Please Help Us Support “Carrie’s Kids”

This holiday season I will tie bells to my shoelaces and dust off my reindeer antlers as I participate in the Jingle Bell Run/Walk® for Arthritis, a 5K fun run/walk to benefit the Arthritis Foundation. While we are running we also want to raise money to help for Carrie’s Kids.

Carrie Cates lived in NH for many years, and had moved to Florida with her 5 children to be near her parents. Back when I ran my daycare I used to care for Carrie’s children. We caught up with her again at last years Jingle Bell Run, as Carrie had become an avid runner. She was one of those people who lit up the room with her smile, and it was nice to chat as we hadn’t seen her in a few years.

Carrie was killed October 12, 2009 by a hit and run driver while running. Carrie had planned to fly up to run the Jingle Bell run again this year. We want to carry on her legacy of helping the Arthritis Foundation, but we want to go the extra mile and help Carrie’s children as well. To raise funds area businesses are donating funds to help produce a t-shirt in honor of Carrie, and all the proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go directly to the kids.

Please join us and Run or Walk the Jingle Bell Run. Support the Arthritis Foundation any way you can but please contact me or Monica Apgar to purchase a shirt to wear at the race.

The link to our team page is:

http://concordjbr.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=316970&lis=1&kntae316970=F0EFABDD69BE4B24AE7C5C1E81358266&supId=0&team=3605561&cj=Y

The cost of the shirt to help Carrie’s Kids is $10. The check can be made out to  James Green, c/o “Cates Family Fund” (write on check).

Please post the link to this blog on your Facebook, Twitter, and wherever else you can to spread the word!

Thank-you, and we will see you there!

Nancy

Workout Worldwide!

For Immediate Release: November 11, 2009

Media Contact: Nancy Carlson

NH Personal Trainer Partners with Workout Worldwide to Host World’s Largest Simultaneous Fitness Boot Camp Workout for Charity

WHAT: New Hampshire personal trainers Dean and Nancy Carlson have been selected as one of the top fitness boot camp programs in the world to be a remote site for the inaugural Workout Worldwide event. It will be the world’s largest international charity fitness boot camp workout of all time with all net proceeds going to the American Heart Association. There will also be over 40 remote locations worldwide performing this workout on the same day.

WHEN: Saturday, January 9^th, 2010 from 11 am to 12 pm US EST

WHERE: Get Fit NH Bootcamp

WHO: Anybody 18 years of age and over who is looking to jump-start their fitness for the New Year

ADMISSION: Minimum donation is $20 for non-bootcamp members of the host and remote locations. Please visit www.WorkoutWorldwide.org to learn more about admission fees and prizes to register or email workoutworldwide@gmail.com with questions.

MORE INFORMATION: Please visit www.WorkoutWorldwide.org to learn more about joining the movement or join the WW facebook page at www.facebook.com/workoutworldwide. Please visit http://GetFitNHbootcamp.com to learn more about Get Fit NH Bootcamp.

About Workout Worldwide: Workout Worldwide is a global fitness project focused on reversing the trends of obesity, premature death, and skyrocketing health care costs associated with poor diet and sedentary lifestyles that are crippling our society. The mission of this organization is to change the world one workout at a time via international charity boot camp events that raise money to provide other non-profit organizations with additional resources to better combat these aforementioned trends. In addition, Workout Worldwide seeks to educate the general population regarding simple, safe, and effective ways to eat and exercise to improve overall health, performance, and body composition.

Ah, Sugar, Sugar!

We’ve all heard that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,” but did you know there’s already plenty of the sweet stuff in that decongestant you are swallowing? And your spaghetti sauce? And even the canned veggies you feed your kids?

Carbohydrates include fruit, vegetables, starches (like bread and potatoes), and of course, sweet ole sugar. An essential nutrient, carbohydrates are the body’s main source of both quick and sustained energy. All carbohydrates have approximately four calories of energy per gram of weight.

That doesn’t sound like much, but they add up very fast! When eaten in large quantities, simple carbs (like sugar) provide excessive calories that can ultimately lead to weight gain and other concerning medical issues.

And it’s not just “sugar” that you’ll need to be aware of on your favorite food labels — you’ll need to also recognize the other forms, including honey, raw sugar, turbinado sugar, brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, powdered sugar, high fructose corn syrup, concentrated fruit juice, dextrose, glucose, molasses, corn syrup, maltose, sucrose, xylitol, or mannitol. This list is not all-inclusive, there are more names for sugar on a food label.

Why worry about sugar? Aside from providing empty calories, one of sugar’s major drawbacks is that it raises your insulin levels. An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body’s blood sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to maintain blood sugar at a constant and safe level. Prolonged, elevated insulin levels can increase the risk for disease by causing inflammation within your body and by inhibiting key hormones that regulate the immune system. Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat excessive sweets high in sugar, you’re making way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglycerides, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease.

Are there sugars I can eat? The sugars we need to pay particular attention to are the sugar we add to food. However there are sugars that are naturally found in food, and those count in your overall intake as well

Sugars that occur naturally in foods that also supply key nutrients (“Good Sugar”).

• Dairy products (milk, cheese, and plain yogurt. This does not include ice cream)
• Fresh and frozen fruits (apple, blueberries, orange, pineapple, strawberries, banana, cantaloupe, etc.)
• Most Vegetables (carrots, tomato, zucchini, broccoli, spinach, cucumber, etc.)

“Bad” sugars

The only good sugar is one found in nature. You can’t grow, pick, or raise high fructose corn syrup, let alone all the names for sugar you can’t pronounce. If you have to use a sweetener, stick with one you can find out in nature. But use all sugars in moderation.

The following foods are typically loaded with sugar. Read through and learn to limit your intake by reducing the portions of your favorite sweet foods.

(1 teaspoon = 3.5 – 4 grams sugar on the food label)  
1 teaspoon sugar = 1 sugar cube = 1 sugar packet

Everyday products

• Fruit Loops, 1 cup = 3.75 teaspoons
• Low fat, fruit-flavored yogurt, 6 oz. = 7 teaspoons
• Pancake syrup, 1/4 cup = 8 teaspoons
• Ketchup, 4 Tablespoons = 4 teaspoons

Foods that sound healthy, but are loaded with sugar!

• Granola, 2/3 cup = 4 teaspoons
• Dried fruit, 1 cup = 21 teaspoons

Beverages

• Orange juice/ apple juice, 8 oz. = 5.5 teaspoons
• Snapple, Lemon Iced Tea, 16 oz. = 11.5 teaspoons
• Strawberry Passion Fruitopia, 20 oz. = 17.5 teaspoons

Snacks & desserts

• Balance/ Power Bar = 4.75 teaspoons
• McDonald’s Vanilla Shake, 21 oz. = 24 teaspoons
• Frozen yogurt, 8 oz. = 8.5 teaspoons
• Restaurant chocolate cake, 1 slice = 13 teaspoons

Movie theatre combo

• Twizzlers, (movie size) 6 oz. = 17+ teaspoons
• Soda, (movie large) 44 oz. = 37 teaspoons
• Total = 54 teaspoons!

As you can see, sugar is everywhere, in very large amounts. Sugar may be inexpensive as far as dollar and cents go, but over consumption of sugar and other sweeteners in large amounts are responsible for the obese and diseased society we are.

Our “Carbohydrate Changeover” is designed to help you move from the empty calories of processed flours and sugars to natural, unprocessed foods over a 21 day period. You won’t believe the difference in how you feel! Talk to your doctor or registered dietician before beginning this or any other eating and lifestyle change.

It is possible to break your sugar addiction, and the benefits are well worth it! If you would like a complimentary copy of our 21 day “Steps To Success” guide, which includes the “Carbohydrate Changeover” program, please Contact Us Here and we will send you the download link.

I look forward to hearing of your success!

Nancy

The Road Crew

As you probably already know, the 6:15am Epsom class was featured in an article about Get Fit NH Bootcamp last week.  (Click Here If You Missed It)

I wanted to show the rest of the classes what they REALLY do… Seriously Nancy, I can’t believe you allowed this debauchery!

Can you spot “The Incredibly Fit Tim”?

Looks like we found out where Jere was this morning too…

Love you guys, have a great weekend!

Dean

It’s time to change the way you think about exercise

Would you like to get inside my brain and see what I think and how I go about training my clients? Here it is in a nutshell – I have and always will treat every potential client as an athlete.

You’re an athlete in my eyes and you’re going to train like one.

Nearly everyone who has trained with me has found they are playing more than they had in years outside of they gym. Some join softball leagues and others just get involved in games of basketball that they usually would have sat out. My goal is to be able to play with my grandkids and not have to sit watching them play. In short, they all become athletes again.  And more importantly, they feel better than they have had in years, both physically and emotionally.

Training like an athlete has nothing in common with training like a typical gym rat. Training like an athlete involves improving your flexibility, mobility, agility and speed. Athletes also need to focus on building muscle, losing fat and gaining strength.

Even if you do not desire to participate in a sport of any kind and just want to look and feel better, it still makes perfect sense to train like an athlete. When people think of their ideal physiques, who do they want to look like? More people would choose to look like a Pro Bowl wide receiver than a Mr. Olympia competitor. Everyone wants to look like an athlete, therefore the smartest thing to do would be to train like one.

It’s time to put an end to the days of boring, monotonous workout routines. Skip the stationary bike and do a few intervals of fast paced tabatas. Ditch the leg extension for some bearcrawls up a hill. Trash the ab roller machines and start swinging a heavy kettlebell or throwing a medicine ball. Forget aerobics and tricep kickbacks and start doing heavy deadlifts.

When you go to the gym with a greater purpose than simply to look better, you separate yourself from the pack. You will be much more than all show and no go.
With the family and work related responsibilities we all have, it’s often difficult to find the time to play or train, yet somehow everyone seems to be able to sit down and watch TV or go out and get pizza and ice cream.

Skipping a few hours a week of TV to work out is probably a very real possibility for most of us. Instead of spending Saturday afternoons sipping soda and shopping, how about getting out for a hike or actually playing with the kids instead of being irritated by them? If you look, you can always find the time. And when you find time, if you look even harder, you can usually find even more time.

When you analyze what’s important in life, hopefully your healthc-cphysical, mental and emotional – are near the top of your list. There is no better way to simultaneously improve all three than training like and becoming an athlete.

Contrary to what most people think, you don’t have to be young to be an athlete. But if you become an athlete, chances are you just might feel young again.

Make It Happen, Every Day!

Nancy

Get Fit NH Bootcamp “Thrills and Chills 2009”

Here’s some pics (Part I) of our morning classes Halloween “Thrills and Chills” workout. Looking forward to this afternoon and evenings classes!

P.S. If you didn’t see the article in the Concord Monitor about YOUR bootcamp, please click here.

Freaky Fat Loss 2008

Here’s some shots from last years Get Fit NH Fitness Bootcamp’s “Freaky Fat Loss” workout.

Don’t miss it this year – Friday October 30th!

What It Really Takes To Lose Weight

We hear phrases like it all the time – “You must believe it to achieve it”, or “Think positive thoughts and what you want will happen”.

What do you think?

Is all we need to fit into that pair of skinny jeans just to think about how great it will be?

Attitude is important, there is no doubt about it. Entering any situation with a positive mindset is going to be helpful.

But it’s not all there is.

This is what Michael Masterson said in today’s “Early To Rise“:

“Attitude can change behavior, but it is much more common for behavior to change attitude.

To put it another way: Getting wealthy doesn’t depend as much on whether you are a positive person or a negative one as it does on the specific actions you take, or fail to take.”

Substitute “Getting Wealthy” with “fitting into my skinny jeans”, or “losing 30 pounds”, and you get what I am driving at.

You can think happy thoughts all day, but unless you take the specific actions necessary, you are not going to achieve your fat loss goals, or any other goal.

Once you take action, the magic starts to happen. Once you take the action to lose that first 10 pounds, your attitude will change profoundly. You will enjoy the sense of accomplishment and achievement, and you will have an overwhelming desire to take more action in order to lose the next 10. It becomes like a snowball rolling downhill, where momentum build on momentum, achievement on achievement.

Your attitude has changed, and it is because of what you have done, not just what you have thought about.

So what actions can you take today to get the party started?

Here’s a few suggestions:

1. Get your butt to bootcamp. You made a commitment to yourself – keep it.
2. Turn off the TV and go to bed. Lack of sleep has a huge affect on your ability to lose weight.
3. Eat Breakfast. Throw away the crappy cereal. Have some lean protein and a bowl of oatmeal instead.
4. Stop with the soda already. Regular or Diet – it’s poison.
5. Trash the pasta at dinner. You don’t need all those starchy carbs 2 or 3 hours before you go to bed. Eat a light meal of fibrous vegetables, a nice spinach salad, and some nice lean protein. Your body will thank you for it.

There you go, 5 ways to take action TODAY that will reap benefits immediately.

Change your behavior, change your attitude.

Make It Happen!

Dean

Showing up to bootcamp is a start!

Get Your Head In The Game

Another gem about Nancy!

Lose Weight Fast This Fall With Three Mindset Tips

Local women’s fitness coach says stop chasing the quick fix and focus on the basics to lose pounds and inches.

To lose weight fast we need to be in the right frame of mind. That’s according to body transformation and fat loss specialist Nancy Carlson. She believes too many people enter into a fitness plan without mentally preparing for it first.

She explained, “Quick weight loss is possible. Everybody knows that. But the challenge is keeping the pounds and inches off. And that takes the right mental attitude and social support.” Carlson went on to say, “I’ve worked with scores of men and women who want to lose weight fast, but the most successful ones – the ones who keep the weight off – are the ones who have the right mental disposition before starting.”

The fitness coach recommends the following three mindset tips for permanent weight loss:

Surround yourself with the right people

People need to understand they will need to make some different lifestyle choices to keep the weight off. And that may very well mean not being able to socialize with others who are a negative influence.

Don’t expect it to be easy

While losing weight doesn’t have to be an all-consuming chore, those seeking quick weight loss need to come to grips with the fact that it is going to take effort. Anything worth doing is going to take work. Accept the fact that there are obstacles to overcome. Another great reason to surround yourself with positive people, as they will help you get over the inevitable hurdles.

Don’t expect rapid progress to continue forever

When stating a fitness plan for fat loss many people see dramatic results right away. But as Carlson preaches in her program, people need to shift their focus from short-term losses to long-term results. Permanent lifestyle changes need to be made in order to prevent unwanted fat from coming back.

Nancy Carlson is the co-owner of Get Fit NH Bootcamp, which helps frustrated dieters achieve permanent fat-loss in a safe, fun and effective manner. Carlson is available for interview or to discuss other story ideas related to weight loss and fitness. She can be reached at 603 344-2651 or via email at nancycarlson@cr8health.com. For even more information please visit http://GetFitNHwomen.com

Introducing our newest blogger – Gretchen!

Nancy and I are thrilled to introduce our new contributing blogger – the incomparable Gretchen Wolfe! As trainers, we have one perspective on training and nutrition, and it is easy for us to get caught speaking from only our viewpoint, as totally and absolutely correct as it might be! 🙂

Gretchen has agreed to offer her viewpoint on training, nutrition and women’s specific challenges from the “non-trainer” perspective, and I know after reading what she has to say, you will want to keep up on her adventures. Soon she will have her own spot on our new women’s site, GetFitNHwomen.com, but for now she is hanging out with us here. Thanks Gretchen, we look forward to your wisdom!

Hi fellow bootcampers, my name is Gretchen. I’ve been going to BooT now for 12 months… a whole year! and guess what?! I still love it… I can’t even begin to tell you how many health programs I’ve attended over the years and they never stuck, or should I say I never stuck to them. Boredom mostly, it’s too far to travel, I don’t have time, you get the idea… the so called ‘trainers’ that were supposed to be helping me, but beyond the first day never got involved in my training… need I say more?

So let me tell you how I ended up at Get Fit NH Bootcamp… my friend and neighbor told me about Dean and Nancy’s program, she said I just had to try it out. Let me tell you, it was unlike any other fitness program I’ve ever tried. I gotta tell you Bootcamp is challenging, exciting, and different every day. There is no getting bored with the same ol’ same ol’.

The first month was a much needed distraction, at the time my Dad, was dying of cancer. Little did I know that Bootcamp would change my mind, body and spirit. I had been down this road before with my mother, she passed away 5 years ago also from cancer, at that time I gained 60pounds. I managed to lose 40 lbs by walking away the pounds but, I knew this time around I needed something more. Dean and Nancy were put in my path of self destruction and I’m grateful for them. Every month after that first one has been for my mental health. I looked forward to the one hour, 4 days a week, I could forget my troubles and enter into my own little zone where it was ‘all about me, and challenge myself’.

As I reflect on the past year of attending Bootcamp, where am I now? Well, I haven’t lost any weight but I haven’t gained any either. That is my own fault, I have yet to adopt a healthy eating plan. But, that’s been ok for me. Have I made some changes? you bet! I used to drink Mountain Dew (4-6 a day). I eat more green (broccoli, spinach, snowpeas, salad etc.), I’m drinking more water, and I’m learning so much about nutrition and the effects it has on our bodies. Physically, I have lost 3inches off my waist, my pants fit differently, but the best of all is the muscle definition that I can actually see. Mentally, ok, so mentally… I’m still a nutcase but that’s nothing new… I do have a healthier outlook.

I’ve got some more work to do. I’ve got a plan! Plan out my meals, my schedule, my family. My biggest obstacle, kicking my sugar addiction. Could I do this without Bootcamp? heck no… Dean and Nancy give us the tools and the knowledge, its up to us to ‘Make it Happen’. They want to see us obtain our personal goals and will help anyway they can… so what do you say? is there anyone out there to join me? It’s baby steps… lets start with the water intake… are you drinking enough, hydrating your body? If not, lets start… today!

A toast (of water of course) ‘to health and happiness!’

Blog you later…

gretchen