What’s Your Bootcamp Motivation?

Guest Post by Get Fit NH Bootcamp Member Helen Dutton

This morning at boot camp, someone joked with me, “Why are you in this class, anyway?” Good question (on some days, more than others as I struggle through an exercise) and it’s caused me to look again at my fitness goals.

Ask anyone why they are exercising or watching what they eat and chances are the answer is “I want to lose weight” or perhaps “I want to get in shape.” Those are great goals, but what is the reason for wanting to lose weight or to get in shape? Without a reason, we lack the incentive to reach the goal.

Think about it this way: if you decided to take a trip and randomly chose a location, with no reason for randomly choosing a location, how motivated would you be to start driving? For example, the city name that just popped into my head is “Tulsa.” I don’t know anyone there and I don’t know of any historical landmarks or cultural significance. Before you send this off to your cousin in Tulsa who will be outraged, let me say that I’m not saying those things don’t exist, just that I don’t know of any. How motivated am I to pack up, put my New Hampshire life on hold, and drive to Tulsa? Don’t count on seeing my bumper leave our state. If my reason for visiting Tulsa is adventure or to discover new places, this trip would be fun – and it would be fulfilling my underlying goal of adventure or discovery.

So back to why am I, and you, at boot camp? Complete these sentences to find your deep-down reason:

I am at boot camp (or taking Metabolism Makeover) so that…(fill in the blank – answer A);

—And I want (A) so that … (fill in the blank – answer B);

——And I want (B) so that … (fill in the blank – answer C);

———And I want (C) so that … (fill in the blank – answer D).

It might look something like this:

I am at boot camp so that I lose weight;

—And I want to lose weight so that my clothes fit better;

——And I want my clothes to fit better so that I don’t have to worry about what to wear every day;

———And I don’t want to worry about what to wear every day so that my days start out easily;

————And I want my days to start out easily so that I have plenty of mental energy for the day.

So for me, my reason for doing squats, lunges, crossover push-ups (seriously, Dean?) is all about having more energy. Now THAT is motivating to me and keeps me going.

Try this exercise out – you won’t be sore and you will be motivated at a whole new level.

Helen Dutton, A Vision of Your Own LLC, has been coaching business owners since 2000 to achieve business and personal excellence with ease. By clarifying goals and intelligent focus, her clients discover  more accomplishment and higher satisfaction in their thriving, energetic business ventures. In her spare time, she discovers more energy at boot camp.

Fat Loss Check List – 10 Reasons Why You Are Not Seeing Results

Here’s a sneak preview of one of the tools in the “Fat Loss Toolbox”, which is included in the “Your Metabolism Makeover” nutrition coaching course.

Many times people will give me a ton of “reasons” why they just “can’t lose weight”. Sometimes there are legitimate medical challenges that make weight loss difficult, but that is a very small percentage of us

More than likely…

1. You are eating TOO much. Even if you are carefully measuring and planning your main meals, extra calories can sneak in during snack. It is VERY common to significantly under-estimating the number of calories you are consuming on a daily basis. If you’re not sure, write down everything you eat for one whole week.

2. You are not eating enough. You need to create a caloric deficit by reducing you calorie intake slightly. If you go too far below your maintenance calories, your body goes into starvation mode; sheds muscle and stores calories as fat, for a future energy source. Not eating enough supportive foods also lowers the amount of calories you burn….less thermic meals = less body fat burned.

3. You are not lifting weights: Cardio burns calories but it doesn’t boost your metabolism. Resistance training is *critical* to maintaining your muscle and tone. If you’re not lifting weights while trying to lose body fat, you will lose muscle and tone and your metabolic rate will decrease causing you to burn fewer calories 24 hour-a-day!

4. You are simply not exercising anywhere near enough! You can only decrease your caloric intake so much before you start losing your fat burning muscle. The only other alternative is to increase calories out. VERY FEW people are successful at losing weight AND keeping it off without exercising almost everyday!! Make it a rule to be active at the very least 30 minutes a day.

If you’re having trouble losing weight, 20 minutes of exercise three times a week isn’t going to cut it! Most people who tell me they are *really serious* about losing weight are not willing to do what it takes to get where they want to be. If you’re not willing to make exercise a *serious* priority in your life, your chances of succeeding at losing weight and keeping it off are VERY small!

5. Are you impatient? Are you looking for *instant* results? When it doesn’t happen, you may give up. You HAVE to be resolved to the fact that it takes the integration of the Factors of Fat Loss and change WILL be slow yet steady! Try focusing on progress, not perfection.

6. Are you any skipping meals? If so, do not expect to see results.  Skipping meals slows your metabolism causing body to store calories rather than burn them

7. Are you eating sugary foods or simple / refined carbohydrates? White rice, white (non whole wheat) flour products, white pastas, soft drinks , sweetened drinks – like juice, and the hundreds of products that contain added sugar that’s deceptively listed on ingredient lists with names like sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, etc. turns off the hormones responsible for releasing your body fat and instead turns ON the hormones that store fat.

8. How many alcoholic drinks do you have each week? Alcohol stimulates your appetite, slows your metabolism, and it’s loaded with empty (sugar) calories!

9. Are you having fruits and/or vegetables EVERY time you eat? Are you taking your multivitamin supplements every day?

10. Are you planning and preparing your meals ahead of time? If you have not planned your meals, you are more likely to cheat and find yourself off track.

As you can see, fat loss can be VERY difficult……and can seem very confusing! Too little, too much, do this, do that…UGGHH!

Don’t stress out!

We offer the nutrition coaching you need to get it all figured out and achieve permanent fat loss. It’s up to you to get on board.

If you are ready to take the next step and get serious about your nutrition, the next 12-week “Your Metabolism Makeover” nutrition coaching course begins June 9, 2010 @ 6:30pm.

Sign Up Here!

Sensible Supplementation

There are literally thousands of products on the market that claim to burn fat and help you lose weight. Do they work? Well I think the best way I can put it is like this – If your house was on fire, would you use a thimble to put it out? Here’s what I mean; the small amount that some of these products might affect your metabolic rate, or ability to burn bodyfat will be far overshadowed if you don’t have a proper nutrition plan in place. Eating cheesecake and popping a pill is not going to get it done!

That being said, there is such a thing as “Sensible Supplementation”.

Let me explain.

Supplementation gives your body the nutrients it needs without adding calories.  It is virtually impossible to satisfy your body’s nutritional needs with the number of calories recommended to lose fat. In addition, due to a typically busy lifestyle, it is difficult to eat perfectly every day for the rest of your life. Therefore, when following a fitness program, muscles become undernourished, causing your body to shed the muscle it can’t feed.  By supplying the body with the nutrients it needs without additional calories, (e.g., a multivitamins), you can help satisfy all your nutritional needs for repair and growth without exceeding the amount of calories your body needs to maintain the mandatory deficit for fat loss.

The benefits of using supplements as low-calorie nutrition during an exercise program are well researched.  The daily use of a multivitamin formula has been found to be the most inexpensive nutritional insurance

The reason behind adding supplements to your daily meals is to supply the body with calorie-free nutrition and select compounds that have the potential to improve health, alter body composition and increase performance and metabolic rate.

The Categories and Uses of Supplements

A multivitamin formula is the foundation of any complete fitness program.  Additional vitamins and minerals will boost your nutrient intake beyond what is available through the foods you eat.  These additional nutrients allow cells to reach their potential creating the ideal environment for positive physical change. Taking other supplements before creating a nutritional foundation is like adding expensive accessories to a car that doesn’t run properly.

Altering Body Composition

It is difficult to get enough nutrients from your normal diet to support your fitness goals.  Any time there is an increase in cellular activity, as during exercise, the body increases its use of nutrients.  By supplying these nutrients without additional calories, the attempt is made to satisfy all nutrient needs for repair and growth without exceeding the amount of calories needed to sustain the mandatory deficit for fat loss.  When undernourished, the body must shed the muscle it cannot feed.

Increasing Performance and Metabolism
Specific nutrients and combinations of nutrients have been found to improve exercise performance and increase the calories burned during and after exercise. Supplying the body with calorie-free nutrients can improve performance and, therefore, assist with fat-loss and muscle-gain goals.

Sensible supplementation is recommended in order to supply the body with the right combination of calorie-free nutrients and compounds that have the potential to enhance performance, reduce body fat, increase muscle and/or improve health.  Proper supplementation creates the environment your body needs to get maximum results.

So what do I take?

There are two primary supplements that I recommend be taken for the purposes discusses above. A multivitamin, and an essential fatty acid product, such as fish oil, krill oil or flax seed. There are dozens if not hundreds of options on the shelves, but we recommend taking a whole food supplement, such as the one our partners at Prograde Nutrition manufacturer. There core product is called VGF 25+, which is a whole food multivitamin that comes in separate formulas for women and men. Prograde also produces their own EFA, called “EFA Icon”.

I recommend you visit the Prograde site and take a kook art which of these products is right for you.

Visit Prograde Nutrition by Clicking Here

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This Picture Lives Up To The Hype

You have heard the saying over and over.

“A picture is worth a thousand words”

Much of the time I hear that and think to myself  “I can think of plenty of pictures that weren’t worth saying any words”

This is NOT one of those pictures.

And while I am not going to write one thousand words, I am going to offer a few and let you fill in the blanks.

You see every time you walk in the gym you have a choice.

Give it your all, every ounce of effort you have, or not.

Pick up the heavier weight.

Do the burpee instead of the jumping jack.

Grab the Green Bands for partner band rows.

That’s what these ladies did.

You may not see them all clearly, but there are 8 ladies in total – 4 partners.

They are all using the heavy green bands to perform their rows.

You know the best part?

They went and got them on their own!

No arm twisting or convincing – they were ready for the challenge, and they went for it.

So when you see Deb, Mary, Barbara, Stacey, Kristin, Becky, Tracy and Karyn, you better hold on…

You better suck it up…

You better get ready to get thrashed…

Because these ladies take no prisoners and never back down.

Now it’s your turn.

Make It Happen!

S3 Contest Winner Melissa

receives her prize package worth over $1100, then tells us how she lost 10.9% in 8 weeks!

Awesome Job Melissa!

sizzlin’ summer slimdown reboot – Beat The 12!

By now you know that the overall winner of the Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown is the amazing Melissa Tyler, who lost 10.9% of her bodyweight over the 8 week contest period. Melissa will be receiving her fabulous prize package tomorrow, and we will get some pics up real soon!

To see the top 10 S3 contest participants, Click Here

What’s Next?

That’s been a very common question since S3 ended. After all, you have put in 8 weeks of hard work into achieving your goals, and the all too natural inclination is to breathe a sigh of relief and stop doing what made you successful!

Burn this thought into your mind – living healthy and being fit are lifelong pursuits. Commitment to and continual pursuit of a healthy lifestyle never stops.

The Japanese have a term in their culture – Kaizen. It is a philosophy and practices (key!) that leads to continuous improvement.

Adopting this philosophy and practice is what allowed the Japanese society to rise from the ashes of WWII and become the industrial powerhouse they are today. The continual improvement led to Japanese products being recognized for some of the most innovative and highest quality in the world. It was not always this way. The first car I ever drove was a 1974 Toyota Corona – not a pretty sight. But they learned from their mistakes, and although there have been missteps along the way the goal never changes.

Continual and unending improvement.

Kaizen can be applied to our lives as well, as a whole and then into individual parts, such as health and fitness.

What are you doing today in that area of your life that improves upon yesterday?

It all adds up.

In the same way a 1st grader cannot read well enough to assimilate Shakespeare, most of us start at the elementary level with our fitness and nutrition skills.

But we don’t have to stay at that level.

We learn more, we apply action to that knowledge, and we improve.

Step by step.

Day by day.

You didn’t quit school because you failed your first grade spelling quiz.

Why are we so quick to stop pursuing our health and fitness goals when we aren’t achieving them to our satisfaction?

Give yourself a Clean Slate.

Every Day.

Yesterday no longer matters. The choices you make today are the ones that count.

Starting today you have a second chance.

Not just figuratively, but literally.

The S3 Reboot – Beat The 12!

The “12” refers to Dean’s total percentage of weight loss over the 8 week period of S3.

It’s your job to beat it over the next 8 Weeks!

That’s right, you all have another 8 weeks to meet or beat the 12%, from the beginning of S3. A total of 17 weeks to get that 12%.

Some of you are close, some of you not so close. Some of you are new members, and that’s ok. Everybody still has a chance to win.

If you weighed in at the beginning of the S3 contest, you are good to go. We already have your starting weight. If you weighed in at the end of S3 (like you should have) it’s even better.

Why?

Because we can calculate exactly how much you need to lose by the end of the contest to Beat The 12!

I don’t know about you, but a concrete number on a goal is always helpful. Many of you set a goal at the beginning of S3 and worked very hard to achieve it.

We are excited to see all of you take this next step toward your goals.

Second chances –  we all need them.

Final Weigh-In July 16, 2010.

Let’s Make It Happen!

Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown Body Transformation Contest Winner!

The numbers are in and the winner is about to be announced!

What an amazing job you all did in the Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown.

The weight lost over the 8 week period totaled over 350 pounds!

WOW!

Just as a reminder, here is the incredible prize package (valued at well over $1000) our soon to be announced winner is going to enjoy:

• 3 Months of Unlimited Bootcamp Free ($477 Value)
• Free access to the 12-week  “Your Metabolism Makeover” Weight Management and Lifestyle ($299 Value)
• Precision Nutrition V3 ($147 Value)
• One Hour Massage at Chichester Massage ($65 Value)
• One month of unlimited tanning at Tanorama of Concord ($50 Value)
• Color Analysis with fabric Clothes & Accessory Shopping Palette & Instructional Makeover from Janice at the Image Enhancement Studio ($75 value)
• 4-Week membership to Milk & Honey Farm CSA – ($80 Value)

So I know you are sick of me yapping, so here are the top 10 achievers in the 2010 Get Fit NH Bootcamp Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown Contest:

#10 Gretchen Wolfe – 6.55%

#9 Amanda Stone – 6.57%

#8 Keith Harrison – 6.60%

#7 Katherine Dietz – 7.46%

#6 Rick Demmons – 7.99%

#5 Lori Chateneuf – 8.22%

#4 Jill Edelmann – 8.73%

#3 Barbara Olson – 9.4%

#2 Karl Edelmann – 10.53%

and Number 1…

The Grand Prize Winner…

of the Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown Contest is…

…

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…

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With a total percentage of weight lost of

10.92%

is…

…

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A Women!

…

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and her name is…

…

…

…

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Melissa Tyler!

Congratulations Melissa on a job well done!

You might want to think about asking Melissa and the rest of the Top 10 how they

Make It Happen!

S3 Class Contest

Without further adieu, and so Jill’s head doesn’t explode :), here is the winner of the S3 class participation contest. It was very close among the top 3 in particular – great job everybody!

I am excited to see what this class comes up with for their prize winning custom t-shirt design!

Top Prize goes to:

6:30am Concord, with an overall participation of 92.06% over the eight week period!

All Class Results:

1) 6:30am Concord: 92.06%

2) 6:00pm Epsom: 90.85%

3) 6:15am Epsom: 89.32%

4) 9:00am Epsom: 87.58%

5) 5:00am Concord: 87.03%

6) 8:30am Concord: 86.76%

7) 5:00am Epsom: 84.32%

8) 4:00pm Epsom: 76.84%

90% or better is where we need to be! Perfection is not possible, but when you want it to happen, you have to MAKE IT HAPPEN!

What Is All The Hype About Fish Oil??

by Dr. Laura Riley Jones

What is all the hype about fish oil??

The words “fish oil” lead many people to visualize a less than pleasant childhood memory of their mother pushing a tablespoon of cod liver oil into their mouth, insisting that it would keep them healthy.  As usual, our mothers were right!!

I know, it sounds too slimy and smelly to be good for you. However, fish oil has more to offer than most people realize. Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.  Omega-3s are essential fatty acids (EFAs) that our bodies are unable to create on their own. Therefore, we must obtain EFAs from food. Most people do not get enough of these polyunsaturated fats from their diet. This is why supplementation with fish oils can be so important to our health.

EPA and DHA play a key role in brain development, nervous system function, and eyesight.  They also play a protective role in the body, reducing the risk of developing high blood pressure, arthritis, cancers, and heart disease.  In fact, a large amount of research on omega-3s has focused on their effects on heart disease.

EPA and DHA are linked to lower triglyceride levels, decreasing one’s risk for atherosclerosis.  These two fatty acids can also decrease inflammation in the body, improve immune function and promote skin, hair and nail health.

Recent clinical research has shown that not only the quantity of fat in the diet, but also the type of fat affects body weight and metabolism.  Diets rich in omega-3 oils result in healthier body weight and metabolism as well as the best body composition in terms of fat/muscle ratio.  In addition, fish oils act as strong antioxidants throughout the body and improve the oxygen delivery to cells thus improving aerobic performance.

If purchasing fish oil, make sure it is from a reliable source, free of environmental contaminants (pesticides and heavy metals), and contains vitamin E to protect and preserve the oil.  It is important to store your oil in a cool location, away from direct light.

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Dr. Laura Riley Jones earned a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine with Honors from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with Honors from the University of New Hampshire.  Her Naturopathic medical practice, Whole Health Concord, is located in Concord, NH.
Dr. Riley Jones is a licensed primary care naturopathic doctor.  She treats patients of all ages with a variety of health concerns.  Her areas of greatest interest are Women’s Health as well as Autoimmune diseases, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolic disorders.  Dr. Riley Jones also specializes in the treatment of symptoms associated with Menopause and the use of phytoestrogens and Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy. She employs several naturopathic modalities when treating patients with a focus on Clinical Nutrition including vitamins and mineral supplementation, Homeopathy and Herbal Medicine.  She works with each patient to uncover the cause of their illness and develop a treatment plan using the Naturopathic modalities that best suit their individual needs.

During her training, Dr. Riley Jones was a member of the Diabetes Research Group which focused on treatments for patients with Type II Diabetes, High Cholesterol and Weight gain.  Dr. Riley Jones lectures throughout New Hampshire on various topics related to health.  She is a member of the New Hampshire Associaton of Naturoapthic Doctors. Please visit her website at http://www.naturalmedicinenh.com/