We All Need A Coach – Even Us Coaches!

Recently, I had myself a little pity party because of some pain I had been dealing with. It was bad. It was downright embarrassing, actually. I skipped training, drank a glass of wine and ate like crap. Guess how I felt the day after? The exact same – go figure. Not only was I still in just as much pain, I also felt regret for skipping training and eating like crap. Maybe you think your coaches are these super humans who never get down on themselves and never make bad choices and never get hurt, but that’s so far from the truth. I will speak for myself here – I am human (and I am pretty sure my fellow coaches are too!). I need help and more importantly I NEED A COACH! Guess who came to my rescue when I was down on myself?

Coach Dean. Yep. That’s right. Your coach is my coach. He needs a coach, I need a coach, we all need a coach.

I want to come to your rescue, too. We all throw ourselves a little pity party now and then. It is important that you let someone rescue you. Don’t build on your pity party. Don’t use pain as an excuse to make bad choices. You know and I know that skipping training and poor nutrition don’t lead to a pain free life or a happy life.

Let’s keep making it happen. Together we will keep training smarter and eating better 🙂
Coach Meagan

My New Shoes

Cara is one of our shining superstars in Epsom and here she tells you a little bit about her journey with us:

“Shoes. Many women get excited about new shoes! There are shoes for different outfits! Boots…high heels…sandals…the list goes on! We talk and laugh about shoe addictions! I remember some of my favorite shoes which represent moments in time. Some of my favorites my shoeswere my shoes I wore on my wedding day…and shoes I wore at my college graduation…I LOVED those shoes. My babies first shoes. Some represent memories, milestones, and emotions tied to special events in our lives. Since those mile stones some very special shoes found their way in my life. The shoes I bought when I began to take my health seriously. They are just an average pair of sneakers but represent so much more to me.
Looking back , my journey began after 2010 when I had reached my highest weight ever close to 300 pounds. Take a good look at that picture, it’s not pretty. Today I’m over 100 pounds down . I started with Get Fit NH July 2013 after spending a year trying to move more, walk and build a foundation so I could even get into a gym without dying. I didn’t buy any new shoes for that. I just thought I would try . The workouts absolutely leveled me to dust each day. I hurt a lot and it was difficult to move both in and out of the gym. I was sore for weeks.
It was the coacheme before 2010s and my classmates cheering me on that kept me from walking out. About 3 months in I decided my old falling apart shoes were not cutting it and bought some new shoes. They represented hope and the possibility of reaching my next goal. They gave me strength and energy to power through to the end of those last seconds of each part of the workout. They held me up, and got me step by step to each goal I set.

Although I was attached to those shoes, I recently retired them to the basement into the pile of yard work/camping/other shoes. They have lost their tread, shape, and are more like a sock now and an old best friend. They will still be there if I need them, but they have a new purpose now.

I have new shoes now. They are bright pink and happy, light and springy. They hang on to my feet so I can keep working hard. I have separate shoes for the gym , shoes for hiking, and shoes for runningme today 2016. All 3 are my favorite new shoes. These shoes are all about that what I once thought was impossible, is now possible. They are about where I am going next, the mountains I have yet to climb, and the miles to run and walk…and to keep pushing forward. I would and could give away every other shoe in my life to have just the ones I need to move in …to continue to keep moving forward in my steps to a healthier me.

Cara”

Keep up the great work, Cara!

-Coach Nancy

I Hit a Plateau, What Do I Do?

Has this happened to you? You were getting results steadily for months and then all of a sudden you are at a standstill? Scale isn’t moving, bodyfat won’t budge, FIT3D scans looks pretty much the same?

First of all, congratulations. Hitting a plateau reveals that you have successfully made a change. Your new habits have taken you in the direction you were trying to go – score! So, now what? You still aren’t exactly where you want to be, so what is something else you can work on adopting as part of your day to day routine?

•    You already stick to the 90/10 rule.
•    You are training consistently (2-4x each week as recommended by your coach)
•    You’re drinking at least 64 oz of water each day
•    You take a multi vitamin
•    You take your fish oil

If you have those things down and you have hit your plateau, then it doesn’t hurt to do a period of focused nutrition. Luckily, we are always rolling a 21-day Jumpstart, so your opportunity is always there. The Jumpstart isn’t just a one and done challenge. It is something you will benefit from doing 3-4 times a year. Nutrition is a skill. You can always work on mastering your skill. There is always room to improve and learn something new.

Let me give you an example of a real Get Fit NH student. She gave me permission to share her story with you all. In May 2015, we had our annual Sizzling Summer Slimdown (S3) challenge. During the challenge, this student did so well! She was 100% compliant and lost 16 pounds. After the challenge was complete, I challenged her to lose a certain bodyfat percentage by September. She did monthly bodyfat scans and each month her bodyfat dropped a little more. In September, she didn’t meet that goal, but she didn’t give up there. She was disappointed, but she kept moving forward. She stuck to her 90/10 rule which was a new habit and we added a water goal. She nailed the water goal and each month she came in and measured less than the month before. Fast forward 10 months later. This student is STILL holding on strong to her habits. Since May, she is down 35 pounds and 10% bodyfat! At her last appointment, we discovered she hit her plateau. Her bodyfat for the first time in 10 months stayed the same and her weight for the first time in 10 months didn’t budge. She was disappointed, but that is nothing to be upset about.

There are many ways for you to climb over your plateau. The 21-day Jumpstart is a good starting point. The next step may just be to take a focused nutrition course with Coach Nancy. She offers a 10-week nutrition course, Essential Nutrition. While the Jumpstart tells you WHAT to eat, Essential Nutrition teaches you HOW to eat.

I know all of you came here to make it happen. When you are healthier, you are automagically happier and THAT is our mission!

Make it Happen!
Coach Meagan

Guess what!?!

Our annual Sizzling Summer Slimdown (you know it as “S3”) is just around the corner! Last year we had SO much fun and had some record results. We are very excited to kick off S3 2016.

Here are some teasers:

– FIT3D (aka “The Truth Booth”) Will Be Your Secret Weapon
– Partners
– Cash Prizes
– Custom 6-Week Habit Course using Habit Catalyst
– All New Accountability and Tracking Tool “Fit Client”sun
– Fat Loss Nutrition Plan
– “Meals Made Easy” Workshop
– Private Facebook Group
– …..that’s enough teasing for one blog!

We are fine tuning the details each day. Ok one more teaser then I am done! This year we are inviting non Get Fit NH family members to participate! So if you have a significant other or a friend who you are trying to get on board with this healthy life style thing then this is your chance! Everyone wants to work hard for cash!

Stay tuned for the rest of the details!
Coach Meagan

Yet Another Awesome Spotlight

This week I am pleased to share Carlene’s success interview with you! Carlene is pretty humble, so I am going to take the opportunity to really shout out how far this woman has come. I think your jaw will drop too. You will read in the interview that Carlene says she has lost about 20 pounds, but let me put that in perspective for you and for her too.

Carlene is good about having her body composition done regularly. Since her first body composition in September she has lost 22 pounds of fat. Yes, that is 22 pounds of excess fat. The kind we all want to go away! She is making that happen. Oh and lean weight? Yeah, she has 8 new pounds of lean weight- 3 of those pounds being muscle! Forget about pounds for a minute and let’s talk about body fat. Carlene has dropped 9% body fat since September.

How is she doing it? Hear it from her!

– Why did you seek out Get Fit NH?

I wanted to get into a regular exercise routine, because at the time, I wasn’t doing much of anything, and I’m not disciplined enough to do things on my own!

-What did you learn after your first two weeks/since you have been training with Get Fit NH?

So many things! I know in the first two weeks, I realized that my body wasn’t in the shape my mind thought it was in. I had to mentally accept where I was, and work with that. I’ve also learned that I’m generally a pretty competitive person, but the best thing for me is to compete with myself, and not compare myself to the people around me. Once I was able to do that, I’m able to accept myself for where I am, and where I can be, and know that it’s just steady persistence to get there. I still sometimes wish I could do things that others around me can do, but I also know I’m doing more than I was doing when I first started. It also feels good to encourage people who are new to keep at it, and they’ll see themselves improve.

-What results have you seen since training with Get Fit NH?

I’ve lost about 20 or so pounds, but I can also tell that my core strength has gotten MUCH better! I’ve surprised myself with what I’ve been able to do in my last couple of workouts! For example, I was able to hold myself over the chin bar for two seconds and slowly come down for almost three sets! I did it without even thinking about it the first time around. That’s an improvement over just holding myself up when I first started! I’m really looking forward to the weather being more consistent so that I can get out and ride my bike—I think I’ll see a big difference right away that I’ll be able to go longer distances and up more hills much sooner than I was able to when I started riding last season.

– How did you earn those results?

I’ve built my morning routine around making sure I come in to train every morning. I think I’ve only missed a session three times since December, and that was because I was sick. When I come in, I know I’m going to challenge myself to do the best that I can do, no matter how I feel. Also, I did the 21-day jumpstart detox in January, and that helped me get on track with nutrition. I learned that I can’t eat a lot of carbs or else I get off the rails and start gaining again. Proteins make my workouts go SO MUCH better!!

Why do you continue to train at Get Fit NH?

I enjoy the people in my class, and I like the way I’m getting a full body workout without having to think about it. I enjoy the variety of things that we do, and that I never know what we’re going to do until I walk in the door. I also want to train to do a century ride at this year’s Pedaling for Payson, so I need to keep up the strength in order to do that

– What would you want to tell someone who is thinking about starting?
carlene

I’ve been telling people that it’s really fun, because there are a wide variety of things that we do. I really appreciate the fact that the coaches are very attentive to making sure that injuries don’t happen by focusing on each individual’s form and range of motion. Even with a big class, there’s still a lot of individual attention. This isn’t like any other gym … everyone there, coaches and clients, wants everyone to succeed.

Carlene is a superstar. I absolutely love her work ethic and positive energy. She brings so many smiles to our 7:25 family. Carlene has taken advantage of all of the tools and you can too! I am so incredibly proud of Carlene and her dedication to get better!

Keep making it happen!
Coach Meagan

Let Yourself Recover Already, Would Ya?

With recovery week right around the corner, I decided to write something in that frame of mind. Recovery is important, but not just in the instance of when we go on our week breaks. It is important on a day to day, week to week, and month to month scale.

Imagine that your body is a house. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that house has a mold problem (let’s call that your assorted health problems that may or may not occur). Now, the team that comes in to clean it out is your exercise. You think the more they can do, the better. They come in, they spray the house down, they scrape all the mold away, put in new ventilation and all that (I am certainly not an expert, so please don’t quote me on any of this). After a week, you get the word your house is completely mold free, but you say “Well, I’m not sure…”, and do it all again. This repeats and repeats and repeats. Before you know it, the pressure washers and scrapers are eating away at the interior of the house, and you have actually started to do more harm than good to the inside of the house. Not to mention run up a huge tab.

Sometimes exercise can work in the same way. We run ourselves ragged trying to fix problems with our bodies, so much sometimes that we actually make ourselves worse. Too much of a good thing can be bad in a hurry – morphine can take the pain away, but too much will kill you. I have started to see it more and more; having clients walk in the door 2-4 times a week, then spinning and doing all kinds of other stuff because they think if 4 days a week is good, then 6 days is better.

I’m here to tell you that is not the case. This is not your fault – we have been conditioned to think that the more exercise we can possibly get, the better it is for us, and that there is no point where that line graph takes a dive. This is portrayed by the media, by the big companies that control it. Now, I’m not going all conspiracy theory on you, but it makes sense doesn’t it? Coca-Cola isn’t going to tell you it’s product is unhealthy. Instead, it’s going to champion exercise and sponsor exercise events. It’s going to tell you how important it is to get as much exercise as possible because it draws attention away from the fact that the soda mutilates the inside of your body. It’s the reason we see commercials all about getting out and exercising, but nearly nothing about healthy eating.

You have also probably been lead to believe that if you beat yourself into the ground with exercise, it will undo what those foods have done or will do. The only thing you are really doing is breaking your body down by not giving yourself the time to recover and making things worse.  Of course, I am not saying that if you like to run or bike that you shouldn’t do it. You should do the things that make you happy, we would never want you to be miserable. This is for those that don’t like doing any of that, but think that it is some secret shortcut to getting healthy… “If I train 4 days a week at Get Fit, I can lose 45 lbs in 6 months…but maybe if I train 6 days a week I can cut it to 4 months”. While you might lose some weight initially, I guarantee you will start having injury problems and the like. It’s as simple as giving your body a chance to recover, some good sleep, some good protein, and taking a daily dose of chill pill. I promise if you follow that formula, you will get where you want to be.

Make it Happen!
-Coach Adam

I Have a Hidden Secret to Success!

This word I am about to share with you holds the key to your progress, your goals, and your results! Ready?

Consistency

I have touched on this a little in the past, but it is so important that I am talking about it again 🙂 . We are impatient. You, me and everyone else who has a goal! We set ourselves this goal, we create action steps, we execute, and then BAM! Things aren’t happening fast enough, we get irritated and too often we say forget it.

Time out. Let’s think about this.

1.    Have you actually been disciplined to your action steps for at least 6 weeks?
For example, you said you were going to train 2-4 times per week, because you want to lose fat, build muscle, look great, feel great, or whatever your goal may be. Did you do that piece? If you have that part down, then it’s onto the next part. If not, then let’s make that happen. Training once a week or missing weeks at a time is hurting your results.

2.    Have you gone to a Grateful Plate Seminar/participated in a 21-day Jumpstart?
If the answer is no, then my next question is why? You have nothing to lose by taking part, except for maybe a few pounds that you were trying to shed anyways. You will gain knowledge, even more coaching, new recipes, support, and I BET you will learn something about yourself.

If you stay consistent with training hard and eating to support your training, then I betchya you will see results! Last week I talked about the common question we get, “What else can I do to meet my goals?”

Your answer: Be consistent. There are two very important pieces to this puzzle. You can’t turn your back on one and expect to get to where you are trying to go. Train hard when you are supposed to be here and eat to support your goals. If you are not sure how to do that, then I have great news for you…

You hired a coach and we can help 🙂

Coach Meagan

Your Toughest Opponent is Always Going to be You

I finally got around to seeing the movie “Creed” this weekend. For those of you that haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It’s essentially a spinoff of Rocky focusing on a son of Apollo Creed, hence the title. I have felt that this movie, and the previous one, have had some great parts that explain struggles in life, including one part in this movie that I found I very much enjoyed.

To set the scene, Rocky and Adonis are training, when Rocky says to Adonis, “Come here I want to show you something”. They proceed to walk over to a large mirror on the wall. Rocky points to Adonis’s reflection in the mirror and says, “You see this guy here? That’s the toughest opponent you’re ever going to have to face. I believe that’s true in the ring, and I think that’s true in life”. He follows that up by saying, “Now show me something”, as Adonis jabs into the mirror. Rocky then says, “Now, I want you to notice something, every time you throw a punch, he throws one right back at you”.

I just thought this was a great example of how to approach life. Your biggest opponent is always going to be you. Only YOU can decide how hard you work for something. Only YOU can decide if something’s worth it. Only YOU can decide whether or not someone else beats you to the punch because you weren’t quick enough.

Dealing with the second part of that quote, you also have to be prepared for and accept the fallout of your actions. When you make a decision, you have to be prepared that the decision might come back to punch you in the face, in a matter of speaking. It’s just another way of saying, bad or good, awful or great, you are in control of your life and what comes your way. The punches you take are often ones you could have avoided. In some cases, it’s because you threw it yourself and it comes back around. So just remember – the only person who can truly control your life is you. So make it a good one.

Make it Happen,
-Coach Adam

What Else Can I Do?

I want to address a rather common question we hear…

“What else can I do when I am not at Get Fit NH to get results faster?”

This is a long answer. Often the question is in regards to training. Should I be running and training on my own on Wednesday and weekends? The answer to that is NO. Absolutely not. You hired a coaching service and you participate in a training program that doesn’t require any additional training to get results. It works.

Ready for the long part?

Here is what you could be doing and should be doing to get your results in gear…meal plan, grocery shop, meal prep. That will always be my answer if you are wondering what else you should be doing outside of these walls. You will never out train poor (or pretty good) nutrition. Wednesdays and weekends are your opportunity to set yourself up for success for the next 3-4 days. If your goal is fat loss and all you’re doing is training, then you are probably getting pretty ticked off with your results. Sure, you can lose some weight and get stronger without changing your nutrition, but it won’t last. Coach Nancy talks about the bicycle. The front wheel is nutrition and the back wheel is training. If one wheel is rolling and the other is not, where are you going? Not very far, if anywhere, right?

No one likes that answer when I tell them that. So if you are frustrated with your results and you just don’t know where to start, then jump on the next 21 Day Jumpstart. We are always running a detox. If you are not willing to change your nutrition, then you are not willing to change your body.

Do you want to make it happen?
Coach Meagan

Train Your Stress Away

“Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body.” –Arnold Schwarzenegger

Recently, I talked about stress as it relates to the body’s fight or flight mechanism. About how babies breathe from the belly, but when stressed they start breathing from their chest (have to give credit where credit is due, that information came from Coach Dean). About how stress, frustration, and anger in this modern age is our fight or flight. No one has to worry about stepping out their front door to make a mad dash for the car because there is a saber tooth tiger in waiting. So it manifests itself in stress – stress from work, stress from home, stress on the road. We hold that stress in our shoulders and neck as we enter a state of constant alertness.

That fight or flight reaction was not meant to be running as often as it is today. You face stress in some way or another every day. While that fight or flight may have had to be used in more severe circumstances in the past, it was not used as continually. Think about this – how many people have something traumatic happen? I mean something that really kick starts that fight or flight…when you are about to be in a car accident and you are bracing…when someone scares the heck out of you…or you find yourself in a situation that really, truly frightens you. Anyone ever notice that for some time after that, you are almost more relaxed than before? All that pent up stress and energy suddenly gets released. After you have really feared something, all the little stuff suddenly doesn’t feel as stressful anymore because you felt real fear, for a time at least.

What I’m getting at is that it all comes down to energy and energy process in the body. Of course, I do not want people to go out and experience any of those things. I wouldn’t wish that on people. For those of you that have been in those situations though, you probably know what I mean.

Well, guess what else helps with that? Training. Training is a natural outlet for those suppressed energies. Like I said, what it comes down to is energy, using up that suppressed rage and frustration so afterword you feel lighter.

What happens if you have no outlet? Long day of work, boss beats on you, kid is sick, water pump busts, but you don’t train, not that day and not the next. You just go to bed (or try to) with all that built up energy. You end up in that constant state of fight or flight because there is no outlet, no release. That constant state of alert is not healthy. It causes tons and tons of problems on all different biological fronts. So don’t let that happen. Get in here, train that stress away, and relax.

Make it Happen!
-Coach Adam

1 7 8 9 10 11 37