Dean
Author Archives: Dean

Exercise and Fun – Do You Have To Choose?

Well if you have been around Get Fit NH very long, you already know the answer to that question…

A resounding NO!

While the training is hard and the sweat (“glistening” according to some of the ladies out there) flows freely, we also have a great time – no reason at all you can’t do both!

The added bonus is because we train so hard IN the gym, we can have a lot more fun being active OUTSIDE of the gym.

I encourage you to take advantage of this beautiful weather and get out in the great outdoors this summer – hike a mountain, go mountain biking, take a trip to the beach, or maybe you want to come join us for an adventure like the one we had last Saturday – now THAT was fun!

Check it out, and Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

The New USDA “MyPlate” – An Improvement?

Have you seen  the new USDA “Food Plate” that has replaced the “Food Pyramid” that has been around for what seems like forever? (Hint – look over to your right 🙂

Earlier this month (June 2nd) the government finally showed us what it’s version of healthy eating looks like, and at first glance the new look makes sense.

Take a look at the plate. It shows clearly that fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet, and it shows that protein should be eaten at every meal. Another thing I appreciate is that it shows that starches don’t need to (and usually shouldn’t) dominate your plate.

All in all, not too bad.

An improvement?

In my estimation – Yes.

However if I were to stop there this would be one of two things:

  1. A very short article 🙂
  2. An incomplete review

Because while there are some things to recommend with these new guidelines, if you take a closer look at things there are some further things I would (and do) modify in my nutrition plan.

Here’s a question:

What if you are lactose intolerant or sensitive to grains (gluten intolerant for instance)? Does this mean you are not getting a “balanced” diet because you are not getting dairy and/or some grains in your diet?

Nonsense!

We could rehash all the reasons why here, but the bottom line is that you don’t NEED either of those things in your diet to be perfectly healthy. That doesn’t mean I am saying never eat them, what I am saying is that often times a lot of very unhealthy things happen when you get too much dairy or grains in your diet. I don’t want to sound like a “tin-hat” conspiracy theorists, but it is safe to say that the dairy, grain, or for that matter meat industry has no little input into these recommendations – take it for what it’s worth.

My personal experience and experience with scores of clients tells me that limiting dairy and grains has a much more positive effect on body composition and just plain feeling better than the alternative.

As Dr. Jonny Bowden points out, the devil is in the details of the guidelines, with a lot of information that is just plain outdated in light of new research into low-fat diets and the like.

And while fruit is super healthy, for weight management clients in particular the ratio of fruits to vegetables is probably too high (Eat Your Veggies!)

The bottom line is that if more people take the advice and eat what’s on “MyPlate” that is certainly a step in the right direction.

More vegetables and protein, less grains?

Work for me!

Make It Happen,

Coach Dean

Dean Carlson is a Certified Professional Fitness Trainer with the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association, a Level 2 Youth Conditioning Specialist with the International Youth Conditioning Association and is a Level 1 Certified Precision Nutrition Coach.


The KING Reigns Supreme

“Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising”…(must be Marvelous Monday at Bootcamp)

Monday night, 6pm Bootcamp had the whole Big Family in attendance. That would be Big Daddy (40KB), Big Mama (36KB), and Big Boy (32KB) rockin’ and rollin’ on the gym floor. If they weren’t doing the KettleBell Swing they were Deadlifted. Our Motto: GO BIG or GO HOME! Since no one left, we went BIG!

“Higher and Higher, Its burning through to my soul”…(and my core right down to my gluteus maximus)

Our Mantra: “You can do anything for 40 seconds” (or 2 minutes, or whatever is required for time). This is the class if you need motivation, they’ve got it in spades! When you are pushed to your limit… they’ll push you a little more.

Add in: the HOTTEST Trainer this side of Memphis who whispers the Challenge, “the other classes did 21 partner band rows”. With a twinkle in her eye and a slight grin, “I’m just saying…” – oh it’s ON! Green Band!

Girl girl girl, you gonna set me on fire… it’s hard to breathe, and my chest is a heavin…”

When we are all done with our Tabata Tuesday workout someone says (& it doesn’t matter what day it is, someone always says…) “Lets go do some Hills”. Today I replied all proud of myself, ‘I already did Hills’ (yeh me!). I was then informed that I had done “PRE-Hills”, it was time for “POST-Hills” (really?!)… and out the door we went. Lynn  is doing 10 hills now (U go Girl!), making our Fran proud (we miss you Fran!).

I gotta say 6pm is definitely not made up of slackers…

My hands are shaking, and my knees are weak. I can’t seem to stand on my own two feet.”

“Who do you THANK when you have such luck, I’m in LOVE… I’m ALL SHOOK UP” (side note: I ran out of lyrics and had to switch songs, gotta love THE KING… who knew he was singing about Bootcamp?? Sven needs an Elvis soundbite- can I put in a request?)

Blog you later.

gretchen

Download Your PN Calorie Calculator!

Last week we talked about a question that is on most of the people’s minds we coach or even talk to about nutrition:

How much AM I supposed to eat? (click to read)

If you haven’t read it (why not?!) go back and read it now. In fact everybody go back and read it again – it’s that good! 🙂

Here are the steps we outlined:

  1. Estimate Your Calories
  2. Find Your Macronutrient Split
  3. Calculate Your Calories for Each Macronutrient
  4. Approximate Your Calories Per Meal
  5. Achieve 90% Compliance and Adjust

Sound familiar?

Well  I have great news for you! You can put away your calculator, because we have a present for you…

The “PN Calorie Calculator”!

This super easy to use Excel spreadsheet will take care of Steps 1 through 3 above – lickety split – There is no reason why you can’t get started on a customized plan for you and your goals!

All we ask you to do to get your crankin’ copy of calorie calculating goodness is for you to answer one question! Once you have answered that question you will be sent an email with the download link and password needed to access the calculator.

That is NOT too much to ask!

So take action today. Don’t sit on the sidelines waiting for things to happen – Make Them Happen!

Click Here To Get Your “PN Calorie Calculator” – Do It!

How Much Am I Supposed To Eat?

So, you say, I know I am supposed to eat PPW (Protein, Produce and Water) every 3 hours, but how much am I supposed to eat?

A fair question, to be sure.

Here’s my answer:

I Don’t Know.

I am sure you are saying to yourself – Well that’s helpful!

The reason I say that is because while there are certainly general principles of nutrition, there is no one size fits all.

But don’t be discouraged, because there is a way for you to find out.

As a certified Precision Nutrition coach (and client) I get very specific with individual clients who hire me to coach nutrition, but there are general principles we can apply, depending on the goal. You are going to eat very differently when your goal is to lose bodyfat than if it is to gain muscle. A naturally thin person with skinny limbs (ectomorph) is not going to eat the same amounts or type of food as a naturally broad or thick person (endomorph).

It also may be true that two people of identical size may not be able to eat the same amount of calories and lose weight at the same rate.

So what to do?

We Test and Find Out!

While the following is a hypothetical, it applies to many of our clients who struggle with fat loss, so pay attention.

Step 1: Estimate Calories

For a client who is moderately active (exercises 3-4 times a week) and wants to lose weight, we will start by multiplying their current bodyweight by 12-14.

Example:  A 160 pound person would start by eating between 1920 (160 x 12) and 2240 (160 x 14) calories per day. A 200 pound person would start by eating 2400 (200 x 12) and 2800 (200 x 14) calories per day.

Step 2: Macronutrient Split

According to Dr. John Berardi, author of Precision Nutrition, the endomorph (naturally broad/thick) described above would consume the average starting percentages:

  • Protein: 35%
  • Carbohydrate: 25%
  • Fat: 40%

Step 3: Calculate calories for each Macronutrient

The 160 pound person would consume:

  • about 728 calories (182 grams) of protein
  • about 520 calories (130 grams) of carbohydrate
  • about 832 calories (92 grams) of fat

and the 200 pound person would consume:

  • about 910 calories (228 grams) of protein
  • about 650 calories (163 grams) of carbohydrate
  • about 1040 calories (116 grams) of fat

Step 4: Approximate calories per meal

160 pound person:

  • Breakfast: 36 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 23 g fat
  • Snack:36 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 23 g fat
  • Lunch: 36 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 23 g fat
  • Post Exercise Snack: 36 g protein, 72 g carbohydrate, 0 g fat (this meals timing will be adjusted depending on when you exercise)
  • Dinner:36 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 23 g fat

200 pound person:

  • Breakfast: 46 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 29 g fat
  • Snack:46 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 29 g fat
  • Lunch: 46 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 29 g fat
  • Post Exercise Snack: 46 g protein, 92 g carbohydrate, 0 g fat (this meals timing will be adjusted depending on when you exercise)
  • Dinner:46 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 29 g fat

Step 5: Achieve 90% compliance and adjust

Here’s the key – as with any experiment there must be controls. In order to discover what calorie level you can eat and reach your goals, you must be consistent.  In this case that means achieving 90% compliance with your plan. That means out of 35 meals a week, 31 or 32 must conform to the guidelines, which allows 3 or 4 non-compliant or “splurge” meals a week. You don’t have to be and shouldn’t try to be “perfect”. Most of the time shooting for perfection is setting yourself up for failure – do yourself a favor, plan (another key) your “splurges” and give yourself a break.

With our coaching clients we measure and adjust every two weeks, if compliance has been achieved. Two weeks is long enough to see how your body is responding. If you are losing weight at the desired rate, we stay right where we are. If we are losing at a different rate (high or low) we will adjust something (calories, exercise amount, etc.) until we are where we want to be.

More Tips:

Notice the majority of carbohydrates are ingested after training. Read why here…

Eat Vegetables and Fruit in an approximately 5:1 ratio – 5 servings of veggies for every serving of fruit. Here’s the scoop on slow carbs…

So there you go – the very basics we use to help clients dial in their nutrition and get the results they want. Hop on the scale, get out the calculator, and figure out where your starting point is.

For more detailed information and coaching I recommend one of two paths:

1) Get your own copy of Precision Nutrition, the A-Z resource for your nutrition and body composition goals. This is the resource I used (and still use) to achieve over 80 pounds of weight loss.

2) Get your own copy of Precision Nutrition and personal nutrition coaching from the only certified Precision Nutrition coach in the state of NH (yours truly 🙂 You can give me a call at the office or drop me a line to discuss your options.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

Jeff is Dialing In His Nutrition with PN

This morning S3 contest winner Jeff H. received his copy of Dr. John Berardi’s “Precision Nutrition” as part of his prize package. This comprehensive nutrition coaching package is what I used when I dropped 80 plus pounds a few years ago, and in my opinion is the best resource out there to teach you how to change your body composition from “Flab to Fab”. It also led me to earning my Precision Nutrition coaching credentials, the first to do so in the state of New Hampshire.

Now is a great time to pick up your own copy of Precision Nutrition, as the entire system is being offered at a much reduced price! You owe it to yourself to find out more about Precision Nutrition here!

Congrats Jeff!

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