Weight Loss Guru

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

Hi there everyone,

Most of you know that one of the most important things I talk about is the voice in our heads that quacks away at us like a duck.

Our basic quality of life comes down to how we communicate with ourselves and what we say to ourselves. Our lives can improve so much by getting the duck to shut up, so the next time you find yourself giving yourself a hard time, say the mantra to yourself: "SHUT THE DUCK UP"

I hope you like the picture of the duck flying away because with a bit of work may be yours will too and you'll be free to enjoy your life more!
Download a really big version of the picture here.

Oh, and - here's an older post on the duck... 

See you all soon!
Pete

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 ;)

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

This spoof infomercial is tres funny, take a look:

Hi there guys and girls,

Did you know there's an old saying that goes ‘A path with no obstacles goes nowhere’.

There are always going to be times when you make a mistake or think you’ve failed. Most of us fear failure because we think it means that we are failures. But failing is just something we have to do occasionally – it’s the other side of success. When we get things wrong, it’s an ideal opportunity to learn.

What you’ve done is less important than your response to what you’ve done. So if, for example, you overeat because you're stressed, or tired, or bored. Just say, ‘Ok, that’s what I did this time – What will I do differently next time?’

Think back to when you learned to drive or ride a bike. You almost certainly didn’t get that right first time. But the mistakes you made were signposts that gave you the opportunity to learn.

Dieters are always one mouthful away from failure: one piece of chocolate or a late night binge and they think, ‘I’ve blown it', and what a great excuse to dive back into your old bad habits that is! But once it’s eaten, it’s finished, it’s history! Stop beating yourself up and get on with your life. The successful slimmers I’ve worked with have used experiences like this as opportunities to learn.

Keep learning.

It’s only day one and already emotions have run high. First off we had technical problems today that stopped us showing any of Inch Loss live. But, what can you do? Technology never works perfectly... all we can do is hope that tomorrow runs more smoothly.

Our recruits were woken up at 5 this morning for a fitness session, it’s now 6pm and they're sooo tired, but still smiling. Karen from Scotland has been really upset today as she finally accepted what she has done to herself over the years. I had a heart-to-heart with her and she got pretty upset. I know though, that this is a good thing, because she's facing up to herself and allowing the stored negative emotions to come out.

They are great girls and I am sure they will do really well.

The experts have been working-out together... we have just finished a run around the island. How fit are Doctor Hilary and Amanda Hamilton? I tell you - VERY FIT!

From a petecohen.tv weight-loss programme member:

"I have realised that I AM a couch potato. When I was younger, I was aways running, jumping, dancing - I was never still and I was a lovley and slim size 10 (this was in my thirties so I know it is achievable again). But the past few years I have developed this habit of sttiing completely still watching TV or working on the PC - I have become a totally immobile, couch potato. What is my exercise of choice? Watching TV with a glass of red wine and snack - cheese / salami / crisps - easy to see how the weight slips on, isn't it? And the half hearted exercise I was doing served no purpose other than to maintain my late night drinking and snacking habit. God, thsis hard to write, feels almost like a confessional........... I am trying to say I am finally off my a*se and using the exercise tool - I did 30 mins on the cross trainer last night. after about 10 miutes the duck had to be firmly shut up - it was whispering to me "you've done enough now, deal or no deal is on TV..So I shouted " SHUT UP!!!!!! And I did it, the full 30 minutes, I DID IT!!!!!And I am going to do it again every other day. It's a real breakthough for me and I am so grateful to Pete for getting me moving again. The rest of it is going great, got in to those tight trousers hanging in my wardrobe. Not weighing myself till end of January as I feel the scales have very negative connotations for me. I am measuring waist etc as some clothes feeling loose now."

This girl gets a very well deserved Pat On the Back from me! Live the dream :) 

Let’s consider your motor car for a moment, if you were to spend the next year investing your time and money on how your car looked, never checking under the bonnet, not going for a service, or having an MOT. What do you think would happen? Suppose you continued with this process for a couple of years?  You may have curb appeal, but you won’t go far in the long run. Apply this principle to your life and your body. When considering an exercise regime or a change in eating habits, contemplate what benefits it will have on all your internal organs, how healthy will they feel? How will they help you in the long run? Perhaps investing time in reading and studying will help boost your confidence and diminish your negative attitude to your body. Nourishing yourself from the inside out will allow you to not only feel better, but you will feel good about yourself as you are making a wise long term investment towards your health and ultimate happiness.

From one of my weight-loss program members:

Journal Entry:
Title: "Queen of negative thinking"
Entry: "I have done both day 4 and day 5 today (will do day 5 again tomorrow as it is very good and I want to keep in sequence) as last night all the negative thoughts I could muster were swirling round in my head.... I have not had an alcoholic drink since 31/12/07 and if there had been any in the house last night, I probably would have succumbed. It was all I could think of. I busied myself with other things and had some herbal tea AND I DID NOT EAT but I was talking to myself very negatively and harshly all the time, which didn't help. I did day 4 this morning and noticed day 5 was about dealing with negativity - so I did that as well! I am doing fine apart from that, it just makes me realise how much of this is in my head and I would not have got this far without this programme. After years of yoyo dieting my thoughts are very negative, that this will be just like all the other attempts to lose weight, that I can't keep it up, that I am useless and crap. However, I am now going to tell that voice to "shut the duck up", give myself priase for my achievements and see how that goes. And Pete is right about the MP3 - it does relax me and makes me feel more positive. And writing this is cathartic, like dumping all this stuff out of me to somewhere (or someone!) else."

 So, if you haven't clicked on it already, Day 5 is available on the Free Trial - it's about dealing with the negative voices in your head... 'The Duck' as I call it.

At this time of year we are still trying to stick to our new years resolutions and maintain our enthusiasm for our health and fitness regime. What drives some of us is the sight of our naked form as we catch glimpse of ourselves in the bathroom mirror. What do you see when you look in the mirror?

Do you like what you see?

Why not?

How you look at yourself has a dramatic effect on your life. What do you say to yourself when you look in the mirror? My guess is that you focus on what you do not like, and the overall effect is that you are not happy with what you see. If you don’t like your body, it weakens your self-concept. It makes you feel inadequate, and not worthwhile. Perhaps it is not worth bothering to lose weight after all?

Being able to help yourself lose weight is not about being positive or negative in your way of thinking; it's about being yourself. There's nothing wrong with being imperfect; it's part of what it means to be a human being.