7 Simple Steps for Snoozing

The perfect night’s sleep is everyone’s dream, but few actually achieve it on a regular basis. These simple steps could be the key to your perfect night’s sleep.

1. A bedtime ritual is key to winding down. Get in the habit of doing the same activities 30 minutes before you climb into bed.  A warm bath touched with a few drops of lavender oil in the water will enhance your relaxation.  Also try to avoid stressful stimulation from the evening news or violent movies, instead listen to soothing music.

2. Avoid stimulants, stay away from tobacco, caffeine, alcohol, and sugar, particularly in the afternoon and evening.  Don’t eat anything two hours before bedtime unless you need a protein snack to deal with a low blood–sugar problem.

3. Sleepy time snacks. There’s a reason everyone wants to take a nap after that big Thanksgiving meal. Turkey is loaded with the amino acid tryptophan that manufactures serotonin, which is crucial for sleep. Tryptophan is also abundant in fish, dairy, eggs, bananas, figs, pineapples, nut butter, and tuna—all good foods to eat.

4. Vitamins B complex helps in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, so a good vitamin B supplement along with at least 200 mg of vitamin C is sleep insurance. A calcium/magnesium supplement can also be effective for relaxing tense muscles.

5. A dose of helpful herbs can be found in a cup of chamomile tea. This hot tea is a soothing way to end the day. It has a tranquilizing effect, induces sleep, and improves sleep quality.

6. Expend energy through a long walk,  a bike ride, working out at Get Fit NH Bootcamp with all the great 6 PMers— all produce endorphins. (The exercise does that not the 6 PMers LOL) The endorphins help ease depression and improve sleep. But observe the two-hour rule by stopping physical activity at least two hours before bedtime.

7. Make your bedroom a quiet place. Keep the room dark and cool. Remove the TV, computer, and even the clock if these items make you restless. A comfortable bed and pillow are going to be key items if you want to sleep well.

Relax—you’ve earned it. You’ll be just a nod away from sweet dreams.

Coach Nancy

“Fresh” The Movie

New Thinking About What We’re Eating

With such a great response to our showing of the movie “Food Inc”, we’ve purchased a license to show “Fresh”.

“Fresh” is a movie by Ana Sofia Joanes. During the movie she addresses the issues around the sustainable food movement. With important topics like community, economics, environment, factory farming, eating and buying local, organic, pasture-raised, pesticides, waste, health, biodiversity, and animal welfare it will speak to everyone.

We’ll be showing Fresh at our Epsom location on August 21^st at 5:30pm. We always have a great time when we get all our classes together (lots of trash talk :). We will have refreshments, post-movie discussion and a ton of fun. Please RSVP.

http://www.freshthemovie.com/

10 Ways To Eat Fresh

1. Plant your own backyard garden or patio garden. Do you have a green thumb? Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, herbs, lettuces, and many more veggies and fruits can be as easy to pick as going to your own backyard. Not much of a green thumb? Small patio containers will supplement your family’s dinner nicely.

2. Free Food is always wonderful. Raspberries and blueberries can be found many times while walking along your favorite trail or next to the road. Please be sure to ask the landowner first. There are many logging areas near us and before the trees take over often wild berries thrive. Along a stream we’ve often found grapes in September.

3. Visit a Farmer’s Market or Farm Stand. These farmers grow and raise everything. So if your garden didn’t do too well or if you would like a vegetable that you didn’t plant, visit a farm near you. The Farmer’s Market in Concord which operates each Saturday morning sells veggies, fruit, free range meats, eggs, honey, jams, and many other items you remember from your grandmother’s kitchen.

4. Welcome Localvores! Nothing is more local than buying New Hampshire raised meats. Miles Smith Farm in Loudon raise Scottish Highlander and Angus beef . You can visit their store to select beef that is naturally raised without hormones or antibiotics.

Please call 603 783- 5159 or visit http://www.milessmithfarm.net for more information.

5. PYO- Pick Your Own Farms are plentiful in New England. Whether it is blueberries from Lyon Berry Farm 986 Route 129, 435-7640 or apples from  Appleview Orchard. You can find many other fruits, veggies, maple syrup, and even Christmas tress at local farms. Check out this site for more information. http://www.pickyourown.org/NH.htm

6. Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)- Milk and Honey Farm from  Canterbury have summer and winter shares of crops. They grow them and you pick them up. You can have fresh all year round and not have to get your fingers dirty. They also sell seedlings in the Spring for your garden.

7. The Seacoast is close  enough we can almost smell the salt air. Our favorite market is Durham Market Place. The drive is worth the time. They have so many varieties of seafood fresh from our shores. It’s the only place I go for fresh tuna steaks. Every Monday they host a Farmer’s Market so you can take advantage of fresh produce as well.

8. Support restaurants and food vendors that buy locally produced food. The Celery Stick Café found in The Concord Food Coop prepares foods from seasonal local produce.

9. Buy from a local specialty store or food coop. The Concord Food Coop has a full-service natural foods grocery store with an extensive organic and local produce department along with a variety of natural food, health, body, and household products. Celery Stick Café prepared foods and seasonal local produce are available at both stores.

10. COOK! Our culture has forgotten the joys of cooking.  Cooking your own food is better for you, saves money and passes a skill to your children. With a little planning cooking doesn’t have to be a chore.

FitGoal Overview

Beat The Wheat

Gluten is a combination of proteins found in wheat, rye, and barley. For some Americans gluten is a problem.

One reason is an autoimmune condition called celiac disease. In this condition, the body reacts to proteins in gluten as though they were harmful. The immune responds by producing inflammation within the small intestine.

Inflammation is normally a healthful mechanism for fighting off harmful invaders. With celiac disease, the response is misdirected. Celiac disease can lead to diarrhea, gas, bloating, constipation, or any of more than 300 other symptoms—and possibly to more serious problems such as anemia, infertility, or cancer.

Getting Diagnosed:
If your physician suspects you might have celiac disease, diagnosis typically takes place in three steps. The first is usually a blood analysis that tests for high levels of certain antibodies typical of celiac. If the blood test results warrant further examination, your doctor may recommend an intestinal biopsy, an outpatient procedure that removes a small amount of intestinal tissue for evaluation. Should the biopsy reveal damaged villi in your small intestine, then the last and conclusive test is undertaken: the gluten-free diet.

A celiac patient who follows a gluten-free diet—and stays away from wheat, rye, and barley in all their forms—stands an excellent chance of preventing further damage to the intestine wall. The villi will heal or grow back and nutritional deficiencies can be corrected.

Gluten Sensitivity:
What if the diagnosis is negative, yet you still feel uncomfortable after eating bread, cereals, or pasta? As many as one person in seven experiences what’s called a wheat intolerance. Unlike celiac disease, the symptoms of wheat intolerance may not appear for two or three days after ingestion, and that makes the condition hard to diagnose.

Symptoms may include bloating, cramping, diarrhea, flatulence, or constipation. Skin rashes are a possibility, as well as food cravings, tiredness, chronic fatigue, or just feeling generally unwell. Even depression can stem from wheat intolerance. But remember: Other food allergies can also produce uncomfortable symptoms. Its not hard to see how difficult it can be to detect. Often your doctor will recommend an elimination diet.

Where to Start:
If you decide to go gluten free, the best way to begin is to remove from your diet all protein deriving in any way from wheat, barley, rye, or the hybrids of those grains. All other foods are safe, with the possible exception of oats, about which there is some difference of opinion among researchers. Some believe that moderate consumption of oats is allowable on a gluten-free diet, although there does remain the issue of cross-contamination—that is, gluten finding its way into oats during harvesting, shipment, or processing. (For that reason, several producers of oats certify their products to be ìgluten free.î)

But giving up wheat leaves does not mean the end of wonderful eating. There are a lot of tasty alternatives. Consider, for example, millet, rice, sorghum, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, and wild rice.

Food labels are your friends. If a food product contains wheat or wheat protein, the word ìwheatî must be on its label. You will also want to look out for the following ingredients, which may contain traces of wheat: modified food starch, dextrin, maltodextrin, caramel, and glucose syrup. Wheat can pop up in such products as beer, bouillon cubes, candy, sauces, seasoned tofu, and soy products.

For myself, I am allergic to wheat, yeast, and gluten, but I am not a celiac patient. The inflammation I experience occurs in my lungs and esophagus. Think breathing and you’ll understand why I eat very little wheat. My blood test came back positive for allergies to those three items. Why do I share that with you? Being proactive with your health is giving yourself a fighting chance. Until I pushed hard enough to get a blood test done to test for allergies, I was put on steroids and an inhaler to control the inflammation so I could breath properly. If you are experiencing any of the issues mentioned please seek your doctor’s help but you don’t have to wait for a prescription to try a wheat (gluten free diet). Go without for 30 days if you notice a difference, then viola you’ve got some relief and a few answers.

What’s With The Funny Shoes?

So this week Nancy and I started sporting some new footwear – Vibram Five Fingers –  and they have generated a lot of interesting conversation this week.

Those of you who have been in a Get Fit NH Bootcamp class with Dr. Dave have seen them before, and we credit him for the discovery. Dave runs in them, and turned us on to the book “Born To Run”, written by Christopher McDougall.  I can’t describe this book any better than Amazon.com does: “Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.”

Now if you know anything about me, you know that I have no love for running, on many levels. However if you insist on beating the snot out of your joints in this way (just kidding – sort of) do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

So if I am not going to run in them, you may be asking yourself, what’s the point?

It has everything to do with joint health and proper exercise mechanics. For those of you who are, ummm, mature enough, you probably remember “Chuck Taylor” basketball sneakers. They were (and maybe still are) popular again not all that long ago. Well “Chucks” are the preferred shoe for many powerlifters and strength athletes, particularly when squatting and deadlifting, as they have a flat sole and encourage proper lifting mechanics. The challenge with them is that they aren’t really good in a cross-training environment like bootcamp for the same reasons.

You see when we wear those fancy shoes that support our feet and arches in 900 different ways we can actually do more harm than good. Your body was designed in a very logical manner, joint by joint. As you move up the kinetic chain, each joint is designed to alternate between MOBILITY and STABILITY.

The ankle is designed to be MOBILE.

The knee is designed to be STABLE.

The hip is designed to be MOBILE.

The lumbar spine STABLE.

The thoracic spine MOBILE, etc…all the way up the chain.

So when we over-stabilize the first joint, the ankle, the next joint wants to “make up” that lack of mobility. Unfortunately that next joint is the knee, and stiff ankles often leads to sore and injured knees, which are now moving in a way they were not designed. This can also happen when the hips have less than the optimum mobility. By “freeing” the ankle joint to work properly, you very well may find your knees feel better! The same principle can apply to your lower back. Get the hips working optimally can help relieve low back pain. Pretty cool.

So what’s the solution? GO BAREFOOT! In fact when we opened the Epsom facility we discussed it being a barefoot gym. We decided for a few reasons not to go that route.

And then comes Dr. Dave and his Vibram Five Fingers. Perfect solution! When I heard Joe Kings in Concord started carrying them, we were all over it. (No, I don’t a make a penny from Joe Kings or Vibram)

So how’s it going after a week? I can tell you they take some getting used to; just getting them on takes awhile at first. The first two days my feet were sore – it was pretty apparent that my foot muscles were weak. Today is day five, and I hardly notice I am wearing them. They actually feel really good! I am already squatting better and lower than I was – which is pretty exciting for me.

Some of you have already joined us by training barefoot, and some of you already were. I would urge you to pick up a copy of “Born To Run”  and do a little research into this craziness yourself. One precaution – ease yourself into the barefoot thing. Running right away will cause you nothing but pain. Your foot needs to strengthen before you go nuts.

My biggest problem now? Nancy discovered they sell pink Vibrams – looks like she may have TWO pairs!

Make It Happen!

Dean

Chicken Salad with Yogurt Ranch Dressing

Thank-you to superstar client Becky for sharing her take on this tasty recipe with us. Make sure you check out her notes at the bottom!

Serves 4

Chicken Salad:
1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones discarded and meat shredded OR
1 lb. cold cooked chicken, shredded or diced
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1/3 seedless cucumber, chopped
2 ribs celery from the heart, thinly sliced on an angle
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

Yogurt Dressing:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
1 cup. reduced-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt
Small handful dill, parsley, and chives; finely chopped
Three dashes hot sauce or to taste

In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and vinegar; season with salt and pepper.  Stir in the yogurt, herbs, and hot sauce.  Add the chicken, bell pepper, onion, cucumber, and celery; season with salt and pepper. Top the salad with the tomatoes.

Notes from Becky:
I used white vinegar (instead of the white wine vinegar) as that is what I had.
I used Vidalia onion since I think that is sweeter than the red (and I don’t really  care for raw red onion).
I mixed the tomatoes in to the salad rather than putting them on the top.
This makes a large amount. We got at least 6 servings—I guess it depends on
how large of a serving you have! ?

And just to give credit where credit is due–I got the original recipe from the magazine “Every Day with Rachel Ray” August 2010 issue, pg. 103.

Frozen Watermelon Pops

Your kids (and you) will love these cool summer treats, with no added sugar!

It’s so easy, even Dean can do it! 🙂

I’m Fit, Right?

What does it mean to “Be Fit”?

To assess “being fit” we view overall health as three legs of the same stool; Health Markers, Fitness Performance Markers and Body Composition Markers. Without each of those being taken into consideration, overall health and fitness is compromised. Two legged stools are pretty hard to sit on!

For instance we have seen members in the first responder community who can pass a base line fitness test which is all about numbers, but who are overweight, have high blood pressure and cholesterol levels out the roof. They could hardly be considered fit. Not picking on first responders, as many of us are in the same boat. Just saying there is more to it than “passing the test”.

At Get Fit NH Bootcamp we also perform a physical fitness test, but this is not a test you can fail. During a one minute time frame each client will do a certain exercise to the best of their ability. We do this with five different exercises in order to get a good judge of overall physical fitness abilities. (Some might be great at squats but have a difficult time with push ups, so one exercise will not be an overall judge) We repeat this test every four to six weeks, with the goal being to see improvement.

This improvement might come in way of the amount of the exercises being done or how they are done. But in real life most will not give two hoots how many pushups and situps they can do or how fast they can run, but they will care that they are improving.

We use these tests to demonstrate the efficacy of the program as well as show our members how much their hard work is paying off. If you have a women who could do no pushups the first time around but 8 weeks later can do 5 rock solid pushups, that is more important than being able to push an arbitrary number just to pass a test. We can then set goals for the next phase of training.

But fitness tests are just one leg of the stool. We also need to consider health markers such as blood pressure and cholesterol. It is more critical from a health standpoint for these numbers to be in line, as they are predictors of health challenges such as diabetes and heart disease.

Here are the baselines we use.

Blood Pressure: <120/80

Cholesterol:
Recommended Total: <200 mg/dl
Recommended LDL: <100 mg/dl
Recommended HDL: >50 mg/dl
Fasting Blood Glucose: <100 mg/dl

Triglycerides: Recommended: <150 mg/dl

Finally Body Composition Markers. We need to know a bit about how our body is put together- The ratio of our lean body mass to fat percentage. An easy way you can do this at home is with a quick trip around our middle.

Waist Circumference:
Women: <35″
Men: <40″

So don’t just look at one set of numbers. When we are looking for accurate predictors of overall health, all these factors should be considered. 

So what do you think now? Do you know all your “numbers”?

Do they tell you that you are “Fit”?

To your overall health,
Nancy and Dean

Nancy Dishes On Food Prep

Busy mom, fitness pro and food prep expert Nancy Carlson chats with our Your Metabolism Makeover class on planning, preparation and persistence.

Here’s your chance to listen in to her great tips and tricks for getting it all done.

Click the link below to listen in!

Nancy Dishes on Food Prep