The Big Red Button

America is obsessed with quick fixes.

If it doesn’t happen immediately, I don’t want it.

Give me the big, red easy button.

Well, the truth is fatloss is tough work.

You’re gonna have to sweat.

You’re gonna have to breathe heavy.

You’re gonna get a little sore.

You’re gonna have to do it for longer than 30 days.

But when you choose the long haul…

You’ll look and feel amazing.

You’ll burn your fat jeans.

You’ll walk up the stairs without huffing and puffing.

You’ll never sit on the sidelines again.

Get off the sidelines and Click Here to join Get Fit NH Bootcamp today!

Make It Happen,

Nancy

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Bonus Recipe (one of Dean’s favorites):

In honor of Tim P. (Indian to most of us – here is a fantastic recipe just in time for the Brussels Sprout harvest here in NH!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1 ½ pound Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed

3 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place Brussels Sprouts, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large sealable bag. Seal and shake to coat. Pour into a baking sheet and bake on center rack. Roast for 30-45 minutes, shaking pan every 5-7 minutes to prevent burning. The Brussels sprouts will be almost black, dark brown when done. Serve immediately.

Don’t Try To Lose Weight Anymore

First Things First…

Huge kudos and congratulations go to Karyn and Brenda for the awesome results they achieved in our August classes. Both of these ladies set the bar high for their monthly weight loss goal – 15 pounds – Now that is an aggressive goal! If you don’t aim high you will never discover what you can accomplish, so don’t be shy.

Here’s what Brenda wrote to us:

“Week Four was a good week.  I lost another 3Ibs… so that’s 11 lbs total for the month of August.  My clothes are starting to feel better and I am starting to have more energy.  It’s  a great feeling.  So, although I did not meet my original goal of 15 lbs for the month, I am happy about the progress.  Thank you.”

Would you be happy if you set a goal of 15 and lost “only” 11? Hello!

Karyn was very low key about the whole thing. She wrote me a note about another subject, and at the bottom was:

“PS…Lost the 15 I set out to this month.” Shout it from the rooftops…you did it!

How did these ladies get such great results? They had a plan and they followed it. Brenda sent us her compliance chart with notes at the end of every week. Karyn is meticulous in her detail, and met her goal even though she had a crazy month with her kids!

You have the tools to achieve the same results, you just need to take action and do it! The plan they follow is right here – http://GetFitNHbootcamp.com/21

Don’t be shy, we want to hear the results you are achieving too! Comment Below!

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How many times have you “tried” to lose weight?

How many times have you “done” a program like Weight Watchers®, or Nutrisystem®, or Jenny Craig®?

Do you know the ins and outs of any of these popular “diets”?

Atkins®

South Beach®

Pritikin®

The Zone®

The Mediterranean Diet®

Sugar Buster®

When you break it down, all of these diets are the same because of this one factor – They are structured plans.

I can pretty much guarantee you that you can and will lose weight on any of these, When you actually consistently DO THE PLAN!

Some of these plans are better than others. In my mind the most important thing to ask yourself is “Can I do this for the rest of my life?” This is the weakness of most “diets”. They are simply not sustainable. If you can’t see yourself being happy on one of these plans for life, it’s going to be a whole lot easier for you to “go off”. That’s disaster on many different levels.

So what do we do?

We want to teach you how to eat for life!

We don’t want you to try any plan, including ours.

In order to achieve permanent fat loss (like the former fat boy writing this) you MUST shift your mindset from “TRY” to “DO”.

Why is this so important? Because when we say we are going to “Try” something, it is a built-in excuse for not succeeding. “Well I tried, and it didn’t work for me” – BALONEY!

That’s why we are such sticklers about keeping records, particularly when you first start developing new eating habits and patterns. The records show what you are actually DOING. Cold, hard numbers. Either you did it or you didn’t. Takes “trying” right out of the equation. Did I eat breakfast every day? Did I eat my protein and veggies? What percentage of the time? It’s all there in black and white.

Time to be brutally honest with yourself. If you are not keeping records, why not?  What excuses are you formulating in your head right now?

We have found there is one underlying reason – You really just don’t want to know.

Look I am realist, and I have dealt with many of the same things you may be going through right now. What happens if I fail – again? What happens if I succeed? What will change in my life? What will my friends think? What will my spouse say? Man have I been there! Change is never easy, but rarely in life is anything worth achieving easy.

The best part is you are not alone. You are part of something special – A group of people with common goals, dreams and desires. Coaches and members that encourage, congratulate and yes, kick you in the pants when you need it. Take advantage of the resources you have, and make today the day you Make It Happen!

http://GetFitNHbootcamp.com/21

Nancy and Dean

You Can’t, Huh?

“Like I said, just because I can’t do it TODAY doesn’t mean I won’t be able to do it EVER….”

Found this video in the archives, and was compelled to share it again.

Don’t ever give up on your dreams…

Don’t ever let anyone tell you you are not good enough…

Don’t ever think the obstacles you face today are permanent and immovable…

You are powerful…

You are able…

You are good enough…

You Better Believe It!

Your Dog Is Fat!

If your dog is fat, you’re not getting enough exercise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huh?

Well if Fido was getting enough exercise, chances are you probably would be a lot closer to fitting into those new jeans, right?

Sometimes it’s all about how we look at things.

Perspective is important, and keeping the right perspective is key to reaching your fitness goals. Our 21 Day “Steps to Success” guide can give you that proper perspective – when you use it.

You must actually do something now that the guide is in your hands.  Print out your copy, read it once, then read it again. Congratulations, you’ve done the hard part – you started!

Now do step 1, write down your specific goals, then on to step 2. This is an easy one you can do before your next training session – just weigh and measure yourself, and write it down. You’ve already completed steps 1 & 2 – How hard was that?

Keep in mind your goals are like the finish line at the end of a running race. The weight and waist measurements are the starting line. You need to be able to see where you want to go from where you currently are now. Looking in the mirror from the neck up is not good enough. You’ll end up with the wrong perspective.  Standing in front of a full length mirror with as few clothes on as possible will give you the correct perspective. Taking a picture is even better. What’s that you say – you don’t want to see those pictures? Precisely why you need to take them and look at them every single day. You can fool yourself when you look in a mirror, but pictures don’t lie – they give the real perspective.

No excuses! – Do those first two steps, and you get the momentum going in the right direction.

Remember if your dog is fat, you’re not getting enough exercise.

Now get out there and do it!

Nancy

Never Fast Enough

Human beings are impatient.

We want what we want, and we want it NOW! (disclaimer – this post is heavily influenced by the fact we have a two year old 🙂

But are we adults any better?

Not really – we want fast service, fast food and fast cars.

And when we want to lose weight we want it to happen light-speed fast!

One of our classes got into a discussion about when I was on my weight loss journey, and I told them that I tracked my weight loss during that time, and that I would find that chart and post it.

I started the chart when I weighed 250 and it stops when I broke 200 for the first time. In my case this took a period of a little over three months.

There is a couple key things I want to point out:

1) My progress was not linear. By that I mean that some days my weight actually went up. Where would your mindset be if that happened to you?

2) My rate of weight loss was about 3.5 pounds a week over that period of time. I was drastically overweight, and my body could handle that rate of loss. Not everybody can and will lose at that rate, but it can be done.

I have often been asked what was the key to my weight loss, what’s the “secret”?

Here it is – there is no secret, and you need to stop looking for one.

Now there are a number of components to successful body composition change – “weight loss”.

Quantity and type of exercise

Quantity of food

Quality of food

Rest and Recovery

Social Support

and others.

But the common thread I see for clients who steadily and successfully reach their goals is this –

They completely change their mindset, and that’s what I did.

It wasn’t anyone else’s fault that I was obese – end of story.

Only when I took complete responsibility did I start to make real progress.

Stopped looking for the latest pill, potion, lotion, ab-blaster, and diet program.

Applied daily effort toward my goals.

Learned how to exercise to encourage my body to lose the fat.

Learned and applied rational, healthy principles to my nutrition plan.

Let myself make a mistake without beating myself up about it, getting depressed, and heading to the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Perfection – not gonna happen. Don’t let the quest for perfection get in the way of your progress. You will never be perfect – get over it. When you fall down, get back up.

I say it often – I am nobody special – if I can do it, so can you!

I look forward to working with you as you reach and exceed what you thought was possible.

Make It Happen!

Dean

SMART Goal Setting With J.

So I asked one of our long time Get Fit NH Bootcamp members (“J.”) for some feedback on our new “21 Day Steps to Fitness Success” plan, due to roll out on July 6th.

She had such incredible things to say about goal setting, I am sharing our dialog here!

I asked J. for some input, and this is what I got back…

J: Very nice I get a lot out of all your informational pieces….The only other thing I would say is to use the SMART goal format for peoples monthly goals. As a past sales coach I always used SMARTS with my clients and I love the idea that its all their ideas so they are already sold on the actions it will take to reach there goal.

Me: Great ideas J. – thank-you for your input. Do you have a specific format you use for the SMART goals?”j

J: I would have them on a piece of paper write down the left side of it S for specifically what are you going to do M measure how are you going to measure it A actions what actions are you going to take to reach this goal R what is the result T the timeframe you are going to do this in.

Health Care – Do It Yourself!

As you are probably aware, there is a big debate raging in the US regarding the issue of health care. Proposals are flying all over the place from all quarters on how to “fix” the system.

I have a simple solution to the problem.

It has taken me years to figure it out.

Personal trial and error.

You ready for it?

Don’t Get Sick!

I know what you’re thinking – “No kidding wise guy!”

But I am completely, honestly and 100%- Not Kidding!

I mean seriously, does this prize winning pie chef look healthy?

He took charge of his health, and so can you!

The #1 thing YOU can do to make the biggest impact on the “Health Care” system is to STAY OUT OF IT as much as possible.

Now I understand that accidents occur. We are fragile beings and things break – and our medical system is the best in the world at fixing traumatic injuries.

But when it comes right down to it, accidents are a relatively small part of the overall picture.

Take a look at the leading causes of death in the United States as put out by the Centers for Disease Control.

1. Heart Disease: 631,636
2. Cancer: 559,888
3. Stroke: 137,119
4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,583
5. Accidents: 121,599
6. Diabetes: 72,449

Of the top six causes of death, accidents cause only 7.38%.

What is the common thread of the other 92+ percent?

They are largely behavior related diseases.

Too much food, too much sugar, too much alcohol, too much stress.

Not enough exercise, not enough sleep.

Not much there that has a thing to do with health insurance, who pays what and when, ppo, hmo, socialized medicine or any of that baloney.

I am not insensitive to genetic disease and inherited traits. Those things are real and do occur.

The fact is way too many of us have used them as an excuse, as if somehow the fact that your dad had heart disease means you should be 100 pounds overweight and taking 5 different drugs.

I have seen what happens when our clients take charge of their own health. You want to control health care costs? Think about how much you will save when you aren’t paying for thyroid meds, or multiple blood pressure meds, or drugs to help you control your blood sugar! I have seen that happen over and over (never take yourself off, always consult your doctor)

See how much better your back feels when you become flexible and can move freely again.

See how much more productive you can be when you have the energy you did 20 years ago.

It can and does happen, becuase we see it every day.

But it’s up to you!

Not your doctor, not your spouse, not your brother, sister, father, mother, boss, congressman, senator or president.

YOU!

You are reading this because you are ready to make a change, and I applaud you.

And that’s why we are here, to help guide you as you take charge of your own health and well-being.

Use the resources on this site, talk to your trainer, leave a comment on this post.

We want to hear from you. We want you to achieve your goals and dreams.

Make It Happen!

Dean

What Do You Expect?

Nancy and I have had conversations with a few clients over the past few weeks about how fast they are losing bodyfat, and a couple have expressed frustration that the weight isn’t coming off “fast enough”.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think it should be your goal to strip unhealthy bodyfat as fast as possible.

It shouldn’t take 6 months to take off 10 pounds of bodyfat…

But it isn’t going to happen in 6 days either!

When you step on that scale and you have lost 2 0r 3 pounds and 1/2″ off your waist in the last two weeks are you happy, or frustrated that it wasn’t more?

Let’s think about it…

If you lost an average of 1 1/2 lbs a week over the span of 3 months, would you be happy? Do you know how much weight that is?

18 lbs!

Would you be happy to lose 18 pounds? I certainly would!

In fact I went back and looked at my records from when I started my weight loss journey,

From the 1st week in August to the 3rd week in October, a span of 12 weeks, I lost a grand total of….

16.5 lbs…LESS THAN 1 1/2 pounds a week.

Thinking back I guess I should have been pretty ticked off at myself that I wasn’t losing weight fast enough…

I should have gotten really aggravated, decided it wasn’t worth it, pounded a couple dozen donuts and a chocolate cake or two…

and been DONE WITH IT!

Because this weight loss stuff doesn’t work…

It’s taking too long…

It’s too hard…

ARE YOU KIDDING ME – Stop The Whining Already!?

I had been a fat boy for years!

It wasn’t going to “go away” in a few weeks, no matter how much I wanted it to.

It ended up taking me over 9 months to get below 200 lbs, an average of less than 2 pounds a week.

Could I have done it faster? Maybe, maybe not – I only know what I did.

So what’s my point?

Here it is in a nutshell…

When you are headed in the right direction – When your weight is dropping steadily, when your waist is getting smaller, when your pants fit better, when you can celebrate your victories, now matter how small….

Be Happy With Yourself!

Don’t live your life trying to be perfect, because you’re not!

There is a philosophy that permeates the Japanese culture – “Kaizen”.

It means “Constant and Never Ending Improvement”.

It doesn’t mean perfection…

But it doesn’t mean satisfied with mediocrity either.

To me it means never letting your highs get too high or your lows too low.

To evaluate what you are doing right and to keep doing it.

To discover what needs improvement and getting better at it.

To live each day with purpose and make a difference in the lives of those around you.

I challenge you to live “Kaizen”…

I challenge you to focus on the positives…

I Challenge You To Be Happy Today!

Can you do it?

Make It Happen,

Dean

Spitting In My Corn Flakes

So I got these cool new referral cards for my bootcamp classes, and they have this picture on the front of them:

We just rolled them out at the 6:00pm class, and I told them “We used our pictures on the cards – That’s Nancy on the left and me on the right.”

And that’s when my beloved members spit in my corn flakes…

They all said “We believe that’s Nancy on the left, but we KNOW that’s not you!”

Ouch!!

Now we were all kidding around, but it really got me to thinking…

“You know what Dean…they are right!”

Now I am in good shape, but I am not in THAT shape.

And it sort of ticked me off.

It made me want to take it to the next level – to get those “beach ready” abs.

Just to prove I can…

What about you?

What’s it gonna take to get you to the next level?

To drop that next 10 pounds?

Get into that dress?

Crank out those 12 pullups?

When is enough enough?

Don’t wait for someone to “spit in your corn flakes”

Make It Happen Today!

Dean

Success Secrets for Busy Moms

Mothers day is right around the corner, and it got me to thinking about all the moms we have had the privilege of working with over the past few years.

Without a doubt moms are the most selfless clients we have, and frankly, that’s not always a good thing. Because moms are by nature (and need) focused on everyone else, oftentimes her own physical, emotional and mental well being suffers.

A lot of great moms put aside their fitness ambitions aside because of all the chaos that goes on around them, thinking that it’s for the best. The reality is that a healthy mom is better prepared to take on all the stress that comes her way.

Every day we have moms that walk through the door and work their tails off, only to have their efforts sabotaged my the rest of the day. Here’s a few simple steps we can all use to make each day just a little healthier than the day before.

Step #1 – Eat Breakfast Every Day!

You get up, hop in the shower, get the kids ready, make sure they get something in their stomach before it’s off to daycare or school. Maybe your husband needs his shirt ironed (men are helpless!) and “forgot” to tell you the night before. Missing breakfast just becomes part of your day. This just sets you up poorly for the whole day, as you are more likely to reach for something unhealthy to fill that void in your stomach. Your blood sugar never stabilizes, you feel tired, reach for another cup of coffee and on and on it goes.

You have got to get something healthy in your stomach as early after you wake as possible if you want to achieve that dream body. Nobody expects a busy mom with a crazy schedule to get up an hour earlier to make eggs every day, but a Super Shake takes just a few minutes to make, tastes great, and gets your day started right.

Here’s a great tasting recipe that mixes in a flash and you can take with on your way out the door!

1 Cup Green Tea
1 Scoop Vanilla Ultimate Muscle Protein
1/2 Cup frozen berries (strawbewrries, raspberries, or blueberries)
1 Tbsp almonds
2 Tbsp yogurt
Additional water to suit your texture/thickness preference

Step #2 – Keep Your Training Appointment

You wouldn’t dream about missing a doctors appointment or soccer practice for the kids. If it’s on the calendar, you are going to make sure they are there – it’s just what moms do!

Mom, you need to take the same approach with your fitness. Put it on the calendar and don’t miss it! I am going to brag on our 5:00am boot camp class a little, because every woman in there is a super busy mom who doesn’t necessarily feel like getting up every day, but makes it happen because she knows it is the only time it will get done! In fact the moms in all our classes choose that time and keep that training appointment because that is her time – no excuses!

Step #3 – Don’t Make Sweets Your Solace (and lay off the booze)

Let’s face it, all too many moms are stress eaters (as are the rest of us). After another long day don’t I deserve to sit down with that bag of double stuff cookies or hot fudge sundae? No and No. Nightime is danger time for a lot of moms. The kids are off to bed and she has just had it. Half a bag later the guilt sets in, and what the heck, just finish the bag! Let me encourage you this way, that was a vicious cycle I was caught in for years, and it held me back big time! Don’t turn an occasional treat (or lapse) into an all out pig out.

The other danger zone at night is those glasses of wine. Alcohol and fat burning cannot and do not co-exist. I understand the stress release factor, but you can’t have it both ways. If you want to maximize your result potential, you are better off finding other stress release and relaxation methods in the evening. A hot bath, stretching, and foam rolling are all productive and relaxing, and enhance your fat loss efforts. And as far as the research that shows wine is full of anti-oxidants, etc. – get your full daily servings of fruit and vegetables first, and then get back to me.

Happy Mothers Day – I love you mom!

Dean