What do you have to say?

To yourself that is? So often we have a negative tape playing in our head and we may not be aware of it. I have met with many fantastic mothers, wives, successful business owners and in 30 minutes I can’t tell you how often I hear:

“I just can’t lose the weight”

“I can’t find the time to go grocery shopping and prepare meals”

“I can’t find the motivation”

Those are just a few. It is sad to think that if I am hearing these statements in such a short time, how much more are they reciting them in their mind throughout the day?

We have talked before about how powerful the mind is. Your internal dialog sets the tone for what you believe is true about yourself. I remember growing up and if I ever said something negative about myself my father would remind me that if I said it and believed it then it would be true…negative or positive. If you keep telling yourself “I can’t lose the weight” or “I can’t find the motivation” then you WON’T! You need to start BELIEVING you CAN!!! Can’t is a four letter word that we want to banish in our home at Get Fit NH! Here is a quote I really liked in an article I was reading:

“Between being perfect and giving up, there’s BETTER.”

Many of us strive for perfection, especially on the journey of weight loss. When things don’t go as planned you might say “Forget it, I will start again tomorrow” and tomorrow turns into Monday and so on. Then that voice inside your head might tell you, you failed again so why bother trying any more. You need to SILENCE that voice and get back on track!  Every day (even every minute) is an opportunity to get better and closer to our goals!

We must choose to be positive and shut the negative out! There is so much negative going on in the world it is hard not to be brought down by it. I often suggest people write down one positive thing each day and see the difference it makes. Some have started doing it and they now notice when others compliment them or when they make a better choice that will get them closer to their goal. It has been a privilege to see what a little positive note each day (or every other day) can make in their mindset.

Thank you for continuing to let me be a part of your journey! I look forward to you sharing more of your successes with me!

Coach Erin

Student Spotlight – Carolyn S. and Baby Gretchen

Coach Nancy here, excited to be sharing a new Student Spotlight Series! Usually our spotlight is a chance for one of Get Fit NH’s family members to shine, but over the next two weeks I have several to highlight. In fact, three people in particular have caught this coach’s eye. They have one commonality – they are all pregnant or have recently given birth. All of these women are inspiring individuals. Adding to their uniqueness is their continuation of their training while pregnant. It is inspiring and leaves the rest of us thinking, “If they can do this, I can too!”.

To start off our two weeks of spotlighting Get Fit NH’s inspiring pregnant women, we have Carolyn S. She has written about her experience training with Get Fit NH while being pregnant, here is her story:

“Approximately three years ago, a friend introduced me to Get Fit NH… and it’s been a huge part of my life ever since. Before Get Fit NH, I felt limited to walking and hiking with my dog, which I still enjoy doing, but I was looking for a new way to challenge myself. I really wanted to be a part of a group because I was tired of feeling isolated and trying to adapt to a healthier lifestyle on my own. A couple years ago, I attended a workshop in Epsom on Pre/Post Natal training put on by Nancy, just to gather information. I knew before getting pregnant I wanted to be healthy and strong. I was also looking to get an idea of how training would change for me if or when I become pregnant.

Fast forward to today and not only do I train in the company of friends, but my family is training together, which is the best gift we ever could have gotten. My husband started training with Get Fit NH over a year ago; we started doing this together to be healthier for our “future” children. I remember Nancy saying at the Pre/Post Natal training that when the mother’s heart rate increases so does the baby’s. That stuck with me. I’m currently 38.5 weeks pregnant, and I’ve been able to train 3-4 times a week throughout my pregnancy because of the care and dedication of Nancy.

Nancy was one of the first people to know that my husband and I were expecting. From the beginning, we knew we were in good hands, but we wanted to make sure we were communicating with our trainer, doctor, and chiropractor. I don’t feel like a whole lot has changed for me in terms of training, but that’s probably because Nancy has done such a wonderful job of quickly and discreetly modifying exercises I was struggling with. This is something I really appreciate because, generally, I don’t like to draw a lot of attention to myself.

Back in November, my doctor had to fill out paperwork in order for me to continue to train throughout pregnancy. Nancy wrote a letter explaining that this was something that I’d been involved in for the past couple of years. I remember the doctor encouraging me to only lift 15 lbs, which left me feeling both limited and frustrated. I talked to Nancy about this because I knew I wasn’t trying to increase the amount of weight I was lifting, but if I wasn’t able to lift more than 15 lbs I wasn’t even going to maintain where I was. Our conversations left me feeling more confident in my own judgment and strength. I also knew that if I wasn’t feeling comfortable with a particular exercise, then I could lighten up on the weight or ask for a modification.

During training, I started to wear a heart rate monitor, which I was excited about because I had attended the 8-week heart rate monitor training session in Concord last year. I’d grown to really like seeing how quickly I could recover after getting my heart rate up. With this pregnancy, I was using the heart rate monitor to keep my heart rate below 80% of its maximum. Check-ins were subtle throughout training and I was encouraged to respond with at least five words so Nancy could gauge how I was doing. I regularly required reminders to breathe.

During my first trimester, I was able to participate in all of the exercises although there would be days (maybe weeks) where I felt so tired that I appreciated being able to choose a modified version of the exercise.  I felt like I had plenty of energy during my second trimester, but pushups, knee grab abs and lying T’s were beginning to be a real challenge.  On certain days where I was suffering from lower back pain, Nancy quickly came up with another option for me to do that would take the strain off of my back.

Being pregnant didn’t exempt me from goal setting. Instead, I was given the opportunity to focus on nutrition. I would fill out my food journal every other week, hand it into Nancy, and get feedback. I found this to be really helpful because it helped me see when and where I was eating my carbs, fats, and proteins. Nancy shared recipes with me and suggested other food options.

Training as a family is something we look forward to doing together, and it had bonded us in a way I’m not sure anything else could have.  Kellen and I can’t wait for you to meet our next generation of Get Fit NH.  This little one has been training with you for almost a full 40 weeks!” – Carolyn S.

Update: Carolyn and Kellen are happy to announce the birth of Gretchen in August. Congratulations from your Get Fit Family!

The Transformation

“Imagine that last night, as you slept, your world magically changed. You woke up this morning with everything you have ever wanted. Every life change, every goal, everything you’ve ever striven for has been achieved.

You don’t know how this wondrous transformation occurred — you were asleep, after all — but you know it’s perfect. You open your eyes, yawn, and look around.”

Now answer these questions:

•    How will you know that your life has changed?
•    Which specific things are different?”

The responses to these questions can spark an interesting discussion, and can show you some ways to measure progress.

Identify the outcome you are seeking. Set this outcome goal aside. Understand that you can’t control it 100%.

List your behavior goals.
 In the form below, list 3 behaviors that — if done consistently — are going to get you to your outcome goal.
What will you do this month?
What will you do this week?
What will you do today?

Keep it simple. Match behaviors to identity, values, and goals. 
Focus on a few small, concrete, daily actions that matter.

Start Your Transformation Here:

1. What will I do this month to help me reach my goal?

2. What will I do this week to help me reach my goal?

3. What will I do today to help me reach my goal?

The magic is in the doing. Be consistent. Never give up. Take action, and Make It Happen!

Coach Nancy

Gotta Love Me Some Zucchini

I love late August early September. The backyard garden is bulging with produce. One of my favorite growing plants is zucchini. I think it is because they are easy to grow, hard to kill, and produce fruit with little effort. I’m not much of a gardener but I do put get my hands dirty. Donna K. visited the Red Mountain Resort in Utah this summer and brought back this recipe.

Raw Zucchini Alfredo

8 – 1 cup servings

• 1 cup raw unsalted Cashew nuts, chopped
• ¾ cup water
• ¼ cup Pine nuts
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• ½ tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cloves garlic
• 8 cups zucchini

Blend all ingredients except zucchini in a high power blender until smooth and starts to warm up from blender, about 5 minutes to make the Alfredo sauce.

Cut top and bottom off of zucchini. Using the julienne blade on a mandolin cut zucchini length wise to create noodles. Pour sauce over individual portions.

Since zucchini are prolific I wanted to share this recipe from Paulette W. These are one of our family’s favorites year round.

Zucchini Fritters

• 5 medium zucchini, shredded (4 cups) with box grater or food processor
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 cup coconut flour (I used almond flour)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional (but yummy) and 1 teaspoon black pepper
• coconut oil or ghee for cooking

Shred zucchini and put into large bowl. Sprinkle with the sea salt and toss well. Walk away for 10 min. Scoop up a generous handful of zucchini and squeeze the living daylights out of them. You want the zucchini dry – nobody likes soggy fritters. Place in a different bowl. Add flour, egg, pepper, and baking soda. Stir to combine Heat a large skillet over med-high heat. Melt a spoonful of oil or ghee in the pan. Pack a 1/4 cup of zucchini mixture out onto the pan and flatten until you get a patty. You can cook 4-5 patties at a time. Cook each side for 3-5 min or until brown. Cool on a cooling rack so they don’t get soggy.

Enjoy!

Coach Nancy

Got Grit?

Have you ever considered seriously what it takes to be successful?

Angela Lee Duckworth is a psychologist that studied different people in various settings to see what made them successful. On one of her studies she went to West Point to try to predict which cadets would make it through the program and which would drop out. She found that those who succeeded had the most grit. Duckworth defines grit as “passion and perseverance for long term goals”. Grit is not giving up when faced with challenges. It is working on your goal every day.

How do you build grit? Here are a few characteristics of people with grit:

Courage: You must have courage to set goals and not be afraid to fail. Some of us are perfectionist (myself included) and we never take that step outside of our comfort zone because we are scared of failing. Don’t let fear paralyze you because you may miss out on something great!

Goal Oriented: The most gritty and successful people set goals and then work relentlessly to achieve them. If you don’t set goals then how do you know where you are going? After you have your goal you must have an action plan to get there. Then you work on it daily!

Endurance: Life is a marathon not a sprint. Malcom Gladwell states in his book Outliers that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery in a field. To achieve success we must be willing to put in the time necessary. There are no short cuts or quick fixes!

Resilience: Success is not linear. There are going to be bumps in the road. People who have grit and are successful are also resilient. They use every opportunity as a chance for growth and have confidence to move forward.

Excellence: Not perfection! We must strive for excellence in everything we do. When we seek perfection we often get discouraged because we don’t achieve it. Perfection is not realistic. Excellence is an attitude that is positive and motivating.

Let’s work together to build these characteristics and some Grit!

Take Action Today

Last week we talked about commitment.

Remember I asked you to commit to just one thing and send it to me? Well, some of you did and I thought that was great. I am so proud of you guys for your willingness to be held accountable. That is important. I would expect you all to ask me which recipes I made from the Whole 9 Handbook since that is what I committed to – I can take it! 🙂

This week I want to talk about taking action.

It is easy to set goals, right? Anyone can say, “My goal is to lose to test out of my red band” “My goal is to lose 10 lbs for my vacation in two months” or “My goal is to be able to do unassisted chin ups.” That is the easy part! The hard part is maintaining discipline and taking action steps to meet those goals! If you want something to change you must change something you’re doing (that part can sting a little sometimes, I know!) The good news is you’ve hired professional coaches to help you define those action steps in a way that works FOR YOU!

I am going to show you a DON’T version of taking action and a DO version of taking action….

DON’T

Outcome Goal: I want to lose 10 pounds before I go on vacation in December

4 week goal- I want to lose 5 pounds in 4 weeks

Action Steps

1.) Stick to Whole 9 nutrition plan

2.) Train 4x per week

3.) Take Fish Oil supplement

4.) Get 8 hours of sleep

5.) Keep a food log

Do you see where I am going with this??

In this case- less is more! Remember this is a life style change. This stuff is not going to happen overnight. It takes work and it takes dedication. You deserve to meet your goals.

Here is what a DO situation looks like

Outcome Goal: I want to lose 10 pounds before I go on vacation in December

4 week goal- I want to lose 5 pounds in 4 weeks

Action Steps

1.) Train 4X per week consistently for 4 weeks

2.) Attend a Whole 9 seminar

Boom- That’s it!

In 4 weeks we talk again and if and when you successfully completed the action steps then we move on. We progress. We keep the first step and add another one.

I don’t want you to think about the 100 different ways you COULD BE taking action. I want you to focus on ONE thing you can and will do over the next 4 weeks. Heck, I want to  know what you are going to do today to get you closer to your goal tomorrow!

Commit to take action- Go make it happen!

-Coach Meagan

Just Because!

Student Spotlight – Alice DonnaSelva

I am very proud to share the story of Alice DonnaSelva. We have been blessed to have Alice in our 6:15 AM training time for almost a year. She is an incredible inspiration to the student’s around her. You want to see a woman who pushes herself to no end, Alice is your lady! I have had the opportunity to sit with Alice several times and discuss goals. I remember two of her first goals were to increase her push ups for the Get Fit Games and be able to do jumping chins. Alice dedicated about 15-20 minutes 2 days per week where she would stay after training and work on her chin progressions as well as work on her push ups (chest all the way to a tennis ball too!) Alice is a perfect example of how hard work and dedication get you real life results. She shares how far she has come below and I can’t tell you how proud I am to be her coach. 

“I came to Get Fit NH mostly to get stronger, especially to strengthen core muscles. I had gone to the doctor for a routine check up and mentioned that I was losing my balance more frequently – which was a concern because my mom had Ataxia and the beginning symptoms are usually loss of balance. There is a good chance I could have it as well because it is hereditary. My doctor thought it was unlikely I had it since I had been running for about 6 years and hiked and did some weight routines without significant trouble. She suggested that i try strengthening my core muscles.

Ham, Eggs and Your Commitment

“The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.” – Martina Navratilova

Today I was reading an article by one of my favorite coaches, Martin Rooney, but before I go in to the blog let me give you a quick snapshot about this guy Martin. You may have heard one of us mention him before. He is the founder of Training for Warriors (TFW) and most of your coaches are TFW certified. Coach Dean spent last weekend with Martin and the TFW family down in Charlotte NC sharpening the tools in his toolbox to help us all get better.

Martin Rooney is the type of coach (and probably the type of person) that when he speaks, people listen. He is incredibly engaging and somehow forces you to think outside of the box AND get excited about it. This guy fires me up like no one else. Quite a few months back on a Saturday we went to Boston to a conference where he was speaking at and let me tell you…I was bummed that Monday was kicking off a recovery week, because he fired me up so much I couldn’t wait to see you guys and coach you! That is just a little back story so when you see a lot of my blogs referring to this Martin Rooney guy you understand that he inspires me and I want to share it with you.

So back to the blog-

I came across this statement in one of his blogs and I just wanted to expand on it a little bit.

“To be successful in life, you must commit. If you freeze, you lose. There should be no halfway in anything you do.”

Commitment is a trait that all successful people have in common. Since I am your coach I am going to apply this to your health. So let’s think about this, you’ve already made the commitment to yourself, right? You walked through the doors of Get Fit NH and you agreed to let us help you get better.

Now let’s think about some of these other things we could be committing to,,,,’

1. Are you committed to training 4 days per week consistently? (Or 2 days per week if that is the plan you chose)

– Consistently meaning you almost never miss training unless you are on vacation or sick
– If work gets in the way you make it
– A priority to get to another training time and communicate with your coach 

2. Are you committed to your training program?

Yes, that is a different question then the one above. You could come in and go through the motions or you could get in here and kill it every single day.

“Kill it” meaning you’re paying attention to load selection throughout the weeks and you are progressing as you are able. Kill it meaning you are going as fast as you can on those metabolic days and not letting that little voice inside your head bring you down. (You know the one that is telling you that you should slow down) Your body is capable of much more than your mind gives it credit for!

Committed to your training program meaning you are so focused on what you are doing and how you are doing it that you are unable to talk through training (I say that with lots of love so don’t take it personal if you’re guilty!)

3. Are you committed to the other 165?

What is the other 165, you ask? Great question. The other 165 refers to the other 165 hours per week that you are not here in the gym training. That is a lot of time! That is a lot of time where you need to be committed to your goal without your coach breathing down your neck!

What you do outside of the gym matters. What you put in your mouth matters. How you fuel your body matters. You have a choice every single day, right? You can choose to get better or you can choose not to progress.

4. Are you committed to your nutrition?

This kind of goes along with the other 165 above, BUT let me ask you this…if you are committed to getting better and you are committed to your goals (whether your goals are to lose weight, lose body fat, get stronger) then it would be safe to assume you have made it a priority to get to one of the Whole 9 Seminars and catch a copy of our custom nutrition handbooks, right?  I know a TON of you have made that a priority and I am super proud. If you have not been able to attend one then make it a priority. We will be holding at least one of these seminars monthly.

Every single one of you came to Get Fit NH to get better in one way or another. You all have committed to walking through the doors to be better than you were yesterday. We all have areas where we can get better. What can you commit to in order to get better?

I am going to commit to trying 3 new recipes from the Whole 9 handbook! Now let me know what YOU are committing to? (If you don’t share it, whose holding you accountable!?!)

Write YOUR commitment in the comment box right below this article.

Make it Happen,

Meagan

Recovery Rules

Wait a second, is that Recovery Rules as in… “Yo Garth, recovery ruuuuuuulllllleeeeeessss dude!”

or as in

“Robert’s Rules of Recovery?” (If you are under 30 you may not get either reference, sorry…)

Actually it’s a little bit of both.

Recovery really does Rule, one way or the other, as in “If you don’t voluntarily take recovery time off your body will MAKE you take time off when it gets sick, tired and run down.”

But there are also Rules for Recovery, as in “What are some things  I can do to make sure my body is ready for the training cycle ahead?”

With apologies to Tyler Darden, here is the first rule of recovery.

No whining about taking recovery.

Here is the second rule of recovery.

No whining about taking recovery.

A properly managed training cycle insures you get adequate training stress and adequate recovery in order to make progress, which is why we write our training cycles the way we do.

August 25th through 29th is our next recovery week.

This is part of your training program, and is a necessary deload to keep you healthy and moving forward. Those who follow the training plan, including this part of it, are the ones who make the most progress. Those who ignore it are much more likely to get injured and not be at their best. I have seen it over and over again. Deload is a necessary part of the training cycle.  Take some time, read these articles, and remind yourself why. You’re welcome! 🙂

Recovery, Deload, and Getting Better

Rest, Recover and Regenerate, It’s Not Optional

“I HATE Recovery Weeks!”

Minimum Effective Dose

Recovery Is Where The Magic Happens

Last but not least you will want to note our schedule change for Monday September 1st, which is Labor Day. We are going to be having an “all family” training session at Get Fit NH Concord from 8:00am to 9:30am. This will be our only training time of the day, so come on in, get an incredible training session in, and then enjoy the day with your family and friends – you earned it!

That’s it for now guys.

You want it, you gotta Make It Happen!

Coach Dean