Weight Loss Guru

Do you have people in your life who are always telling you what to do, happy to dispense opinions whether you want to hear it or not? Do you seek guidance from friends, colleagues, books or magazines and then apply them to your own life? If so, have you ever been so confident in using that advice that you would pass it on to your friends and relations? Indeed, have you drawn upon that advice to form your own belief?

Beliefs form the cornerstone of our lives, they thread through our being, discreetly guiding us through life’s ups and downs allowing us to us to make sense of the world and to function in it.

We learned our beliefs about ourselves and the world in which we live, when we were very young. Our understanding of ourselves and our world derived through whatever versions were presented to us by the most influential adult figures in our lives. Without question we absorbed and believed all the messages which were relayed in our environment. These may have been spoken words which criticized or appreciated us or they may have been more subtle thought and behavior patterns which influenced our home life. Once a belief is formed, we will tend to persevere with that belief and use it secure us to our understanding of the world around us. In fact we will be insistent not simply on believing, but to believing just what we do believe.

Beliefs hold power, they have the potential to divide a nation, and they can create turmoil and unrest. You only have to switch on the TV and give a brief glance at the world news, to see how beliefs divide countries and lead to war. But what are your beliefs, what do you hold be true to you? This is not a question of religion; this is more an enquiry into what makes you tick. In 1951 a radio show entitled, 'This I Believe' by Edward R. Murrow, invited people from all walks of life to present their personal philosophies;

"People of all kinds who have nothing more in common than integrity, a real honesty, will write about the rules they live by, the things they have found to be the basic values in their lives".

The radio show presenter forewarned his audience that this would not provide an answer for the problems of life and help overcome the issues of the time.

"And yet in talking to people, in listening to them, I have come to realize that I don’t have a monopoly on the world’s problems. Others have their share, often far bigger than mine. This has helped me to see my own in truer perspective: and in learning how others have faced their problems - this has given me fresh ideas about how to tackle mine"

All too often people are happy to dispense of advice and more often than not we are happy to accept that guidance at face value. Those more astute amongst us may already be practicing a higher degree of restraint in accepting second hand advice. But what about passing on advice? I’m sure those of you with children, or those who work in education are pretty au fait with dispensing advice, even though it may be directives from above. But what infinite wisdom would you wish to convey to your kith and kin if given the chance.

We all have little nuggets of worthwhile advice from experiences and people we have encountered. They can remain locked away in our psyche for eternity, or they can be used rather like a manual to help us and others navigate our course through our being.

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

In my last post, I was discussing the stuff we are made of and how important it is to eat food that helps our minds and bodies work to their optimum.

I know that, for so many people, this is easier said than done because as the pressures of modern day living increase, we can be left feeling squeezed from all directions. Many people respond to these pressures by reaching for food as a means of changing how they feel and a way of gaining an energy high. In a working environment, this may often be sugar or caffeine-laden, which can set in place an energy roller-coaster of highs and dips. If we use the motor car analogy, it is easy to ‘fill up’, but that doesn’t mean that we are nourishing ourselves. In essence, we are storing problems for later life.

Just because these products generate instantaneous energy and people use them, doesn’t mean they’re good for you. Relying on sugar doesn’t move you in the direction of generating energy from within. Sugar takes your power away by making you believe that you can’t do it alone. Before our minds became tainted with ideas of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods, we were able to tell what our body needed. I want to share with you a technique that will help you to regain this ability. Like any exercise, this needs to be practised until you naturally make healthy food choices based on your body's needs.

Think Before You Eat

First of all, think of a possible portion of food. Imagine smelling that food, tasting it, feeling it in your mouth and then imagine swallowing it.

• How would this food make you feel half an hour after you’ve eaten it and then an hour afterwards?
• What do you imagine this food looks like inside your body?
• Does it give you energy or take energy away?
• Do you feel tired or bloated?

If you think this is a food choice that your body needs and you think it will give you energy, put the item on to a mental list. However, if you don’t think this food will see you happily through the next few hours, then discard it.

Repeat the process with two or three other portions of food, or until you find something that feels right for you right now.

People who have used this technique over a period of time have found that they have rediscovered a better relationship with food and make better food choices.

You might also want to check out the 'Think Before You Eat' video resource from my weight-loss-program here at YouTube
See you again soon. Pete :)
 

I'm coming to London for a unique, one-off live stage event …. and you’re invited!
Click here save £50 and find out more!

Make 2008 the year that you finally break the habits that are holding you back, conquer your fears, smash through those limiting beliefs and learn the techniques to help you to create the life you want!

I'm working with The School of Personal & Professional Development who invite you to attend my amazing one day workshop called “SORT YOUR LIFE OUT”

I've already helped thousands of people to create the life they want, through television work (GMTV's resident Life Coach and motivator for the past 6 years), working with sport stars (Ronnie O’Sullivan, Sally Gunnell, Ellen Macarthur, Arsenal Football Club) and corporate seminars (IBM, Royal Bank of Scotland, BAA, Thomas Cook). Now I'm teaching these same techniques and principles in Central London on 21st June – at a price that only just covers my expenses!

Admission is normally £99 +VAT for the day, but if you register before 12th May you can snap up one of our specially reserved half-price tickets …. Just £49 +VAT! At this price, I'm only looking to cover my venue costs. This has to be the most valuable seminar that anyone could attend if they really want to make 2008 a year to remember.

Click here to save £50 and book your place!

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 ;)

Many of you will have heard this before and some of you already own the CD but I wanted to remind all my new visitors of the free MP3 download available from my 'Music To...' CD. enjoy!

Does it make the world go round?
Is it the root of all evil?
Can it not buy you love?

One thing certainly is for sure: Too many of us are in debt!

Commercialism and consumerism have become the alters that we all kneel to and increasing personal debt is price we now pay. It is estimated that our personal debt is increasing by  £1 million every four minutes!

Such is our urge to spend on the latest gadgets, exotic holidays, ideal homes and those ‘must have’ shoes, thousands of us are looking at a debt sentence of 77 years before we’re back in the black.  According to research giants Mintel, UK consumer spending has hit the £1 trillion mark for the first time. From this evidence it would appear that we are happy living in debt, whilst toiling hard to pay off our mortgages, loans and credit cards. Yet the dramatic increase in personal bankruptcies and the high rise in those seeking counseling for debt suggests the contrary.

Let's examine your relationship to money and finances.

I'm not setting out to give you tips on how to reduce your debt or increase your income as there are numerous books and television programs dedicated to such issues. Instead I will focus on your attitudes towards money, wealth, debt and abundance. My aim is to facilitate a change in the way you think and feel about money. This shift in consciousness can help manifest a change in your actions, which in return will provide a change in your rewards.

M is for MONEY

I can’t take HIS money
I can’t print MY OWN money
I have to work for money, why don’t I just lay down and die?

Homer Simpson

Some people see money only as energy, it’s neither good nor bad, it is neutral. The economic world attributes a value to it and as a society we place a value upon it. As an energy it follows a path that we lay down for it, if we allow a flow it will create more, if we let the flow stagnate, then so does our financial health.

Without money the western world would not survive and so it follows that the more money you have the more choices you will have in life. Below I have listed some statements relating to money, read through them and note how many resonate with you.

How many of the following resonate with you?

•    A penny saved is a penny earned
•    Money only comes from hard work
•    Money doesn’t grow on trees
•    Save some for a rainy day
•    Money is the root of all evil
•    My parents were poor, and I will be poor
•    Money goes out faster than it comes in
•    Rich people are crooks
•    I will never get a good job
•    I will never make any money

If any rang true for you, they may well be getting the way of you reaching prosperity. REMEMBER: you only manifest in your life what you consciously think about and focus on.

Now your task is to question where those beliefs came from and why you still choose to hold on to them.

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.

Well January 2008 is well and truly here. How goes it in your world?

Have you set any new resolutions yet? Add them to the comments if you have!

A while back, I set out my mini-guide for a great year, which included making a commitment to look after yourself, making yourself a priority, and having loads of fun. With that commitment in mind, I encourage you to put together a wish list of all the things you would like to achieve this year.  Something amazing happens when we write down what we want.  I remember about ten years ago, I was at a workshop and we were asked to write down all the goals we wanted to achieve. I wrote down:

Now the strange thing is that I didn't really think about this list very often until a few years ago, when I was clearing out some of my possessions.   Amongst them, I found the book that I had written this list in and, to my amazement,  nearly everything I had written down as a goal had come true.

Let me tell you about a study by Yale University on goal setting that was carried out in the 1950's. The researchers surveyed those who graduated in 1953 to determine how many of them had specific, written goals for their future - only 3% of them had. Twenty years later, the researchers surveyed the surviving members of the original group and found that the 3% who'd set goals had accumulated more personal financial wealth than the other 97% of the class combined! Whilst goal setting and happiness are not all about money, this anecdote shows how powerful we can be when we set our mind to something.

The Challenge

This can work for any kind of goal, no matter how small it may seem. So I challenge you to get a piece of paper and write 'The sky is the limit' at the top of it: then take five minutes to write down a list of all the goals you want to achieve.  Whatever they are, just get them down on paper and then put it away somewhere safe. You can look at it every now and again but, as you can see from my story, you'll probably forget about it after a while: but it doesn't matter. Your focus will be set on those goals and, before you know it, they will become reality.

One small action

Some people feel intimidated by their own desires and, if they've experienced failure in the past, they might even feel anxious that they can't achieve them. If you're one of those people who feels worried or scared about your goal, just take a small step towards it. Do one thing - no matter what it is - that gets you that little bit nearer to what you want.  By taking even the smallest action, you will build momentum and confidence in yourself and, before you know it, you'll be on a roll.

Let's work together - as I hope to provide you with inspiration and tips over the next year to help you achieve your hopes, dreams, goals and ambitions.