give your self time to lose it.
This is one of my favorite ways of tracking progress because it doesn't require any fancy equipment and anyone can do it. Taking your measurements at certain areas can give you an idea of where you're losing fat, which is important since we all lose fat in different areas and in a different order. Taking your measurements can help reassure you that things are happening - even if you're not losing fat exactly where you want just yet. Start by wearing tight fitting clothing (or no clothing) and make a note of what you're wearing so you know to wear the same clothes the next time you measure. Here's how to do it:
Record your measurements and take them once a week or once a month to see if you're losing inches.
It may seem obvious, but don't overlook one of the simplest ways to track progress - how you look and how your clothes fit. You may want to take a picture of yourself wearing a bathing suit and keep it in your weight loss journal. Each month, take a new picture... you'll be surprised at how many changes you notice in a picture as opposed to just seeing yourself in the mirror. You can also use your clothes to keep track of your progress.
Use one or all of the methods above to keep track of how you're doing, keeping in mind that realistic goals are essential for your success. And don't forget, it takes time to lose weight so don't panic if you don't drop 10 pounds in a week. Most people don't see significant results for weeks or even months. If you're losing weight the right way, your progress will be slow and steady and your actual fat loss should be around 1-2 pounds in a week.
