You Spoke, We Listened!

File this under “You asked for it, you got it”!

Our Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown Contest is in full swing, with only a few more weeks to go.

You are doing a great job with the contest:

Your pants are getting looser…

The class competition is getting tighter…

and you are throwing more trash talk my way than ever!

In spite of the fact that you are doing your best to hurt my feelings, due to overwhelming demand we have decided to extend the S3 contest…

One More Week!

Why?

Two primary reasons:

First it’s April vacation next week, and many of you are going away. We wanted you to have a couple weeks after vacation to tighten it up, get back on track, and make your final push. If you are not going away – even better – you have one more week to Make It a Happen!

Second, the first week of May is a short week. Don’t miss this! We will be meeting Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only the week of May 3rd.

Because of these two facts, we are going to end the Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown on Friday, May 14th. Your final weigh-in will be the last day you train during that week, and you must weigh-in no later than Friday.

I am really looking forward to seeing you take advantage of the extra week and make even better progress!

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Back To School

In my school days I was pretty much on cruise control.

I didn’t study.  I was proficient at cramming. Nose in the book 15 minutes before test time and wow, a fairly good grade was the outcome.

My motto in school was to enjoy life. I had more important things to do than be stuck in a library studying.

Even with that laid back attitude I still kept my 3.5 through high  school and in college a 3.65 (just shy of what Dean achieved). (Actually we had exactly the same GPA, you must be getting old – Love Dean)

Schools don’t really require you to learn to be disciplined.

You can get by and do just fine.

However – personal health and fitness are another story.

You don’t get an award for perfect attendance in life. It’s pretty much expected.

Try going through the motions in a sport practice and you’ll never see the field in  a game.

Fail to perform for a couple of weeks and someone else gets your position.

Sports/Fitness training require the same type of discipline that a long healthy life requires.

You can’t just squeak by. You have to push and push hard. You have to be spot on with your skills and dedication. You have to eat to ensure the best performance in practice so your coach notices and puts you in the line up for the big game. ‘Slacking off’ is not in an athlete’s vocabulary.

So what does that mean for you and me?

Lets apply that to our overall health and well being. How do you want your life to be? Would you like to sit on the sidelines and watch things happen or do you want to make it happen? Each training day should be like challenge. Challenge yourself to push harder, lift more, be faster. What about our eating and nutrition? Sure you can go for a while eating sugar and fast food. But it will catch up with you. That is the danger. Our bodies are so good at handling toxic substance that the wear and tear and mushroom top doesn’t show up right away. We’ve formed bad habits and we don’t see the pain immediately.

Here is where you need to realize food is fuel. Give your body everything it needs to perform at peak performance and you’ll be rewarded. But the old saying applies, “garbage in, garbage out”.

What are you training for? What are you eating for? For me I am training to live and live well.

No guarantees, but I am doing my best to stack the odds in my favor.

You coming with me?

Make it Happen today,

Coach Nancy

Are You Pounding Nails With A Screwdriver?

Before you read this post, I want you to head on over and read Gretchen’s blog on “results” from a couple days ago. She is writing as one of you, someone who isn’t a coach or trainer, someone like Nancy or me you may perceive as having an “unfair advantage”. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Done? Alright then let’s get to it.

The main point I want you to come away with from that post is this – Give Yourself Some Credit!

If you are headed in the right direction, if you have lost even 1 pound, you need to embrace the progress. It is possible that some are doing better than you, and if so I would encourage you to ask them what changes they have made to get where they are at. In fact here are some recent stories we have from your fellow team members. Ask one of them.

Robin writes: “So you may have already heard of my dressing room story. If not I can share it again. I recently visited one of my favorite clothing stores in the mall. I went to the dressing room with my clothes to try on in my usual size. I put them on and I looked like a bag lady. I had to go out and get a smaller size in everything, shirt, skirt, and yes even pants. I was excited.  I am making better choices, preparing my foods ahead of time and not just crabbing things just to eat. I feel better, and people say I look better also. I also love how I can just grab a pair of pants in the morning, after bootcamp of course and they fit, they are even loose. No more imprint of the button in my belly after I have been sitting.”

Or how about this one from “Bride To Be” Amanda

I’m getting married in August, so a little while ago I picked out my wedding dress and they took my measurements, I really didn’t like what they were. So I came to bootcamp and stuck to eating healthy while at home and at work (which was hard) and last Wednesday I went for a dress fitting and I had to hold the dress up because it would have fallen off! I was so proud of what I accomplished and thankful for the support I got from everyone I go to bootcamp with! I now know anything is possible!!

Stories like these two demonstrate that it is possible to make your goals happen, when you are dedicated and persevere.

You must get past the “What If’s”.

“What if I fail?”, or even more insidious “What if I succeed?”

Remember that old song “Free your mind and the rest will follow”? In many ways that is exactly right, and  you need to get your head in the game.

So at the four-week mark of our S3 contest, I want to give you some more tools. Tools that will help us, you and your coach, find some potential trouble spots that are possibly keeping you from where you want to get.

Many of you know of our relationship with Dr. John Berardi and the folks over at Precision Nutrition. We have begun using the assessment tools they have provided as a way for us and you to gain insight in to how to more quickly, easily and painlessly reach your goals.  There are 3 short questionnaires that will just take you a few minutes and will no doubt make a big difference.

Here’s the rub. I am not going to post these on the website. I don’t want any anonymous downloaders. Send me an email with your name and let me know you want to complete the assessments, and I’ll send them to you. Your coach will then be expecting the assessments back to review and then discuss with you. Don’t miss this opportunity to crank it up a notch. I am expecting a bunch of emails.

We have also recently received feedback from Dr. Berardi regarding the one thing our members can do that is extremely easy to do plus will make the biggest difference in fat loss progress. In other words, what is the maximum return on effort that you can possibly get.

Here’s the formula he provided:

Fish Oil (1g / %Body Fat) + multi-vitamin daily

In other words, Dr. Berardi recommends taking 1 gram of high quality fish oil for every percent of bodyfat you carry, plus a multivitamin every day.

So if your bodyfat is 18%  you will take 18 grams of fish oil, spread out evenly between meals, plus a multivitamin, on a daily basis.

Here are a couple simple online calculators that will give you a general idea of what your current bodyfat is so you know how much to take.

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/bfb

http://www.csgnetwork.com/bodyfatcalc.html

Now some of you may be thinking that sounds like a lot of fish oil, but I assure you science backs this recommendation up over and over and over again. I personally have started taking between 10 and 12 grams a day and am a believer. There are some very good fish oils out there, Nordic Naturals has a great reputation among others, but the one I am currently taking is “Members Mark 1400mg w/ 900 Total Omega 3” from Sam’s Club. I researched this particular product to make sure mercury was not an issue, and as far as I can tell it is a good product, and it is very inexpensive.

As far as multivitamins go, my recommendation is sticking with a “whole food” vitamin such as the VGF 25+ from Prograde Nutrition. Most vitamins in the average superstore are synthetic varieties and the research is mixed at best on these formulas. Take a look at the research and decide for yourself, but you need a multivitamin your fat-loss arsenal.

So there you have it.

Now it’s up to you. You have a choice to make. Do you take advantage of these “new tools” or are you going to keep beating on that nail with a screwdriver?

Post your questions below, then Make It Happen!

Six Chicken Dinners In Under 25 Minutes

That’s what the amazing Coach Nancy demonstrated during her live “Cooking With The Carlson’s” portion of our nutrition seminar tonight.

If you think food prep takes forever and you don’t have time to cook, think again. A little patience, perseverance and practice and you’ll be cranking out tasty and creative meals in no time!

We’ve shared all the recipes below, so if you couldn’t make it tonight, you can still make chicken dinner!

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Crock Pot Chicken

1 whole chicken
salt and pepper

Place chicken in crockpot, salt and pepper it. Cover and turn crock pot on low. Cook 6-8 hours. Enjoy.

Variations:
1. Place a lemon pierced with a knife in the cavity of the bird along with several sprigs of fresh parsley.
2. Vary the spices by sprinkling inside and outside the bird with Cajun spices or thyme, paprika, and sage

Kung Pao Chicken

1 pound raw chicken breast, cut into ½ inch cubes
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 inch of ginger, chopped
2 Tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 green pepper cut into 1- inch squares
1 onion cut into 1- inch squares
8-15 dried red chilies, snip off dried stem
8 ounces of sliced water chestnuts, drained
½ cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 Tablespoon natural peanut butter
2 Tablespoon peanut oil

Marinate chicken in garlic, ginger and vinegar while preparing other ingredients, up to several hours in advance
In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 Tablespoon of peanut oil over medium heat. Add chicken and marinade to wok. Stir fry until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken, add another Tablespoon of oil. Stir fry the onions, and peppers, water chestnuts, and chilies until the veggies start to brown. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, peanut sauce, mix thoroughly and serve.

Grilled Chicken

2 pounds of Chicken breast
½ cup rice wine vinegar (can use apple cider vinegar)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 sprigs of thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

Add all ingredients to a Ziploc bag. Marinate for several hours. Grill over medium high heat until done.

Chicken Tenders

1-1 ½ pounds of chicken breast cut into 1/3 inch strips
¾ cup almond meal
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika

Mix all ingredients except the chicken in a ziploc bag. Add the chicken one at a time and shake to coat. Place on a cooking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 400 degrees for 7-15 minutes.

Coconut Chicken

1 pound of chicken breast
2/3 cup coconut
2 Tablespoon coconut oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced

Lay chicken in baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray. Mix the remaining ingredients together and cover chicken with coconut mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and broil for an additional 10 minutes.

Barbeque Chicken

2 pounds of chicken pieces
½ cup cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon celery seed
¼ hot pepper sauce
1/8  teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together except chicken. This can be done in a Ziploc bag to save on dishes. Add the chicken and marinate for 1 hour. Grill chicken pieces over medium high heat for 20 minutes, turn and grill for another 15-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink inside.

Have A Plan?

Plan our menu for the week. Plan for our grocery shopping trip with a list. Plan my day including training. Plan for snacks. Plan for those times we spend with friends and family. Plan, plan, plan.

I am often asked questions about how to lose weight, how to firm up those trouble spots, how to I drink the correct amount of water. I know you aren’t “supposed to”, but I usually answer the question with some of my own. What are you doing now? Are you training when and how you should? What kind of training are you doing? How much are you drinking now?

Guess what? (another question to you, dear reader) All too often the answer is “I don’t know”. Sometimes they might have a general idea, but can’t really pin it down. I get answers like – I usually train four times a week, I drink lots of water, and I sweat a lot. Hmmmm…..

When I hear a response like that, I usually assign some “homework”.  I ask them to write down what they are doing now. Even if you don’t write out your meals for the week you are doing something. You have to eat. So if you don’t have a written plan, what is your unwritten plan? Discovering the present helps us lay the groundwork when changes are needed.

Saying you eat well, to you, might mean you visit a fast food restaurant once a day but not more than that. But my idea of eating well is probably not the same. Part of learning what to do is to find out what may be holding you back.

We human beings are very good at fooling ourselves. It’s the difference between a photo and a mirror.

Many of us look in the mirror and see our bodies as we want to picture them. We fool ourselves. We look in the bathroom mirror and only see from the shoulders up. What about the rest of our body? Find a picture of yourself taken from behind while sitting on a picnic table bench. Not so attractive! That’s what it took for me to stop fooling myself.

Take the time and expend the effort to plan. If you don’t currently have a plan, write down what you are doing now and start to plan. Yes it is work, but the more you do it, the easier it is.

So plan it out. Take that first picture, jot down that first meal, record that first workout.

Without action, nothing happens.

Make it Happen,

Nancy

The Incredible Egg!

We have had more than a few questions regarding the “Eternal Eating” plan that we included in the S3 contest. Once again let me say that before you start any nutrition plan you should consult a qualified nutrition professional to see if this or any other nutrition plan is right for you.

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs. You could potentially eat a bunch of eggs on this plan, and if that makes you uncomfortable, then my suggestion is don’t! There is nothing in the plan that says you have to eat ANY at all, it is just one of three primary options.

It is my personal opinion eggs have gotten a “bad rap” over many years, and research has shown that they are not the cholesterol raising, heart attack causing evil we were led to believe. I would encourage you to research the issue for yourself.

A few alternative perspectives on the subject:

http://jonnybowdenblog.com/remember-“the-incredible-edible-egg”/#more-739

http://chetday.com/eggyolk.htm

http://www.alsearsmd.com/protein-benefits/

http://healthinmotion.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/eggs-the-myth-of-cholesterol-and-exercise/