Did YOU S3? Here’s Some Superstars Who Did!

As we wrap up the 2014 Six Week Sprint into Summer (S3) Nutrition Challenge I feel it is absolutely necessary to congratulate some of your fellow teammates on their incredible success.For starters we need to congratulate the following students for faithfully turning in their nutrition card each week throughout the challenge:

• Katie Jordan
• Maura Carroll
• Kate Fox
• Carolyn Amrol
• Donna Weilnau
• Ronald Weilnau
• Kristen Wolfe
• Spencer Wilbur
• Bob Magan
• Sonia Cormier
• Lyn Roberts and
• Sara Withers – awesome job!

I am 100% confident that each of these students would agree that the habits we encourage our students to live by enhance results drastically. I can confidently say that because there is not one student on that list who did not lose multiple pounds. What are my famous words?

That’s right. You cannot and will not out train poor nutrition. Get all your wheels turning the same direction and you are going to be unstoppable.

I would like to take the time to individually recognize each of these champions for their outstanding achievements. These are real life people. Real people who train at the same facility as you. Real people who were provided the same tools as you. Real people who made it happen.

• Kristen Wolfe:  Kristen was prepared for results as soon as the S3 challenge began. She had her body composition test taken right at the beginning of S3 (June 3, 2014 to be exact) and again at the end of S3 (June 30, 2014 to be exact.) During the 6 week challenge Kristen averaged over 90% compliance. She admitted it was not easy, but maintained discipline because results were important to her. Kristen lost 8 pounds on the scale and after taking her body composition test we learned that every single pound lost was excess body fat! This is an incredible win. What do you think Kristen, is having discipline and self-control worth the way you feel today?

• Katie Jordan: This woman has been flying down the road to success since she stepped through our doors. She has soaked in every ounce of knowledge we’ve provided and has attended countless workshops to continue toward her goals (which I’m pretty sure involve Coach Erin being decked out in pink from head to toe, right?) Katie participated in the S3 challenge and lost 15.8 pounds. That is all while maintaining about 90% compliance.

• Carolyn Amrol: Carolyn has such a contagious and encouraging attitude. She averaged about 90% compliance over the past 6 weeks and lost 13.5 pounds. Carolyn works so hard in the gym to continue making great progress.

• Ronald and Donna Weilnau: I have so many positive things to say about this inspirational couple. I remember last September having a conversation with Donna as she took on one of the most elite races in NH, Reach the Beach. I remember her saying that she wished she could get Ronald to join Get Fit NH. I also remember Ronald picking her up from the race and being so proud of her accomplishment. We welcomed Ronald to the Get Fit NH family shortly after Donna’s huge accomplishment and he has made an absolutely remarkable change in his lifestyle. He has accomplished incredible weight loss, screened out of several functional movement screen bands, and has been an absolute inspiration to others. Together I am confident they will continue to make progress toward their goals. With the support of one another they have been unstoppable. Together they lost about 8 pounds during the S3 challenge

• Maura Carroll: Maura made great changes over the past 6 weeks. She has lost 5.8 pounds. Maura has such a positive and inspiring attitude. Her reception to coaching is absolutely admirable. She has been with the Get Fit NH family for 4 years and continues to seek improvement.

• Kate Fox: What can I say about Kate? Who doesn’t know Kate Fox? She is a Get Fit NH celebrity in so many ways. Not only has she referred half of our clientele, but she is also the owner and originator of Fox Fancy Pants. Kate is a huge inspiration to our 5 AM training time. She is dedicated, engaged, and her results have proved that she is dedicated to herself and her health.

• Spencer Wilbur: I was pleased to congratulate Spencer on his great success today and even more pleased to hear about how he was able to fit into his suit from 25 years ago a few weekends ago. Since training with Get Fit NH he has lost about 25 pounds and continued to work toward his goals losing 6 more pounds during our S3 challenge.

• Sara Withers: Sara has been apart of the Get Fit NH family for just over a month. She jumped on board for S3 right away and is already reaping the benefits. She said that she was upset when the scale did not go down as much as she wanted it to, but thanks to our trustee body fat system we learned that she lost 7 pounds in body fat! Which is a great win. Her immediate dedication to herself is inspiring. I see nothing but great success for Sara! She is no doubt a go getter.

• Sonia Cormier is a rock star. She just earned her Hall of Fame red shirt. For the past year Sonia has taken advantage of every challenge. Six Week Sprint to Summer was another focal point Sonia used to make sure she kept making necessary steps to reach her goal. While being faithful to training she also makes appointments to have her body composition tested and takes time to make goals every four months. I applaud her for using the tools Get Fit NH provides to make the most of her nutritional changes. Dedication and Consistency describe Sonia to a “T”. Her team at 6:15, the scale, and her body composition all reflect the hard work Sonia pours into herself.  (Coach Nancy) 

• Bob Magan was a bit hesitant to start the Six Week Sprint to Summer. Coach Sarah and I had to push him a bit but as always he takes the little push and turns it into a chance to shine. The S3 Scorecard from Bob was always waiting for me at 5am for me to review. He used the information on the scorecard to make daily changes. Bob used the high percentages as a pat on the back for work already accomplished while he used the lower percentages as his focus for the next week. I’m proud of Bob for his dedication to himself. He is making the changes one step at a time for himself but for those in his family as well. (Coach Nancy)

• Lyn Roberts stayed true to S3 all six weeks but she isn’t ready to stop yet. Each week Lyn not only turned in her scorecard but also her meal plan. She wanted to have accountability to get that portion done. When I asked Lyn what she was going to do about meal planning for the week now that Six Week Sprint to Summer was over she wrote me to say, “Its easier for me with a plan.  I tend to stay more disciplined with it.  Even though they have been hand-written, it wouldn’t be that hard to  do a computerized version and just fill in the blanks.  Will see what I can come up with.” I’m proud to say Lyn is going to keep on Making It Happen! (Coach Nancy)
  

These results are absolutely amazing. I am so proud of everyone who participated in this challenge. The results speak for themselves. 12 participants and 67.2 pounds lost- fantastic!

But even more important than what was lost is what was gained – new habits which will KEEP us moving toward losing fat, getting lean, and looking and feeling great.

It’s not too late to get your nutrition under control. Your coaches are here to help you anytime, any day. Don’t wait for the next challenge to be a winner!

Make it happen,

Coach Meagan

Are YOU a Summertime Priority?

We had a motivation tip last week that read,

“Needs – sleep, exercise, eat well. Plan your life around those things, not the other way around.”

As we enter the summer months those words are important to remember. Your body needs this treatment consistently, as in 12 months a year.  Please note- there is only one end date when it comes to training (and nutrition and sleep too!) and I think you know where I am headed with that. It is continuous. It is necessary to thrive.

Yes, summertime is when we take time off. We go away. We spend time with family and friends. We enjoy the weather. I get it! Believe me, I am no snow owl. When it’s warm out I gotta get outside. So where am I going with this??

You see, there is common thread going around in SOME gyms that shall remain unnamed – taking the summer off – but that is not the Get Fit NH way.

Is that acceptable? No, and let me tell you why

• For starters allow me to clarify…In my previous blog I spoke about the training floor being our classroom. Our classroom does not take summers off 😉 (Ok I figured I start with a lame joke….but now that I have your attention I’ll move on)

• Are you in a training program or do you have a gym membership? I hope that doesn’t sting too much, but let’s get real. Our goal is for you to be IN this training program. Like ALL IN. We have a purposeful plan for you 12 months out of the year (no, not 9-10 months- 12 months!)

• Our training is designed to progressively challenge you throughout the sessions. We have a specific training focus on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

You cannot expect to train 9-10 months out of the year and expect to lose fat, build muscle, and feel good. Believe me when I say I understand how great it feels to get outside and walk or run, play golf, cycle, etc. but what you have to know and understand is that those active hobbies/sports are not training. You need your strength training. If you take 2 months off at a time you can expect to get hit with a major setback when you return.

Your coaches want to see you succeed. We want you to reach your goals. We want to get all your oars rowing in the same direction. It makes it nearly impossible to help you succeed if you are not here working toward success.

As Coach Dean said earlier this week, “If you want to change the way you look or the way you feel then you have to change something you’re doing to achieve it.”

Are you really going to spend 7 days per week at your lake house and not work for the entire summer? Does is make sense to turn your back and quit on how far you came just because you have 2 weeks of vacation scheduled this summer?

Think about these things. Set your priorities. If you want it only you can go get it. We’re here to encourage and educate along the way.

Don’t Just Wait For It.

Make it Happen,

Coach Meagan

What Do You Expect?

What Do You Expect?

The other day you should have seen a post about The Get Fit NH Difference. If you missed it check it out here. I started thinking more about how we are different and thought I’d let you in on what’s been stirring up inside my head.

• I’m sure you already knew this, but we’re more than a gym membership. We’re a training facility with a purposeful training program written for all levels of athleticism. Expect to be held accountable. We will notice if you’re not here 🙂

• When you walk in the door you should expect to be greeted with your name not “what’s your member number?”

• You hired coaches to help you meet your goals. Expect to get what you asked for

• We do not have members, we have students. The training floor is our classroom. Expect to learn and do not expect to always get it on the first try.

What I am trying to say is that we expect you to have high expectations and we want to exceed them!

We want you to be all in. What do I mean by that?

• We want you to hit your goals
• We want you to push yourself and accept a challenge. Whether that is on the training floor or in the kitchen.
• We want you to fuel your body with nutritious food
• We want you to keep learning. We offer seminars and workshops monthly to help you get even better.
• We want you to measure success.  Get your body composition monitored regularly.

There is always room to improve. Your coaches don’t have it all figured out, you know?

I go to Coach Nancy’s nutrition seminars and I learn something new every time! Something helpful that I can apply to my routine. I train in the afternoon and guess what? I get coached and often challenged! We don’t have it all figured out. Each of your coaches has room to improve and so do you. We are all in this together to lose fat, build muscle, and feel better!

Make it happen,

Coach Meagan

The Get Fit NH Difference

What makes Get Fit NH different? There are a bunch of training facilities in the Concord area, so why us?

We get this question a lot and it is important to us that you know and understand how we are different. As a coach I am passionate about educating my students about fitness and health and to warn against potentially harmful exercise practice.

Allow me to go a little deeper…

Olympic and power lifts are not meant to be done in sets of 30 or for time. They are highly skilled movement patterns and are meant to be explosive and powerful over short periods of time with plenty of rest. Subjecting your muscles to extremely high stress repetitively is not always appropriate, and  can set you up for injury.

As I am sure many of you have noticed, we are form sticklers here at Get Fit NH. We take coaching very seriously and our entire staff hold several certifications. We are required to and also take pride in constantly continuing our education. Our number one rule is to keep you safe during your hour. If you get hurt that often means you will not be able to train and while you are not able to train you are not able to effectively work toward your goals. The Functional Movement Screen is our extra preventative measure to keep you safe and training hard.

Everything we do has a purpose! As one of our mentors Martin Rooney says, “We don’t do something for nothing.” There is a reason and functional translation behind everything we do. When programming your training we take into consideration what is called risk versus reward benefit. Is the risk of injury greater than the intended benefit of the exercise? That is yet another preventative measure we consider to keep you safe and training hard.

At Get Fit NH we do appreciate competitive nature, but we are more concerned with your competition within yourself. We want you to be the best you can be, not necessarily try and  keep up with the person next to you and risk getting hurt and having poor form.

I sincerely hope you found this blog informative and helpful. If you have questions about how we are different we would be more than happy to go into more detail with you. It is important to us that you know and understand the training you have committed to.

Make it Happen,

Coach Meagan

Training for a Cause in Support of the Leung Family

On June 14^th at 9 AM we will be hosting our monthly fundraiser. This time we are excited to be raising funds for The Boston Children’s Hospital’s Mighty Metabolites and Kai Leung.

Kai is the beautiful daughter of Howie and Colleen Leung who are both teachers in the community.  You may recognize Colleen as she was apart of the “Suck it up Buttercups” team that won our S3 challenge last year. Her beautiful family is pictured.  A few days after Kai was born she was diagnosed with Glutaric Acidemia, Type 1. This is a rare metabolic disorder in which their bodies cannot break down protein from the food they eat.  Howie and Colleen work closely with specialists at Boston Children’s Hospital to make sure Kai receives the care necessary to thrive, including special dietary requirements.

The Metabolic Clinic at Children’s Hospital closely follows their young patient’s with conditions like Kai’s.  Treatments and close management from multiple specialists can be very costly.  100% of the money raised at our Training for a Cause event on June 14th will go directly toward helping these children.  Our goal is not only to raise money, but to also raise awareness.

We hope to see you all on June 14th at 9 AM to get a bonus training in and support beautiful families like the one above 🙂

Please remember this is a community event. We would love to see you bring your family and friends and show them how the Get Fit NH family trains together for a GREAT cause!

See you all there,

Coach Erin

Training For A Cause
Date: June 14th, 2014
Time: 9:00am
Place: Get Fit NH Concord
Donation: $10

The Circle of Life

We recently had a motivation tip of the day that read,

“When good nutrition, exercise, and sleep are your friends, you can defeat your worst enemies.”

Let that sink for a moment. Think about some of your personal physical and mental enemies.

For example:

• No energy
• Headaches/Migraines
• Poor sleeping patterns
• Overweight/Obese
• Low self esteem
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress

Those are only a handful of challenges many of us face and I have great news for you…

It doesn’t have to be that way!

Leading a healthy and fit lifestyle are life’s natural healing (both physical and mental!) I’m so proud of you all for getting in here 2-4 times per week and busting your tail. You have that piece down, but you can’t stop there.

Your nutrition has to support your training. I have said it before and will say it again, you cannot and will not out train poor nutrition. It is not possible. If you want to feel good, lose fat, and gain muscle you need to have discipline.

Here are some great ways to make a plan and stick with it:

• Create a weekly meal plan
• Grocery shop right after training. It will help you stay encouraged to stick to the list!

(After all who wants to buy Cheetos after they just got their butt kicked?)

• Keep a food journal. Make sure it matches the plan!
• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Avoiding the junk aisles will help you stay on track. Out of sight out of mind. (Personally, I hear Coach Dean’s voice in my head while I grocery shop saying, “If you don’t buy it, you won’t eat it.” A little weird- but it works!)

Sleep. You have to fight for your 8 hours. A great night of sleep and a poor night of sleep both have a tremendous impact on how your day is going to turn out. If you sleep great you can train hard and when you train hard you sleep great!

Here’s the catch…

If your nutrition isn’t supportive, you can’t train as hard. If you aren’t training as hard you probably aren’t sleeping great. If you aren’t sleeping great you’re probably pretty crabby.

Do you see how this is like the circle of life?

Make it Happen,

Coach Meagan

Color Vibe 5K 2014 is back- join our team today and get a discount!

The Color Vibe 5K is coming back to the speedway Saturday June 7th at 9 am!

Last year we had a blast getting splashed in bright colors and we look forward to doing it again next month. Join our team today to get in on the fun!

This 5K is perfect for everyone:

• Families (strollers too!)
• Walkers
• Runners
• Kids of all ages

Get signed up by clicking here 

…BUT WAIT! Make sure you select Get Fit NH under “Team Name” so that you can get your 10% discount. Our coupon code is T65VZ4. 

If you would prefer to volunteer for this event and hand out water to the walkers and runners you can do that by contacting Get Fit NH’s one and only Deb O’neil at DOneil@NHMS.Com

See you there,

Coach Meagan

What do you drive?

I want you to take a second and think of your favorite car. It may be a sports car, an antique ride, or maybe it’s a luxury vehicle. Now I want you to think about how you would treat that car if you had it.

• What kind of fuel would you put into this vehicle? The “good stuff” or the “cheap stuff”?

• Would you keep up with the maintenance that goes along with owning an $80,000 machine?

• Would you eat ice cream while driving that car? Or would you fear that you may destroy the interior of your valued possession?

I think you may see where I am going with this metaphor…

Your body is a machine. And I can assure you it is a heck of a lot more valuable then any materialistic possession you’ll ever own. You only get one body and you need to take care of it now, because here is the scary part- ready?

If you don’t take care of your body and give it what it needs you are putting yourself at risk for countless harmful and fatal health risks.

No, not…

• I’ll start on Monday
• I don’t have time
• Well I train 4X per week so I can eat whatever I want.

There is no time for excuses. At best case scenario we see you for 4 hours a week!

Do you know how many hours are in a week? 168.

That means at BEST case scenario there are 164 OTHER hours during the week where you need to be making conscience and smart decisions.

Because guess what?

You cannot out train poor nutrition. Sorry. It just is not possible. Treat your body like a Camaro.

• Fuel it up with the good stuff- Protein, produce, water
• Train at an absolute minimum twice per week (for best results make that four times per week)
• You don’t want to destroy your interior- so just eat clean

Remember training is forever.

I will see you guys two-four hours a week FOREVER! (Lucky me, huh?  …..or lucky you?)

Make it Happen.

Coach Meagan

Do you want to lose body fat?

……is that a silly question?

I am pretty sure most of us are here to lose body fat, build muscle and feel good! Have you set yourself a body composition goal?

If yes, ask yourself these questions:

• How often do I get my body composition tested with one of my coaches? If the answer is not every 4-6 weeks then your behavior goals are not supporting your outcome goal.
• Do I create a weekly meal plan and follow it? If your answer is no- why? Failing to plan is planning to fail. That is so true. It may take time to sit down and make a plan, but it SAVES time when it is time to go grocery shopping, think about what’s for dinner, and certainly saves time meeting your goal!
• Do I recover from training efficiently and effectively? If you’re not getting some protein, produce and water in your body as soon as possible after training you’re not maximizing your potential results.

If you have not set yourself a body composition goal, let me ask you these questions:

• Have you had your body composition taken with one of your coaches? Using the Intelametrix Ultrasound System is easy, discreet and accurate. It is hard to set a goal if you do not know where you are at!
• Did you walk through our doors to become the best version of yourself you could possibly be? Whether that means stronger, leaner, faster, happier, healthier….how do you know you are achieving the best version of yourself if you do not know where you stand?
• Do you fear being held accountable? The body composition test doesn’t lie. If your nutrition “slips up” your body composition goes up. If your nutrition is on point, your body composition is on point.

These are only a few things I challenge you to take in to consideration when setting goals. If your actions don’t support your goals then you’re going to be walking in circles with no results. We are here to help you meet your goals.

As always- be accountable. Take advantage of all that we offer you to succeed.  Schedule a body composition test with your coach today.

Make it Happen,

Coach Meagan

Embrace the Burn

Today I am going to dish out a little tough love, but you know what mom says, “Honesty is the best policy.”

Let’s talk about how you feel when you leave the gym…

Here are some of the words we want to come to mind and probably do come to mind often:

• Sweaty
• Accomplished
• Tired
• Energized

(Yes, all those things can happen at once!) 🙂

Here is what we don’t want you thinking when you leave us:

• “I could have gone all 30 seconds, but I stopped”
• “I could have deadlifted that 44k kettlebell, but it was heavy”
• “I could gone faster on the ski erg”
• “I could have snuck in that last rep”
• “I could have done more…but I didn’t”

Now be honest with yourself…have you ever thought that to yourself after training?

Or…now that I mention it would you say you may be guilty of any of those thoughts?

Don’t be ashamed. I’m guilty too sometimes.

Here a great motto to remember when you know you can do more:

Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Guess what? 40 seconds of band split squats on the same side burns and you know what else? THAT’S OKAY!  I promise if your quads start smoking we will stop you! So here is my encouragement – embrace the burn!

You know what that burning is?

• That is you getting better
• That is you another second closer to reaching your goals
• That is your body THANKING you and telling you “YEAH BABY I’M ALIVE!”

Here are some suggestions to focus on this week (and every week!)

• Leave a little less gas in the tank (Your human tank that is!)
• Stop focusing so much on how many rounds we are doing or how many stations there are
• Focus on giving EVERYTHING you’ve got at every station for every second
• Celebrate the small victories that lead to huge accomplishments

Make It Happen!

Coach Meagan