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

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!

Fran-tastic Retires!

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!

Action Plan + Daily Habits + Supportive Activies = Reaching Your Goal

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

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and Avocado Salad

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

Guess Who Innovated This Unique Band Setup?

We have seen all sorts of ways to use resistance bands, but I thought this setup was pretty cool!

Guess Who?

Five Meals Made Easy

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