Weight Loss Guru

I recently was a TV a  programme on BBC1 that Shane Lynch was on. Who is Shane Lynch? Well seven years ago he was one fifth of chart topping Irish boyband Boyzone.

Shane has been on a bit of a journey of self discovery. He was kicked out of school at 14, Shane was a real problem child. But he proved his critics wrong by rising to fame with Boyzone.

To the outside world Shane had it all — everything and anything money could buy. At the height of his success with Boyzone, he should've been the happiest man alive with a string of No 1 singles, albums and sell-out tours. But, he wasn't. On the inside, his life was a daily battle of self-destructive behaviour.

He told me  he had everything in terms of materialistic things — £1m house, a Mercedes, a Porsche. Everything money could buy, but he wasn't happy. He was quite lonely and was searching for something else. He told me that it's true what they say, money can't buy you happiness.

Shane was very much like me in being  written off as a child, not for just being dyslexic, but also as a problem child not getting on in life or with the school system.  However, just like me he not let this  stop him  from being successful and making the most of his life.

Shane told me that, "When you die, all that is written on your gravestone is the day you were born and the day you die. There's nothing about the stuff in the middle — the decisions you make and the consequences you have to deal with." He, like me, believes that life is what you make it. What do you reckon?

I am on TV this Sunday morning talking about men having mid life crises early. The programme is on at 10am on Sunday on BBC1 called Sunday Life.

MID-THIRTIES CRISIS DRIVES UK’S MEN TO LIFE COACHES, SELF-HELP BOOKS AND YOGA
Some men are spending up to £2,000 on self-improvement.

PRESSURE to compete with the boys is leading British men to spend on average up to £2,000 on life coaches and self-help books to get them through an early ‘Bloke Breakdown’, a study reveals today.

Three in four (72%) men say they now feel expected to achieve more at a younger age, and over half (57%) feel pressure to keep their looks – meaning the 40s mid-life crisis is now being replaced with ‘Bloke Breakdowns’ amongst thirtysomethings.

But according to a recent study, career sabbaticals (56%), yoga (39%) and self-help books (35%) have overtaken sports cars and shiny shirts as the hallmarks of a male crisis.

Seven in ten (71%) men claim life crises are hitting earlier than ever, with over half (51%) identifying the thirties as today’s crunch point – and comparing themselves against high-achieving friends (53%) and ever younger celebrities (20%) contributes.

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.

Hi there everyone,

As you may or may not know the magic number for my weight loss programme is 28, as it takes about this number of times of doing something new for it to become a habit.

I have put together 28 steps to a better and happier life. Have a look through and see what you think;

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

3. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

4. Play more games than you did in 2007.

5. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

6. Dream more while you are awake.

7. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured.

8. Drink  plenty of water.

9. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

10. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

11. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, OR issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

13. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the NEGATIVE BLUES away.

14. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

15. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

16. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

17. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

18. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

19. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

20. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

21. What other people think of you is none of your business.

22. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

23. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

24. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

25. The best is yet to come.

26. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

27. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

28. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.   

Until next time, take good care,
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 ;)

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 Day 2 and it’s 4.50am. Our recruits are in for shock as they are being woken up at 5am by our fitness trainer Mark Anthony for an early morning workout.  I can’t imagine that they would have ever experienced anything like this before but we need to get them out of their comfort zones and get them doing things differently because; if they always do what they’ve always done then they will always get what they’ve always got.

Today sees me greet the ladies live on air (weather permitting!) at 8.15 as someone who’s is overweight. I was going to be wearing a fat suit but it was left in London by the GMTV crew so we are going to pad me out with loads of sheets and towels to make me look overweight. I am sure this might upset some viewers, as they may think I'm making fun of their weight, but I actually want to make a really important point to our recruits, and to the viewers . The fact is no one is born overweight, they have become that way through their lives and their life experiences. You could say that they are good or even skilled at behaving in a way that allows their weight to increase. It might not be what they want, but they have put a lot of effort into eating when they are not hungry, eating more than they need and being in-active.

In addition many people have also put loads of effort into losing weight and getting fit only to return to their old habits.  So, many overweight people are actually comfortable with the way that they are ... and this is the challenge: to get out of our comfort zones, to do things differently and learn the skills and techniques that not only help us lose weight, but also keep it off!

I better get out of my bed now and go check out our ladies as it’s after 5!

Take care, Pete

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.

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.