Things That Matter

For some reason the past few days I have been reflecting on how fast time goes by. Recently Nancy and I were talking about when we first got married. 19 years old, living on love and not much else.  February will be our 27th anniversary – doesn’t seem possible.

I never really thought about getting older until recently. I mean I feel better than I did 20 years ago, taking care of myself a bit better has that effect. But little things are starting to crop up. For some reason my glasses don’t work as well as they used to. I even have to take them off to read sometimes. What’s up with that? And the hair? Well let’s not go there today.

Deb Richey recently lent me a book, “Younger Next Year” and it is fascinating (and it’s funny, which is always good too!)  It gives scads of evidence that exercise, hard exercise, is the key to quality aging. Not walk on a treadmill for an hour “exercise”, but really getting after it. Look we are all going to get older, but as author Chris says, that doesn’t mean we have to rot.

It’s a fact, the body is either in a state of growth or a state of decay. Fighting off that decay takes work. We all know those people who are vibrant and healthy into their 80’s and 90’s, I say why not join them?

I mean I’d like to tell you that you just need to find that perfect balance in your life and it will all be sunshine and rainbows, but seriously? Balance is for the most part a myth, and it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take control and take positive steps to stay healthy and live well.

And one of those positive steps is taking the time to slow down and enjoy life, the things that really matter. As those around me could tell you, I am not very good at that. There is always something that needs to be done, right? I mean I have a business to run, clients and team members to take care of, things to do for crying out loud.

And then life slaps me in the head. On Saturday Drew says to me “I can’t wait, only 3 more month and I hit double digits”. I was kinda stunned, but he is right. In 3 short months he will be 10 years old. But I don’t want him to be 10. I want him to be 9 for just a couple more years, because then I will have the time to do all the things I want to do with him. To do all the things he wants to do with me. Like throw the football, and play Batman on the Wii, and build that model plane.  But I don’t suppose time is going to stand still, not even for a (self) important guy like me.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day, so it’s not a matter of not having the time. It’s a matter of how we choose to use it.

I mean you can sit on the couch for 4 hours a night, or you can keep your mind and body active. Life will go on if you don’t watch the latest episode of your favorite show. But perhaps that life, your life would be better for longer if you chose to make it so. And beware that this is not a one time choice, but a decision to be better every day. To be productive, to take care of yourself through healthy eating and hard exercise, and by taking the time to focus on what really counts in your life.

Whether you have kids yet, or still in the house, have seem some leave the house already, or never intend to, I think you’ll get the point .

Live Life Intentionally.

Coach Dean

 If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again
( Author Unknown )

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I’d finger paint more, and point the finger less.
I’d do less correcting, and more connecting.
I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less, and know to care more.
I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I’d do more hugging, and less tugging.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I’d build relationships first, and the house later.
I’d teach less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.

The Big Question

The awesome Martha from 5:00am sent me this quote from Jim Rohn, and it really got me thinking. I want to make you think a little bit too, so here it is:

“You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” – Jim Rohn

It has been said that your life will be a reflection of the 5 people you spend the most time with. And while that may be true, we can overcome that if we must.

We don’t always control the people we work with for instance. But we don’t have to let them define who we are. Rather we can choose to be the positive influence on them. It takes a little work, and you may even be criticized a little bit, but isn’t it better to focus on the positive instead of being sucked into the cesspool of negativity?

Here at Get Fit NH we get the privilege of seeing people radically change their lives. Sure, a lot of times it is about losing pounds and inches, but often that is just the icing on the cake. It is a place of overwhelming positive.

I can’t tell you how pumped I was on Saturday as I watched an incredible group of athletes work together and just get after it for 90 minutes – the energy in the room was incredible!

As I surveyed the room my heart was overwhelmed as I looked at all the faces who have made it their purpose to make themselves better.

And while I can’t possibly relate every story, each face reminded me that we are all in this together, and of the struggles and challenges, and the achievements and victories those faces represent.

I remember Donna W. running arms open at the end of the Renegade Playground Challenge, with the joy of the accomplishment.

I was reminded that one of the reasons Jill came to us is that she wanted to lose weight before having children, and this summer her and Karl bringing Erica into this world.

I see Mae Lynn, who trained hard for her half-marathon and has taken 4 1/2 minutes off her 5k time this year.

And Lori, who looks like a different person after shedding 40 pounds.

I see some who have never given up in spite of nagging injury, like Katy, and Christina and Sharon.

I see couples who have gotten off the couch and joined together to strengthen body and relationship.

I see cancer survivors, heart attack victims and people with arthritis, fighting to stay healthy and active.

But mostly when I look at the faces who walk through our doors I just see winners.

I see people who have decided not to live life by chance, but make the intentional choice to be better, and the hard choice to change.

And part of that means I get to hang out with some really cool people. I get to be influenced by scores of people who add joy to my life, who push me to be better as much as I could ever push them.

So think about it.

Who I am allowing to influence me? Where am I going? What am I thinking, and reading, and becoming?

And then ask yourself the big question.

Is That Ok?

Life does not get better by chance, it only gets better when we purpose to Make It Happen.

Live Life Intentionally.

Coach Dean

Saks’ Southwest Salad

Deb Saks from Concord sent me this recipe. She knows I love a Mexican blend of foods. The colors are rich and taste are delightfully fresh. I can’t wait to try this one with fresh summer tomatoes!

Salad:

• Romaine lettuce, chopped
• 3 Grilled chicken breasts, cut up into bite size pieces
• ½  Avocado sliced
• ½  cup cherry tomatoes
• ¼ cup grated cheddar cheese

Salsa Dressing:

• 1 can of black beans, drained
• ½ cup salsa
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• ½ avocado, sliced
• ¼ cup red onion, chopped, optional
• 1 fresh jalapeno, deseeded and chopped, optional
• ¼ cup frozen corn
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt/Pepper to taste

Mix all the salsa ingredients. The avocado will get cut into smaller pieces while you stir.

Line the bottom of large bowl or plate with lettuce greens. Add the chicken, avocado slices, tomatoes, cheese, and salsa dressing on top. Enjoy!

Thank you Deb for the delicious recipe. This fed my family of 5. I had some salsa dressing leftover but everything they devoured. My kids all asked for seconds.

Make The Most of Every Day

I was reminded once again this week how short life is, and how time passes by so fast.

The first thing that reminded me was that Wednesday was (is) our anniversary. You guys that are in your late teens and early 20’s probably think being married 26 years is FOR-EV-ER, but to me that time has swept through like a passing breeze. I think that Nancy and I would both agree that our marriage has it’s ups and downs, but just like a healthy body, the hard work and commitment a healthy marriage takes is more than worth the effort. Just like when you are working toward being physically stronger there can be the temptation to quit when things get tough. I am grateful for a partner that has never quit on me.

I love you Nancy Carlson.

The second thing that reminded me that life is short is that two of our bootcamp family each lost one of their parents this week. I think whether we know the time is short or it hits us out of the blue, we can never be fully prepared for losing the ones we love. Our thoughts and prayers are both Steve and Colleen and their families during this time.

Events in our lives or the lives of the ones we care about can and should refocus us on what is really important. As I write this Amy, my 5 year old, came in and “disturbed” me by showing me the bear on the back of her quarter from Alaska. She was so proud that she was keeping her money in her change purse. I could have shooed her away because I am busy, but I think I am finally starting to learn that moments like that are all too fleeting, and we need to embrace them while we can.

We make choices every day.

Choose to make the most of this one, and every one you are given.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

Test Your Get Fit NH Knowledge

What do you see when you first walk into Get Fit NH’s Training facility?

1. Gym Rats- those people who only know how to “pick things up and put them down”.
2. Rooms full of machines that are difficult to use or you just can’t remember how to use so you jump on the treadmill AGAIN.
3. An inviting space where you can meet a bunch of great people who all want to get in shape, just like you.

Why is Get Fit NH not just another place to ‘workout’?

1. The personal trainers individualize your training session within the group.
2. The Get Fit NH team is seeking to make you work to your abilities but have the time of your life doing so.
3. The motivation, accountability of the group is like positive peer pressure.
4. All of the above and more.

To get started at Get Fit NH I need to:

1. Do 25 pushups, 15 chin ups, squat 650 pounds, and run a half marathon.
2. Fit into the same size pants I wore before I graduated from high school and definitely the same size I wore before I was married.
3. Fill in an online registration.
4. Be prepared to laugh, learn, work hard, sweat, and succeed.
5. Answers C and D.

What are the trainers like?

1. Similar to military bootcamp instructors who yell 2 inches from your face with a goal of making you cry in public.
2. I’m not sure, I have not met them.
3. The Coaches have a great blend of youth, maturity and experience. Each one brings a different gift and ability to relate to our clients, regardless of their current fitness level and stage in life.

(We’ll I only know who the nicest trainer is. Seriously though, I am proud of each trainer at Get Fit NH for who they are and how they do their job.)

Who can do this?

1. Those who want to change their life style so they can best stop or slow diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.
2. People who realize they have put others first and now need to take care of themselves too.
3. The crowd who are currently bored with what they do or just can’t get to the next level.
4. All of the above and more!

I hope this made you smile, and helps you realize that it’s time to get off the couch and get into action!

Coach Nancy

Living Out “Make It Happen”

I was given “Robert Ringer’s 20 Life- Guiding Principles” to read. He compiles a list of 20 sayings that he uses to focus his life and direct his activities.

There were a few on this list that hit home.

His number 12 fits right in with Get Fit NH’s motto – “Make It Happen”

It states – “Never fall into the trap of waiting for something to happen. Make it happen.”

The first time reading through the list, I paused only because he used our saying. Get Fit NH embraces the fact that we can all make it happen, no excuses.

But as I read over the list again, I really had to stop.

The first part of this principle has us not falling into the trap of waiting.

Do I do that? What does that look like? How can it be avoided?

Yes I do that, and I think we all do.

We’ll start an activity or set a goal and for the first few days, maybe even weeks we strive and work at it. We might see some progress. But then for some unknown reason to us, we slowly let go of that passion. Eventually a month or two down the road we figure that avenue didn’t work so we try something else.

We start something new, see some progress, and then let it pass into oblivion.

And we do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result – “this time”.

This phenomenon could be related to our business growth, our job, our training, or our nutrition.

I’ve worked with many clients who for a week maybe even two will log food, eat PPW3, and drink plenty of water. They really are making it happen! They see some changes in their energy levels, their body composition improves, and they might see the numbers on the scale move.

The momentum should cause us to kick it into high gear, but only a few do.  In fact many of us do the opposite, we get distracted and our progress slows, and we are left wondering what went wrong.

In our minds, because there is still activity going on, we expect things to keep progressing.

I mean I am not doing it exactly like I was that was giving me these great results, but it’s close enough, right?

Just going through the motions won’t help. It is consistent application of what I know, over a period of time, that is going to get me to where I want to go.

We can read all the books, monitor all the blogs, and go to all the meetings, but I can tell you first hand our continuous quest for more knowledge is a trap.

The trap of seeing but not doing, of knowing but not applying.

Don’t believe me? Ask your co-workers, family, or friends; to see how many of them have a cookbook relating to some particular diet plan? Ask them if they read the basic principles and did the diet.

It’s human nature not to like being told what to do, at least for very long.

Before I was a trainer I remember this “diet” I was on.

I went shopping for all the specific foods, cooked everything just like they said for one week. The second week, I kind of did the plan but tweaked it to suit my needs, the third week I continued to tweak it myself because the family needed me too. The fourth week looked nothing like the first but I was still doing it. And slowly I fell into a trap. I thought I was doing it but I wasn’t.

It really had nothing to do with the plan – it had everything to do with me.

So how do you continue to make it happen? How can I stick to the plan?

With your training at Get Fit NH we do the planning for you. As long as you continue to come you will move forward in your fitness goals.

The “Other 165” are a bit more difficult.

How do you continue moving forward at breakfast, lunch, the times out with friends, and on the weekend?

Its all in the plan and the planning.

1. Keeping our goals in front of us so we see them daily.
2. Writing out a plan to reach our goals.
3. Bringing others to your aide to hold you accountable and motivate you.
4. Admit you need help and ask a professional

TheOther165.com is a site we have created to help you. We’ve put tools at your finger tips. Tons of information, videos, and testimonials are a button away.

You have to make it happen. Each day doing what it takes to get there. Don’t stop when you reach the 1/2 way point.

Keep getting better – keep moving ahead.

Have you enrolled in our Goal Achievement Program yet? The only cost is 5 or 10 minutes of your time to write down what you want to achieve over the next 4 weeks, and submit an action plan to get there. Don’t underestimate the power of written goals. This program will move you forward, but so don’t wait for it, Make It Happen!

But we don’t want you to fall into the trap that because you signed up for TheOther165, you will magically transform in 2 weeks or less.

Enroll in the Goal Achievement Program Here

To your best health,

Coach Nancy

Reflections of a FFB

Yesterday I celebrated my 45th birthday.

For some reason I have been thinking about turning 45 for awhile. We tend to focus on the “tees”, like when we turn for”tee”, fif”tee”, six”tee” or seven”tee”. (Get real – 30 isn’t really that traumatic)

But for me 45 holds some real significance.

A lot has happened in the last 10 years.

When I was 35 I had two kids, Tim and Jeff. One a sophomore in high school, the other in eighth grade. Those two boys are now both married, one living in Vermont and the other in North Carolina. 10 years later, Nancy and I have had added four more; Derek, Andrew, Karalynn, and Amy. Derek was with us only 11 months when he died of S.I.D.S.,  Drew is 8, KJ is 7 and the precocious Amy is 4 going on forty. How things have changed!

When I was 35 I had a different career. I was a structural draftsman sitting behind a computer all day, and while I was very good at what I did I didn’t love it, and I was pretty miserable to be around at times. That company treated me well, but ultimately I knew it was not what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

When I was 35 I was miserable in other areas of my life as well. I stopped weighing myself when I hit 260 on the scale. I couldn’t shop for pants in the “regular” stores any more as my waistline passed 46 inches. There is a picture I still have of a church picnic where I won a couple ribbons for a pie baking contest. What you don’t see is the humiliation from that same picnic when I tried to play some relay games and couldn’t begin to keep up. That was the first time I remember feeling “old”, but in reality age had little to do with it. I had high blood pressure, my blood sugar was crazy, I lived on Pepto-Bismol, and was a picture perfect couch potato.

I had a beautiful wife, 2 great kids, good friends. But I was well on my way to an early grave, and while in the back of my mind I knew it, I was too apathetic to do anything about it.

But then…

In March 2002 life changed forever for Nancy and me. I still remember we were pretty shocked to discover that we were going to be parents again, 14 years after the last time. We used to joke with our friends that we were going to be empty-nesters by the time we were forty; we had to adjust that time line by oh, about 20 years or so. God has a funny way of letting you know He is in control sometimes.

Nancy was 5 months pregnant with Andrew when Derek, our “surprise” baby that had brought much renewed joy into our lives, died at age 11 months. What started out as an ordinary Monday morning started bringing the brevity and uncertainty of life into my daily thoughts.

We live with choices every day.

Some are little, and some are big. But each choice we make is significant, and determines the course our life is going to take.

There are things in life we cannot control, as we were recently reminded with the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

It’s not what “happens” to you that determines the course of your life, but the conscious choice you make in response to it.

Nancy and I had to make a choice. Let the circumstances of our life tear us apart, or bring us closer together. The daily choice to drag ourselves out of bed and move on was not easy, but our faith, family and friends brought us and continue to bring us through.

So why am I telling you all of this?

Because those circumstances changed my life forever in other ways as well.

I really understood for the first time that life does not go on forever. That I was given the gift of life, and I was in the process of taking that precious jewel and flushing it down the drain with my lifestyle.

I was making bad choices, and it showed. When you are 35 years old and can’t walk up the stairs to go to bed without getting winded, there is something seriously wrong. Keep up with the kids? I figured if I didn’t do something about it I wouldn’t be around for the kids for very long.

And that’s how my journey started to where we are now.

With a choice.

A choice to be better today than I was yesterday.

Make that choice every day, and pretty soon you get somewhere pretty big.

Many of you have heard and read my personal journey and how Get Fit NH got started, so I am not going to make this note any longer than it already is.

Just know that I am grateful for all I have and all I have experienced, both good and bad.

These past 10 years have been a pretty wild ride.

My weight has been under control and under 200 pounds for going on 8 years.

I have girls in the house – now that’s different!

I have a wife that has stood by me through all the ups and downs who I fall in love with more and more every day.

I get to do what I love to do every day in a career that I am passionate about. I have the privilege of helping our clients accomplish things they never dreamed they could do.

Helping others make good choices that get them where they want to go.

I’d say turning 45 is pretty cool.

Thank-you for being a part of my life.

Coach Dean

Used Book Store Sign – “Affordable Time Travel”

I’m out driving this afternoon and I see this sign near the road that was not there last week. You’ve all see similar signs, they are tacked up on a stick written in permanent marker on a thin piece of cardboard. This one had a catchy saying. “Used Book Store- Affordable Time Travel”. Books are in fact a way to ‘Time Travel’. You can go anywhere, be anyone, experience anything, whenever you want to. The possibilities are endless.

What would I put as a sign outside of Get Fit NH Bootcamp? “Make It Happen” of course. At the end of each training session we shout to each other – Make It Happen! You see it on our t-shirts and jackets. Make It Happen is a lifestyle. It’s how we live.

For each of us we’ve determined how many bootcamp training sessions we will make happen each week. This is an important time we set aside to help take care of ourselves. But what do you do beyond the 1, 2, or 4 hours of training? What about the other 165 hours in a week?

There are certain things we can control within our lifestyle. Our lives are impacted by the people we hang around with, they ‘ll help form our character. The things we do in life or don’t do impact our bodies. How much sleep we get and the amount of water we drink will touch the makeup of our life. Even the food we eat effects our lives.

All these and more make up our 165 hours outside of Get Fit NH Bootcamp. Do we still wear the ‘Make It Happen’ sign during the other 165? Do we eat supporting our training and our health? Do you plan for enough sleep? Most of us admit to not drinking enough water.

So what is the sign you hang up near your desk at work? “Be back in ten minutes”?

What sign do you hang around your neck while at home? “Do as I say, and not as I do”?

And when you are alone? Do you have a sign? What drives you to binge or not binge when no one is looking?

Think about it. Your Get Fit NH time is planned and designed to have the highest impact along side a supportive 165 hours outside of the gym. What sign do others see when they look at you? What sign do you want them to see?

With the ‘Make It Happen’ lifestyle sign the possibilities are endless!

Don’t just say it…live it.

Make It Happen!

Coach Nancy

Just One Thing

I tend to be an “all or nothing” kind of guy. Either I do something flat out, 100%, no quarter given, or I don’t do it at all.

While that might sound like a positive, often times in my own life I find that if just one little thing knocks me off track – it’s not perfect – I can get aggravated and just throw in the towel.

Even worse, if everything isn’t perfect, if I don’t have all my ducks lined up in a row right from the start, whatever I am working on may never get off the ground!

And that’s one of the reasons that I hired a coach, in my case a business coach. Nancy and I meet regularly with her in order to keep the business headed in the right direction. She helps us see what is working, map out future projects, create action steps for those projects, and then keeps us accountable to those action steps. Nancy and I are also both in separate “Mastermind Groups”, and we are each responsible every Friday to give an accounting of our week and what we accomplished.

So why am I telling you all this?

Because based on my experience with hundreds of clients, there are a lot of you that are a lot like me.

Mulling over in your head all the reason’s why you can’t, which in turn paralyzes you into taking any action at all.

In the arena of diet and nutrition I see this all the time, and my goal is to help you break out of that cycle. We can talk all day long about what your ideal nutrition plan might look like, but then a dangerous thing happens – you start thinking about it, and your mind begins creating all these scenarios and “what if’s” of why it can’t or won’t work.

Here’s what I want you to do to break out of that cycle.

Just.One.Thing

I don’t want you to worry doing everything right – right now.

Choose just one thing you can do every day and build off that.

• Not eating breakfast? Eat breakfast every day for a week. I don’t even care what, just eat something.
• Vegetables never pass your lips? Add them to just one meal every day for a week.
• Skipping Meals? Make sure you get in three every day for just one week.

Then build off that success. It might look like this:

• Add a protein to your breakfast (eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese) every day for a week.
• Eat vegetable at two meals, every day for a week.
• Leave the starchy foods off the last of your three meals of the day, every day for a week.

Follow that pattern consistently, and pretty soon you have made a significant change into both your habits and how you look and feel!

For most of us however there is another critical part of the equation. I mean, who’s gonna know if I do those things or not? Makes it kinda easy to slide…not good.

Accountability

It’s a word that grates on many of us, but in reality we never outgrow the need for it.

Our bootcamp training is built around the concept of accountability to yourself, to your coaches, and to your training partners. When you aren’t here, you are missed and we let you know about it! 🙂

As your coaches, we understand that some of you want more accountability in the area of nutrition and body composition as well. As your coaches we want to help those of you who want more education and accountability.

I asked Coach Erin to come up with some concepts of what such a program would look like, and she did a fantastic job of outlining what we are now refining and will be rolling out to you in the coming weeks. I am confident you will be thrilled with what’s coming down the pike!

But that doesn’t mean you should wait around and do nothing!

Here’s a summary of what I have learned from my coaches that applies to you too…

• Don’t wait for perfection to get started
• Don’t expect everything to go perfectly once you have started
• Don’t try to do everything at once
• Be Accountable

So let’s hear it. In the comment box below tell me Just One Thing you are going to start doing today.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

When’s the last time YOUR doctor said “Wow”? (in a good way:)

Got a couple notes last week from two guys in our 6:30am class that were a great encouragement to me and a testament to what hard work, consistency, dedication and solid programming can do for your body, and more importantly your overall health.

Thanks for the notes guys, and keep up the great work!

“Just a big thank-you to (Get Fit NH) Bootcamp. It’s been 2+ years since my last physical. The first thing out of the Dr’s mouth was “wow”. He asked me what I had changed. Of course I asked him why. He said it’s because I had lost 30 pounds since my last physical. I told him about (Get Fit NH) bootcamp 4 times a week for one hour along with diet changes. All my blood work was good as well. I did throw in some good words for you !! He told me to keep up the good work. He explained the long term benefits to my health and well being by better eating and weight control. Thanks to you and your staff for helping me “make it happen” – Jere

“I highly recommend Get Fit NH Bootcamp…my pants don’t lie! Since starting in January of this year I have lost 4 inches on my waistline, 2 pant sizes and dropped 30lbs. I have not been at this weight or size in over 20 years and Dean and CJ helped me get their in less than 6 months. It works because you have a team behind you, don’t keep trying to go it alone…get to camp!” – David