Dean
Dean
If you come to Coach Nancy’s smoothie workshop that is!
Spots are filling up fast, so don’t delay signing up or you will miss out, and these things don’t come around every day you know. 🙂
Register for the smoothie workshop here
Just to get those taste buds warmed up at the possibilities. we thought we would give you just a little idea of what’s in store with these two terrific fall-flavored smoothie recipes. These are SOOOOO good!
Pumpkin Pecan Shake
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 scoop vanilla Ultimate Muscle Protein
1/8 cup pecans
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup of ice
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons ground flax seed
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
1/3 cup pure pumpkin, canned
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Stevia
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup water
Ice
Put the ingredients in a blender and blend for one minute. If you like a thinner consistency, feel free to add water a tablespoon at a time. Sprinkle with a dash of pumpkin pie spice for an added garnish. This shake is great anytime during the day for a super quick meal on the go or a great mid day snack.
Enjoy!
True or False?
How did you do?
Did you say true to these three?
If so you are absolutely correct. All of the above are true, and really important to know and act on.
Leigh Peele is one my “go-to” resources when it comes to fat loss. She cares about the science and she cares about getting results. I have two of her excellent books in my library; You can buy your own copies by clicking the (affiliate) links here:
The Fat Loss Troubleshoot, and Starve Mode.
Leigh has also written an excellent article that drops the knowledge bombs in the quiz above and a whole lot more. Leigh demystifies all the nonsense and gets down to brass tacks.
This is important stuff guys. You don’t have to be a biochemist, but it’s important to know that fat loss isn’t magic. When you understand how the body works and what it actually doing when you eat it is empowering. The fat loss fairy doesn’t exist, but when you know what you are doing and why you are doing it, you may think she does!
Do yourself a huge favor and read Leigh’s excellent article – your body will be glad you did.
The Deficit – How We Lose Fat
Leigh Peele
One positive thing that has come out of topics like “metabolic damage” and “starvation mode” is people are learning (even though often misguided) that eating for your energy needs is necessary for optimal metabolic rate.
On the flip side, people are now under the impression that going into a deficit is a bad idea. Boy how fast does that pendulum swing, eh? I am frequently asked questions like…
“I should keep my deficit really small so I don’t crash my metabolism, right?”
“I was told by (enter guru) that I should never be in a deficit to lose fat.”
“I heard deficits make you store fat, not lose it!”
The deficit is becoming the big bad (Whedon reference) especially in those who have had any experience with disordered eating. People in those situations are often times told that “diets are bad” and “deficits are triggers or gateways.” While there can be severe cases where diet monitoring should be under the aid of a professional, it doesn’t exclude the fact that a deficit is our only means to fat loss.
If you learn how to control the deficit and what it means, maybe then you take back the power and shed its mystery.
There are two exercise movements that it seems just about everyone wants to get better at.
In fact when writing year end goals these two showed up more often than any other subject. In fact they are on my goal sheet as well.
Pushups and Pullups.
There is something about these two that drives us. They are basic tests of strength and endurance – “How many pullups can you do?”
To that end we have put a training program together for each of these two. They are designed to be integrated into your 4-day training split on the opposite end of the day that you train. In other words if you are training in the morning do them at night and vice-versa. You can also do them before or after your training while you are in the gym, just understand that is gonna be harder.
Under no circumstance should they be done on non-training days.
Why?
Ummm, it has to do with the “non-training” part. 🙂 Seriously though it gives your body a better chance for full recovery, and that is what it takes to get better, so don’t break the rules. My program, my rules!
Important Note: When you request a copy of the pushup program you will also receive the pullup program. I highly recommend you don’t do the pushup program alone. While it is possible, it is not recommended you take on that much pushing with no pulling to balance out your joints. While you can do some horizontal pulling (rows) to accomplish this, you know you want to get better at pullups too, so why not take on both?
I know pullups are hard, and doing both of these programs will be challenging, but keeping your body in balance and your joints healthy is way more important in the long run than how many pushups you can do.
As stressed in the directions, be patient and follow the program precisely. Focus on quality of movement. No one is impressed by ugly pushups!
Read through the entire program and all the worksheets before starting. Doing so will answer 99.9% of your questions. Your coaches will be glad to help you with the rest.
Work hard, have fun, and Make It Happen!
Coach Dean
Now I know there probably aren’t a ton of Seattle Seahawk fans in these here parts, but there is no denying they are on a pretty good run lately.
Did you know that your training at Get Fit NH is laid on the same foundation as professional sports teams all over the country and world?
Take a couple minutes and watch the video below, and discover why teams like the Seahawks use the FMS to build some of the best athletes in the world.
Hint: It’s All About Getting Better!
Words are powerful.
They have the ability to build up and tear down. They can inspire or discourage. Leave us inspired or tired.
And this includes the words we tell ourselves.
I recently read about this experiment from the Journal of Consumer Research.
They took a group of 30 women and asked them to think on a long term health goal, and then they split them up into groups of 10.
Each group got a different phrase to remember every time they came across an obstacle to their health – alcohol, donuts, etc. The phrases they were to remember and recite were:
At the end of every day each women was asked via email how they did that day. When they caved they would have to report it, and they knew it. This was repeated for 10 days.
Remember, every time they came across temptation they repeated the phrase from the group they were assigned to. The results?
That’s a huge difference between the “can’t” group and the “don’t” group. Eight times better. That’s a big deal.
So what’s up with that anyway?
Why is “don’t” so much more powerful than “can’t”?
Heidi Grand Halvorson of Columbia’s Motivation Science center explains:
“I don’t” is experienced as a choice, so it feels empowering. It’s an affirmation of your determination and willpower. “I can’t” isn’t a choice. It’s a restriction, it’s being imposed upon you. So thinking “I can’t” undermines your sense of power and personal agency.”
In other words when you use “don’t” you are calling the shots, while using “can’t” makes you feel helpless, whether you are or not.
This is not mumbo jumbo or voodoo. This is key.
Are you in charge of your choices or not? Say you are out with friends at a party, and you are confronted with all sorts of goodies.
Is it:
“I can’t have any of that stuff” at which your friends pressure you to eat it anyway, and you go along to fit in?
or
“I don’t eat more than one piece of dessert when I am out” at which your friend are floored by your self-discipline and will power? 🙂
Which makes you feel better?
Which is more empowering?
Who do you want to be?
“Don’t” be a “Can’t”
Make It Happen!
Coach Dean
We are gearing up for the 205 mile Reach The Beach event Friday and Saturday, so don’t be shy with sending some prayers our way! 🙂
We will be tweeting during the race, so make sure you are hooked up with https://twitter.com/getfitnh so you can get updates along the way.
And while our RTB team is small , there is some good work the rest of you can do this week too.
While RTB is out sweating, why don’t you head on over and give some blood this week? The anniversary of 9/11 is always a good reminder of the constant need that our hospitals and clinics are in for blood and platelets. Couple that with our support of the Boston One Fund, and you have a winner.
There are a number of blood drives being held this week, and Helen Dutton sent a reminder that there will be one this Friday at the New Hampshire Supreme Court. It is my birthday Friday, so it would be a pretty great birthday present if all y’all got up there and helped out. You can make an appointment at the Red Cross Website
And the tears?
Well I just found out we may be one team member down for Reach The Beach, so I may have the, ummm, opportunity (yeah that’s it) to run with the team.
And no, I am not the one doing the crying, it’s the rest of the team realizing their shot at a good time just went down the hole! 🙂
(Update Wednesday Morning – I am off the hook, whew!) 🙂
Get out there and do some good this week!
Dean
I remember it like it was yesterday.
Walking back home from my friend’s house, down Goboro Rd, when a couple of the “cool kids” rode by on their bikes. They were headed down to the river to swim, and asked if I wanted to come along.
Well being one of the “not so cool” kids, I figured maybe some of that 11 year old coolness would rub off on me if I went, so down the hill we headed.
Little did I know that perched over the swimming hole was an enormous tree, with branches hanging over the river. What seemed like 50 feet up was a branch, and these guys would climb up the tree, onto the branch, and then jump in the river.
Now to this day I am not a fan of heights. And that climb was not on my “to-do” list, I assure you. Now this might not be a story you want to tell your kids, but after not a small amount of taunting, I very slowly approached the tree and begin climbing.
It really wasn’t that high, 20 feet tops, but I still remember the pit in my stomach when I got up to that branch and tepidly shimmied out over the water.
The other thing you need to know is that there was a rock beneath the surface of the water that you needed to clear. As an aside a couple years later they cut down this same tree because some other knuckle headed kid messed himself up pretty bad on it.
So here I am, with a death grip on the tree, the cool kids (and some of my real friends – we still see each other to this day) treading water and egging me on to jump.
It wasn’t like I was the first one to do it. These guys had each successfully climbed and jumped 2 or 3 times before my first trip up. They had shown me it could be done, and they were having a blast.
But I wasn’t quite ready to let go of the tree.
Do you have trees in your life that you are holding onto just a little too tightly?
Is there something that is scaring you, keeping you from getting where you want to be?
You know I let those guys talk me into what I mighta shoulda not have done.
But I usually see the opposite.
We let people talk us out of doing things that are going to move us forward.
People who bring donuts and brownies into work, and then get upset if we don’t have one or two.
“Friends” that think we are too radical for making good choices with our nutrition, or spending time training.
“Here, have another glass of wine”, when one is quite enough, thank-you.
What I have found is people like that are not ready or don’t want to make positive changes in their own life, so they are going to try to drag you down too.
Why do we let people do that? Why do we care that they care we are eating the veggies at the party? Why do we let other people define who we are? If I want to eat carrots what do they care? Why should what they say affect my behavior?
Really? Why do we do that?
So let go of the tree.
Let go of the self-doubt and negative talk.
Let go of the need to please other people so much that you hurt yourself in the process.
You know what?
It’s ok to be the “freak” that makes good choices and takes care of yourself.
And while people still like to poke at you for not eating the donuts, they are also the first ones that will ask you stuff about diet and nutrition.
Because deep down they want what you have.
So my challenge to you is to get your freak on. Dare to be different. Dare to stick to your guns.
Did I let go of the tree?
You bet I did. And when I hit the water I climbed out and did it again.
It’s about time you let go of the things that are holding you back too.
Make It Happen!
Coach Dean
It’s hard to believe that September is here already.
The kids are headed back to school, the weather is about to turn cooler, and the apples are about ready to pick. I love this time of year!
September also has me excited because it causes me to think about what I want to accomplish between now and the end of the year. There are 16 training weeks left this year. That is a lot of time to make a lot of progress!
Pretend it is the last week in December and you are reflecting back on the last 16 weeks of your life.
What would cause you to think “I am really happy with the progress I have made in my life the last few months”?
At the time when most people are thinking about resolutions, won’t it be great when you are thinking about the next step, not just taking the first one?
I mean I get the whole resolution thing. Start of a new year, new beginnings, all that.
But why wait?
What do you have to gain by waiting for a specific time of year to get focused and moving on your goals?
Here’s a challenge for you:
On an index card, write down 3 specific things you want to accomplish by December 31st 2013, and put it in a place you are going to see it – every day. Refrigerator perhaps?
Here are my three:
1) 20 Uninterrupted pullups
2) 2x Bodyweight deadlift
3) 10% or less body fat
Those three will be a challenge for me, but they are also realistic and achievable, if I put the work in.
So what about you?
Are you willing to throw down the gauntlet on yourself and take the challenge?
On December 31st at the dawn of the new year, will you look back with satisfaction?
I will guarantee you two things.
1) Nobody is going to do it for you.
2) We will be here to guide and support you every step of the way.
So get out that index card and pen, write your goals out and post them.
In fact I’ll challenge you even further. We started a Facebook group here: End of Year “Big 3” Challenge or if you don’t have FB you can post your 3 below.
Put it out there for all the world to see, then let’s Make It Happen together!
Coach Dean
We had a little “pop quiz” after our Hurricane training this morning.
Here were the questions:
Here are the answers:
And that isn’t all bad, because we need to crawl before we walk, and the foundation is PPW, or what we eat before we worry about how much we eat.
Because there is a big difference between eating 1500 calories of lean protein and veggies and 1500 calories of toaster pastries and mashed potatoes!
And there is some also great news if you didn’t know your numbers.
It’s fixable!
That’s right, you can calculate what these numbers are, and then actually plan your nutrition around those numbers to achieve your goals.
You don’t have to spin your wheels wondering, feeling frustrated and not getting anywhere, and that truly is most excellent news.
Now I understand that some people may have a metabolic rate that is “broken”. But that can be fixed too. The problem often is that we are not putting the work in to see if it actually is broken, or we are just eating too much. The only way we can really find that out is to do the work, keep good records, see what happens, and adjust as needed.
I love what nutrition coach Leigh Peele has to say “You want it to be your fault.” Because if it’s your fault, which it usually is, then as we said before it can be fixed.
That being said the harsh truth is some of us don’t want to fix it bad enough. We say we want to change our body composition, but we are not willing to do the work it takes. We want to blame it on genetics, or thyroid or aliens from the 3rd dimension. I know, because I was there for way too long. If anyone was “broken” I was. 100 pounds overweight, high blood pressure, crazy blood sugars, the whole deal.
Nancy and I were talking it about it this weekend. It’s entirely predictable what will happen if we don’t pay at least some attention to the amount we are eating on a regular basis. It’s also predictable what will happen if I measure and weigh my food and eat according to my current energy needs.
So what about it?
Do you know your numbers?
If you are a client, you have the tools available, you just have to take advantage of them!
For instance when is the last time you had your body composition tested?
When is the last time you kept a food log for an entire week?
When was the last time you looked at a food label?
When is the last time you planned what you were going to eat and then ate the plan?
These are all proactive steps to reaching your goals.
Without doing you are just dreaming.
Make It Happen – today!
Coach Dean
Patti sent me over this from her latest adventures. There is no telling what you can do when you train hard and enjoy life!
“Hi Dean, Here is a story for you!
I was at a tree climbing class today (for fun) with some landscapers and arborists .. At first everyone was “uh oh there is a girl here” and then we tried a piece of equipment where you utilize upper body strength to basically pull yourself up the rope.
I almost didn’t try it because all the burly lumberjacks were having trouble with it. I finally tried it and the instructor stopped the class and the Burleys all came to watch my ascent.
The instructor told me ( repeatedly) that he was shocked at how fast I climbed and was all going on about it (I credited my training mornings and GET FIT because they were looking at me like I was an alien – LOL) He said to make sure I told you ! ( we blew him away ! ) 🙂
While we were trying to decide if it was upper body, lower body or core strength that made the difference I realized it didn’t matter – it was “GET FIT NH” strength!
Thanks as always for helping me reach my potential and equipping me for my adventures!
Patti”
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