First Look: Our Meal Movement Experiment

Caliente Chicken with Normandy Vegetables

It’s no secret that eating supportive healthy foods in the right amount at the right time is essential to weight management, health and performance.

It’s also no secret being consistent with the above can be really, really hard. Most of live a lifestyle that makes preparing “3 squares” a day challenging at the least, and at times practically impossible.

Believe it or not, Nancy and I are no different from you. Two training facilities, 10 training sessions a day, 3 kids at home, a business to run – it can get pretty busy around here. We are not immune to the temptation to go through the drive thru, and no matter how “healthy” the menu, that’s usually just not a good choice.

Nancy is fantastic at getting organized in the kitchen, having good choices on hand, and she cooks a lot of meals. But there are days it just isn’t going to happen. The hardest time for us is dinner on training days. Nancy is coaching a class at 4:00pm, and I am watching the kids until it’s time for me to drive to Concord to coach the 5:30pm. Believe it or not I actually do cook evening meal once in awhile, but usually I am finishing up paperwork and spending some time reading to the kids or playing with them.

So when our friend and fellow coach Jason Yun told us about “The Meal Movement”, we were ready to listen. Especially when he told us that fitness professionals were an integral part of designing the program.

Monterey Jack Chicken Sticks with Caribbean Blend

What is “The Meal Movement”?

What if I told you there was a way to get the “PP” part of PPW (Protein, Produce and Water) in an easy to prepare, great tasting, and relatively inexpensive way?

That you could literally have at your fingertips 100’s of different combinations of great tasting PPW meals that you could prepare and eat in as little as 5 minutes?

I didn’t believe it either, because when it comes down to it, most food from the “big boys” of weight loss (you know who they are JC, WW, NS) are full of artificial ingredients, heavy on the starches, and taste, well – sorta nasty.

But I trust Jason, so when it told us the food was 98% unprocessed and tasted great, we suspended the skepticism and placed an order. It took about 10 minutes, and we got to choose from 15 different types of breakfasts, 22 vegetables,  28 lunch/dinner entrees, and 10 different snacks. For our first order we ordered everything on the entire menu so we could get a good idea of what we liked.

Check Out The Complete Menu Here

Three days later the food arrived via FEDEX, packed inside a styrofoam cooler in dry ice. Out of the cooler and into the freezer it went.

Mesquite Chicken with Summer Squash

Taste Test

No time like the present, so for dinner that night we had our first “Meal Movement” meal. Nancy chose the Caliente Spicy Chicken with Normandy Vegetables, and I had the Monterey Jack Chicken Sticks with the Caribbean Veggies.  In your package you also get a “Sweet Garlic Vegetable Sauce” which I really like.  You can either prepare the meals in a conventional oven or microwave them. Being marginally impatient, I chose to “nukem”. The pictures in this post are all foods we prepared and ate – they taste as good as they look!

In our little dinner party of two, the verdict was unanimous – the Meal Movement food was really good! The vegetables were crisp, the protein was seasoned nicely, it was enough food – what more can you ask for?

First Impression – The Meal Movement is a winner!

Nothing since has changed my mind. Everything we have tried to date has been good if not excellent. Chalk it up to different tastes, I am not a huge fan of the shaved chicken for instance, and I like the mixed vegetable blends better than the individual veggies, but the good news is I don’t have to order anything I don’t want. There is such a wide variety of choices I can’t see many people not finding a bunch of choices they really, really like.

Spicy Chicken with Sicilian Blend

How To Use “The Meal Movement”

There are two primary ways I suggest the Meal Movement food can be integrated into your nutrition program.

The first I’ll call “The Total Package”. This is for the person who is really struggling getting a handle on what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat it. My recommendation is to order 28 days of food – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks – and just eat!

A couple things will happen. You will begin to see the effects of eating PPW, without having to think about food preparation. Your body will feel better because you are actually eating real food, every meal, every day. You will begin to understand portion control – once your plate is empty, you are done!

The second strategy is the one Nancy and I have been using.  I’ll call it the “Life is Crazy Package”, and it consists of always having some Meal Movement food in our freezer. I am writing this note on a Tuesday, and it’s now 3:45pm. Nancy is headed out to the gym, the kids need attention, and I have about an hour before I head off. Before I go, I am going to head to the freezer, grab a protein and a bag of veggies, heat them up and get to eating. It just works!

Next Steps

Click Here to take a look at the Meal Movement website.   Explore and discover for yourself all the different combinations and choices you have with The Meal Movement.

Ask us questions. We will be glad to sit down and put together a menu with you, then help you place the order or place it for you.

In the near future we will do a “Meal Movement” workshop where you can get your questions answered and you can try the food out for yourself.

Look at this as another tool in your toolbox. Learning to eat a supportive “diet” is challenging, but actually applying that knowledge can be even harder. We believe that integrating the Meal Movement into your busy lifestyle is just one more way to make your life easier and get you closer to your goals.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

End of Summer Cookout and Contest

“Riddle me this and Riddle me that.”

Where can you find  terrific people to hang out with?

Fantastic Food that is fabulous for you?

Along with a contest where you become the judge?

The End of the Summer Get Fit NH Cookout of course!

Date: Saturday, August 20, 2011

Place: Get Fit NH Epsom

Time: 4:00pm – 7:00pm

Investment: Get Fit NH is providing the main course but you can all bring a side dish to enter into the contest.

‘And the contest?’ I’m so glad you asked!

Super Side Sensations is an honorary, award – winning, national, really special, you’ll probably be interviewed by 60 Minutes (well maybe not) title given to the person or family that prepares the best side dish for the End of Summer Cookout!

Before we dig into the food everyone will be given a judging sheet to score the Super Side Sensation. Each dish will be scored for presentation and taste. Please bring copies of the recipe to share.

To qualify for the contest each entry should be a recipe that will support your bootcamp training. Hint: protein and produce are high on the list.

So not only will you enjoy a wonderful cookout with friends, you might win the Super Side Sensation Title, and you’ll walk away with more recipes to try throughout the year.

Please let us know how many you are bringing (please bring the family) so we can make sure we have enough!

Smooth Going at Smoothie 101

What a great time we had last night!

The winning recipe at last night’s “A Smooth Way to Eat- Smoothie 101” came from Kathy, Helen, Donna, and Carolyn. They titled their entry ‘A Touch Of Summer’.

After learning basic nutrition facts and sampling a variety of choices they were given a category to choose from to create their own Meal in a Cup. Other entries were ‘The Fab 6 Smoothie’ and ‘All Veggies’. Each own had a unique taste but all were made from fresh whole foods.

While we covered a lot of information there is so much more to explore in the area of Fantastic Fast Food in a Cup. Just wait until you get a load of Protein Frosting and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Pudding!

Stay tuned for the next  “Smoothie 101” workshop, where we will pass along more Smoothie recipes, sample drinks like “The Green and The Blue”, and of course create some more award winning smoothies.

For now Helen, Donna, Carloyn, and Kathy hold the top place for favorite new smoothie recipe.

Try all three of these new smoothies and let us know what you think.

Touch of Summer (fruit and veggie)

1 canteloupe, cubed

3 sprigs of lemon mint

1/2 cucumber

1 scoop UMP vanilla

1/2 teaspoon flax seed

1 cup ice

8 ounces of almond milk

Mix all in a blender, enjoy.

Fab 6 Smoothie (all fruit)

1/2 banana

16 almonds

1/3 cup frozen raspberries

1/3 cup frozen blueberries

1/3 cup fresh strawberries

1 pear

1 scoop UMP vanilla

1 cup water

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth, enjoy.

All Veggie (as the name sounds, it only contains veggies so add several slices of your favorite lunch meat rolled up on the side to create a healthy meal or snack)

1 leaf cabbage

1 brocoli floweret

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

3 cups spinach

1 can tomatoe, add the liquid

1/2 cup water

1 cup ice

Mix in blender. Enjoy

Super Quick for Breakfast – Eggs In A Mug

This recipe can be adapted in an almost infinite variety of ways, and it can be prepared in about 3 minutes flat.

Eat Breakfast!

Ingredients:
2 whole eggs or (1/2 cup Egg Beaters Original)
One wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese, cut into pieces

Directions:
Spray a large microwave-safe mug lightly with nonstick spray. Stir egg and cheese well. Microwave for about a minute. Stir gently, and then microwave for another 30 – 45 seconds, until scramble is just set. You can also add a teaspoon of salsa and one tablespoon of black beans for a Mexican mug. Or even 2 ounces of cut ham, or what about a ¼ cup of chopped asparagus and red pepper? And then there is an ounce of salmon and three cherry tomatoes. Oh the combinations you can come up with!

Make It – and Make It Happen!

Meal Management to the Rescue

There’s no doubt that prepping and planning your meals is not only crucial to achieving your best body, but also extremely challenging! Today’s hectic lifestyles make “grab and go” a lot more likely than “sit and relax”.

Who’s got the time to prepare?

In this seminar Coach Nancy (who is a mom of six, homeschools her kids and is a full-time fitness professional) will guide you every step of the way.

Nancy says “Achieving your best body AND eating great food can coexist. The key lies in your ability to PRE-PLAN and PREPARE. You must reorganize the way you eat.  At “Meal Management To the Rescue” you’ll learn how to easily pull mealtime together for your family. You’ll walk away with a week’s worth of dinner meal plans plus the ability to expand that to a whole month, a cheat sheet for meal preparation, and 14 ways to make breakfast easy.”

Date: Saturday March 19, 2011

Place: Get Fit NH Bootcamp Epsom

Time: 9:00am – 10:30am

Investment: $10 (crazy low)

Space is limited to 20 participants, so don’t delay. Click the payment link to below to reserve your spot!

Yes Virginia, You CAN Eat Good (and Easily) For The Holidays

Christmas is a busy time of year. Don’t let it be an excuse to not eat healthy meals prepared at home. My favorite kitchen aid is my crock pot. It serves up delicious meals without a lot of fuss. Plus it makes the house smell good all day while it cooks. Here are three meals when served with a salad will keep you on track nutritionally.

Salsa Style Pork

• 1 pound pork loin, cut into one inch cubes
• 1- 20 ounce jar of salsa
• 1- 4 ounce jar of diced green chilies, drained
• 1- 15 ounce can of black beans, drained
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Combine pork loin, salsa, chilies, and black beans in crock pot and mix well. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low. Sprinkle cheese and cilantro over top and serve.

Herbed Turkey Breast

• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 12 baby carrots
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1- 4 pound boneless turkey breast
• 1- 14 ounce can of chicken broth
• 1 Tablespoon rosemary
• 1/8 teaspoon sage
• 1/8 teaspoon thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon marjoram
• 1/8 teaspoon oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Place vegetables in the bottom of the crock pot. Top with turkey breast. Combine seasonings and chicken broth. Pour over the top. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-7 hours.

Sirloin Tip Roast with Horseradish

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• ¾ teaspoon oregano
• ¼ teaspoon basil
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ¼pound boneless beef sirloin tip roast, cut in half
• ½ cup beef broth

Combine seasonings. Spread over roast halves. Place in slow cooker. Add broth. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove from cooker. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing diagonally across the grain. Scoop juices from crock pot into gravy dish. Serve with horseradish if desired.

Enjoy,

Coach Nancy

Yogurt Marinated Chicken

Give your traditional old chicken dinner some spunk with this exciting new marinade. Your taste buds will celebrate over the tender taste of yogurt and garlic with a hint of spice.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fat-free yogurt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon minced fresh gingerroot
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 6 bone-in skinless breast halves (6 ounces each)

Instructions

1. In a large re-sealable plastic bag, combine the first nine ingredients; add chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
2. Coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill for indirect heat. Drain and discard marinade.
3. Grill chicken, covered, bone side down over indirect medium heat for 20 minutes. Turn; grill 20 – 30 minutes longer or until juices run clear.
4. This dish can also be baked in the oven. Place the chicken in a 9×13 pan. Heat the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 35 minutes or until juices run clear.

Keep The Pies Off Your Thighs

I don’t know about y’all (a little southern lingo there) but I am looking forward to Thanksgiving this week. My son Tim is visiting with his wife Deb, Jeff his bringing his fiance Kimberley up from North Carolina, I am guessing the three younger ones won’t go anywhere, so it’s going to be a full house this week! I hope you take the time to enjoy family and friends and make some great memories!

Ok, enough of the sappy stuff, let’s get down to business!

How DO I keep those pies (and stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry, mashed potatoes, and dinner rolls) off my thighs anyway?

Well not stuffing your face is the best way (when it comes right down to it), but for some more practical tips, you’ll want to check out this article:

10 Holiday Diet Strategies To Save You From Stretchy Pants

I love all the “extras” at Thanksgiving, but don’t forget the star of the show, Roasted Turkey! We’ve put together some recipes to use those leftovers up, as well as some reasons you’ll want to eat this terrific protein source all year round.

How To Use Your Thanksgiving Turkey To Create Healthy, Fat Blasting Meals

I would be remiss if I didn’t include some holiday eating tips written by my dad. He doesn’t mess around when it comes to eating, so you might want to read what he has to say…

Holiday Eating Tips from Dad

Here’s wishing you and yours a great week filled with joy and thanksgiving. From all of us at Get Fit NH Bootcamp, thank-YOU for letting us be part of your lives, and for being part of the elite few who Makes It Happen – Every Day!

Dean

Are You Chicken?

I love to watch chickens peck and scratch. For some reason it is relaxing, unless of course they are scratching in our mulch and scattering it across the driveway.

The labels on chickens and eggs at the grocery store reveals a need to write a book to decipher them for us to sort through. Chickens, like many other protein sources, should come with a dictionary to explain the terms used on each different label.

Since I’ve never seen a government regulation book at the store (not that I want to) we need to study in advance. Otherwise, we are left to the advertising departments pretty pictures of chickens roaming freely to entice us to buy “healthy”.

And while the label makes it difficult, so do the array of commonly accepted words used by the media. “Free range”, “Grass – Fed”, “Pastured Poultry”, all can be found on chicken labels in the meat department. Lets explore what each of these means.

The term grass-fed poultry is a very broad term. It is so broad that “Free Range and Pastured Poultry” can fit under this term. Grass-fed poultry means birds that are allowed to forage on as much living grasses as they desire. Using our chickens in Epsom as an example, they used to be allowed to roam free from morning to night. The only time they were confined to their coop was at night to keep them safe from predators.  All day you’d find them in the front yard, hiding in the weeds, and up near the road.  That is what most consumers envision when they hear or read the term ‘grass fed’. We did supplement our chickens diet with a grain based feed mix. Chickens unlike cows are adept to eating corn. Only a very few chickens are truly grass fed. Unless you can interview the farmer when it comes to “grass fed” and chickens, assume they have access to grain feed as well.

“Free range,” as used commercially today, simply indicates chickens that are not in cages and do not have a physical barrier between them and the outside of their building. That sounds wonderful but without knowing the farm where your chicken grew up, it could mean the outdoor space is bare dirt. “Free range” conjures up picture of chickens running around a healthy, bustling farmhouse, eating grass and other things to their hearts’ content. It is the term of choice. The term sells chickens at a high price but doesn’t necessitate that the bird was given all the grass and other goodies it naturally eats. The chickens we keep at the house would be termed free range. If you come to Epsom you will find our chickens confined to a small pen with an attached coop.

Pastured poultry is raised right on top of living grass. This is most commonly done with chicken tractors. “Chicken tractors” are movable pens. They are moved to a new spot of fresh pasture as often as necessary.  Dean and I would love to move our chickens into a “Pastured” system. They’d have access to the outside but would be protected from any animal that loves to eat chickens. (Remember our dog, Annie?)  It is an ideal system.

So what does all that mean when it comes to the chicken on my plate?

Go back to the vision of chickens roaming freely. The closer you can get to chickens raised that way the better the nutritional value. Pastured Poultry has an increased nutritional value compared to chickens raised in cages, confined to eating all processed feed. Essential fatty acids, which control a myriad of bodily functions, fall into two families: the Omega-3’s and the Omega-6’s. The Omega-3 group comes from the leaves of green plants, while the Omega-6 group comes from the seeds (for example, grain used in animal feeds). Animals that eat quantities of green plants have very high levels of Omega-3.

A healthier more naturally raised chicken is higher in Vitamin A, plus their meat has a significant decrease in total fat compared to chickens raised in crowded pens.

The very best, most healthful way to eat is to build a relationship with a local farmer, which allows you to eat as fresh off the farm as possible. There is something in farm-fresh produce of all kinds that imparts health like nothing else can.

Or better yet, don’t be a chicken, and raise your own!

To your best health,
Coach Nancy

I Have A Beef With This Beef

So I was shopping the other day……

I often stop at The Healthy Buffalo to pick up venison and buffalo, but I thought I would check out what the local grocery store had for healthy meats. I found a great selection of wild caught seafood at Market Basket. It was there that I found a new label. I was perusing the meat isle trying to find if they had free range beef.

I found a fascinating label instead. It read “Only Vegetarian Fed”.

This label was on a package of beef, and the label proudly proclaimed the benefits of (and charging extra for) making sure this cow was only fed vegetables.

Is this some incredible new development? Are we heralding the dawn of better beef?

Not so much.

This product was what food companies used to (and some still do) call “corn fed beef”, which was supposed to be the best possible beef on the planet. Richly marbled, tender and flavorful.

Here’s the rub – cows don’t eat corn, or at least they weren’t designed to eat corn.

Cows are herbivores – grass eaters, and when you feed them corn, all sorts of nasty things happen. As in – corn makes cows sick.

And that is turning out to be a bit of a PR problem for beef growers, at least in some circles.

Documentaries such as “Food, Inc.”, and books such as Michael Pollans “In Defense of Food” have revealed the costs – to the environment, the farmer, and the consumer – of feeding cattle an unnatural diet.

As vegetarian diets grows in popularity (not with me, but with many), it is only logical that we start seeing labels such as “Only Vegetarian Fed” start popping up.

While it may seem like a small thing to some, there is a big difference between “Only Vegetarian Fed” and “Grass Fed” beef.

Vegetarian fed beef is not the same as grass fed. Corn and Soy are vegetarian feeds, and very common in most beef production. Most organic and natural beef are finished with grain, so it’s important not to confuse these two types with grass fed.

In fact for a product to say grass fed it has to meet specific criteria.

Grass fed beef definition (USDA): grass and/or forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning. The diet shall be derived solely from forage and animals cannot be fed grain or grain by-products and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season.

So what’s the big whoop, why is grass fed a better beef?

• Less calories: A 6oz steak from a grass fed cow has almost 100 fewer calories than a 6oz steak from grain fed cattle.
• More healthy EFA’s: Science suggests that people with a diet that has an Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio of over 4:1 have more health problems. Grain fed beef can have ratios that exceed 20:1, while grass fed is around 3:1.
• More CLA: Conjugated Lineolic Acid is thought to be a potent cancer fighter.
• More Vitamins A & E: Up to 400% more then grain fed.

Pretty powerful reasons to get some grass fed in your diet.

Getting back to the labels, there were three I noticed that day.

• The regular label without any special considerations.
• A label that said no antibiotics or growth hormones – better than the first, but still corn and soy fed, and more expensive.
• Finally the most expensive label said no antibiotics, no growth hormones, and only vegetarian fed.

Here’s my ideal label (which doesn’t exist yet):

No antibiotics, no growth hormones, and grass fed

Maybe someday…

Is grass fed more expensive? No doubt about it, pound for pound off the shelf it is.

But don’t be “all or nothing”. Start by using grass fed for one meal a week, and build from there. Realistically most of us eat too much beef (and too many calories) anyway, so if the cost considerations cause us to cut back a little, that’s probably not a bad thing.

Here’s to reading (and understanding labels) and making better choices everyday!

Coach Nancy