Beet It – Linda D’s “Beets and Bean” Side Dish

When someone tells me a recipe is their family’s “Go To” side dish, I listen and take notes.

A “Go To” dish is a recipe everyone in the family loves, including the cook. If the cook loves to make it and the family loves to eat it, we should listen up.

Linda D. of 8:30am Concord fame sent in this recipe. She didn’t just tell me that the contrast in color is delightful and the taste is really excellent, she told me this was her family’s “Go To” dish. Guess who wrote it down to make? You should too.

 Beets and Beans

• 1 thinly sliced red onion
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch of fresh ground pepper
• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 large beet

1.Scrub and quarter beet; wrap in foil and roast at 450 for about 30 mins. Cook until tender.

2. Place onion in a bowl, cover with boiling water, let stand 15 mins.

3. Blanch green beans in boiling water for about 3-4 mins.; plunge into cold water.

4. Drain onions, toss with salt, pepper and vinegar; set aside.

5. Skin and slice cooled beets.

6. Whisk together:

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

7. Now: drain onions and squeeze dry. Toss half with beets, other half with beans. Arrange the beets and beans on a serving platter–very lovely, the contrast! Pour dressing over veggies, let stand 15 mins before serving. This will serve 4.

Give this recipe a try – you’ll be glad you did!

To your best health,

Nancy

Eat Your Way Right Through The Holidays

There are two ways you can read that one.

“Eat Your Way Right Through The Holidays” – such as, eat everything in sight from Halloween to New Year’s and ensure yourself 10 new pounds of belly blubber for the new year.

OR

“Eat Your Way RIGHT Through The Holidays”, as in eat correctly and supportively over the next few months, enjoying the seasonal treats in a planned and controlled way, continuing to focus on good habits and making progress.

Big Difference! (no pun intended)

Starting Monday October 15th we will be starting Phase 1 of our “Surviving the Season” transformation contest and seminar series.

Each “Phase” will be 4 weeks in length – long enough to make progress, short enough to keep us from being overwhelmed. Yes you’ll have some “stuff” you gotta do – but not so much that you will go crazy trying to keep up with “one more thing”.

Along the way we will be hosting nutrition and planning seminars to help give you the tools you need to succeed.

More info coming in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

Warrior Dash 2012

It was unanimous among all the Get Fit NH family who participated in last weekends Warrior Dash at Gunstock.

It was a BLAST!

We are proud of you all for conquering your fears and getting out there and Making It Happen.

Check out the photos of some of the gang below, and make your plans to do to next one!

Kelly and the Punk Rockers do the “Rockeater”!

Got this note from the incredible Kelly L. yesterday, and she said I could share. Keep up the great work Kelly!

Hi Coach!

I’m nearing the end of a week off.  I’m in Saranac Lake until Wednesday, so I’ll see you Thursday and Friday this week.

I participated in the Rockeater in Plattsburgh last weekend with Phil (my boyfriend) and 10 or so coworkers from the hospital he works at in Saranac Lake.  What a great time we had!  I’ve never done anything like that before!   Working out at Get Fit NH really helped me to be able to run in an event like that!  Thank you so much for being such an awesome trainer and thanks to the other trainers too!

I was the oldest one in our crew.  Most of the hospital gang were in their 30’s.  A couple of the women told Phil how inspirational it was that I ran and did well.  That’s pretty cool!  I didn’t really think about that until it was mentioned to him.  I’ll be turning 50 in a couple weeks…hearing stuff like that helps me realize it is just a number!

See you soon,

Kelly

Dietary Displacement – Ummm, What?

I probably first heard of the concept of “dietary displacement” about 8 years ago in an article by Dr. John Berardi. This concept has been expanded on by Ryan Andrews of the PN team in an article you can find by clicking here, where Ryan addresses the term in both the positive and negative sense. I recommend you read the article as it expands further on the concept.

What is dietary displacement?

In simple terms it is filling up with non-nutritious foods instead of healthy ones.

You know what I am talking about.

You can choose to eat the apple you packed in your lunch, or the brownie your co-worker brought in to celebrate her aunt’s brothers sister-in-laws daughter graduating from 3rd grade.

One contributes to your goals, the other makes a deposit in your fat account.

But what about the less obvious choices that can have the same effect?

• Pasta salad instead of spinach salad
• Mashed potatoes instead of mashed cauliflower
• Bagels instead of oatmeal
• Chocolate bar instead of walnuts

It makes a huge difference – no pun intended.

Now that doesn’t mean you can never have a treat.

You just need to remember the 90/10 rule.

Eat nutritious, unprocessed food 90% of the time.

If you do that one thing everything else falls into line pretty quickly.

Because if I am making 90% choices I am:

• Feeling fuller
• Getting a wide variety of vitamins and minerals
• Supporting lean muscle tissue
• Creating a better fat burning environment
• Avoiding the energy (and mood) swings that have me reaching for anything I can shove in
• Not leaving a whole lot of room for junk food

And that leads to a better body, inside and out.

Think about it. When we make “less than optimal” food choices it often creates a downward spiral. I am not talking about a well planned “splurge meal” that fits within the 10% window. I am talking about the one brownie that turns into half the pan of brownies that turns into a weekend sugar blitz that leaves us bloated, tired and probably feeling guilty.

We have all been there.

The good news is that it works both ways.

The more good food choices I make the easier it gets to continue to make good choices.

I mean I just feel better, both physically and about myself, when I eat well.

And when I feel good it leads continuing to make the choices that got me there.

So here’s your assignment:

What’s ONE positive dietary displacement, one nutritious choice you can make TODAY that starts this upward climb?

Let’s hear it!

Coach Dean

Kettlebell Mastery Workshop Registration Now Open

A couple of weeks ago we told you about our Kettlebell Mastery Workshop with our friend and expert Jen Brickey.

As promised, registration is now open, but please don’t delay in getting your registration in, as we are keeping the workshop size to 25 participants.

I am personally very excited to have Jen come up and work with us and refine my own technique and skill. As with any training tool the better you are at the basics the more versatile and effective it becomes, and kettlebells are certainly no exception. We are fortunate to have Jen come up and spend a couple hours with us, and she kept the cost super low because I am such a good guy! 🙂

Get that registration in today! We set the payment page up so if you are registering for two you can pay for both at the same time to make it a bit easier.

Kettlebell Mastery Workshop with Jen Brickey, RKC

Location: Get Fit NH Concord
Date: October 6th, 2012
Time: 10am to 12pm
Cost: $20.00 per person

Please Click Here To Register

Train Hard. Recover Harder.

There is absolutely no doubt that to change your body for the better – decrease your bodyfat and build the lean muscle that fuels your metabolism and gives you “the look” you need to train hard.

The same applies to positively affect your “numbers” – cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate, etc. Your training program has to be intense enough to elicit positive changes.

But that is not all there is to it.

Awhile ago I read “The 4 Hour Body” by Tim Ferriss. In it he articulates a very important training principle that he calls the “Minimum Effective Dose (MED)”.

The minimum effective dose is defined succinctly:

The Smallest Dose That Will Produce A Desired Outcome

This is an important but often overlooked factor in training.

Basically the approach is asking the question “What Is Enough?”

When we design our training, that is a factor that is considered often. You see there is a big difference between being a “workout junkie” and just wanting to do more because you like to sweat, and truly effective training.

The MED is so important because for many of us our ability to recover is compromised by, well frankly, life.

Remember these charts?

The first shows what we want our recovery to look like. Training followed by adaptation and supercompensation, leading to continual (if not necessarily linear) improvement.

The second shows training followed by depletion (lack of recovery), in a downward spiral.

What determines which path your are currently on?

In large part it is determined by how you are recovering from your training, not just the training itself. That is not to say that training is not a factor, because it is – remember “minimum effective dose”. But beyond that, there are other factors that are in play:

• Stress, physical and emotional
• Injury
• Inadequate sleep
• Less than optimal nutrition
• No rest days
• In short, Life!

You should not be sore for days after you train, at least not very often. If you are, it’s time to talk to your coach and figure out what’s going on.

Here’s some questions you need to ask yourself:

• Am I taking advantage of proper post-training nutrition?
• Am I getting enough sleep? (7-9 hours)
• Am I eating adequate amounts of protein, vegetables, fiber and healthy fats?
• Is sugar too big a part of my diet?
• Am I taking a multivitamin and getting enough essential fatty acids (fish oil, etc.)
• Am I using my recovery days to recover, or just “different” exercise?
• Do I use bodywork such as massage or ART to help speed recovery?
• Do I turn off the TV and just take some quiet time to de-stress?

There isn’t any big mystery if too many of these things are going undone. Inadequate recovery makes you more susceptible to injury and illness, and all the things mentioned above are pieces of the recovery puzzle.

Train Hard?

Absolutely!

Just don’t forget that Recovery IS part of the training program too.

If you have any questions, post them below.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

FLAG Unfurled!

Did you know Get Fit NH has a FLAG?

As promised, our Fat Loss Accountability Group is now open to accept a limited amount of new members.

To unfurl our FLAG, we will meet either Wednesday, September 26th or Saturday, September 29th for a “Cooking with the Carlson’s – Behind the Scenes Planning and Prepping Meals” seminar and get together. The final date will be announced soon.

This is an exclusive meeting for FLAG members, so don’t miss getting in on the action!

If you are interested in becoming part of FLAG, Fat Loss Accountability Group, please call me (Coach Nancy) so I can answer questions, and if you are all ready to go you can sign up at here.

My number is 344-2651. Please call me, I won’t twist your arm or pressure you into our group. FLAG takes work. It is not for everyone. But please call me so we can chat.

The hard works has its rewards in benefits like a body you enjoy seeing each morning, healthier insides for a healthier you, accountability to yourself, and a coach to help you along your way.

To your best health,

Nancy

What’s In Your Cupboard?

I went shopping yesterday.

“Big deal” you may be saying, “Why should I care about your grocery shopping?”

Well many of you have asked me “What do you eat? How do you make PPW (Protein, Produce, and Water) a reality?”

I thought I might answer that question with a few pictures. While you won’t see exactly what lunch or dinner is (Lunch was Salmon cakes, salad, and Deb’s Cucumber salad, while dinner is Grilled Enchilada Salad) you will see what I use to fix our meals.

Our cupboards for our dry goods is filled with spices, tuna, natural peanut butter, and things like ketchup and mustard. The Salmon was here until lunch time. This is it besides a big box of oatmeal, dried beans, almonds. Those are down below so the kids can reach it.

Here’s the fridge. All the typical stuff is here. Veggies located in the bins below but also scattered throughout the place. My rule of thumb is that my grocery cart should not be overloaded with fruit. An equal amount or more of veggies should be included.

The white bowl on the top shelf is full of hard boiled eggs.  There are over 48 eggs in the picture along with 5 family size containers of yogurt. They both make a great snack – quick and easy.

And the freezer? Its been stocked with frozen veggies, some of which are from our garden. Frozen shrimp, chicken, and also frozen fruit. I guess I didn’t need to say ‘frozen’; Imagine that frozen food in a freezer? 🙂

Meal Movement is also a main feature in our freezer. If you haven’t checked out the benefits of Meal Movement, find out more here.

And then finally the picture of my counter (I avoided the piles of papers and stuff that piles high only to clutter). You’ll see the fresh fruit my family enjoys eating.

If you see me at the grocery store, say hi. What’s in the grocery cart won’t embarrass me. I am not always perfectly compliant. No one is. But in general what you see is Protein, Produce, and Water.

Hope you enjoyed taking a peek into the Carlson’s Cupboards.

Now ask yourself “What’s in YOUR cupboard?”

To your best health, Nancy

Massage Therapy. Does The Body Good (plus 25% off your first visit)

We are very fortunate to have some great strategic health partners and allied health professionals in our network.

We only look to partner with those pros who are going to help you (and us) get better. The benefits of regular bodywork in particular have been extolled many times in this blog – Massage, ART, and Chiropractic can all help recover not only from training, but the everyday stress of life. What’s in it for your coaches is that we are able to talk specifics with your treatment provider (with your permission of course) and tailor your training around any limitations or movement deficiencies you currently have. This is very important! Rarely can you just “work through” and injury or limitation, and the more we know the better.

I also want to remind you that one of the benefits of being a client of Get Fit NH is the standing 10% discount to both Chichester Massage and Peace & Balance Body Therapies.

Christen over at Peace & Balance has also very generously provided an additional service discount for first time clients of 25% off – you would be kinda nuts not to take advantage! 🙂  Christen is right down the street from our Concord facility, and has even left cards at the gym with directions.

Take advantage of these client benefits, and do your body some good!