Ahh……

I’ve heard it so many times, “After training I need to put lotion on my hands because of the pull-ups.” Or maybe  it’s after deadlifting or heavy farmers walks.

Well Diane B. from the 8:30 ladies in Concord has heard your cries for help, and she has just what you need.

Diane is the creator of Ahh…Scentials soaps, lotions and lip balms. Think some Lemongrass Sage, or maybe Midnight Pomegranate might be just what those hands need?

I’m all about knowing what is in the products I use. I’m even more in when I can say “I know who makes this and I trust her.”  That is how I feel about Ahh…Scentials. Diane makes all her products by hand, and in small batches so they are the purest and freshest they can be.

They not only smell great, but even more important are the ingredients in the products. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, you need to take care of it.

Once you read how passionate Diane is about her products I know you will want to give them a try – Coach Nancy

“I’ve  I started Ahh…Scentials because I love using high quality bath and beauty products. A few years ago I would have never have guessed that I would ever be the one making them. Back then, I purchased soaps and lotions based on how they felt, smelled, looked or by the brand name. I was unaware about the ingredients and how they can affect your body.

 Over time I decided to learn how to make something more natural, better for my family and myself. That is why I started to make my own bath and body products.

 I have four types of soaps; Three Butter (triple action of Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter and Mango Butter), Goat Milk,  and Oatmeal and Honey, all of which are beneficial to your skin.

 My lotions are handcrafted with an amazing combination of Aloe Vera and moisturizing Shea Butter. Shea Butter is thought to aid dry skin and Aloe has long been considered to be a premier product for moisturizing and healing the skin.

 My lip balms are made of skin loving butters, oils and beeswax along with other natural ingredients. You may choose to have it natural or flavored with lip safe ingredients.

 All of my products are available unscented or you can choose a skin safe fragrance, essential oil, or a blend such as coconut and lime.

 All of my products are PARABEN-FREE.  Parabens are synthetic preservatives suspected to cause problems such as skin aging and certain types of cancer.

 Samples are available at both the Concord and Epsom Get Fit NH locations.

 Pamper Yourself!!” – Diane Bottcher

You can get all the details from Diane or pick up the brochures. Check it out for yourself. Sample the lotions. You know you want to after doing pull-ups!

What Are Your Possibilities?

Today is Monday. I am writing this sitting in the airport in Charlotte, NC, waiting for my flight to take me home after a fantastic weekend with Martin Rooney and the tremendous coaches and people from the TFW Familia I am honored to call my friends.

As I sat here reading a book (“Making Classroom Assessment Work”, thank-you Steve Rothenberg) a sound in front of me caught my attention. It was the sound of a young mother playing with her baby, who is maybe 8 or 9 months old. I could not help but smile as I watched them play, smile and laugh with each other.

Mom kisses on her baby,and the baby smiles, laughs and claps. It struck me hard. I was looking at unlimited possibilities. Who would this baby become? What did life have in store for her? I can only imagine the hopes and dreams that her parents have for her.

And then I looked at some of the people sitting beside this happy pair. There were a few startling contrasts to the first scene. These people looked beaten down by life. They were waiting to be carried to some destination unknown to me. Some of them looked like it was the last place on earth they wanted to go.

Now I don’t know those people, what there life has been like. Are they happy? Do they like their work? Are they following their dreams, or have they given up on them? Do they realize that as long has they have breath their are still endless possibilities that await?

Do you still see all the possibilities in front of you?

You have a gift. You have the gift of a new day. You have the gift of making today better than yesterday.

It’s seldom easy. People around you are going to resist you. They are going to tell you it can’t be done.

“You are going to the gym again? What is that you are eating, broccoli? You’re going to bed already?”

Don’t Listen. Don’t give it one second thought. Do what you know you need to do.

Make the choice today to be better than yesterday. Eat a little healthier. Exercise a little harder. Sleep a little longer.

And then do it again tomorrow. And the day after that.

Start your own “Success Snowball”.

Every time a new day turns, and you make another good choice, the snowball gets a little bigger and a little bigger. Pretty soon it’s so big and rolling so fast that you can’t be stopped, no matter how hard people try to bring you down.

That possibility exists for you.

Do you believe that?

I think we would all be better off if we started every day watching that mom and her baby play together.

Of understanding all that we can still accomplish, no matter how old we are, how much talent we think we have, or our position in life.

But it’s not going to happen by wishing it will.

You need to turn possibility into productivity.

You have to make that first good choice, take that first positive step, and – you hear it from me all the time – you gotta take action.

Don’t Wait.

Don’t Waste Your Possibility.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

Eat Your Way Right Habit 1: Create Your Plan

You have heard the old maxim many times I am sure.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

First hand experience tells me this is right on. There is no better way to set yourself up for frustration, despair and failure (real or perceived) than by not setting anything up at all.

You know the drill. You tell yourself “Self, this is the week I am going to get it together and eat like I should.”

And it doesn’t get any farther than that. Seemingly simple things like “When and how many times am I going to eat?” get left out.

In week 1 we are going to start simple and solve that challenge.

The plan is for the first week?

Plan.

The very first thing you need to do is figure out how many times you are going to eat on a day by day basis.

Some of us do great on 3 squares a day. Others like to snack between meals, so they may be eating 5 times a day. If you are resistance training, how does your post-training nutrition fit in?

This is where the planning starts.

Some of our challenges in the past have been based on smaller more frequent meals, 5 0r 6 a day. Eating this way is thought to stabilize blood sugar and make sure we don’t get so ravenously hungry we go crazy at the next meal. If this works for you, fantastic!

But experience tells us this just does not work in everyone’s lifestyle, and that’s ok. In fact right now I eat 3 times a day, and I love it. I plan exactly in the day when and what I am going to eat, and most of the time that works great. If something comes up and I am off an hour or even two it doesn’t ruin my day. Truthfully that doesn’t happen very often though, because most of us have reasonably predictable schedules, and we usually know what the next day holds by the evening before.

Habit 1 is very simple. Plan the number of meals you are going to eat ahead of time, and then stick to the plan.

Here’s how I do it.

I know that Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are my training days. For me this means I am going to get in 3 main meals and my recovery nutrition. This would count as 4 meals for the day. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday are non-training days. My plan is to eat just 3 meals on that day.

So on my success checklist, if on Monday I ate my 3 meals plus my recovery nutrition, I would mark an “x” in my box, if I missed a meal (or ate or snacked an extra time) I would mark a “0”. Very simple.

Same thing with non-training days. If I eat 3 times I am good to go, if I eat more or less, than I record a miss for the day.

But what if an emergency happens (like Drew going to urgent care a couple weeks ago) and I miss training? Then I adapt, knock off the recovery nutrition, and stick with the 3 meals.

Habit 1 is not intended to tell you what to eat, that is coming starting next week. (I would however recommend you get a jump start on your meal planning by visiting the “Eat Your Way Right ” Resource Page)

Habit 1 is designed to help you be mindful of your eating habits. Too many of  us (yes I include myself at times) just mindlessly reach for the candy dish, cookies or nuts when we really aren’t hungry at all. Or maybe we are reaching for them because we haven’t eaten anything for 10 hours and we are ravenous. By planning ahead of time we put ourselves in the best position to succeed.

My recommendation is that you plan a week ahead of time. The first week you may plan to eat 3 meals a day and find that doesn’t really work for you, and that’s ok. Next week adjust and see if that works better. There are no hard and fast rules with Habit 1. This is your life and lifestyle. Just don’t fall in the trap of being random from day to day. Once you make that choice, hold yourself accountable and stick with it.

Eat Your Way Right Resource Page Is Now Available

10 days to go until “Eat Your Way Right Through The Holidays” kicks off, and we are ready to get rocking!

We just put up the EYWR Resource Page up, so make sure you head on over and check it out. Let’s get as many questions answered as we can now so we can focus on the important things starting October 28th.

You will find your Success Checklist in both pdf and Excel format. We will also have cards available in the gym. The checklist will give you a broad overview of the program, and each habit will be expanded on as we work our way through the 8 weeks. The important thing at this point is that you understand how the checklist works.

You will also find shopping lists and a sample meal planning worksheet to help give you an idea on how to put some healthy meal options together. There will be much more coming down the pike, and these are a great place to start.

Make sure you join the private Facebook group as well. This will be where we will answer your questions and keep up on how you are doing.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Lean University. To remind you this is a 10-week home study “Basic Training” nutrition course, and if I had my way I would directly zap all the info in this course directly into your head. Designed by our friend and colleague Dr. Cassandra Forsythe, Lean Universitywill reinforce everything that “Eat Your Way Right” is about. Our clients that have taken this course have raved about both the format and content. It is well worth the investment, so head on over and check it out at MyLeanUniversity.com

Don’t forget that next Tuesday evening we will have kickoff meeting at both Epsom and Concord locations. This is the best way to get your questions answered and started off right. There will be an optional weigh-in for those who want an added layer of accountability. I would highly encourage you to attend.

Let’s Make It Happen!

2013 SkiErg World Sprints at Get Fit NH

Mark your calendars: the 5th Annual SkiErg World Sprints will be held November 8-10, 2013

What’s it all about? This 1000-meter race allows you to compare your time against others worldwide in a one-weekend showdown of speed. Check out results from last year, which includes World Champion Kathy Nourse from Get Fit NH Epsom. 2012 Ski Erg Sprints Press Release

How it works: We will be hosting at Get Fit NH Concord on Saturday November 9, 2013 starting at 8:00am (time subject to change). We want the whole crew together, so for those who want to carpool from the Suncook Valley we will meet at Get Fit NH Epsom and come in as a team.

Get Fit NH is proud to be a host for this event, so don’t miss out.  We will also record and submit all athletes times, so we have that part covered for you. Time to get those competitive fires burning and have a blast. Bring your friends and family so they can see what it’s all about. They can even get in on the action if they want!

Stay tuned for more info and dates before the event where we can get some extra training and practice runs in.

It’ll be a blast!

Can Your Attitude Change Your Families and Friends Attitudes?

A couple of weeks ago we were talking in training about how easy it is to let other peoples attitudes, usually the negative ones, affect how we think and act.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been at a party or other social gathering and have someone comment on what was on (or wasn’t on) my plate.

I just feel like saying “If I want to have veggies and hummus, what’s it to you? If you feel guilty for what you are eating that really is not my fault. Please don’t drag me down to make yourself feel better.” (That was probably the cleaned up nicer version of what I really want to say)

But did you ever consider the long term effects of sticking to your guns? Of continuing to make good choices in spite of what grief you take?

Did you consider that you may just be the inspiration they need?

Read what Cara from Get Fit NH Epsom has to say about it:

“I  had a family member ask how I was “holding up” recently with all the working out. Like somehow it must be very exhausting. This is someone who has never had a weight problem, never worked out a day in their life, and doesn’t know how great it is to gain energy, confidence and strength from working out.  So there is no way they could relate to someone who has to fight for it.

I wrote a list of things people have said to me since I have started with your program in July. I keep a journal. Somehow when you are on a personal quest like this it becomes everyone else free for all for comments and opinions. The only thing I can relate to is being pregnant. Everyone has an opinion and they give it even when I don’t ask. And they all want to get in my space.

• “Wow how do you have time for that?”
• “You can lose the weight but you will never be the same as before”
• “How do you have money for that?”
• “How do you do that with the job you have?”
• “You may not be able to meet your goal because you have a lot of muscle”. What?!

 and more positive recently:

• “Wow you are half you size!”
• “What are you doing?”
• “Keep going!”
• “How much weight have you lost and what are you doing”?
• “you have so much energy!”

Another insight I have found is as I let go of other bits of clutter, solve or resolve relationship issues by letting go of them or changing how I see things,  I see my progress tie directly to those things as well. Sometimes it’s not all in what we are eating, it’s what is eating us. Getting those things better, helps the picture too.
 
Thanks for all you do” – Cara

When I wrote back to ask Cara if I could share her powerful story, she graciously said I could, and also followed up with some more results of her perseverance. Keep up the great work Cara!

“We hear all that “junk” every day…and I believed it for a long time. All it would take is ONE of those comments and I would slide down.

Not Any More.

And you are right, it is no longer about them. It is a process. And in staying in the game I have lost over 30 pounds since May.

Thank You.” – Cara

Eating Your Way Right Through The Holidays: What’s The Point?

You might have asked yourself that question already, as in “Why even bother? I always gain weight this time of year.”

If that’s the case, I understand. I think you need an attitude check 🙂 , but I really do understand. If it was easy, we wouldn’t be having this “conversation”.

However when I asked the question “What’s The Point?” I am talking about the end game. Where are we going with this whole thing?

I mean if you don’t know where you are going, how are you going to know when you get there? (That is like Yogi Berra deep!)

Here is my goal every time we do a nutrition related challenge:

To teach you nutrition habits, that when applied consistently and correctly, will create the optimum metabolic environment to help you lose body fat and gain/maintain lean tissue (aka muscle).

In other words I want you to eat in a way that makes you look and feel great. 🙂

So what’s the main obstacle to progress?

I think it’s that we have too much information.

If you were to head over to Amazon.com and search for “diet books” you would get 78,496 results. Holy cow!

Is it any wonder that there is confusion over the “right” way to eat?

Truth be told no one strategy will fit all of us, and you may even have made progress by reading and following the plan in one of those books.

But I think one of the things the authors of these diets don’t take into consideration is that we have very short attention spans, and we don’t really like someone else telling us what to do.

I talk to people all the time that are “doing” all sorts of diet plans – Atkins, South Beach, Mediterranean, Paleo, you name it. Funny thing is that when you ask the what they are actually doing, they have added in enough tweaks, twists and turns into the plan so that it looks nothing like the original. Could that be why it “doesn’t work”, at least for very long?

We get bored with the “thing”, so we move onto another “thing”.

Time for a reality check. The four plans I mentioned above (and they are totally random off the top of my head) are far more like each other than they are different. In fact most people could probably do pretty well – if they actually followed them long term, say as in for the rest of their lives.

So right off the top let me make it clear. “Eat Your Way Right” is a diet only in the sense that no matter what you currently eat you are on a diet.

It’s just that too many of us are on the “bagel, donut, coffee, soda, pasta, bread, candy, pastry and wine” diet.

So get ready to challenge yourself. What you think you know about nutrition, and about what healthy eating is really all about.

Get ready to get a little uncomfortable. Out of your comfort zone is probably gonna happen. You can’t keep doing the same things and expect a different result.

I have to tell you I am really excited about this challenge. We have had tremendous success with previous challenges, but I am convinced this is the best one yet. Our team is excited to get this thing rolled out and watch you guys take the changeup and knock it over the wall for a grand slam like Big Papi did last night.

Are you ready?

2 Weeks To Go!

This is Not a Dress Rehearsal

Derek Andrew Carlson
Born 11/07/2001 : Died 10/14/2002

Life is short. I am reminded of this today. It is October 14^th. It is Columbus Day. It is a day I reflect more so than other days that life is short.

We do not get a Do – Over. I know at times, I wished we did. We have assurance of this moment and no other. On a day like today, I want to make sure I let you know, I am proud of you. I am proud of you for taking steps to be better each day. If our lives cross paths momentarily or for a very long time, I am thankful. I am thankful for you being in my life, for touching my life with yours.

AS you train today and everyday, Train as if this is not a dress rehearsal. It isn’t.

AS you work today and everyday, work as if this is not a dress rehearsal. It isn’t.

AS you eat today and everyday, eat as if what you eat today affects everyday. It does.

AS you hang out with friends and co- workers, give them a high five. You are affecting them. It is your choice to affect them positively or not.

AS you spend time with family, let them know you love them. Tell them. Look them straight in the eye and let them know they are not something taken for granted. They are important pieces of you.

You are not practicing to live. You are living.

So:

live a little bigger.

hug a whole lot more.

tell others you love them a more often and in different ways.

take care of myself better each day.

attack each day with vigor.

This is not a dress rehearsal.

Make Every Day Count

Coach Nancy

What A Great Time At The Renegade Playground Challenge!

So proud of you guys for sucking it up on a cold day and having a blast. It reminded me once again how much I love being your coach. The sheer joy of accomplishment is something to be treasured. Congrats to all who competed, and a big shout out to y’all who did it for the first time!

Keep Up The Great Work Allen!

Another short but sweet Get Fit NH “love note” – keep them coming. You may be just the encouragement someone else needs to get moving and feeling great!

“Dean, Erin and Meagan,

I’m writing to thank all of you for the great things you are doing at Get Fit NH.  After 3 months of training I have lost weight and body fat, and I’m on track to meet my personal goals by the end of this year.  But more importantly, I feel great!  I feel better physically and mentally than I have in years, and it is making a difference in my life every day.

Keep up the good work and I’ll see you Monday.” – Allen