Sundae Surprise!
As a light and refreshing dessert or a summertime snack for the kids, this easy to make, delicious and nutritious recipe is sure to please!
As a light and refreshing dessert or a summertime snack for the kids, this easy to make, delicious and nutritious recipe is sure to please!
6:00pm Epsom had a little retirement party in honor of the awesome Fran Lufkin, who seemed quite content to leave her nursing job at the state prison behind. Who can blame her?
If you haven’t met Fran – you are missing a treat! Our kids love playing ball with her before class and running the hills with her!
Now that you’ve grown up Fran, what are ya gonna do with your life? 🙂
Keep Making It Happen!
It’s not what you know…
…it’s what you do.
Knowledge is *not* power.
Applied knowledge is.
There are plenty of people that buy every diet book going, read every blog and grab the latest copies of fitness mags the minute they hit the shelves…
…and never lose a pound.
Plenty of people buying every new internet marketing product as soon as they’re launched…
…and have yet to put up a site of their own.
The truth is this: it’s rarely a lack of ideas, opportunity or knowledge that prevent people from accomplishing big things.
It’s a lack of action.
It doesn’t take a world class plan to be successful.
It doesn’t take an MBA to run a business.
It takes getting up and doing something – every day.
Figuring out what you need to improve upon along the way.
Then doing even more.
It’s not rocket science, but it will set you apart from the crowd
because when it’s all said and done – more is said than done 😉
To your success,
Coach Nancy
Looking for a cool salad to fill you up this summer? Here’s a delicious recipe from my partners over at Prograde Nutrition for you.
Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and Avocado Salad
1 medium ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 bag (10 oz.) torn romaine lettuce (about 10 cups)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
1 small cucumber, sliced
¼ of a medium Vidalia or Walla Walla onion, chopped
½ cup Red Pepper
½ cup Light or Fat-free Italian Dressing
¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
Directions:
Toss avocados with lemon juice in large salad bowl.
Add lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions; mix lightly.
Add dressing; toss to coat.
Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Serve immediately.
If you like this one they’ve got 196 more! Seriously, Prograde has a really cool 197 Healthy and Delicious Fat Burning Recipes ebook for just $4.95!
Check it out here: http://getfitnhbootcamp.getprograde.com/prograderecipebook.html
Make It Happen,
Nancy
PS – If you’ve been on the lookout for simple and nutritious meals then look no further than http://getfitnhbootcamp.getprograde.com/prograderecipebook.html
We have seen all sorts of ways to use resistance bands, but I thought this setup was pretty cool!
Guess Who?
I am a big proponent of saving time when cooking. I’m just too busy to waste much of it, aren’t you?
To help with my meal preparation I often make many meals in one day and use them throughout the week or freeze them for another time. Here are five recipes I make using 5 pounds of ground beef/buffalo.
An added bonus – I only have to clean up one mess!
Meal one- Hamburgers
Meal two- Taco Salad
Meal three- Thai Ground Beef
Meal four- Spaghetti Sauce
Meal five- Meatballs on the Fly
Hamburgers
I’m not sure I need to explain how to do this….. but for those who might need to know. Divide the pound of ground beef into four rounds and shape them into patties. From there grill over medium heat until no longer pink in center. Serve each on a bed of lettuce with a slice of tomato and onion.
Tacos
Again sounds simple but here you go.
1 pound ground beef
½ cup of water
1 medium onion
2 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspo0n cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
Brown the beef along with the onion and the garlic. Drain off the fat and add the water and spices. Continue to cook until liquid is evaporated, about 20 minutes.
Serve with:
lettuce
tomato
chopped onion
olive slices
cheddar cheese
salsa
hot sauce
black beans
refried beans
Thai Ground Beef
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1/3 head of cabbage, shredded fine
1 small onion cut into ½ inch cubes
1 green pepper, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 Tablespoons of natural peanut butter
2 Tablespoons of chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
Place ground beef that has been browned into a pan with the cabbage, onion, and green pepper. Cook over medium heat until veggies are soft. Add the peanut butter, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Enjoy.
Spaghetti Sauce
1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teasponn basil
½ teaspoon marjoram
¼ rosemary leaves
1 bay leaf
16-24 ounces tomato sauce
Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic. When the beef is no longer pink, drain excess fat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 1 hour.
We serve this spaghetti sauce over Vegetable Fettucini or cooked spaghetti sauce.
Meatballs on the fly
1 pound meatballs
2 8oz can diced tomatoes
1 red pepper diced or sliced (how ever you prefer)
1 leek thinly chopped
1 bag of spinach
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp oregano
4 minced garlic cloves or 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Simmer for 20 min in a large sauce pan and serve!
To make the meatballs-combine ground beef, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon sage, ½ teaspoon basil. Roll into balls and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
A few tips I’ve found help save even more time:
I brown all three pounds of meat together and then separate them. While they are browning I get the hamburgers and meatballs ready.
While things are cooking I get the veggies all ready. I start with the meal I am going to be eating right away and then work down the list. If I don’t get all the meals done when the hamburgers are ready I can pack all the veggies together to cook later or I finish preparing the meals after we eat.
Since hamburgers are best right away, I eat this meal first while the others can be reheated.
Get in the kitchen, get it done, get out of the kitchen – love it!
Make It Happen,
Nancy
Guest Post by Get Fit NH Bootcamp Member Helen Dutton
This morning at boot camp, someone joked with me, “Why are you in this class, anyway?” Good question (on some days, more than others as I struggle through an exercise) and it’s caused me to look again at my fitness goals.
Ask anyone why they are exercising or watching what they eat and chances are the answer is “I want to lose weight” or perhaps “I want to get in shape.” Those are great goals, but what is the reason for wanting to lose weight or to get in shape? Without a reason, we lack the incentive to reach the goal.
Think about it this way: if you decided to take a trip and randomly chose a location, with no reason for randomly choosing a location, how motivated would you be to start driving? For example, the city name that just popped into my head is “Tulsa.” I don’t know anyone there and I don’t know of any historical landmarks or cultural significance. Before you send this off to your cousin in Tulsa who will be outraged, let me say that I’m not saying those things don’t exist, just that I don’t know of any. How motivated am I to pack up, put my New Hampshire life on hold, and drive to Tulsa? Don’t count on seeing my bumper leave our state. If my reason for visiting Tulsa is adventure or to discover new places, this trip would be fun – and it would be fulfilling my underlying goal of adventure or discovery.
So back to why am I, and you, at boot camp? Complete these sentences to find your deep-down reason:
I am at boot camp (or taking Metabolism Makeover) so that…(fill in the blank – answer A);
—And I want (A) so that … (fill in the blank – answer B);
——And I want (B) so that … (fill in the blank – answer C);
———And I want (C) so that … (fill in the blank – answer D).
It might look something like this:
I am at boot camp so that I lose weight;
—And I want to lose weight so that my clothes fit better;
——And I want my clothes to fit better so that I don’t have to worry about what to wear every day;
———And I don’t want to worry about what to wear every day so that my days start out easily;
————And I want my days to start out easily so that I have plenty of mental energy for the day.
So for me, my reason for doing squats, lunges, crossover push-ups (seriously, Dean?) is all about having more energy. Now THAT is motivating to me and keeps me going.
Try this exercise out – you won’t be sore and you will be motivated at a whole new level.
Helen Dutton, A Vision of Your Own LLC, has been coaching business owners since 2000 to achieve business and personal excellence with ease. By clarifying goals and intelligent focus, her clients discover more accomplishment and higher satisfaction in their thriving, energetic business ventures. In her spare time, she discovers more energy at boot camp.
Here’s a sneak preview of one of the tools in the “Fat Loss Toolbox”, which is included in the “Your Metabolism Makeover” nutrition coaching course.
Many times people will give me a ton of “reasons” why they just “can’t lose weight”. Sometimes there are legitimate medical challenges that make weight loss difficult, but that is a very small percentage of us
1. You are eating TOO much. Even if you are carefully measuring and planning your main meals, extra calories can sneak in during snack. It is VERY common to significantly under-estimating the number of calories you are consuming on a daily basis. If you’re not sure, write down everything you eat for one whole week.
2. You are not eating enough. You need to create a caloric deficit by reducing you calorie intake slightly. If you go too far below your maintenance calories, your body goes into starvation mode; sheds muscle and stores calories as fat, for a future energy source. Not eating enough supportive foods also lowers the amount of calories you burn….less thermic meals = less body fat burned.
3. You are not lifting weights: Cardio burns calories but it doesn’t boost your metabolism. Resistance training is *critical* to maintaining your muscle and tone. If you’re not lifting weights while trying to lose body fat, you will lose muscle and tone and your metabolic rate will decrease causing you to burn fewer calories 24 hour-a-day!
4. You are simply not exercising anywhere near enough! You can only decrease your caloric intake so much before you start losing your fat burning muscle. The only other alternative is to increase calories out. VERY FEW people are successful at losing weight AND keeping it off without exercising almost everyday!! Make it a rule to be active at the very least 30 minutes a day.
If you’re having trouble losing weight, 20 minutes of exercise three times a week isn’t going to cut it! Most people who tell me they are *really serious* about losing weight are not willing to do what it takes to get where they want to be. If you’re not willing to make exercise a *serious* priority in your life, your chances of succeeding at losing weight and keeping it off are VERY small!
5. Are you impatient? Are you looking for *instant* results? When it doesn’t happen, you may give up. You HAVE to be resolved to the fact that it takes the integration of the Factors of Fat Loss and change WILL be slow yet steady! Try focusing on progress, not perfection.
6. Are you any skipping meals? If so, do not expect to see results. Skipping meals slows your metabolism causing body to store calories rather than burn them
7. Are you eating sugary foods or simple / refined carbohydrates? White rice, white (non whole wheat) flour products, white pastas, soft drinks , sweetened drinks – like juice, and the hundreds of products that contain added sugar that’s deceptively listed on ingredient lists with names like sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, etc. turns off the hormones responsible for releasing your body fat and instead turns ON the hormones that store fat.
8. How many alcoholic drinks do you have each week? Alcohol stimulates your appetite, slows your metabolism, and it’s loaded with empty (sugar) calories!
9. Are you having fruits and/or vegetables EVERY time you eat? Are you taking your multivitamin supplements every day?
10. Are you planning and preparing your meals ahead of time? If you have not planned your meals, you are more likely to cheat and find yourself off track.
As you can see, fat loss can be VERY difficult……and can seem very confusing! Too little, too much, do this, do that…UGGHH!
Don’t stress out!
We offer the nutrition coaching you need to get it all figured out and achieve permanent fat loss. It’s up to you to get on board.
If you are ready to take the next step and get serious about your nutrition, the next 12-week “Your Metabolism Makeover” nutrition coaching course begins June 9, 2010 @ 6:30pm.
There are literally thousands of products on the market that claim to burn fat and help you lose weight. Do they work? Well I think the best way I can put it is like this – If your house was on fire, would you use a thimble to put it out? Here’s what I mean; the small amount that some of these products might affect your metabolic rate, or ability to burn bodyfat will be far overshadowed if you don’t have a proper nutrition plan in place. Eating cheesecake and popping a pill is not going to get it done!
That being said, there is such a thing as “Sensible Supplementation”.
Let me explain.
Supplementation gives your body the nutrients it needs without adding calories. It is virtually impossible to satisfy your body’s nutritional needs with the number of calories recommended to lose fat. In addition, due to a typically busy lifestyle, it is difficult to eat perfectly every day for the rest of your life. Therefore, when following a fitness program, muscles become undernourished, causing your body to shed the muscle it can’t feed. By supplying the body with the nutrients it needs without additional calories, (e.g., a multivitamins), you can help satisfy all your nutritional needs for repair and growth without exceeding the amount of calories your body needs to maintain the mandatory deficit for fat loss.
The benefits of using supplements as low-calorie nutrition during an exercise program are well researched. The daily use of a multivitamin formula has been found to be the most inexpensive nutritional insurance
The reason behind adding supplements to your daily meals is to supply the body with calorie-free nutrition and select compounds that have the potential to improve health, alter body composition and increase performance and metabolic rate.
The Categories and Uses of Supplements
A multivitamin formula is the foundation of any complete fitness program. Additional vitamins and minerals will boost your nutrient intake beyond what is available through the foods you eat. These additional nutrients allow cells to reach their potential creating the ideal environment for positive physical change. Taking other supplements before creating a nutritional foundation is like adding expensive accessories to a car that doesn’t run properly.
Altering Body Composition
It is difficult to get enough nutrients from your normal diet to support your fitness goals. Any time there is an increase in cellular activity, as during exercise, the body increases its use of nutrients. By supplying these nutrients without additional calories, the attempt is made to satisfy all nutrient needs for repair and growth without exceeding the amount of calories needed to sustain the mandatory deficit for fat loss. When undernourished, the body must shed the muscle it cannot feed.
Increasing Performance and Metabolism
Specific nutrients and combinations of nutrients have been found to improve exercise performance and increase the calories burned during and after exercise. Supplying the body with calorie-free nutrients can improve performance and, therefore, assist with fat-loss and muscle-gain goals.
Sensible supplementation is recommended in order to supply the body with the right combination of calorie-free nutrients and compounds that have the potential to enhance performance, reduce body fat, increase muscle and/or improve health. Proper supplementation creates the environment your body needs to get maximum results.
So what do I take?
There are two primary supplements that I recommend be taken for the purposes discusses above. A multivitamin, and an essential fatty acid product, such as fish oil, krill oil or flax seed. There are dozens if not hundreds of options on the shelves, but we recommend taking a whole food supplement, such as the one our partners at Prograde Nutrition manufacturer. There core product is called VGF 25+, which is a whole food multivitamin that comes in separate formulas for women and men. Prograde also produces their own EFA, called “EFA Icon”.
I recommend you visit the Prograde site and take a kook art which of these products is right for you.
You have heard the saying over and over.
“A picture is worth a thousand words”
Much of the time I hear that and think to myself “I can think of plenty of pictures that weren’t worth saying any words”
This is NOT one of those pictures.
And while I am not going to write one thousand words, I am going to offer a few and let you fill in the blanks.
You see every time you walk in the gym you have a choice.
Give it your all, every ounce of effort you have, or not.
Pick up the heavier weight.
Do the burpee instead of the jumping jack.
Grab the Green Bands for partner band rows.
That’s what these ladies did.
You may not see them all clearly, but there are 8 ladies in total – 4 partners.
They are all using the heavy green bands to perform their rows.
You know the best part?
They went and got them on their own!
No arm twisting or convincing – they were ready for the challenge, and they went for it.
So when you see Deb, Mary, Barbara, Stacey, Kristin, Becky, Tracy and Karyn, you better hold on…
You better suck it up…
You better get ready to get thrashed…
Because these ladies take no prisoners and never back down.
Now it’s your turn.
Make It Happen!
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